'Chungju Man' Kim Sun-tae's impromptu travel video draws attention amid 'I Live Alone' controversy

As controversy swirls around MBC's "I Live Alone" over cast member Jeon Hyun-moo's impromptu travel segment, YouTuber Kim Sun-tae — better known as "Chungju Man," a former Chungju city official — has drawn attention with a video built around the same concept.

Kim posted a video titled "Impromptu Travel Promotion" to his YouTube channel on Friday.

In the video, Kim sets off on an impromptu trip from a Chungju city bus terminal. "It's 6 in the morning, and I'm going to get on a random city bus and ride it all the way to the last stop," he said.

The bus took him to Bangdae Village, which he said had been his assigned community during his time as a civil servant.

"I ended up traveling to my old assigned village — not by plan, just by chance," Kim explained. He wandered without any particular destination, taking in the surrounding scenery and, on a whim, hopping on a boat when he came across a fishing spot.

Viewers quickly connected the video to the recent "I Live Alone" controversy.

Comments flooded in, with viewers writing things like "Isn't this a dig at 'I Live Alone'?", "Hey 'I Live Alone' producers, are you watching this?", "It's like he's showing us what an actual impromptu trip looks like," "Intentional or not, the timing is perfect," "I bet he's got about 200 videos stockpiled and drops one every time something blows up," and "He must have the gift of foresight."

"I Live Alone" has recently been embroiled in a fabrication controversy over Jeon's impromptu trip to Kazakhstan. Episodes that aired Aug. 14 and Aug. 21 featured Jeon traveling through Kazakhstan, but the show faced public backlash after the city of Almaty said it had provided support for the trip.

After two statements failed to calm public anger, the show issued a third on Friday, apologizing and acknowledging that airline tickets to Kazakhstan had been purchased in advance.