YouTube channel Psick Univ loses 100,000 subscribers after insulting a rural region

YouTube channel Psick Univ lost more than 100,000 subscribers when it insulted Yeongyang County in a video earlier this month.

A scene from the Yeongyang episode of Psick Univ's ″Made in Gyeongsang″ (translated) uploaded on May 11. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

YouTube channel Psick Univ lost more than 100,000 subscribers when it insulted Yeongyang County in a video earlier this month. Psick Univ is a comedy channel mainly run by three comedians — Lee Yong-ju, Jung Jae-hyung and Kim Min-su — and has more than 3 million subscribers, as of Monday afternoon.

Psick Univ started to receive major criticism from viewers after uploading an episode on May 11 as part of their series "Made in Gyeongsang" (translated), where the trio explores Gyeongsang province.

In the episode, the three comedians visited Yeongyang County and made fun of local stores and infrastructure to the point of insult and mockery. For instance, one comedian said that a stream in the county "was pretty when looking from high up, but looking close, it just looks like shit."

The trio also insulted the county’s civil servants.

The comedians further left negative comments about a restaurant and a bakery, such as saying that the restaurant has “no distinct characteristic.”

Viewers expressed discomfort with the trio's belittling remarks in the episode, criticizing their imprudent behavior.

Psick Univ blocked the video and made an official apology on Sunday, a week after the controversy.

“We have read all the viewers' comments without deleting them in a self-reflecting manner,” the channel said. “We would like to apologize to all the people who suffered from damage due to our immature behavior.”

“Though there are many landmarks to visit in Yeongyang, we wanted to emphasize the quiet and tranquil characteristics of the region. However, we had gone too far in our comments in order to bring out the fun in the content,” it added.

The channel also said that the three comedians visited the stores that were directly mentioned in the episode to apologize in person.

“Though both store owners said that they do not have any damages as of now, we will continuously look after them if any damages occur, and do our best to help them,” Psick Univ said.

Psick Univ added that it would also like to apologize to the Yeongyang Country's people and civil servants.

“We deeply apologize for disappointing the viewers, who supported and enjoyed our comedy channel, for displeasing and disappointing them.”

Psick Univ began in 2019 and has become famed for its comedy series such as "Made in Gyeongsang" and "Psick Show." The team received the Baeksang Arts Awards' Best Entertainment Show award for the TV section last year, becoming the first YouTube channel to do so.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]