Who says government institutions are boring?

In South Korea, the typically not-so-interesting image of state-run organizations and local governments is getting a glow-up, thanks to a growing wave of meme-worthy content that they create.

Take Korail, the national railway operator. In a video on its YouTube channel, a real-life KTX train driver waltzes down the aisle of the new KTX Cheongryong train. Dressed in her uniform, she delivered a quirky dance to "Shooting Stars" by Bag Raiders. The clip has since gone viral, racking up over 3.2 million views and 68,000 likes.

“She’s an actual train driver?” said one commenter.

Another chimed in, “I can’t believe this is official Korail content!”

And then there were also people who playfully said that they were motivated by the video.

“If a Korail train driver, with a cushy, secure job, can put her all into this, what am I even doing with my life?”

Since the success of this video in April, the railway operator has been posting a number of similar fun videos.

Korail isn’t the only one.

Across the nation, local governments and state-owned firms are hopping on the quirky video bandwagon, crafting lighthearted and unconventional content to connect with new audiences.

One of the notable promotional videos is created by the Yangsan city government in South Gyeongsang Province.

The city uploaded a video on YouTube titled “Never trust anyone” which garnered over 8 million views within three weeks in November.

The clip is about a woman standing on a ladder, with a fearful expression, who says, “I’m too scared to jump into the job market.” A man standing below responds, “Do you trust me? Jump!” The woman hesitantly jumps backward, but the man turns away, offering no support.

As the woman's scream fades into the background, the man calmly approaches the camera and says, “You shouldn’t trust anyone. Trust reliable job information -- Yangsan Job Center.”

Pioneer

This trend traces back to ChungTV, the YouTube channel of Chungju, North Chungcheong Province.

The mastermind behind the channel is Kim Sun-tae, who is now arguably the country’s most famous civil servant. He turned the policy promotion into comedic meme videos.

Today, ChungTV boasts 763,000 subscribers -- more than double the city’s actual population. To put that in perspective, Seoul only has 217,000 subscribers on its official YouTube channel as of Nov. 28, despite a population of nearly 10 million.

Kim, who started his career as a ninth-tier civil servant -- the lowest level -- in 2016, has been fast-tracked through the ranks. In December last year, he was promoted to the sixth tier, 6 or 7 years faster than his colleagues.

Even the nation’s president took note. Earlier this year, President Yoon Suk Yeol gave Kim a shoutout during a cabinet meeting, calling his approach “fresh and entertaining” and praising it as a model of innovation.

Kim’s success has sparked a wave of imitators. Nearly 15 local governments reportedly cited ChungTV as their inspiration during administrative audits in June.

For instance, Paju city council member Choi Yoo-gak has urged their own PR departments to "find the next Kim Sun-tae."

Backlash

Not everyone is applauding these efforts by public institutions.

Critics argue that the humor might undermine the seriousness of the work state-run organizations are doing and the messages they need to send across.

"It's great to see the rigid image of government workers shift, but too much humor could hurt their credibility," said Lee Jun-sik, a 32-year-old living in Seoul.

Others who work for local governments feel the pressure to keep up with the trend overwhelming.

"Ever since ChungTV blew up, there’s this unspoken expectation for every municipality to create similar out viral content," admitted one civil servant, who preferred to stay anonymous.

Also, the term “Kim Sun-tae Syndrome” has emerged to describe the overabundance of meme-driven municipal content, with some saying it’s gone too far.

On the anonymous work forum Blind, one disgruntled user wrote, "It feels like every local government is just copying tacky meme content that doesn’t even land."