Yoo Tong [YouTube channel 'Yoo Tong TV']
Yoo Tong [YouTube channel 'Yoo Tong TV']

Actor and broadcaster Yoo Tong, 69, said he is temporarily suspending his YouTube activities after developing facial paralysis.

Yoo posted a video titled "Get healthy and meet again" to his YouTube channel, Yoo Tong TV, on Saturday.

In the video, Yoo appeared with one side of his face visibly twisted and said, "My eye won't close and my mouth has turned to one side — I'm at a traditional Korean medicine clinic right now." He appeared weak and spoke with noticeably slurred speech.

A woman believed to be a family member, heard only in voice as Yoo lay in a hospital bed receiving treatment, urged him to rest. "You should not be doing YouTube — you need to stop painting for now too, and just focus on getting better," she said.

After the treatment session, the doctor recommended a brain CT scan, saying the cause could lie in the central nervous system.

Yoo had previously disclosed on MBN's "Teukjong Sesang," which aired in May, that his health had deteriorated sharply due to malicious comments and threats directed at his daughter Mimi. "There were threats to kill Mimi, and threats of sexual assault — I was trembling," he said, recalling the ordeal. "My tongue went stiff and I could not speak. All the strength drained from one side of my body, and the hospital told me I was at risk of a cerebral hemorrhage."

Yoo has worked as an actor and broadcaster. After the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion against then-President Yoon Suk Yeol in December 2024, he took part in a rally organized by Pastor Jeon Gwang-hun and the Free Unification Party calling for Yoon's protection, and later joined the party along with his daughter Mimi. He was also present at the Seoul Western District Court during the riot staged by Yoon supporters in January of the following year and defended the rioters.

Yoo has said he married and divorced five women a total of eight times and has four children from those relationships. He currently lives in South Korea with Mimi, his daughter from his last ex-wife — a Mongolian woman 22 years his junior.


paq@heraldcorp.com