Most Appearances by Ruling Bloc Lawmakers
Han Kyuseop: "Concerns Over Intensifying Political Fandom"
Since last year’s general election, members of the National Assembly have appeared a total of 958 times on the YouTube channel "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory: Humility Is Difficult," according to a recent survey. Excluding holidays and weekends, an average of 2.3 lawmakers appeared on the program each day, accounting for nearly 40% of all YouTube appearances by lawmakers.
On December 2, at the seminar "One Year Since the Martial Law Crisis: Rethinking Korean Democracy," hosted by the Seoul National University Institute for Future Strategy, Professor Han Kyuseop of the Department of Communication at Seoul National University gave a presentation on "YouTube Addiction in Korean Politics."
Professor Han conducted a comprehensive survey of lawmakers’ YouTube appearances since the 22nd general election last year. The results showed that "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory: Humility Is Difficult" ranked overwhelmingly first with 958 appearances. The second most popular channel was "Maebul Show" with 570 appearances, followed by "OhmyTV" in third place with 395 appearances. In terms of total appearances, the second and third channels accounted for 22.5% and 15.6%, respectively. The top three channels together made up 76% of all appearances.
Looking at individual lawmakers, Choi Minhee of the Democratic Party had the highest number of appearances at 196. She was followed by Kim Junhyung of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party with 137 appearances, Shin Jangshik of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party with 120, and Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party with 119.
By political party, lawmakers from the Democratic Party and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party-both part of the broader ruling bloc-were more active on YouTube than those from the People Power Party. Among the top ten lawmakers in terms of YouTube channel views, subscribers, and number of videos, most were from the ruling bloc.
In particular, Jeong Cheongrae, leader of the Democratic Party, ranked first in all three categories. Among opposition lawmakers, notable figures included Yoo Yongwon of the People Power Party (third in views), Joo Jinwoo of the People Power Party (seventh in subscribers), and Ahn Cheolsoo of the People Power Party (seventh in number of videos).
Professor Han expressed concern, interpreting this as a sign of an extreme fandom phenomenon in Korean politics. He stated, "This suggests that the willingness of Korean politicians to use YouTube has surged rapidly in a short period of time."
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