IU joins 'gold play button' club, reaches 1 million subscribers on YouTube

By Ko Dong-hwan

Singer and actress IU on Saturday posted a YouTube video to celebrate reaching 1 million subscribers.

The star, real name Lee Ji-eun, is one of a few Korean celebrities to reach the milestone after establishing the "IU OFFICIAL YOUTUBE" channel in February 2017.

In her latest video, IU, 26, boasted a gold plaque presented by the world's biggest video platform with headquarters in San Bruno, California. She then answered fans' questions selected from more than 3,500.

Her channel includes more than 300 clips of her concerts and rehearsals, behind-the-scenes of her music videos, commercials, shout-outs to fans and contents of her one-person YouTube broadcasting channel "IU TV."

The heroine from the supernatural drama series "Hotel Delluna" on tvN is one of the top Korean celebrities active on stage and off.

She has released more than a dozen albums, from mini to full-length, and 15 singles in Korean and several Japanese singles plus a "smash hits" album in Taiwan. She has also appeared in seven TV dramas and an anthology film "Personas" earlier this year.

K-pop star Lee Soo-hyun from AKMU, chef entertainer Paik Jong-won, former K-pop idol Park Joon-hyung and Taiwanese member of f(x) Amber Liu are among the few Korean stars whose YouTube channels have more than one million subscribers.

The most popular YouTube channel by a Korean is "JFlaMusic" featuring J.Fla and her song covers. The singer has more than 13 million subscribers, a record for a Korean.