YouTuber Park Wi says he rode KTX 'over 300 times without incident' amid CCTV controversy

Criticism of YouTuber Park Wi over his decision to release CCTV footage showing a fall he suffered while disembarking from a KTX train — which he blamed on a social service worker — continues to mount, with claims now emerging that KTX staff have also expressed frustration over the incident.

A video titled "Identifying the public service worker is a crime… The mystery of how Park Wi obtained the CCTV footage" was posted Tuesday on the YouTube channel "Entertainment Insider Lee Jin-ho."

Lee said he had received tips from KTX on-site workers, adding that staff were disappointed only this particular footage had been made public. "Park Wi has boarded KTX more than 300 times and received a great deal of help from staff, and there was never a single problem until now," he said, conveying the workers' sentiments.

Earlier, Park had posted CCTV footage on Friday on his YouTube channel "Wiracle" showing his wheelchair wheel catching on the foot of a social service worker who had come to assist him as he was getting off a KTX train, causing him to fall.

"I was so angry that he placed his foot on the ramp," Park said. "He apologized politely, but in that moment I could not accept it." The video drew backlash, with critics calling the release an excessive response to an unintentional mistake — especially given that the worker had already apologized — and raising concerns that the individual in the footage could be identified.

Questions also arose over how Park obtained the CCTV footage. Accessing or receiving such footage typically requires a de-identification process that takes considerable time, making it difficult for a party to the incident to obtain the raw footage, and critics noted that CCTV access is not intended for public release.

Attorney Lee Seung-jae, who appeared in Lee Jin-ho's video, said a distinction must be drawn between viewing CCTV footage and releasing it publicly. While a party to an incident may be permitted to view the footage, providing and publicly disclosing it raises questions about the purpose of disclosure and potential violations of personal data protection rules, he said.

"The basic principle is that third parties must not be identifiable, so measures such as mosaic blurring or masking should be applied," Lee said. "Although the public service worker was blurred, those working at the site could still identify the person — which suggests there may be grounds for a personal information protection violation."

As the controversy grew, Park deleted the video and apologized to the worker and his viewers. "I failed to consider the position of the worker who did their best to help me at the scene and apologized to me sincerely," he said.

Despite the apology, public criticism has continued to intensify. Several of Park's scheduled speaking engagements have been canceled, and complaints calling for his removal as a Seoul Metropolitan Government promotional ambassador have been filed, widening the fallout.