Social Media Campaigns Distort Public Opinion in Korean Electoral Process

South Korea’s political landscape has been consistently marred by scandal, with the manipulation of public opinion during elections emerging as a particularly troubling pattern. Recent investigations have revealed that both major political parties employed sophisticated digital tactics to sway voters in the 2012 presidential election, raising serious concerns about the integrity of South Korean democracy.

The Korean Broadcasting Service (KBS) recently published a series of investigative reports exposing how both the Saenuri Party (now the opposition Liberty Korea Party) and the Minjoo Party (predecessor to the current ruling party) manipulated public opinion during the 2012 electoral campaign. These revelations, coupled with the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) previously confirmed interference and the more recent Druking scandal, demonstrate a consistent pattern of democratic subversion in South Korean politics.

In 2013, South Korea’s spy agency admitted to conducting an illegal campaign to manipulate public sentiment in favor of the Saenuri Party during the 2012 election. The NIS created approximately 30 teams of officials and tech-savvy citizens who posted pro-government comments across social media and news sites. These operatives also worked to characterize the opposition as pro-North Korean, suggesting they would undermine national security.

Police investigations revealed that NIS employee Kim Ha Young created multiple online identities and made 288 interactions on politically sensitive topics on the Today Humor website, particularly regarding the controversial Jeju-do Naval Base and Four Major Rivers Project.

The 2012 contest was dubbed South Korea’s first “SNS election,” with Twitter becoming a crucial battleground. KBS’s investigation of 900 million Korean-language tweets from July to December 2012 revealed that both political camps employed automated programs to amplify their messaging illegally.

The Minjoo Party utilized applications like TweetDeck for automated retweets. KBS analysis identified 13 suspicious accounts, three of which were traced to Minjoo Party members. One user confirmed to KBS that they had employed automation tools to distribute campaign messages.

Not to be outdone, the Saenuri Party deployed a program called “Tweeter for Android” to disseminate content. The Sogang Right Forum, an organization with close ties to the party, used macro programming to send out messages discrediting Moon Jae-in while defending a controversial NIS employee. This particular message was retweeted 1,495 times through accounts all using identical software.

Professor Park Cheol-wan, former digital advisor to the Saenuri presidential campaign, described these as “retweet bots.” The investigation revealed that “Tweeter for Android” was actually a covert macro program disguised as a commercial application. SNS analyst Go Young-jin explained that this software enabled identical messages to be posted simultaneously across different accounts.

KBS identified 2,866 messages distributed through this system, with the accounts becoming active in August 2012 and disappearing the day before the presidential election. The Sogang Right Forum mobilized members to create these accounts. According to KBS, some individuals involved in these manipulation efforts later secured official positions in the election campaign and subsequently joined the Blue House staff after the election.

The problem has persisted beyond 2012. In 2017, the “Druking scandal” erupted when a blogger allegedly interfered with public opinion during that year’s presidential election. Kim Kyoung-soo, a Minjoo Party lawmaker and key aide to Moon Jae-in, allegedly conspired with Druking to manipulate comments on online news articles to benefit the Democratic Party.

Druking, manager of an online community called Kyunginsun, reportedly encouraged members to post pro-Moon comments and orchestrated negative campaigns against Moon’s opponent Ahn Cheol-soo when Ahn gained in the polls. A special investigation concluded that Kim had indeed conspired with the influential blogger to manipulate online discourse in favor of then-candidate Moon.

In response to these recurring scandals, South Korean authorities have intensified efforts to combat electoral manipulation. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) have strengthened monitoring of social media and websites, particularly targeting fake online accounts used for illegal campaign tactics. Major Korean technology companies have joined these efforts, with Naver banning automated software including macro programs. The KCC has warned that non-compliant online platforms will face investigation and potential shutdown.

There are signs these measures may be working. The parliamentary elections in April proceeded with notably fewer manipulation scandals, suggesting that South Korea may be making progress in safeguarding its democratic processes from digital interference.