YouTuber Yu Kkaennip. [Yu Kkaennip's Instagram]
YouTuber Yu Kkaennip. [Yu Kkaennip's Instagram]

YouTuber Yu Kkaennip, who had spoken publicly about financial hardship following her divorce, has pushed back against online criticism accusing her of "poverty cosplay" after she revealed plans for breast surgery.

On Wednesday, Yu shared on her social media that she had visited a clinic for a consultation on a breast revision surgery she said she had "thought long and hard about," posting photos of herself at the appointment.

She explained that she wanted to correct a pigeon-chested appearance and reduce a size that she felt looked too large for her slight frame.

The disclosure drew immediate backlash. One commenter questioned how she could afford surgery when she had said she was working to cover child support payments. Others piled on with accusations of "poverty cosplay" — a term for feigning financial hardship while not actually struggling.

Yu had confessed on the TV Chosun program "X's Private Life," which aired in April, that her income had dropped to zero after her divorce and that she had gone months without any earnings. She said that while her monthly income had once peaked at 70 million won ($49,900), the irregular nature of a content creator's income had led her to take a minimum-wage café part-time job to secure steady money for expenses including child support. Yu married fellow YouTuber Choegogie in 2016 and the couple had a daughter, Sol-ip. They divorced in 2020, and Choegogie currently has custody of their daughter.

Yu responded by screenshotting the critical comments and posting them publicly, making her displeasure clear. "I work, earn money, pay child support and get revision surgery — is that really something a complete stranger should have such negative questions about?" she wrote. She added that she found it "curious" that people who normally paid no attention to her posts would "come rushing in like this at moments like these."


paq@heraldcorp.com