Kim Seontae Appears Gaunt After Leaving 'Don Seontae'... 3,000 Thumbs Up for Chungju Mayor's "Come Back" Offer

Haggard Update Shared Through "Inside Men" Parody
Chungju Mayor Suggests Return; Over 3,000 Likes on the Comment

Kim Seontae, a former civil servant YouTuber who gained fame as "Chungju Man" and achieved 1 million subscribers, has shared an update on his gaunt appearance after voluntarily stepping down from the web variety show "Don Seontae: Success Era" following controversy over secondary victimization.

YouTube channel 'Kim Seontae'

On August 7, Kim posted an eight-second video titled "Kim Seontae Update" on his YouTube channel.

In the video, Kim Seontae is shown sitting alone in a room scattered with empty liquor bottles, with an unkempt beard. When he hears the news anchor on TV discussing a wanted persons review, he mutters to himself, "XX, this is lonely."

The video parodies a scene from the film "Inside Men," which drew attention when Lee Dongsuk, the Chungju mayor, left a comment saying, "I'm the new mayor of Chungju. Are you thinking about returning to Chungju City Hall?" As of August 8, this comment has received around 3,000 likes, generating much buzz.

Previously, Kim Seontae, who was the sole MC of the KBS web variety show "Don Seontae: Success Era," triggered controversy over secondary victimization in the first pre-release video posted on July 29, by asking Wony, a member of the group Le Sene, about the "Museopno" (‘Are you scared?’) controversy. Wony had previously come under fire on YouTube for using the phrase "Museopno," which was criticized as reflecting the style of a specific online community.

The controversy escalated further when the Shorts version of the video used the names of people unrelated to Le Sene and Wony as hashtags without permission.

As the controversy intensified, Kim Seontae personally apologized to the member and the management agency. When the issue did not subside, he issued a second apology, stating, "As the solo MC, I felt very inadequate in leading the show," and announced his voluntary departure from the program. Subsequently, KBS also issued an apology and decided to halt production entirely, making it a rare case in which a program was discontinued before its official broadcast.

Meanwhile, Kim Seontae previously worked as a civil servant at Chungju City Hall, where he broke away from traditional government promotional styles and created a string of low-budget, B-movie-style content. His creative approach earned widespread attention, making the city's YouTube channel one of the most talked-about among local government channels. After leaving Chungju, Kim has pursued work in the broadcasting and content industries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.