YouTuber Who Said "Are You from Lado? Did That Hit a Nerve?" Apologizes and Donates 5 Million Won

Posted Disparaging Comments About Region Where Lee Jaemyung Received 89% of Votes
"Careless and Ignorant Words and Actions... I Will Reflect for the Rest of My Life"

A YouTuber who posted hate messages about the Jeolla region on social networking services (SNS) during the 21st presidential election has issued another apology. He also donated 5 million won to the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

YouTuber Jabsikgongryong (27, real name Wang Hyonsu) announced on June 6 through his YouTube channel community that he had donated 5 million won to the May 18 Memorial Foundation.

Jabsikgongryong said, "I am once again truly sorry to those who were hurt by my wrongful words and actions," and added, "I am well aware that making a donation does not erase my wrongdoing, and I will keep that firmly in mind."

He continued, "I sincerely apologize again and will reflect on my actions for the rest of my life so that I never act so carelessly or think in such a wrong way again."

YouTuber Jabsikgongryong and the apology he posted
[Image source=Screenshot from Jabsikgongryong's Instagram]

The previous day, Jabsikgongryong shared on his Instagram a screenshot of the 21st presidential election results in a certain area of Jeollanam-do. In that area, Lee Jaemyung, then the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea, received 89.04% of the votes.

The netizen who originally posted the screenshot made a derogatory comment, saying, "Jeonnam XX happened," and Jabsikgongryong responded with a comment, "ㅋㅋㅋㅋ" (Korean onomatopoeia for laughter). He also posted a screenshot of a comment disparaging Democratic Party supporters, adding, "I don't want to learn Chinese, I don't want to buy BYD stock, I don't want to shout China Number One." When another user criticized him, he replied, "Are you from (Jeon)la-do? Did that hit a nerve?"

As criticism mounted and the controversy grew, Jabsikgongryong posted an apology on June 6 in his YouTube channel community, stating, "My recent post included expressions that disparaged a region and content that was politically biased, which caused discomfort to many people."

He explained, "Since I was young, I was influenced by my environment and only listened to one side, so I unknowingly developed a biased perspective. Because of that, I carelessly used certain expressions without deeply considering that they were derogatory remarks."

He added, "Reading the DMs and comments you sent me, I realized how ignorant and misinformed I have been until now," and apologized again.

Jabsikgongryong has about 180,000 subscribers and mainly uploads content in which he visits popular restaurants while dressed in a dinosaur costume.