Conservative YouTubers cash in over W600m following Yoon's martial law fallout
According to Rep. Chung Il-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday, the top 10 conservative-leaning YouTube channels that earned the most from Super Chat donations in the two months following the Dec. 3 incident collectively made 605.76 million won ($420,000).
No specific names of the channels were disclosed as of press time.
The surge was particularly evident after Jan. 15, when authorities attempted to execute an arrest warrant against Yoon, who is currently on trial following his impeachment and criminal indictment on charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
One channel with nearly 1.62 million subscribers saw its Super Chat earnings more than double, from 59 million won in November to 122.83 million won in December. In January, its revenue rose further to 158.5 million won.
Another channel with 520,000 subscribers saw its Super Chat earnings increase from 20.34 million won in November to 45.59 million won in December, before tripling to 66.14 million won in January.
A third channel with 770,000 subscribers saw its Super Chat income grow from 37.87 million won in December to 89.2 million won in January. Over the same period, its subscriber count increased by around 500,000.
'The National Tax Service must examine whether these channels are properly reporting their Super Chat donations and other personal account revenues for taxation. If necessary, a thorough tax investigation should be conducted to recover any unpaid taxes,' Rep. Chung stated.
In South Korea, all revenue generated from online platforms, including ad revenue from YouTube and audience donations such as Super Chat, is subject to comprehensive income tax reporting.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
8 hours ago
- Korea Herald
French president Macron sues right-wing podcaster over claim France's first lady was born male
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte filed a defamation lawsuit in the US on Wednesday against right-wing influencer and podcaster Candace Owens, centered on her claim that France's first lady is male. The Macrons said in a complaint filed in Delaware Superior Court that Owens has waged a lie-filled "campaign of global humiliation" to promote her podcast and expand her "frenzied" fan base. These lies included that Brigitte Macron, 72, was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, the actual name of her older brother, the Macrons said. "Owens has dissected their appearance, their marriage, their friends, their family, and their personal history — twisting it all into a grotesque narrative designed to inflame and degrade," the complaint said. "The result," the complaint added, "is relentless bullying on a worldwide scale." In her podcast on Wednesday, Owens said, "This lawsuit is littered with factual inaccuracies," and part of an "obvious and desperate public relations strategy" to smear her character. Owens also said she did not know a lawsuit was coming, though lawyers for both sides had been communicating since January. A spokesperson for Owens called the lawsuit itself an effort to bully her, after Brigitte Macron rejected Owens' repeated requests for an interview. "This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist," the spokesperson said. In a joint statement released by their lawyers, the Macrons said they sued after Owens rejected three demands that she retract defamatory statements. "Ms. Owens's campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety," the Macrons said. "We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused." High legal standard Wednesday's lawsuit is a rare case of a world leader suing for defamation. US President Donald Trump has also turned to the courts, including in a $10 billion lawsuit accusing The Wall Street Journal of defaming him by claiming he created a lewd birthday greeting for disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. The Journal said it would defend against that case and had full confidence in its reporting. In December, meanwhile, Trump reached a $15 million settlement with Walt Disney-owned ABC over an inaccurate claim that a jury found him liable for rape, rather than sexual assault, in a civil lawsuit. To prevail in US defamation cases, public figures must show defendants engaged in "actual malice," a tough legal standard requiring proof the defendants knew what they published was false or had reckless disregard for its truth. Owens has more than 6.9 million followers on X and more than 4.5 million YouTube subscribers. Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan The Macrons' lawsuit focuses on the eight-part podcast "Becoming Brigitte," which has more than 2.3 million views on YouTube, and X posts linked to it. According to the Macrons, the series spread "verifiably false and devastating lies," including that Brigitte Macron stole another person's identity and transitioned to female, and that the Macrons are blood relatives committing incest. The complaint discusses circumstances under which the Macrons met, when the now 47-year-old president was a high school student and Brigitte was a teacher. It said their relationship "remained within the bounds of the law." According to the complaint, baseless speculation about Brigitte Macron's gender began surfacing in 2021, and the topic has been discussed on popular podcasts hosted by Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan, who have many conservative followers. In September, Brigitte won a lawsuit in a French court against two women, including a self-described medium, who contributed to spreading rumors about her gender. An appeals court overturned that decision this month, and Brigitte Macron has appealed to France's highest court.
Korea Herald
10 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Ex-President Yoon skips insurrection trial for 3rd straight week
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol did not attend his insurrection trial for the third consecutive week Thursday, again citing poor health. The 10th hearing of the trial opened at the Seoul Central District Court without the appearance of Yoon, who is currently under arrest at the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital. "Since he has not appeared consecutively, we will begin investigation proceedings in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code and criminal procedure rules," the court said. "We will verify with the detention center whether he is in fact in poor health and whether it is possible to bring him in." Yoon is standing trial on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through his failed bid to impose martial law in December. The hearing proceeded as an extraordinary session to question witnesses for the case. The prosecution protested Yoon had attended all nine hearings prior to his second arrest earlier this month without complaining about his health and even attended a separate court hearing last week that reviewed the legality of his arrest. "Following absences from the two previous hearings, he has again failed to appear without legitimate grounds," they said. "We ask the court to issue a warrant to bring him in as he has failed to appear three consecutive times in disregard of his duty as a defendant to attend." Yoon's lawyers claimed his absence was also partly due to questions about the legality of special counsel Cho Eun-suk taking over the prosecution's indictments against the former president. On Saturday, special counsel Cho's team separately indicted him on abuse of power charges related to his alleged violation of the rights of Cabinet members and other offenses. The indictments came days after Yoon was placed in custody a second time over the martial law attempt. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
13 hours ago
- Korea Herald
S. Korea's economy rebounds with 0.6% growth in Q2: BOK
The South Korean economy grew 0.6 percent in the second quarter on the back of a recovery in private consumption and robust exports, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's real gross domestic product -- a key measure of economic growth -- rose 0.6 percent in the April–June period from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. It exceeded the market expectation of a 0.5 percent gain. The quarterly growth followed an unexpected 0.2 percent contraction in the first quarter, which was the first decline since the second quarter of 2024, as a domestic political crisis caused by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration and uncertainties stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff measures weighed on consumer spending and slowed export growth. On a year-on-year basis, the economy expanded 0.5 percent in the second quarter, compared with a 0.1 percent contraction during the first three months of this year. The economic expansion was driven by rising exports and increasing domestic demand. Exports increased 4.2 percent from three months earlier in the second quarter, led by strong global demand for semiconductors and petrochemical products. Private spending went up 0.5 percent in the second quarter, as expenditures on automobiles and culture increased, among other things. Government spending gained 1.2 percent. But facility investment dipped 1.5 percent, while construction investment also shed 1.5 percent. The BOK said that net exports and domestic demand each contributed 0.3 percentage point to the economic growth in the second quarter. The BOK expected the South Korean economy to grow 0.8 percent this year amid weak consumption and slowing export growth due to uncertainties stemming from Washington's tariff measures. In 2024, Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 2 percent. (Yonhap)
