“Gift of Encouragement for YouTubers Wrongfully Accused by the Opposition”
Kwon Young-se, Chairperson of the People Power Party’s Emergency Response Committee, has sent gift sets for the Lunar New Year to YouTubers with a strong conservative stance, sparking controversy. The ruling party explained that this gesture was intended as “comfort and encouragement.”
According to the People Power Party on the 20th, Chairperson Kwon sent the gifts to ten YouTubers who had been recently accused by the Democratic Party of inciting rebellion. These included prominent figures such as Shin Hye-sik of the ‘ShinuiHansu’ channel, Bae In-kyu of ‘Shin Namseong Yeondae,’ Kong Byung-ho of ‘Kong Byung-ho TV,’ Kim Sung-won of ‘GroundC,’ Goh Sung-gook of ‘Goh Sung-gook TV,’ and attorney Bae Seung-hee. The gifts consisted of regional specialties from Muan, Jeollanam-do, known for its seaweed, which had suffered a tragedy on December 29th with an aircraft crash.
The news caused an uproar in the political sphere when it was revealed that some of these YouTubers had been involved in live-streaming or encouraging protests on January 19th, the day a violent incident took place at the Western District Court.
The Democratic Party criticized the People’s Power leadership for allegedly aligning with far-right YouTubers accused of inciting rebellion. Spokesperson Han Min-soo, in a written briefing, stated, “These individuals were invited to President Yoon Seok-yeol’s inauguration and received gifts every holiday. They were the ones who planted the delusion of election fraud in Yoon’s mind. Does the People’s Power Party also support the notion of election fraud?”
In response to the controversy, the Emergency Response Committee of the People Power Party clarified in a press release on the afternoon of the 20th, “It is customary for party representatives to send gifts to party members during holidays. This year’s gifts were chosen from Muan to share in overcoming its recent tragedy.”
They added, “Additionally, YouTubers who were wrongfully accused by the Democratic Party were included in the gift list to convey feelings of consolation and encouragement.”