'Chungju Man' sold Samsung Electronics shares at 62,000 won, missing out on W200m in gains

Kim Seon-tae, the YouTuber who rose to fame as "Chungju Man" while working as a civil servant at Chungju City Hall in North Chungcheong Province, has revealed that a past investment in Samsung Electronics shares left him with far smaller gains than he could have made.

In an interview for the KBS YouTube channel "KBS Entertainment" posted Thursday, Kim — who hosts the new entertainment program "Donsuntae Seonggong Sidae" — said he once held 1,000 shares of Samsung Electronics. "I sold my house, moved into a monthly-rent place and put everything into Samsung Electronics," he said. "My average purchase price was 58,000 won ($39) per share."

Asked by the production crew when he sold, Kim said he exited at exactly 62,000 won per share.

When the crew expressed sympathy, Kim said the stock had traded sideways in the 60,000-won range for an unusually long stretch. "It hovered there for more than two years, and I just could not take it anymore," he said.

Kim added that repeated stock splits by domestic companies had also frustrated him. "It felt like the splits were deliberately keeping the price from rising," he said. "I decided the domestic market was not working for me and sold everything."

In October 2022, Kim had publicly shared his brokerage account on another program, revealing holdings in four stocks: Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Naver and Kakao.

Had Kim held onto his 1,000 Samsung Electronics shares until now, his estimated paper gain would have exceeded 200 million won. Samsung Electronics shares were trading in the 250,000-won range as of Friday.

Kim retired from Chungju City Hall this year and has since been running his personal YouTube channel, producing corporate promotional content and entertainment videos. His KBS web entertainment program "Donsuntae Seonggong Sidae" is set to launch Wednesday.