Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally near his official residence in Seoul on Jan. 10, holding signs denouncing election fraud amid ongoing political turmoil following his December 2024 martial law declaration. (Newsis)
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rally near his official residence in Seoul on Jan. 10, holding signs denouncing election fraud amid ongoing political turmoil following his December 2024 martial law declaration. (Newsis)

A new survey has indicated a strong association between consuming right-wing YouTube content in South Korea and support for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s December 2024 martial law declaration.

The survey, released Monday by Hankook Research in partnership with progressive news outlet SisaIn, showed that frequent consumers of right-wing YouTube content are significantly more likely to see Yoon’s actions as justified and oppose his impeachment — positions that sharply contrast with overall public opinion.

Conducted Feb. 3–5, the poll surveyed 2,000 South Koreans and was weighted by region, gender, and age, using resident registration demographics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. It found that 63 percent of respondents never watch right-wing YouTube channels, while 9 percent watched them for more than an hour per day.

Among those who never watch these channels, 85 percent said Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration was unjustified. In contrast, among those who watch for more than an hour per day, only 27 percent said martial law was unjustified, while 68 percent said it was justified.

A similar divide was seen in attitudes toward Yoon’s impeachment. Among those who never watch far-right YouTube, 76 percent supported impeachment. Among those who watched less than an hour per day, support for impeachment dropped to 49 percent. Among those who watched more than an hour per day, only 23 percent supported impeachment, while 74 percent opposed it.

The survey also examined which right-wing YouTube channels respondents had watched at least once. The most-watched channels included Tubeshin (25 percent), KDNKukbangTV (20 percent) and Tatabuta (18 percent). Although other channels like New Manpower and Groundc each drew lower overall viewership (16 percent and 12 percent), they had a strong following among younger audiences attending anti-impeachment rallies.

According to a prosecution report, national security adviser Shin Won-sik testified that Yoon himself was a regular viewer of Groundc.


mjh@heraldcorp.com