'Yoon Arrest' Live Streamer on YouTube: "26 Million Won in Donations in One Day"

The Golden Age of Progressive and Conservative YouTubers
Criticism Grows Over Profiting from Political Polarization

On the 15th, as the arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol was executed, political YouTubers who broadcasted the process reportedly earned tens of millions of won in revenue in just one day.

According to the YouTube data aggregation site 'Playboard' on the 16th, on the day before the second execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon, pro-Democratic Party political YouTube channels received super chats (real-time donations) from viewers amounting to tens of millions of won.

A video live-streaming the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, from the night of the 14th by the YouTube channel 'Goyanginews'. Screenshot from the YouTube channel 'Goyanginews'.

The channel that earned the most super chat income that day was 'Goyanginews'. This progressive-leaning channel reportedly received over 1,000 super chats on the day the arrest warrant was executed, earning about 26 million won. The content that generated the most donations was the live broadcast titled 'Goyanginews Live Hannam-dong Treason 24-Hour Arrest' which ran for about 12 hours starting from the night of the 14th. Subscribers sent various amounts of donations along with comments such as "Congratulations on the arrest," "Thank you for your hard work," and "This is my first time sending a super chat since I was born" upon hearing the news of President Yoon's arrest.

The channel 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Hard News Factory', hosted by broadcaster Kim Eo-jun, also received about 11 million won in super chats on the same day, ranking second in Korea's super chat rankings. The video '[Yoon Seok-yeol Arrest LIVE] Humility is Hard News Factory + Special News Report January 15' at one point reached a peak viewership of 650,000.

Playboard capture

Conservative-leaning YouTube channels also earned millions of won that day. 'Shinuihansu', with 1.62 million subscribers, received about 5.5 million won in super chats through videos such as '(Shin Hye-sik's Live News) Emergency / We Stop the Dawn Raid by the Corruption Investigation Office!'. Another right-wing channel, 'MokgyeokjaK', received about 3 million won in super chats through videos like 'Ultra Emergency! Corruption Investigation Office Raid Attempt! Surround the Patriotic Right-Wing Residence!' and 'Corruption Investigation Office Scene Patriotic Citizens Rally! The President Has Made a Decision!'. However, conservative YouTube subscribers expressed dissatisfaction with comments such as "Are you just taking donations and doing nothing?" in response to the news of President Yoon's arrest.

Meanwhile, since the martial law incident, political YouTube channels, regardless of conservative or progressive leanings, have mostly experienced a boom. The number of subscribers and views for political specialty channels has increased significantly, and political YouTube channels have dominated super chat income and top-viewed advertisement rankings. Some critics argue that political YouTubers are exploiting Korea's political polarization for profit.