'Chungju Man' Kim Sun-tae asked his successor to quit with him — here's why 'Chungju Girl' stayed

Kim Sun-tae, the civil servant-turned-YouTuber known as "Chungju Man," reportedly asked his successor, Choi Ji-ho — nicknamed "Chungju Girl" — to leave the city government and work with him.

Choi, a Chungju city official, appeared on MBC's entertainment program "All-Knowing Talk Show," which aired Saturday, and said Kim had approached him with an offer to join him.

"He suggested we go together," Choi said, "but it was hard for me to quit being a civil servant, and I thought it would be a big burden for him too if I came along. We both felt there was risk involved, so I decided to stay."

Kim built Chungju city's promotional YouTube channel to nearly 1 million subscribers while working as a city official, pioneering the use of YouTube for government public relations. He abruptly resigned in February and became a full-time YouTuber. Choi took over under considerable pressure, and the channel's subscriber count dropped by more than 200,000 before recovering much of the ground.

Choi recalled the moment he heard the news of Kim's resignation. "On a peaceful afternoon, he suddenly said, 'Sorry about this — I'm quitting,'" Choi said. "It was such a shock. At first I thought it was a hidden camera prank."

"Articles asking who would succeed Chungju Man kept coming out all day," he added. "I was so stressed I got sick in bed. It was the first time stress had made me physically ill. I thought I was going to lose my hair."

Choi said with a laugh that when he came to his senses, he had already become the successor. "I became famous without the money," he joked.

Choi said he still keeps in touch with Kim. The program also showed a clip of Choi calling Kim while filming a promotional video for Chungju's signature Dive Festival. When Choi asked for ideas, Kim teased him, saying, "Why are you so cliché?" Choi shot back playfully, "It's because you're not here, team leader."

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