17 Korean celebrities with their own YouTube channels

Second-generation K-pop group Bigbang may be on a hiatus but comedic member Daesung continues to keep VIPs (what Bigbang’s fans are called) entertained. He first returned to the South Korean entertainment circuit when he was confirmed as a judge for MBN’s trot competition and survival music variety program, Living Legend. He remains active through funny antics on his YouTube channels. 

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On his first YouTube channel (@D-Lable), he flaunts his cooking chops and serves his celebrity friends. Meanwhile, on his Zip Daesung YouTube channel (@ZIP_DS), he would host familiar faces from the Korean entertainment industry, such as 2NE1’s Sandara Park, Bigbang’s Taeyang, MBLAQ’s Lee Joon, CNBLUE’s Jung-shin, Jay Park, and more, all coming together to discuss and laugh over just about anything under the sun over a meal.

It’s no surprise that when you tune in to Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon, you’ll also be getting glimpses of some of the K-pop girl group members. Hyoyeon’s YouTube channel (@Hyo_LevelUp) chronicles her casual and laidback meetings with colleagues, sunbaes (seniors), and hoobaes (juniors) from show business, including Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung, (G)I-DLE’s Miyeon, Apink’s Bomi, Chungha, aespa’s Ningning, and more.

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She also dives into other areas of interest such as conducting a dance class, learning how to shoot with professional Olympic shooter Kim Ye-ji, visiting a Buddhist temple to level up through mental discipline, and reviewing K-pop idol groups’ dance performances with dancer Bada Lee.

In 2020, Park Seo-joon received a YouTube gold play button (a creator award presented to those who have passed 1,000,000 subscribers) and it’s a well-deserved “win”. On the heartthrob’s YouTube channel (@parkseojun_recordparks), fans are treated to snippets of Park’s life behind the scenes such as mukbangs (eating broadcast), videos with his beloved dog, filming and photoshoots, and Q&A sessions.

See also: Park Seo-joon: 9 things you may not have known about the actor

At nearly two million subscribers now, the swoon-worthy Itaewon Class and Gyeongseong Creature actor continues to sweep his fans off their feet, most recently when he covered popular J-pop singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru’s evergreen hit ballad, First Love, during his fan meeting in Japan in August 2024.

With the addition of Girls’ Generation’s Yuri’s YouTube channel (@yurihantv), there’s definitely no shortage of access to the rest K-pop group’s members through her vlogs in which she documents their get-togethers and shenanigans.

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After attending culinary classes and training under a professional chef, she has been more than happy to embrace her passion for cooking through her videos, often sharing her tips and recipes. She then closes off her Yuri’s Winning Recipe episodes by sharing her homecooked meals with celebrity friends. Among them are Super Junior’s Siwon, Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany, Parasite actress Park So-dam, Wonder Girls’ Hyerim, and more.

As if having 27.6 million people following his Instagram profile is not enough, the Love Struck in the City star also has another outlet on which he shares his life in ways that the social media platform can’t. Fresh out of completing his mandatory military service in 2019, he launched his YouTube channel (@jichangwook).

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Aside from publishing content from his official engagements and projects, he also posts vlogs of working part-time in a convenience store, camping out of a caravan in the countryside, and his travels in Milan, Jeju island, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, exploring the streets and taking pictures like any other tourist–except, he’s Ji Chang-wook.

All four members of Blackpink have been making strides in their respective solo careers. The group’s singer and fierce rapper Jennie started her YouTube channel (@jennierubyjane) in 2021, offering insights into her laidback and mellow lifestyle–a stark contrast to her charismatic onstage persona.

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The Chanel global ambassador mainly focuses on her vlogs, covering her everyday essentials, self-care routine, bakery shopping tour, making mandu (Korean dumplings) with fellow member Jisoo, and recaps from her travels to various places including Los Angeles, Hawaii, Paris, Indio (for Coachella), New York (for Met Gala), Cannes, Tokyo, Sydney, and Capri, to name a few. If you’ve ever wanted to casually hang out or jet-set around the world with Jennie, you know where to find her.

Super Junior members Eunhyuk and Donghae, also known as Super Junior-D&E, the fifth sub-unit of the K-pop group, rolled out their YouTube project Hey, come here (@iamdongbaek) in May 2024. The content is presented in a talk show format, with the duo inviting celebrity friends from other K-pop groups to talk about shared experiences being idols and a part of the entertainment industry.

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Though their channel is relatively new, K-pop fans can expect pleasant surprises from their roster of guests–even those from “rival” agencies. Eunhyuk and Donghae have hosted idols such as BtoB’s Eun-kwang and Hyun-sik, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, WayV’s Ten, EXO’s Chanyeol, CNBLUE’s Min-hyuk and Jung-shin, Ateez’s Hongjoong and Seonghwa, Kara’s Gyuri and Seungyeon, (G)I-DLE’s Minnie and Yuqi, fromis_9’s Chaeyoung and Jiwon, and more to come.

Girl’s Day member and Reply 1988 star Hyeri is perhaps one of the more sociable and easygoing K-pop idols out there, never shying away from making friends and forging great relationships with the likes of Blackpink’s Rose, Blackpink’s Jisoo, aespa’s Karina, and Squid Game star Jung Ho-yeon. She reveals this on her YouTube channel (@IamLeeHyeri) where she showcases GRWM (get ready with me) videos and vlogs of her day-to-day, from mukbangs to babysitting, to working out and taking Blackpink’s Rose out on a dinner date.

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Hyeri recently changed her channel’s format to include Hyell’s Club, which features talk show-style content with prominent faces from the entertainment industry whom she hosts with ease. Among those who have appeared on it are Blackpink’s Jisoo, SHINee’s Key, Memories of the Alhambra actress Park Shin-hye, Epik High, SHINee’s Taemin, Le Sserafim’s Chaewon, Jeon Somi, and more.

Launched in 2019, EXO member Baekhyun’s YouTube channel (@baekhyun) isn’t updated frequently but EXO-Ls (what EXO’s fans are called) can still flock to the platform to get updates on his activities and schedules. The idol largely uses his channel for promotional purposes, especially when he’s about to drop a comeback (which includes videos of him recording in a studio, filming a music video, practising a dance choreography, or attending a photoshoot) or jet off on a solo tour.

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Occasionally, he would post vlogs of himself doing non-work-related interests such as visiting Hong Kong Disneyland, freely touring Kobe in Japan, and making jeon in celebration of Chuseok, though those are few and far between. Here’s to hoping that Baekhyun will be able to find more time to update his YouTube channel!

What's Wrong with Secretary Kim star Park Min-young surprised everyone when she started a YouTube channel (@justparkminyoung1847) in 2020, two years after the K-drama that catapulted her to international fame. Already popular in her home country, she’s known for her cute and bubbly personality, which is reflected in her YouTube content.

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The actress hasn’t updated her channel in years, perhaps owing to her busy schedule, starring in both K-dramas and Chinese dramas, but fans can still enjoy her videos in which she reveals her personal life. Get a glimpse of her life as she reveals what’s in her bag, takes an MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) personality type test, prepares for a bridal shower, drives around town and treats viewers to her very own “carpool karaoke”, and shows off her office and terrace for the first time.

With nearly one million subscribers on his film-focused YouTube channel (@leeminhofilm), Pachinko actor Lee Min-ho has been gifting fans with videos that reveal the other side of him. While he’s known as one of Korea’s OG Hallyu stars, Lee has other ambitions–he’s invested in producing and directing content, as seen on his channel.

Read more: 8 Lee Min-ho movies and shows you need to watch: ‘The Heirs’, ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’, ‘Pachinko’, and more

Whether he’s vlogging (or “movielogging”, as he would call it) on a trip to Los Angeles or taking his bike out for a night ride, each video is carefully and creatively crafted, and with amazing cinematic quality. He has also featured close friend Lee Seung-gi in LeeSeunggi X LeeMinho, a four-part series of short episodes that gave fans access into the lives of the two and their friendship as they dig deeper into who they are and what they want to be.

Like Tiffany, Sunny, and Seohyun, Sooyoung may have left SM Entertainment but she remains in a tight-knit sisterhood with the Girls’ Generation members. Sooyoung launched her YouTube channel (@thesootory) in 2019. Since then, she has been keeping in touch with SONEs (what Girls’ Generation’s fans are called) worldwide through various types of vlogs, ranging from her vacations or travels to cooking, to eating in and eating out, and even a short series of interviews in which she flexes her variety skills.

See also: Girls’ Generation: How rich are the members of the K-pop girl group?

Of course, no Girls’ Generation member’s YouTube channel will be complete without the appearances of their closest labelmates. Among them are Tiffany (quite frequently), Hyoyeon, Seohyun, and Yuri, as well as vlogs from group get-togethers be it for leisure (Tiffany’s birthday party) or work (preparations for Girls’ Generation’s comeback, Forever 1).

A household name in South Korea, Kim Jong-kook is a singer, actor, and entertainer whose name is synonymous with SBS’ Running Man, the longest-running Korean variety show. Although it was the popularity of Running Man that earned him regional (and later, international) fame, the Turbo member-turned-variety-star was already a self-made celebrity before that. In 2019, he held his first solo concert in nine years, which sold out in one minute. Two years later, his YouTube channel (@GYMJONGKOOK) went live, earning 100,000 subscribers in just five minutes and hitting one million subscribers within four days.

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A health and fitness enthusiast, Kim aims to “contribute even the slightest bit to help make Korea healthier”. He shared his workouts, tips on exercising, tours of other gyms, and interviews with athletes and actors. Additionally, he also uploads videos of his training sessions with other celebrities such as Twice’s Jihyo, Jay Park, Red Velvet’s Irene and Seulgi, Squid Game actor Wi Ha-joon, Bigbang’s Daesung, Got7’s Jackson Wang, Super Junior’s Donghae, and more.

More recently, he was invited to visit Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League director Zack Snyder’s private gym!

The first of the Blackpink girls to start her personal YouTube channel (@lalalalisa_m), Lisa has racked up a whopping total of 11.7 million subscribers since its induction. In 2024, she launched another YouTube channel (@wearelloud) under the name of the artist management company that she founded, which now boasts five million subscribers.

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On both channels, the Thai superstar keeps her subscribers abreast of her music releases and activities. Lisa’s personal channel, however, functions like a diary of vlogs that document her pets (she has five cats and one dog), travels (on tour with Blackpink and for her solo engagements), DIY projects, and dance performances.

Famed for being the “rule breaker” of the Korean entertainment industry, Jay Park is perhaps one of the earliest Korean celebrities to own a personal YouTube channel (@JayPark0425), owing to his early start in going independent and pursuing a solo career after leaving K-pop group 2PM in 2009. It’s undeniable that Park has come a long and far way since then–he’s thriving as a solo artist and the founder and former CEO of the independent hip-hop record labels AOMG and H1ghr Music, as well as the founder of the record label More Vision.

See also: From K-pop failure to signing with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation: How Jay Park found success in K-hip-hop

The channel is an extensive archive of the charismatic rapper and singer-songwriter’s work, cataloguing music videos, choreography videos, and audio videos he has made in the past 13 years, defining his legacy. Occasionally, he would share content from his tours and dance practice sessions, as well as from his vlogs series, Jay Park TV and OFF THE RECORD.

In 2019, Park released an 80-minute documentary, a four-part YouTube Original series titled, Jay Park: Chosen1. The introductory blurb for the documentary reads: “From his K-pop stardom, exile, and comeback, the series delivers Jay Park’s powerful story that chronicles his 10-year journey thus far, and what it means to be a successful Korean American in a culture that pigeon-holes its stars.”

Red Velvet member Seulgi’s YouTube channel (@hi_sseulgi_) went live in January 2024 and already she has amassed a subscriber base of more than half a million. Her reputation as an all-rounder artist with a knack for creativity and a keen eye for fashion is reflected in the content she uploads onto her channel.

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The K-pop idol doesn’t shy away from sharing snippets of her personal life or home, treating her fans to tours of her private living space. She regularly updates her channel, ranging from videos of herself lounging at home to makeup and skincare tips, to shopping hauls and fashion inspirations, to foodie adventures and after-work outings or vacations (the most popular one being her summer vacation to Yangpyeong with Blackpink’s Jisoo, at 1.8 million views), and challenging herself to new “firsts” and fun experiences such as surfing, solo camping, and driving.

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