YouTuber Wonji (Lee Won-ji) has issued three apologies following the controversy over the poor office environment, yet the decline in subscribers continues unabated.
As of the 9th, the subscriber count for Wonji's YouTube channel 'Wonji's Day' has dropped to around 980,000. Considering it was 1.02 million on the 21st of last month, this reflects a decrease of over 40,000. In a recently uploaded video, the ratio of 'dislikes' to 'likes' was nearly double, indicating viewers' ongoing disappointment.
The controversy began with a video titled 'Looking for a 6-Pyeong Office' released on the 20th of last month. Wonji introduced an office of about 6 pyeong located in the basement with no windows, where three employees were working together. Given that Wonji has always emphasized 'the importance of ventilation', fans were even more shocked by the lack of consideration for employees as an employer.
As criticism poured in, Wonji immediately made the video private and posted the first apology. However, the explanation that "the communication about the environment was insufficient" only fueled further backlash. Ultimately, the next day, he issued a second apology stating, "I lacked consideration as an employer. I will take immediate action to relocate the office."
Despite this, public sentiment did not easily calm down, and on the 4th, Wonji released another apology video. He explained, "I switched to remote work immediately after the controversy" and "I am consulting about shared office spaces due to my lack of knowledge about offices. This time, I am really being careful in my research."
Despite three apologies, the loss of subscribers has not stopped, and the comments on the videos are predominantly expressing disappointment.
Meanwhile, Wonji has appeared on the ENA variety show 'Earth Monopoly World Travel' and is set to join the EBS six-part travel variety show 'Hobby is Science Travel', which will premiere on the 15th.
