"Park Wi demanded over 15 million won for a two-hour lecture..."Is it worth injecting tax money into a YouTuber?"

/Photo=News1 [Financial News] Amid criticism that YouTuber Park Wi (39) targeted a social service worker by releasing CCTV footage of a KTX fall accident, the controversy is spreading as his lecture fees have also been revealed.
According to Sports Kyunghyang on the 26th, it has been reported that Park Wi's lecture fees for public institution events range from a minimum of several million won to a maximum of over 10 million won.
According to the minutes of the Administrative and Financial Committee meeting of Dongjak-gu, Seoul, Team Leader A of the Dongjak Cultural Foundation was asked about the 12 million won fee for inviting an influencer lecturer during the 2025 budget review held on December 9, 2024. He replied regarding Park Wi's recruitment fee, "We are asking for over 10 million or 15 million won.
" He explained that the lecture duration is two hours. However, it was found that the contract amounts for Park Wi's lectures and events at public institutions vary by case. Geumsan County paid 5 million won for the contract for Park Wi's special lecture in 2023.
Additionally, Yongsan-gu explained to the district council in 2024 that Park Wi's lecture fee was "about 6 million won. " In 2026, Bupyeong-gu contracted with Wiracle Factory, where Park Wi is the representative, for a special lecture service for 4,462,000 won, and the Gangnam Cultural Foundation also signed a contract with a lecture planning agency for Park Wi's talk concert for 9,350,000 won.
The talk concert in question was canceled following the recent controversy over Park Wi's targeting of a social service worker.
Upon learning of this, netizens reacted coldly, commenting, "A YouTuber's lecture fee of 15 million won? Isn't that excessive?" "It will all be paid for with tax money, so holding such a lecture in the first place makes no sense," and "Is it worth it?" Meanwhile, on the 21st, Park Wi released CCTV footage on his YouTube channel claiming that he fell while descending a portable ramp in a wheelchair on the KTX after the wheel got caught on a social service worker's foot.
Although he explained that the purpose was to prevent accidents and improve mobility environments, criticism arose that releasing the CCTV footage was excessive, especially since the social service worker who was assisting him had apologized.
In response, Park Wi deleted the video and apologized, stating, "I did not deeply consider the worker's position," but he is facing a backlash, with his YouTube subscriber count decreasing and scheduled lectures being canceled as a result.
[email protected] An Gaeul Reporter