Fake News Spreads Again... Rumors Run Rampant Ahead of the General Election

Early Voting Manipulation Rumors and Proportional Representation Cap Fake News
O Se-hoon Assault Hoax and COVID-19 Treatment Ban Claims Too

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] As the April 15 general election approaches, fake news is once again rampant. In particular, malicious rumors targeting certain political parties are spreading, causing the election atmosphere to become overheated.

The early voting for the 21st general election ended on the 11th with a record-high turnout rate of 26.9%. In this situation, some conservative groups such as the Fair Election National Solidarity (Gongjeongyeon) have raised the possibility of early voting manipulation. They have been putting stickers saying "No early voting X, vote on election day O" on utility poles, walls, and other places, claiming that "an unprecedented level of vote manipulation is expected in this April 15 general election." In response, the Central Election Commission called it "clear fake news" and filed complaints with the prosecution against Gongjeongyeon representative Yang Mo and five conservative YouTubers for spreading false information (violation of the Public Official Election Act).

Earlier, on the 9th, an incident occurred where a man wielding a weapon approached the campaign vehicle carrying candidate Oh Se-hoon, who is running in Gwangjin-eul, Seoul, but was subdued by the police and arrested on the spot. The man reportedly stated that he rushed at the vehicle out of frustration because "the campaign loudspeaker was too noisy." However, rumors spread online, especially in mom cafes, claiming that the incident was staged.

Democratic Party candidate Ko Min-jung in Gwangjin-eul also suffered from malicious news. A photoshopped image of Ko’s face combined with the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and posts claiming that Ko was involved in a pro-North student club during university circulated on social networking services (SNS). Ko’s camp strongly denied these claims, stating, "This is completely untrue."

On the 10th, a post by a doctor claiming "the government is blocking COVID-19 treatment" gained attention mainly on Facebook. A mid-career doctor working at a general hospital in Incheon posted under his real name that "tests are not being conducted, or rather, are being prevented. Until the election, the number of tests and confirmed cases will likely not increase." The doctor expressed surprise that his post had spread widely but declined to comment on the purpose of his post.

Moreover, fake news such as "there is a cap on proportional representation seats" or "if the threshold is exceeded, all votes become invalid" is also rampant. Recently, text messages claimed, "There is a 23-seat cap on proportional seats, and exceeding this results in wasted votes," and "In that case, giving those votes to the Christian Liberty Unification Party would increase the right-wing seats to 34 by adding 11 seats to the 23-seat cap." However, there is no cap on proportional representation seats in this election. This is clearly fake news that confuses voters.

In response to the indiscriminate spread of fake news ahead of the general election, the government has also announced strong measures. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, and Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young issued a "public statement," declaring that "fake news and opinion manipulation in cyberspace will be intensively cracked down on."

The police have also formed a "special investigation team for election-related offenses" since December last year to respond to various illegal activities related to the election. As of the 9th, among the 939 election-related suspects identified by the police, 255 were related to false election activities (fake news, spreading false information, etc.).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.