Ruling Party "Vulnerable to Public Opinion Manipulation"... Full-Scale Offensive on 'Portal Support Manipulation'

Yoon Jae-ok "Election Manipulation Path Could Also Open"
Urgent Measures Needed Ahead of Next Year's General Election

The People Power Party is expected to actively pursue regulations on portal sites following the controversy over the 'click support manipulation' in Asian Games football on the portal site Daum.

On the 5th, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the party's floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly, "The support manipulation that occurred on the portal Daum during the men's football quarterfinals of the Asian Games is an important incident that brought to light the possibility of foreign forces manipulating public opinion, which had been heard as rumors until now," adding, "Since it has been revealed as an undeniable fact that portals are vulnerable to public opinion manipulation, urgent measures must be prepared ahead of next year's general election."

Earlier, on the 1st, when South Korea and China men's football teams faced off, the support site on Daum showed Chinese support at 93.2%, overwhelmingly higher than Korean support, raising suspicions of 'manipulation.' According to Kakao, which operates Daum, their internal investigation found that most access IPs connected through VPNs, internet proxy programs, and two overseas IPs accounted for 63% of total clicks. The proxy countries were about 80% Netherlands and 20% Japan, and Kakao concluded that macro manipulation was conducted through these two overseas IPs.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Floor leader Yoon emphasized that this incident suggests not just simple 'support manipulation' but also the possibility of election manipulation. He said, "Despite several macro controversies including the Druking incident, the fact that major portals in our country remain defenseless against malicious public opinion manipulation is a serious threat to Korean democracy," adding, "The more serious problem is that if support manipulation can be easily done like this, the path to election manipulation can also be opened at any time."

He further asserted that thorough fact-finding and institutional measures are necessary. Yoon said, "Urgent measures must be prepared ahead of next year's general election," and added, "Related agencies such as the Korea Communications Commission, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee should collaborate to devise institutional safeguards that fundamentally block election public opinion manipulation through news portals, online platforms, and SNS, and expedite the passage of related bills such as the 'Comment Nationality Labeling Act.'"

He also dismissed criticisms that the Comment Nationality Labeling Act, proposed by Representative Kim Ki-hyun in January, infringes on freedom of expression. Yoon said, "Some oppose this law citing infringement of freedom of expression, but public opinion manipulation through comments is precisely an act that infringes on freedom of expression and destroys democracy itself."

Park Dae-chul, chairman of the Policy Committee, also stated, "The Democratic Party of Korea is waving off the issue as a fuss regarding the support manipulation, but this is not something to be dismissed as a fuss," adding, "It has been a long time since a bill mandating nationality or access country labeling on internet comments was proposed. From the perspective of cyber security and to protect democracy in the Republic of Korea, I urge the Democratic Party to actively and positively participate in establishing at least minimal safeguards."

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