KB News Desk
A YouTuber with more than 1 million subscribers has come under fire after posting footage of a fall at a railway station that showed a social service worker trying to help him in his wheelchair, but inadvertently causing him to fall.
Park Wi, a wheelchair user known for his advocacy work on disability awareness, uploaded the since-deleted video on Friday showing security footage of the incident, which occurred on Aug. 14, as he was getting off a railway platform on a temporary ramp.
According to Park, his wheelchair tipped forward after catching on the foot of a social service worker who was assisting him.
“I saw the foot, and my wheelchair tumbled forward because of it. My body was thrown out and hit the ground,” Park said in the video. “What angered me most was the fact that his foot was on the ramp, even though he clearly didn’t mean to hurt me.”
Park recalled struggling to control his anger at the scene, though the worker apologized immediately. “I could have been seriously injured, and because I have no sensation in my legs, I wouldn’t have even known if there was a fracture.” Park said hospital tests showed no fractures, though he still feels pain in his lower back.
However, the video drew heavy criticism, with viewers questioning how Park had obtained the footage and arguing that he should have thought more carefully before releasing it.
Many said that whatever happened, publicly airing the mistake of someone who had been trying to help him and who apologized on the spot was excessive, particularly since the video risked exposing the worker’s identity.
Park subsequently deleted the video and posted an apology on Saturday.
“I’m sorry for disappointing so many people with this video,” he wrote, adding that he had only thought badly of the mistake, without considering the social service worker’s effort to help him get off the platform. He said he had not thought things through and promised to be more responsible going forward.
Despite the apology, Park’s subscriber count on YouTube fell from over 1 million to roughly 992,000 as of Monday afternoon.
The controversy gained further traction after a comment attempting to explain why the worker may have acted that way.
“I am a train driver and most station staff and social service workers put their foot on the ramp to keep it from moving,” the comment read. “If you want to blame something, blame the ramp, not the person.” The commenter added that many social service personnel serve in the position because of a health condition or disability of their own.
Social service work is an alternative to mandatory military service in South Korea, assigning conscripts to public welfare and administrative roles instead of military duty.
Reasons for the designation vary, but the most common are specific health limitations identified during the military health examination. It has not been confirmed why the worker involved in the accident was assigned to social service duty.
Park was paralyzed from the waist down after an accidental fall in 2014 and has used a wheelchair since, building a YouTube channel focused on disability advocacy.
He married Song Ji-eun, formerly of girl group Secret, in 2024.
