Controversy rises over Seoul mayor's pick of right-wing YouTuber as PR secretary

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during a news conference at Seoul City Hall, April 29. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

By Jun Ji-hye

Controversy is rising over Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's recent hiring of a conservative YouTuber as his new public relations secretary.

Some critics claim that the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) could have a strong leaning toward political conservatism under Oh's term, while others say it is within the conservative mayor's authority to select someone who can deliver his message correctly.

Oh was elected Seoul mayor in the April 7 by-election under the ticket of the conservative main opposition People Power Party.

The YouTuber in his 20s, who ran a channel that used to have some 23,000 subscribers when active, was known for uploading videos critical of liberal President Moon Jae-in, and embroiled in controversy after omitting the honorific title of the President and instead calling him “Mr. Moon” in several videos.

According to the SMG, the new PR assistant, who is referred to as a “message secretary,” will be in charge of drafting and modifying the mayor's speeches and other messages to be announced by his office.

The young YouTuber is known to have no job experience prior to participating in Oh's Seoul mayoral campaign.

The message secretary post is categorized as a “special civil service” grade 8 position that is available for those who have no particular qualifications and civil service career.

The hiring of the YouTuber received mixed reactions from online commentators, with some saying that the mayor overlooked the importance of political neutrality which a public relations secretary must have, while others said that the post does not require any qualifications, thus there was no problem with the hiring.

“I think the hiring was absurd. I expect other right-wing YouTubers to be more active from now on in a bid to hold such a position,” an internet user wrote on an online community, dubbed Clien, which tends to be favorable to President Moon and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

Another commentator pointed out that it was difficult to understand why Oh hired a young person who had no prior job experience as his message secretary, which is an important position that manages all press releases issued under the mayor's name.

Others mentioned that the YouTuber has effectively closed the YouTube channel and deleted all of its videos amid growing controversy over political bias.

“If the person was blameless, why delete all the videos?” one commentator wrote.

On the other hand, some people said that they could not find any problem with the hiring as the post does not require particular qualifications. They also pointed out that former Mayor Park Won-soon, who belonged to the DPK, had hired many liberal figures in key posts under his office.

“It is natural for a mayor to hire people who have similar political orientations,” another internet user wrote. “There is no need to argue about a mayor exercising authority over personnel affairs.”

Regarding the issue, the SMG official denied that the YouTuber has right-wing tendencies, saying he had uploaded a variety of videos not only about political views, but also about the economy.

“We believe he is the right person to deliver the mayor's messages to young people more effectively,” a city official said.