‘It‘s an excuse’ The sincere chatter was contagious
‘Pinggyego’ is a format in which Yoo Jae-suk chats with actors, singers, comedians, etc. It was launched on YouTube in November 2022 and currently boasts immense popularity with over 2.73 million subscribers.
It is famous for stars who do not appear on other YouTube channels or broadcasting entertainment programs appearing on it without any burden.
Of course, ‘Pinggyego’ is gathering attention because it is a YouTube channel hosted by Yoo Jae-suk, but the reason for its hot popularity is none other than its ‘sincerity’ that breaks down prejudice.
It‘s not just content made for fun and laughter, you can feel the sincerity of the guests, including Yoo Jae-suk.
This is clearly revealed in the recently released ‘2nd Excuse High School Awards Ceremony’ and the bonus episode ‘Punghyanggo’.
The ‘Excuse High School Awards Ceremony’ awarded awards in six categories, selected by netizens based on the number of views of the stars who appeared on ‘Excuse High School’ over the past year.
The awards ceremony that was released on the 22nd garnered attention because it was free of ‘attendance awards’ or ‘sharing’, which are problems with year-end broadcasting award ceremonies, and also revealed the award list (judges’ scores).
The awards ceremony was held in a space set up in a corner of an office instead of a hotel or a broadcasting station, and all the nominees gathered there.
Hwang Jung-min, who could not attend due to scheduling conflicts, received the Grand Prize, and 25 people including Cha Seung-won, Park Shin-hye, Lee Kwang-soo, Lee Dong-wook, Im Soo-jung, Jang Yoon-ju, Davichi, Lee Dong-hwi, SHINee Key, and Girls’ Generation Yuri attended, boasting a splendid lineup that is no less than any other awards ceremony.
Lee Sung-min, who received the Rookie of the Year award that day, said, “I’m at an age where life is getting languid, but after receiving the Rookie of the Year award, I feel like I have new goals and am more energetic,” and Lee Dong-hwi, who received the Grand Prize award, said, “I received a lot of comfort while appearing in ‘Excuse Me,’ and I will do my best to live diligently so that I can be reborn as a person who fully deserves the award,” and shed tears.
The same goes for ‘Punghyanggo.’ ‘Pinggyego’ spin-off content ‘Punghyanggo’ started from Hwang Jung-min‘s slip of the tongue.
It contained the content of Hwang Jung-min, broadcasters Ji Suk-jin, and Yang Se-chan visiting Hanoi, Vietnam with the concept of ‘No App Impromptu Overseas Travel’.
In particular, unlike the short content of 20-30 minutes, which is typical of YouTube, this long video of 100 minutes has risen to the top of YouTube’s most popular videos, and the four episodes released so far have boasted overwhelming popularity with a combined total of over 26 million views.
Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com
