Chungju Man Backlash Eases... Successor's Tearful Mukbang Draws 1.9 Million Rapid Clicks

Successor to Kim Seontae, Administrative Officer, Features Egg-Eating Mukbang

The Chungju City YouTube channel, which had been hit by a wave of subscriber cancellations following the resignation of Administrative Officer Kim Seontae, known as "Chungju Man," is regaining vitality with a new video featuring his successor, Administrative Officer Choi Jiho.

On the afternoon of the 17th, a 46-second video titled "Chuno" was uploaded to the "Chungju City" YouTube channel. This is the first content released since Administrative Officer Kim announced his resignation.

Choi Jiho, Administrative Officer. Screenshot from Chungju City's YouTube

The video features Administrative Officer Choi Jiho, who has been running the channel together with Administrative Officer Kim. Choi draws attention by transforming into Lee Daegil (played by Jang Hyuk) from the drama "Chuno." Choi is the person who has been co-producing Chungju City’s YouTube videos with Administrative Officer Kim. In the video, Choi first smiles while eating an egg, but gradually becomes overwhelmed with sadness, lowers his head, and eventually breaks down in tears.

The scene is a parody of a moment in the drama where Lee Daegil mourns the deaths of those who shared joys and sorrows with him. It uses a scene from "Chuno" to express the feeling of suddenly losing the central figure of the team.

Although it is a short video with no dialogue, it drew great attention, surpassing 1.9 million views just 14 hours after its release. As of 8 a.m. on the 18th, internet users have posted more than 11,600 comments on the YouTube video in response. Above all, many say that Choi has successfully helped Chungju City weather a crisis.

Kim Seontae, Administrative Officer. Screenshot from Chungju City YouTube

Internet users who watched the video reacted enthusiastically, leaving comments such as, "Turns out Jiho isn’t in administration; he’s an emergency firefighter putting out fires," "He looks more lost than I do, even though my semester starts the week after next," "A big thumbs-up for Jiho, who misses his team leader," "He doesn’t say a word, but it’s touching and funny at the same time," "Feels like the opening of Season 2," "It feels like Jiang Wei is left alone in Shu Han, which began to crumble after Zhuge Liang died," "It’s funny, but also really pitiful," and "The pressure on Jiho must be no joke. He is not at fault."

Previously, on the 13th, news broke that Administrative Officer Kim Seontae would be leaving his post. Kim had played a key role in growing the official YouTube channel’s subscriber count to 970,000. However, after the sudden news of his resignation came just short of the 1 million-subscriber milestone, 220,000 subscribers left the channel.