YouTuber under fire for siding with K-pop star accused of bullying bandmate

YouTuber Kwaktube has come under fire for allegedly siding with Lee Na-eun, a member of now-defunct girl group April accused of bullying her former bandmate, in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel on Monday.

YouTuber Kwaktube, left, and Lee Na-eun of now-defunct girl group April [NEWS1, DSP MEDIA]

YouTuber Kwaktube has come under fire for allegedly siding with Lee Na-eun, a member of now-defunct girl group April accused of bullying her former bandmate, in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel on Monday.

Travel YouTuber Kwaktube, a 32-year-old YouTuber whose real name is Kwak Joon-bin, uploaded a video of himself and Lee traveling around Italy together on Monday.

Kwaktube had confessed that he had been a victim of school bullying for years during elementary, middle and high school. He quit high school and took the school qualification exam instead. He began his YouTube channel in 2018.

During the video uploaded on Monday, Kwaktube and Lee began talking about school bullying.

YouTuber Kwaktube, left, and Lee Na-eun of now-defunct girl group April in a video uploaded by the YouTuber on Sept. 16 [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Lee had been accused of bullying her peers during elementary school years in an anonymous post uploaded in 2020. The user later apologized and said that they had lied.

Lee was also accused of bullying Lee Hyun-joo, a former member of April. The girl group's agency DSP Media reported Lee Hyun-joo for defamation but the police closed the case because "it is true that such incidents took place."

Kwaktube said in the video that he "became sensitive" every time he heard about school bullying.

"I blocked you straight away but then I saw the news saying that you didn't do it," he said. "I shared a lot as a victim but I felt bad that I was hurting someone who was being mistaken."

A public campaign video created by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with YouTuber Kwaktube [MINISTRY OF EDUCATION]

Kwaktube took down the video and posted an apology on his YouTube channel, but the Ministry of Education took down a public anti-bullying campaign video that it created in collaboration with Kwaktube from the ministry's official YouTube channel.

The campaign video had been uploaded on Friday, encouraging people to observe their peers and report anything that seems suspicious so as to prevent school bullying.

The Education Ministry has not made an official announcement regarding the issue.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]