YouTuber Gilbadak Reports Safe in Australia, Denying Rumors of Kidnapping and AI

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of world travel YouTuber Gilbadak has been brought to a close after he made a live appearance to confirm he is safe.

Gilbadak went live on YouTube on the night of October 22, stating, "It is not extortion or confinement. No one is locking me up," to let people know he was alive. This marks his first activity in a year since his last travel video in India.

During the broadcast, Gilbadak revealed that he is currently in Australia, not South Korea, and panned the camera around to show his surroundings at the request of viewers. When viewers expressed suspicion by asking, "Are you an AI?," he repeatedly answered, "I am not an AI," and clapped his hands to prove it was a live broadcast.

Gilbadak pointed to a post he previously wrote as the reason suspicions grew. When skeptical reactions appeared in the video comments, he uploaded a "survival report" post to the community, but explained that because he wrote it in a hurry, it ended up fueling rather than dampening the suspicions.

He explained, "If I had just written the post better, people wouldn't have suspected anything, but I think the issue was that I wrote it a bit too casually. I didn't even use periods." Regarding suspicions that he had changed or deleted Shorts titles or comments, he clarified, "Other than editing them at the time of uploading, I haven't logged into YouTube for over a year."

As for why he couldn't upload videos, Gilbadak explained, "It's been a little over a year since I came to Australia, and I've almost exclusively worked. Complications with my visa kept me overwhelmed." He added, "My MacBook, which got water-damaged during my travels, wasn't working properly, making video editing difficult." He further stated, "I was contacted by my mother in the morning, and then messages from acquaintances started pouring in. That's why I immediately turned on a live stream. I also asked broadcasting stations to take down related posts."

Finally, Gilbadak remarked, "I truly appreciate everyone's concern. It was tough when I saw some of the overly exaggerated reactions, but I will upload videos as soon as possible and plan to briefly visit South Korea around winter or spring."

Gilbadak has built a following by posting low-budget backpacking content, but had not uploaded any new videos since his India travel footage in May of last year.

 

(Photo: Yonhap News) (Reported by Kang Kyung-yoon, SBS Entertainment News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.