YouTuber Kagwang, with 470,000 subscribers, has his channel forcibly deleted amid allegations of abusing a woman with an intellectual disability... “If it isn’t restored, I’ll call it quits”

[Financial News] YouTuber Kagwang (real name Lee Sang-il), whose YouTube channel with 470,000 subscribers was forcibly deleted after he came under scrutiny at a parliamentary audit over allegations that he abused and exploited a female guest suspected of having an intellectual disability during a live broadcast in Thailand, said he would quit internet broadcasting if the channel could not be restored.
On the 29th, Kagwang posted a statement titled “Statement Regarding the Channel Deletion and Other Matters” in “Kagwang Playground,” the online community he runs.
In the post, Kagwang began by addressing the sudden deletion of his YouTube channel: “Jeongpum-i-deul and subscribers, weren’t you all really surprised? I was surprised too.”
He said, “YouTube is currently taking down Excel-related channels, and my channel was deleted in connection with Cyber Talking Bar and Ago Excel.” He added, “Of course, in reality, this was a measure taken after monitoring the government and strong public sentiment over the current exploitation allegations and the parliamentary audit. The stated reason may just be a pretext. That’s up to the platform operator,” and disclosed the contents of the email he received from YouTube.
The reason given for deleting Kagwang’s channel was that “serious or repeated violations of the policies on sexual acts and excessive nudity have been identified.”
Kagwang strongly denied the allegations of exploiting a woman, which are at the heart of the controversy. He said, “The allegations of exploitation or grooming are not true. There was so much speculation and so much that differed from the facts that I wanted to wait for the investigative authorities to make a determination rather than respond to each point individually.” He also claimed, “Those who have watched my broadcasts over the past few years probably know well that, although my words and behavior are very rough, I’m not that kind of person.”
Regarding allegations about appearance fees and the distribution of earnings, he said, “When Ingwi appeared on the broadcast, an average daily fee of 400,000 won was paid for each day she appeared (an average of eight hours).” He added, “I plan to organize the conversation records about the income paid to Ingwi being used to give a grandmother spending money and cover surgery costs, along with KakaoTalk records documenting what was understood about the contract and the level of content on the broadcast, and submit them to the investigative authorities through my lawyer. I will cooperate fully with the investigation going forward.”
He did, however, apologize for his on-air conduct. Kagwang said, “Lastly, I bow my head and apologize for making sensational and provocative broadcasts. I was wrong.” He added, “I’ve now realized that the words and actions I used to entertain people on the broadcast went beyond what ordinary people would find unpleasant. I guess my desire to entertain people and the threshold that had risen over time had both gotten too high,” expressing remorse.
In particular, speaking about his future plans, he said, “I had planned to tone down my broadcasts, but if YouTube does not restore the channel, I intend to end my internet broadcasting here,” suggesting that he may effectively retire.
Finally, Kagwang added, “If we get the chance to meet again someday in another form, we will. Whether I draw comics or do something else. I’m the sort of person who gets restless if I sit still, so I’ll probably be tinkering away at making something.” He continued, “I broadcast like a workaholic without taking a single day off, but now I finally get to rest. Kagwang Playground will continue operating as usual, and I’ll keep posting updates. (My promise to keep broadcasting until I was so old I’d be smearing poop on the walls has turned out to be a lie. Sorry.)”
The issue came into the public spotlight on the 26th at a parliamentary audit session before the National Assembly’s Security and Public Administration Committee. Kim Ye-ji, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, said during the audit, “Serious allegations have been raised that a YouTuber and some broadcast personnel collectively abused and financially exploited a woman in Thailand who is believed to have an intellectual disability.”
According to the tip-off details released by Rep. Kim, the victim, identified as A, appeared on a broadcast while recovering from hip replacement surgery and was subjected to abuse including damage to her crutches, restrictions on meals, sleep disruption, and forced drinking.
It was also alleged that, despite expressing a desire to go home, she was unable to leave the site and was subjected to control verging on confinement, and that at least 10 million won was extorted from her under pretexts including broadcast appearances and viewer donations.
Rep. Kim called for a thorough investigation, saying, “If scenes of human rights violations against a vulnerable woman were staged to generate content revenue, that would be a serious crime.” Kim Jongcheol, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, responded, “We will promptly verify the facts.”
After police fact-finding at the audit was announced and the platform also forcibly deleted the channel, the fallout from the abuse and exploitation allegations surrounding Kagwang is expected to lead to a formal investigation by judicial authorities.
[email protected] An Gaeul Reporter