Jeong Ilyoung Calls for Thorough Tax Investigation of Far-Right YouTubers' Super Chat Earnings
It has been identified that 10 far-right and conservative YouTube channels earned over 600 million KRW through Super Chats in the two months following the 12·3 emergency martial law incident. In particular, their earnings increased significantly around the time of the execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol last month.
According to data analyzed by Jeong Il-young, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, among the 10 far-right and conservative YouTube channels, six saw their Super Chat revenues rise sharply until January, when the arrest warrant for Yoon Seok-yeol was executed, following the 12·3 emergency martial law.
= On the 13th, when the 8th hearing of President Yoon Seok-yeol's impeachment trial was held, the Korea Correcting the Republic National Movement Headquarters (Daegukbon) and supporters of President Yoon Seok-yeol held an anti-impeachment rally at Anguk Station Intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Super Chat is a system where viewers donate a certain amount of money to YouTubers during live broadcasts. Besides Super Chat earnings, it is estimated that YouTubers also earned more money through views and direct account donations.
Channel A, which has the largest number of subscribers (approximately 1.62 million), earned 59.08 million KRW from Super Chats in November last year, increasing to 122.83 million KRW in December and 158.5 million KRW in January this year. Channel B, with about 520,000 subscribers, saw its Super Chat income rise from 20.34 million KRW in November last year to 66.14 million KRW last month, nearly tripling its revenue.
In particular, these channels reportedly earned significant income at the scenes of the execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon last month. Channel C, with over 400,000 subscribers, earned 11.74 million KRW from Super Chats last month, with a large portion concentrated on January 2 and 4, the dates of the first execution attempts of the arrest warrant for President Yoon. Channel D, which has about 770,000 subscribers, also earned 17.7 million KRW in a single day on January 3, when the first attempt to execute the arrest warrant was made. The Super Chat income of this channel increased from 37.87 million KRW in December to 89.2 million KRW in January, about a 2.3-fold increase in one month.
On the 13th, when the 8th hearing of President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment trial was held, the Korea Correcting the Republic National Movement Headquarters (Daegukbon) and supporters of President Yoon Suk-yeol held an anti-impeachment rally at Anguk Station Intersection in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Among the 10 channels, two aim to rally the so-called ‘2030 far-right and conservative youth,’ and their Super Chat revenues increased by about two to three times within a month.
Some of these channels had their monetization stopped or accounts closed due to violations of YouTube’s service terms. Channel E, which had 340,000 subscribers, increased its Super Chat income from about 7.92 million KRW in November last year to 21.87 million KRW in December, right after the martial law, but its account was terminated last month. YouTube can close accounts if they violate service terms, such as causing discomfort to viewers, and it appears such action was taken.
Jeong Il-young stated, “Far-right and conservative YouTubers continue to profit by using the recent domestic political turmoil as content,” adding, “The National Tax Service needs to inspect whether their income from Super Chats and personal accounts is properly reported and taxed, and if necessary, conduct thorough tax investigations to collect taxes.”
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