A Prophetic Post Appeared on an Online Community Last March
Analysis Shows Authoritarian Behavior Causes Alienation and Resistance
Travel YouTuber GwakTube (real name Gwak Junbin) faced backlash after defending Lee Naeun, a former member of the group 'April,' and a post predicting this situation a year ago is gaining renewed attention. A person identified as A, who revealed themselves as a fan of both GwakTube and PaniBottle, posted an article titled "GwakTube is likely to face backlash once" on an online community in March last year.
On the 16th, Kwak Tube released a travel vlog with Lee Na-eun on his YouTube channel. Kwak Tube, who has previously claimed to be a victim of school violence, sparked controversy by defending Lee Na-eun, who was identified as the main culprit in the group's bullying controversy. [Photo by Kwak Tube SNS]
In the post, A said, "First of all, I am such a fan that I have rewatched GwakTube and PaniBottle's world travel videos five times each," but also added, "I think I understand why certain people criticize GwakTube." They continued, "It makes no sense to face backlash because of appearance," and predicted, "Probably, a specific behavior or a single word from GwakTube will be exaggerated and cause backlash." A assessed GwakTube as "currently having the image of a pure, genuine nerd who overcame school violence and loves eating, and succeeded." Then they pointed out, "However, people who have watched GwakTube from the old days might feel a sense of disconnect. Even to me, in certain videos, GwakTube appears opportunistic and authoritarian."
A analyzed, "Those who criticize him do so because they dislike such traits," and explained, "Being a nerd is a concept, but when he acts authoritatively, it creates a sense of alienation, disconnect, and resistance." They also advised, "GwakTube must be extremely careful not to appear arrogant going forward." Furthermore, A warned, "A single wrong word to his closest friend Pani, or actions toward people he brought in as his own staff, or the tone dominated by the unique pride typical of the Gyeongsang Province dialect?if any of these are mishandled and caught, he will be torn apart. Excuses like 'I did it for fun' won't work." Finally, A added, "In this era of extreme hatred, the easiest thing to attack is 'He changed because he succeeded.' Right now, everything GwakTube does is going well and he is on the road to success, but at the same time, he is in a position where a trivial word can ruin him."
On the 16th, Kwak Tube released a travel vlog with Lee Na-eun on his YouTube channel. Kwak Tube, who has previously claimed to be a victim of school violence, sparked controversy by defending Lee Na-eun, who was identified as the main culprit in bullying within the group. [Photo by YouTube channel 'Kwak Tube']
Earlier on the 16th, GwakTube released a travel vlog of Italy with Lee Naeun on his YouTube channel. Having previously claimed to be a victim of school violence, GwakTube sparked controversy by defending Lee Naeun, who was accused as the main culprit in bullying within the group. After a flood of criticism, GwakTube took down the video and apologized twice, but the situation has not calmed down.
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