'Female Guest Abuse Allegations': YouTuber with 470K Subscribers Has Channel Deleted... "If It's Not Restored, I'll Call It Quits"

YouTube Channel Deleted Following Abuse Allegations

YouTuber Kagwang (whose real name is Lee Sangil) has had his YouTube channel deleted amid allegations that he abused a female guest and took money from her. The channel had about 470,000 subscribers. The allegations were raised at a recent parliamentary audit, and now the channel has been shut down as well.

YouTuber Ka Gwang's YouTube channel has been deleted. Ka Gwang Playground

According to YouTube on October 30, a notice stating that the channel had been deleted for violating the Community Guidelines has appeared on Kagwang's YouTube channel since the previous day. All previously posted videos are also unavailable. YouTube has not disclosed the specific reason for the alleged violation.

After the channel was deleted, Kagwang posted on Kagwang Playground, the community forum he operates, that he had planned to tone down his broadcasts but would consider ending his internet broadcasting career if YouTube did not restore his channel.

Kagwang previously came under fire amid allegations that he physically and mentally abused a woman identified as B, who appeared on one of his internet livestreams in Thailand, and caused her financial harm.

The allegations were also raised at a parliamentary audit held by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on October 26. According to information disclosed by Kim Yeji, a People Power Party lawmaker, B appeared on the broadcast while recovering from hip replacement surgery. During the broadcast, her crutches were reportedly broken, her meals and sleep were disrupted, and she was allegedly forced to drink against her will.

There were also claims that B was unable to leave the scene despite saying she wanted to go home. She was also allegedly deprived of more than 10 million won over her appearance on the broadcast and donations.

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Kim said that producing content for profit by showing human rights violations against a vulnerable woman could constitute a serious crime, and called on police to investigate promptly. Acting National Police Agency Commissioner Kim Jongcheol responded, "We will promptly verify the facts."

Kagwang denied the allegations. On October 25, the day before the parliamentary audit, he posted a video on YouTube in which he claimed that B had not been diagnosed with an intellectual disability or classified as having a physical disability.

He also said that the controversial scenes were staged after a contract was signed with the guest and arrangements were made through a messaging app. He maintained that no actual abuse or confinement had taken place. In particular, he claimed that the scene in which B's crutches were broken was staged to create provocative content, and that the circulation of an edited video showing only selected scenes had led to misunderstandings. However, he acknowledged that some scenes in the broadcast had been excessively provocative and said he would improve his approach to making content.

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