Institute forInternational Policy Studies・Tokyo・助成

IIPS International Conference“The IT Revolution and the Transformation of Society”
TokyoNovember 5-6, 2003
“Spreading Electronic Elections:
Case Study of South Korea’s 16th
Presidential Election”
byDr. Younchung Chung
Senior Researcher
IT policy Department TeamNational Computerization Agency, Korea

Spreading Electronic Elections:
Case Study of South Korea’s 16th
Presidential Election

Chung, Younchung
National Computerization Agency
South Korea, 2003.11.05

I. What Is Going On: New Trends
II. NOSAMO and the Internet
III. Net on Political Sites and others
IV. IT and 16th Presidential Election
V. Toward Electronic Democracy

What is Going On?
• Changes in Tools to Mobilize People: Candidates side
-20-30years-old voters participation-Low costs for delivering info.&communication• Changes in Tools to Participate: Voters Side- Obtaining reliable customized info.on
1

(Continued)
Candidates-Participating public discussion andhaving chance to meet similar idea
and political support-enhancing power for voters to surf
political or electoral information.
-cost reduction, voter oriented electoral
campaign, overcoming financial dispa
rities between candidates
2

NOSAMO and the Internet• Implication- 1st Political Support Group- 1st Go to Voting/Public Mobilization for voting• Nosanmo & Presidential PrimaryElection- Starting support candidate Noh, Moohyun atthe primary election- Using the Internet Homepage for publicity &other activities
3

(Continued)-From a few people to over 80,000 members
at present-Foundation ceremony on the Internet broadcast(Ohmynews)-Facilitating voters’ interest in the primary andthe presidential election on 2002.

• The Internet as A Major Tool
- Go to voting: Mobile SMS(Short messageservice)- Publicity: Homepage(Nosarang)- Public discussion: Internet Bulletin Board4

(Continued)• What Has Been Changed ?
- New Korean Citizen Activism- Getting away from the mainstream gatekeeping process- Putting citizen political(electoral) agenda into
electoral process- Empowering voluntary voters and the public- Participating the electoral process throughSupport for a particular candidate
5

Net on Political Sites and others<Ranking of Netting on Major Sites 2003.05.25>
Politician’ssite

Daily newssite

InternetNews siteSport news NGO
site
site

Lew Si Min(,1854)

Korean I.com(12)Ohmynews Sportseoul
(50)
(10)

PSPD
(1,693)Kim, H. Oh Digital Cho UP(2,648)-Sun(23)(51)

SportchoSun(13)KFEM(2,272)

Lee,M. Ok(5,113)Presian(101)Sporttoday
(16)

KFT
(2,907)

Tanji IL Bo(106)

Goodday(25)

NGO Korea(4,635)

Joins.com(29)

Kim M. Suk Dong-A.
(5,482)
Com(37)

6

(Continued)• source: Yun, Sung E, 16th Presidential Election &Internet Influence, 2003
• PSPD: People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy• KFEM: Korean Federation for Environmental Movement• KFT: Korean Federation of Taxpayers• Internet & Political(electoral)
Info.
-Korean is more likely to depend on off-line
media rather than Internet-The Internet is less likely to deliver info. related to politics and public opinion formation
7

(Continued)<# of netting on Noh’s Electoral Campaign Site>
http://www.knowhow.or.kr
Date# of on net Date#of on netDate#of on net

11.21

133,862

12.04

239,88212.17

488,619

11.22

145,787

12.05

263,88112.18

668,61911.23

149,269

12.06

322,60712.19

860,855

11.24

160,800

12.07

334,12812.20

578,980

11.25

260,494

12.08

344,336

12.21

532,892

11.26

159,51412.09

403,25912.22

313,377

11.27

179,44212.10

348,550

12.23

314,72811.28

212,22212.11

372,608

12.24

276,725

11.29

175,50212.12

371,354

12.25

239,30711.30

213,192

12.13

377,88112.26

251,815

12.01

195,26812.14

331,424

12.27

228,133

(Continued)
12.02

186,015

12.15

370,20312.28

198,22412.03

201,45912.16

831,909--• source: The Millennium Democratic Party, 2003, White Paper of
16th Presidential Election, p.217• Outputs- Increasing # of Support and Mobilization ofgeneral voters- Increasing chance to express voters’
opinion through the net- Being easy to demonstrate political support
8

IT and 16th Presidential Election• As a New Electoral Campaign-Average # of off-line candidate public
speech in a day decreases* 49(1997)--Æ 3(2002 presidential election)-Spreads candidate public speech are in theInternet and TV(Cyber electoral campaign)-Increases the # of violation against electionlaw* # of cases violating electoral law on cyberspace: 203, cf. # of violating electoral law with bribe
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(Continued)• Popularity Ranks of Candidateson Sites-Posdaq Site(http://www.posdaq.co.kr)
during electoral campaign-Each candidate can be valued withstock pricecf) Noh Moo Hyun-> 22,000 Won
Kim, Gyun Tae-> 13,000 Won-The Internet and other multi-media(Internetradio) was utilized by both of thepresidential candidates.
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(Continued)• Mobilizing Voters Through Homepage-Internet TV and Radio was utilized toenhance interaction between voters and can-didates-Celebrities were participated to attract
Netizens into candidates’ homepages.

Attracting Financial Donation & Vol-unteers- Small Money for Cnadidate !(Similar to$ 1 forCandidatecf) No Moo Myun Homepage11

(Continued)<Fundraising Through the Net(by Noh, Moohyun)># of donators

Money donated(Won)

Credit Card

31,8991,329,876,426

Cell Phone

20,165

347,045,283

ARS

21,188211,880,000

On Line transaction

101,635

4,320,699,711

Happy Piggybank

22,042759,633,678

Happy Ticket

6,835

309,000,000

Sum

203,764

7,278,135,098

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(Continued)•

Source: The Millennium Democratic Party, 2003, White Paperof 16th Presidential Election, p.208

13

Toward Electronic Democracy
1. How We Can Mobilize Netizen?
-Provide multi-channels for them to create
new public discourse during election-Identify Netizen’s political interest and way topresent their interest during election

2. How We Overcome Generation Gap?
- Provide national program for getting rid ofdigital divide- Increase interest of younger generation inelection
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(Continued)
3. How We Make Candidate andVoters Equally Participate?
- Understand the Internet as a tool tobridge disparities between resourcerich candidates and poor candidates- Internet Donation System should beconsidered as one of the tool tobridge the gap.
- Provide Internet education for oldsand infrastructure to be digitally
divided14

(Continued)
4. How We Understand Internet as aTool for Strong Democracy?
- E-Democracy is an agenda to make people
More participatory- Election does not cover the possible public
participation, it is one of element.
- People may need to participate diversified
and various setting of participation, so called
daily-based politics.
- Electronic Town Hall Meeting, National
Peoples’ On-Line Panel, etc should be considered as a possible supplementary system
15Thank You For Your Patience !!