Kim Min-seok launches 'Minti' YouTube channel to deliver Democratic Party message directly to public

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok launched the party's new YouTube channel, "Democratic Party TV" — known by its Korean shorthand "Minti" — with its first live broadcast Tuesday, as part of his signature communications strategy to deliver the party's positions and policy direction directly to the public.

Kim appeared on the debut broadcast and said he wanted the channel to serve as a platform for the party's core message. "I think it would be good to carefully select at least one thing to say about what the Democratic Party's guiding position is on that broadcast day or at that moment," he said. "I hope this broadcast becomes a 'policy-direction broadcast.'" Minti will run as a pilot through Sept. 10 before moving to a regular daily slot at 7 a.m. starting Sept. 14.

Kim introduced "Mega Ten" as the channel's first featured policy theme. "After the party convention, 24 to 25 task forces and steering committees were formed, and the core of the core among them is Mega Ten," he said. "To be precise, it is 'Ten Plus One' — a structure built on grand unity at its base, with the party reforming around people's livelihoods, connecting with youth, and blossoming into mega-growth."

Lawmakers heading Mega Ten's sub-bodies also appeared on the broadcast to outline their plans. Rep. Lee Hun-gi said his "Friday Night Politics Alley Livelihood Corps" would channel on-the-ground constituent concerns into legislation, policy and budgets. Rep. Jeon Eun-su, representing the "1030 Youth Policy Corps," proposed post-work forums and anonymous online debates to engage younger voters.

Reactions within the party were mixed. Rep. Kim Hyeon wrote on Facebook that the channel fulfilled a long-held wish, saying it was "deeply moving" to see a project she had long championed — one that would serve as a textbook for party members, offer quality content and counter misinformation — finally take shape. A separate party official was more cautious, saying viewership would not be easy to sustain and that public sentiment toward the party was not favorable enough to draw firm conclusions yet.

Some in political circles have interpreted the channel's scheduling — which overlaps with YouTuber Kim Ou-joon's program "Humility Is Hard: News Factory" — as a move in effect to check Kim Ou-joon's influence. Kim Min-seok pushed back against that reading in a Facebook post shortly after the broadcast. "Minti's only competition is Minti itself — a decisive gap with its own past," he wrote.

Kim also highlighted the debut's viewership, saying the total peak concurrent viewer count of 58,000 far exceeded expectations. "Two thousand would have been a huge success — we got 58,000. That is the power of the Democratic Party," he said.