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In a recent interview with British newspaper The Guardian, Cho Dong-youn, a former co-head of the Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung’s presidential campaign, revealed that she had contemplated taking her own life after revelations about her personal life were made online, causing an onslaught of online bullying.
The allegation that Cho had a child out of wedlock — which she later revealed was the result of a sexual assault — was made by a controversial far-right YouTuber Kang Yong-suk, and ultimately led to the downfall of Cho’s political career.
The way a YouTube channel clipped the wings of a young politician showcases how the video platform has grown into a force to be reckoned with in the country’s political landscape in recent years.
YouTube as political medium
Several local researchers link the rise of YouTube to the 2016-2017 political turmoil that brought the demise of the Park Geun-hye presidency and swung the pendulum of local politics to the left.
Sparked by a shocking scandal that centered on Park’s long-time friend meddling in state affairs, massive protests were held across the country in late 2016, with those in attendance calling for the president to be impeached. In March 2017, the Constitutional Court finalized her ouster from office.
Feeling cornered, staunch Park supporters and other far-right groups took to the streets in what came to be known as “Taegeukgi rallies,” named for the Korean flags they hoisted as they marched. Refusing to believe the accusations against Park, many of them turned to political channels on YouTube run by those identifying as right-leaning.
“ [Taegeukgi] rally participants came to regard Park’s impeachment as a national crisis, and rallied out of anger. United by the claims of [conservative] party members and opinion leaders, YouTubers acted as the channel connecting the participants [of the rallies] and the outside world,” wrote Lee Jong-myung, a researcher for the Institute for Social Science Research at Kyungpook National University, in his 2020 paper “YouTuber’s Role in Politics of Agora.”
“Taegeukgi rallies show the complex characteristics of an organized rally by a conservative political party, the voluntary participation of its members and the role of YouTubers who egg them on,” Lee wrote.
Taegeukgi rallies persisted for years with ever-changing chants: from demanding Park’s release from jail to calling the election of her liberal successor President Moon Jae-in a fraud. While the rallies have diminished in recent years, politically charged YouTube channels conveying extremist views have raged on.
Despite its origins, YouTube channels with extremist views are not confined exclusively to the right wing.
Extremist channels with left-leaning views have also fanned speculation on a variety of issues, including the investigation into the family of former Justice Minister Cho Guk and the personal life of President Yoon’s wife Kim Keon-hee before she was married.
