Civil servant who spent own money on Times Square apple ad abruptly shuts down social media channel

A civil servant at Bonghwa-gun county office in North Gyeongsang Province who drew widespread attention after paying out of pocket to run a "Bonghwa apple" advertisement on a Times Square billboard in New York has abruptly shut down the social media channel he created and managed himself, leaving many wondering why.

Kim Su-seong, 27, a junior official at the county's agricultural technology center, announced Wednesday that the Instagram channel "Bonghwa-gun Bongsung-i Jumuwan" would cease operations "due to internal circumstances."

He did not disclose the specific reason for the shutdown, but asked followers for their continued support, noting that news about Bonghwa-gun's administration could still be found through the county's official Instagram account.

Kim had previously attracted attention for promoting Bonghwa-gun and its local agricultural products through content that reflected a fresh, youthful sensibility.

Most notably, on Thursday, Aug. 13, he made headlines by running a Bonghwa apple advertisement he had personally conceived on a large Times Square billboard in New York.

The ad's message was a twist.

"Bonghwa apples are delicious, but we don't advertise."

The quirky hangul-language ad was not intended to promote exports to the United States. The goal was to generate buzz domestically on social media — using the novelty of a Bonghwa apple ad appearing in Times Square to raise awareness of the county and its local produce.

Kim covered the 329,000-won ($233) advertising fee entirely out of his own pocket, not from the county budget. The ad ran on the Times Square billboard for approximately 23 hours — from 1:36 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, to 12:36 p.m. the following day, Korean Standard Time — airing for 15 seconds every 36 minutes.

"I wanted to use the fact that we advertised in Times Square to promote Bonghwa-gun and our local agricultural products on Instagram and online here in Korea," Kim said. "I thought that maybe doing something like this would get at least one more person to notice Bonghwa apples."

Kim had been producing content using "Bongsung-i Jumuwan," a virtual character used on Bonghwa-gun's official social media accounts. Since April, he had been personally running the "Bonghwa-gun Bongsung-i Jumuwan" account, which he created on his own initiative.

After news of the Times Square ad spread, reactions online ranged from "I can't believe there's actually an ad in New York" to "I want to go eat Bonghwa apples." Some compared him to the so-called "Chungju Man" — a civil servant who became famous through Chungju city's official YouTube channel — dubbing Kim the "second Chungju Man."

As the ad gained traction, Bonghwa-gun emphasized that it was not an official overseas advertising project by the county, while still speaking positively of Kim's initiative and voluntary promotional efforts.

But just days after the ad went viral, Kim's announcement that he was shutting down the channel has drawn fresh attention to what may lie behind the decision.

Kim began his career in public service at Gyeongju city hall in 2019 and transferred to his hometown of Bonghwa-gun in 2024. He currently handles agricultural product distribution and promotional work at the county's agricultural technology center.