[Edaily Starin Reporter Gim Ga Yeong ] Amid a heated debate sparked by YouTuber Kim Seon-tae—who rose to fame as the “Chungju Man”—mentioning the “You’re scary” controversy involving Won-i, a member of the girl group Lisenne, he has announced his departure from the web variety show “Don Seon-tae.”

On the 31st, Kim Seon-tae posted an apology video on his YouTube channel. “I guess I was too ambitious,” he said. “I wanted to try being the sole host on a terrestrial network, but once I actually did it, I realized it wasn’t easy. I lacked the necessary skills, and overall, things didn’t go smoothly.”
He continued, “There were also difficulties in communicating with the production team. It’s my fault,” and formalized his departure by stating, “I didn’t have a proper agency, but I’m not making excuses—my abilities were simply insufficient. I felt I lacked the ability to lead the show, so I decided to step down voluntarily.”
He apologized, saying, “This decision wasn’t easy. The responsibility of a broadcast station is heavy. They trusted me and gave me a regular time slot, but I didn’t have the ability to live up to it.” He continued, “I apologized to the CEO of Lisenne and to the Lisenne members as well. The members were the first to express their concern, so I’m even more sorry—twice, three times over.”
He continued, “This incident has given me time to reflect on myself. I even wondered if I had lost sight of my original intentions,” and bowed his head, saying, “I’m sorry for causing concern to those who felt uncomfortable and to our subscribers. I will ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Earlier, on the KBS web variety show *Don Seon-tae*, Kim Seon-tae was seen asking Lisenne member Won-i to clarify the “Ilbe” allegations that surfaced earlier this month. Won-i, who is from Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, had previously been embroiled in controversy for using the phrase “Museuno” on Lisenne’s own web variety show, which was interpreted as an “Ilbe” term.
Won-i explained, “I realized I need to be very careful with every word I say,” adding, “‘-no’ is often used in interjections; I was just using a phrase I’d always used.” Kim Seon-tae said, “I acknowledge that people may have different perspectives, but this was on the level of ‘unjustified criticism.’”
After the video was released, controversy erupted as some netizens pointed out that the production team of “Don Seon-tae” had dredged up a long-resolved controversy in an attempt to generate buzz for their new program, thereby inflicting “secondary harm” on the Lisenne members.
As the controversy spread, both the “Don Seon-tae” production team and Kim Seon-tae issued separate apologies.