Wife Collapses Amid Recent Controversy
Mass Deletion of Videos... Rapid Decline in Subscribers
There have been eyewitness reports of seeing YouTuber Karakula (real name Lee Se-wook), who is accused of conspiring to threaten the 10 million-subscriber YouTuber 'Jjuyang', at an emergency room in a hospital somewhere in Seoul.
On the 19th, numerous eyewitness accounts of Karakula being in a hospital emergency room were posted on various online communities. Speculation arose that "something might have happened to Karakula's safety," but it was later revealed that this was not true. It was his wife who had health issues.
A close associate of Karakula told Money Today, "His wife is in the hospital. (She collapsed) after learning about the recent controversy," adding, "Karakula's wife is going through a lot. Karakula himself is mentally shattered and unable to do anything, but it is absolutely not true that he attempted any extreme actions."
Earlier on the 10th, it was revealed through leaked call recordings that Gujaeyeok, Karakula, and Jeon Guk-jin conspired to threaten mukbang YouTuber Jjuyang by exploiting private information. They each run YouTube channels named 'Gujaeyeok', 'Karakula Media', and 'Jujak Gambyeolsa' respectively. After a call with Karakula, Gujaeyeok received 55 million KRW from Jjuyang's side under the pretext of 'risk management' consulting, of which 3 million KRW was reportedly passed on to Jeon Guk-jin. Prosecutors are currently investigating their extortion and threat charges, and YouTube Korea has suspended monetization on the channels of Karakula, Gujaeyeok, and Jeon Guk-jin citing this incident.
Office Signboard Removed and Numerous Videos Deleted
As the controversy grew, the signboard of 'Karakula Media' office located in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was taken down. This office was operated by YouTuber Karakula for video production and staff management. On the lower floor of the same building, Karakula's close friend, lawyer Cheon Ho-seong, also has an office. Additionally, it was confirmed that a large number of videos have been deleted. As of the 10th, Karakula had uploaded a total of 490 videos on his channel, but by noon on the 20th, only 424 videos remained uploaded. In total, 66 videos were deleted or set to private amid the controversy.
The number of subscribers is also rapidly decreasing. The subscriber count, which once reached a maximum of 1.31 million, dropped to 1.07 million as of noon on the 20th.
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