"But what's the reason?" Criticism of Empty Promises in the Trending 'One-Line Pledges' These Days

One-line and Short-form Campaigns... Can They Overcome Political Apathy?
"Only Promises, Lack of Prior Explanation"
Experts: "Policy Preparation Early in US and UK, Not Possible in Korea"

Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party, and Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party, presidential candidates (from left), are posing for a commemorative photo before the start of the 2022 presidential candidate invitation debate hosted by the Korea Journalists Association and jointly organized by six broadcasting companies at the Maeil Business Newspaper Media Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 11th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jung-wan] "Abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family."

On the afternoon of the 7th of last month, Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party candidate, posted this statement on his Facebook. Since then, fierce debates have ensued over these seven characters posted by candidate Yoon. However, some criticized, saying, "What is the reason for abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family?" and "It is disappointing that there is not enough explanation about the pledge."

Presidential candidates are using social networking services (SNS) to present 'one-line' pledges and 'short video' pledges. Due to the difficulty of meeting voters face-to-face amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they are putting all their efforts into competing through digital platforms.

However, there are criticisms that this format is not suitable as a form of promotion for pledges, which by definition are promises made by the government, political parties, or candidates to the public about what they will implement. While there may be promotional effects, voters criticize that it is insufficient to be considered a proper presidential pledge format.

The so-called 'short pledge texts' spread after Yoon Seok-yeol posted a pledge titled "Strengthen punishment for sex crimes, strengthen punishment for false accusations" on his Facebook on the 6th of last month. The post "Abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family" posted on the 7th received over 1,000 comments within 40 minutes.

Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, posted this pledge on his Facebook on the 7th of last month. Photo by Yoon's Facebook capture

On the 18th of last month, Ahn Cheol-soo, the People's Party candidate, also revealed a one-line pledge stating, "We will provide free transparent masks to children aged 2 to 7 years old (first grade elementary school students) who are learning and mastering the Korean language."

Short-form pledges delivered in videos of about one minute also followed. On the 8th of last month, candidate Yoon started releasing related pledges continuously with a 45-second short video titled "Electric vehicle charging fees? Frozen for 5 years" on his YouTube channel. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party candidate, also released a 31-second 'shorts' video titled "Hair loss pledge, sincerely" on his YouTube channel on the 14th of last month.

However, there is controversy over these short and impactful pledge formats. Kim Yoon-ho (21, male), a university student, said, "I was originally not interested in politics, but I came across it through the YouTube algorithm. It was good because I could easily understand the core points."

On the other hand, there are criticisms that the lack of explanation about the pledges makes it inconvenient to look up the background of the pledges. Choi Ye-bin (27, female), an office worker, said, "Just because the MZ generation likes short videos, if politics also presents pledges in just a few words like that, voters have nothing to judge. It is deceiving voters."

The MZ generation refers to the Millennials born in the early 1980s to early 2000s and Generation Z born in the mid-1990s to early 2000s. They are familiar with digital platforms such as smartphones and consume various online content like YouTube. However, there is criticism that presidential pledges, which are promises from the president, should show videos with proper explanations to the public.

Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the People Party, metaverse virtual space 'Poliverse Camp' (photo above) and Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, online platform 'Jaemyeong's Village'. Photo by each party candidate's homepage capture

Meanwhile, various controversies arise in the process of presenting pledges through diverse digital platforms. Since the pledges are posted online rather than in printed pledge books that cannot be modified, it is easy to add or revise content, leading to so-called 'pledge competition' disputes.

Candidates have each launched websites to continuously share key pledges, schedules, statements, photos, and videos. In December, candidate Lee opened the website 'Jaemyung's Village.' Candidate Yoon also launched the 'Pledge Wiki' site early last month. Candidate Ahn created 'Anflix,' modeled after the video streaming platform Netflix, on the 20th of last month. Candidate Shim also unveiled 'ShimSangJung.com' at the end of last month.

In the process, pledge competition between candidates Lee and Yoon heated up. When one side released pledges such as "Tax exemption on virtual asset investment income up to 50 million won" and "Soldier monthly salary of 2 million won," the other side responded with stronger pledges. This pledge competition, which emerged in a situation without limited space, inevitably causes confusion among voters.

Experts expressed concerns that short-form pledges do not allow voters to grasp proper information, and given that the current presidential candidates are among the most disliked in history, voter turnout may be low. They also predicted that presenting well-organized pledges could be beneficial for candidates.

Professor Jang Seung-jin of the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Kookmin University said, "It is good to find out what voters want and turn them into pledges, but the problem is that they exist in a fragmented way." He added, "It is also problematic that the big picture that ties these fragmented pledges together is not clearly visible."

When asked whether 'one-line and short-form pledges will be an opportunity to overcome political indifference,' Professor Jang said, "No." He emphasized, "Election campaigns are currently being conducted in a way that promotes political hatred on both sides. Among political scientists, there are many people who say they will not vote this time."

Professor Jang explained, "In countries like the United States, when elections are usually held in November, the party conventions are held in August to announce policies for the next four years, and preparations are made well in advance to create those policies." He added, "In other countries like the UK, such preparations start even earlier."

He continued, "In Korea, it is not possible to announce a fixed pledge book early. Candidates are decided too late, and since elections are conducted centered on individual candidates rather than parties, nothing can be released if the candidate is not decided." He pointed out, "This means there is insufficient time to understand how the candidate will lead the country if elected, which is a problem."

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