"Leaving a Note Saying 'I Want to Quit' and Disappearing... The Hidden Secret Behind a High School Student's Glamorous Life"

Luxury Bags and Fine Dining... The Glamorous Life of 16-Year-Old Doyoung
Who Is Doyoung, Boasting a 'Luxury Life'?

[Photo by Instagram 'dy_gamblingdieary' capture]

"Ttoyoung (Doyoung) bought it"

A photo was posted on the Instagram of Park Doyoung (16), a high school student. In the photo, Doyoung’s girlfriend is seen smiling brightly while holding several shopping bags from famous luxury brands.

Through his Instagram, Doyoung flaunts a lifestyle so luxurious that it’s hard to believe he is a teenager. He boasts by posting certification shots of visits to upscale restaurants costing over 300,000 won and purchases of luxury shoes. He also gifts high-end brand clothing to his girlfriend. Netizens’ reactions were explosive. They left comments such as "How rich is he?", "What on earth is his identity?", "I’m so jealous of his girlfriend," and "I want to be born as Doyoung."

However, suddenly Doyoung started a part-time delivery job paying 10,000 won per hour, causing confusion among netizens. Posts even appeared stating that he was selling the luxury shoes he owned for 400,000 won each. His account was flooded with unusual comments like "Doyoung, send the money as soon as you get it," "Give me my money instead of posting this," and "Doyoung, you ignore my DM (Instagram direct message) but work hard on Instagram." Eventually, a post implying an extreme choice saying "I want to quit everything now" was uploaded on Doyoung’s account. After the last post, Doyoung disappeared from social media.

Doyoung’s 'Unexpected' Identity

[Photo by Instagram 'dy_gamblingdieary' capture]

In fact, Doyoung is a fictional character. This entire scenario is part of a ‘Youth Cyber Gambling Prevention and Eradication Campaign’ planned by the National Police Agency in collaboration with the mobile financial service Toss. Toss created the virtual character Park Doyoung by altering and synthesizing the faces of teenagers who had experienced gambling. The National Police Agency and Toss stated, "Through the Instagram account of the virtual youth Doyoung, we aimed to show how a teenager’s daily life gradually collapses due to cyber gambling." Although it appears to be an ordinary daily life on the surface, the story reveals a protagonist who falls into a dead end due to cyber gambling, delivering a warning and calling for attention from parents and adults.

Additionally, the National Police Agency plans to provide a service with Toss that notifies suspicious gambling accounts and guides reporting methods. Kim Dongkwon, spokesperson for the National Police Agency, said, "This youth cyber gambling eradication campaign by the National Police Agency and Toss is significant because it goes beyond simple promotion to collaborate on system improvements," and added, "We will continue to promote sustained public-private cooperation across various fields."

Meanwhile, according to statistics from the Korea Center on Gambling Problems Prevention and Treatment, as of 2022, about 40% of students enrolled in elementary, middle, and high schools have experienced gambling. As teenagers can easily experience cyber gambling through online platforms and SNS, the seriousness of the problem is growing. Therefore, social interest in eradicating youth gambling is urgently needed.