'Geoje, yahoo!' — The secret behind YouTube's biggest celebrity comebacks [20's Choice]

The YouTube market has never been more competitive. With countless channels launching and folding every day, simply surviving has become a feat in itself.

Yet amid this crowded landscape, certain content consistently breaks through and wins over audiences.

A growing number of celebrities are experiencing a new peak in their careers through YouTube.

Just as the platform can turn ordinary people into stars, it has also given celebrities a space to show sides of themselves rarely seen on television — unfiltered personalities and everyday moments that resonate with viewers.

Notable examples include Hong Jin-kyung's "Study King Real Genius," Han Ga-in's "Free Woman Han Ga-in," Choi Hwa-jung's "Hello, It's Choi Hwa-jung," and the channel generating the most buzz right now: Seo In-young's "Reformed Seo In-young."

What is striking is that a single producer stands behind the success of all these channels.

That producer is Lee Seok-ro, widely dubbed the "Na Young-seok of YouTube." A former variety show producer at TV Chosun, Lee now runs an independent studio and creates a range of YouTube content.

Viewers find entertainment not only in the celebrities themselves but also in Lee's on-camera reactions and his quick back-and-forth exchanges with his subjects — a dynamic that has become a competitive edge in its own right.

The numbers back it up. Hong Jin-kyung's channel has surpassed roughly 400 million cumulative views, while Choi Hwa-jung's channel averaged 1.57 million views per video within just three months of launching.

Seo In-young's channel, the latest to capture public attention, has also proven its pulling power, with most videos racking up millions of views.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of Lee's approach is the philosophy behind his content.

In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo, he said he "only does things that will succeed," adding that he had personally approached most of the channels he now manages and pitched the idea of starting a YouTube channel.

When asked about the formula for success, he laid out a guiding principle: "90 percent familiar, 10 percent fresh."

While many creators chase differentiation and novelty above all else, Lee argues that the key is to build on what audiences already know and love — then add just a small touch of something new.

Another producer has been writing his own success story — one that shows YouTube can change the fate of an entire group, not just a single celebrity.

The clearest example is girl group RESCENE, which has been staging a remarkable chart comeback after finding new momentum through YouTube.

It all started with member Woni's personal YouTube channel, "Hello, I'm Woni, Nice to Meet You."

Woni drew viewers in with a bold, straightforward personality rarely seen in girl group members, a Geoje dialect, and what fans describe as "teto" energy — a term for a distinctly assertive, masculine-coded charm.

The channel's appeal grew further when fellow member Minami, who is Japanese, brought her "gyaru" aesthetic into the mix, and the channel quickly became a talking point.

The channel's catchphrase, "Geoje, yahoo!" — a nod to Woni's hometown — spread across short-form videos and online communities, taking on a life of its own as a meme, and the channel's subscriber count surged.

As a result, the channel now has roughly 600,000 subscribers and averages around 2 million views per video — figures that surpass RESCENE's official YouTube channel, which has approximately 430,000 subscribers.

What makes the story even more remarkable is how the personal channel's popularity translated into success for the group as a whole.

Viewers who first discovered RESCENE through Woni's channel naturally grew curious about the group's music and activities — and that curiosity produced real results.

RESCENE was named honorary ambassador for Geoje City, and the group's signature track "Love Attack" began climbing music charts, ultimately breaking into Melon's TOP 100.

A group that had been largely unknown used YouTube as a springboard to build mainstream recognition and lift its chart performance.

Behind that success was producer Yoon Seong-won, who had already built a track record on YouTube with projects including "Is It Jon or Park?" and "Yang Hong-won's Parenting Diary."

His strength lies not in simply placing talent in front of a camera, but in identifying what makes each person compelling and translating that into content.

Ultimately, success in the YouTube era is not made by famous faces alone — it becomes possible when a producer has the skill to discover what makes someone magnetic and shape it into something audiences want to watch.

These may look like separate stories, but they share one thing in common: they moved people.

Even in a fiercely competitive market, audiences will always find their way to a good story and a compelling personality.

Perhaps the real formula for success in the YouTube age is not flashy technology or deep pockets, but a genuine understanding of — and empathy for — people.

By Park Hye-min, Content Operator

Editing by Min Sang-sik