'Chungju Man' Kim Seontae Visits Andong
Delivers Coffee to Civil Servants Assisting with Wildfire Recovery
"Chungju Man Going National Beyond Chungju"?Netizens Cheer
Chungju Man Visits Wildfire-Affected Area in Person, Gains Attention by Serving Coffee to Public Officials. YouTube Channel 'Chungju-si'
‘Chungju Man’ Kim Seontae, a public official (36), has become a hot topic for distributing coffee to government workers who were dispatched to the wildfire-affected areas to assist with accident recovery and protect disaster victims.
On the 1st, a video titled ‘Wildfire, I Went There Myself’ was uploaded on the official YouTube channel of Chungju City. In the video, Officer Kim said, “There is a large wildfire in the Gyeongbuk region right now, and the staff are having a really hard time. Even if I can’t be of much help, I want to visit the site myself.”
Officer Kim planned to buy coffee for the staff at the administrative welfare center. After driving for about 1 hour and 40 minutes, he arrived in Andong and placed a large coffee order at a caf?, then transferred the drinks to his car. Starting from the southern part of Andong city, Officer Kim sighed as he saw burned mountains and completely destroyed buildings while driving. He expressed his sorrow, saying, “I came to Imham-myeon, and it’s more serious than I thought. The buildings are all burned down. There are still places where the fire is burning. The fire has spread all the way to the front of the township office.”
Chungju Man Visits Wildfire-Affected Area in Person, Gains Attention by Serving Coffee to Public Officials. YouTube Channel 'Chungju-si'
Upon arriving at the welfare center, Officer Kim thought it might disturb the busy staff, so he quietly left the coffee and left. While delivering coffee to the Namseon-myeon welfare center and leaving, he encountered government officials in front of the building. It turned out that many employees from the Andong City Accounting Department had also come to support. Officer Kim said, “It seems like all the city hall staff are out here extinguishing the remaining fires,” and handed out additional drinks to them. After delivering coffee to Namhu-myeon, Iljik-myeon, and Pungcheon-myeon, Officer Kim said, “I visited all the sites, and the staff were all working in shifts,” adding, “Some have been injured while going back and forth to the wildfire sites, and they are working very hard. It makes me feel bad.”
Officer Kim said, “Of course, the firefighters are working hard, but our staff are also silently and diligently working on fire suppression and other efforts.” He continued, “We don’t just fight fires; we also have to evacuate residents, provide relief, manage facilities, and assist with damage recovery. It’s quite tough,” expressing his concern. Finally, Officer Kim asked for support and encouragement for the township office officials working on the front lines. He also said, “I would be grateful if everyone could do their best to prevent wildfires,” and offered condolences, “Lastly, I pray for the souls of those who lost their lives due to the wildfire.”
Chungju Man Visits Wildfire-Affected Area in Person, Gains Attention by Offering Coffee to Public Officials. YouTube Channel 'Chungju-si'
Netizens who saw the video responded warmly, saying things like, “He’s going national beyond Chungju, just Da-Seon-Tae,” “The sense to quietly leave coffee and leave is the best,” “No matter where you look in the world, Korean public officials work the hardest,” “The public officials are really working hard,” “I didn’t know public officials worked this much,” “He said he couldn’t help much but went all the way to Andong to hand out coffee, Chungju Man’s style is amazing,” “Local government official. Watched the video and cried,” and “As expected of Chungju Man. It’s amazing even though it’s not his jurisdiction.”
Meanwhile, the YouTube channel operated by Officer Kim, Chungju City, has the largest number of subscribers among local governments, with 831,000 subscribers. Officer Kim personally handles editing, filming, planning, casting, and appearing in the videos, using various memes to easily convey city administration promotions. Officer Kim rose to stardom through this channel and was promoted from grade 9 to grade 6 in 2023 as a special promotion.
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