Korean travel YouTuber Gilbadak held a “proof of life” livestream on his YouTube channel on October 22, putting an end to weeks of rumors that he had gone missing — or worse.
According to Korean outlet Ilgan Sports, Gilbadak titled the stream “생존 신고” (survival report) and told viewers, “I’m in Australia right now. I’m alive and well.”
He explained that the rumors began after he stopped uploading videos and left a casual community post saying he was alive but burned out; the post snowballed into speculation about threats and confinement. The scare grew so large that on October 21, SBS’s “Curious Story Y” posted on social media asking Gilbadak or his acquaintances to contact the show.
“I’m not being held hostage. I’m doing fine on my own,” he said during the stream. “I’ve seen the kidnapping claims — they make no sense. No threats, no confinement. Nobody is locking me up.” When viewers joked in the chat that he might be AI, he waved his hands at the camera and said no.
Gilbadak built his channel on low-budget backpacking travel content, but has not posted a new video since his India trip in May 2025. The channel has about 7,390 subscribers and 52 videos. A July community post attributed the hiatus to burnout from trying to make better videos — a post he now says was written too casually and caused the misunderstanding.
He indicated new videos are coming soon — and the SBS tips call that amplified the scare can presumably be stood down.
