Popular YouTuber Faces Massive Controversy After Mocking Soldiers Amid Tragic Death Of Trainee
Popular Korean YouTube channel SGBG has triggered massive public outrage after uploading a video that was deemed as mocking military personnel. The channel currently has more than 1.38 million subscribers.
In the video — titled “I Got Discharged Today!!!” — cast members promoted a massage device with comments like, “Your legs will hurt when you join the army; want to take this massager with you?” and “What good are great specs if you can’t use them in the military?” These remarks, delivered in a joking manner, were seen as insensitive, especially given the current social climate.
The timing of the video was particularly troubling.
South Korea was recently shocked by the news of an Army trainee tragically dying during a military disciplinary exercise routine. The commanding officers involved have since been arrested, and the case has drawn significant public attention and mourning. The news rocked the country and made headlines everywhere. Thus — while looking down on soldiers is already controversial enough — posting such a video at this time was considered unwarranted by Korean netizens and the channel’s viewers.
The backlash from viewers was swift and harsh. Many expressed their anger, pointing out that soldiers sacrifice some of the best years of their lives in service and should be respected, not ridiculed.
In response to the uproar, the SGBG team issued a statement acknowledging their mistakes. Co-runners of the channel Kim Doo Hyun and Choi Ji Myung apologized to the bereaved families, viewers, and all military personnel, clarifying that the video was intended to discuss the challenges of military life and the common experience of veterans dreaming about re-enlisting, not to mock anyone.
Hello, this is Kim Doo Hyun and Choi Ji Myung from the SGBG YouTube channel. We are writing to apologize for the video titled “I Got Discharged Today!!!” uploaded on our channel on June 23 at 12 PM.
First and foremost, we deeply regret that our video reminded viewers of a currently sensitive social issue and caused pain to the bereaved families. We sincerely apologize for any discomfort we caused to our viewers. Additionally, we extend our heartfelt apologies to the soldiers currently defending our country and all military personnel.
The problematic video was intended to draw on our own military experiences to highlight how tough military life can be and to resonate with the common experience of having dreams about re-enlisting. Unfortunately, we failed to foresee that the video could be offensive to some and hurtful to others, which was never our intention.
As veterans who have completed our mandatory military service in South Korea, we have always been grateful for the sacrifices of our armed forces. We had no intention to mock or ridicule any gender or to support or criticize any specific group. We deeply reflect on and apologize for not recognizing the sensitivity of this issue from our perspective as veterans.
— SGBG Team
They also addressed the outrage caused by them liking certain comments under their videos. The creators made sure to clarify that the actors in the clip themselves were not involved in planning or producing the controversial video.
Regarding the issue of “liking” comments during what appeared to be a comment war, we want to clarify that we typically respond to all comments with gratitude, even those critical of us, without deleting them. Initially, we managed the comments on this video as usual and ceased liking comments once we became aware of the situation. There was never any intent to engage in a comment battle.
We are sincerely sorry for our lack of thorough consideration during the planning phase, for making expressions that could be uncomfortable to hear, and for causing concern as a result. As creators of a channel viewed by a wide range of age groups, we failed to fully grasp the responsibility and influence we have on our audience.
We will take this incident as a lesson and strive to prevent such mistakes from recurring. We will also put more care into our video production moving forward.
Once again, we deeply apologize.
We kindly request that you exclude actors Lee You Mi and Lee Song Kyung, as well as our sponsor Cozyma from this issue, as they were not involved in the planning or production of the controversial video led by SGBG.
— SGBG Team
It remains to be seen whether the public will accept the channel’s apology and forgive them.
