[INTERVIEW] Are we utilizing political rights effectively?

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The Korea Times

National

Tue, February 7, 2023 | 00:52

Politics

INTERVIEWAre we utilizing political rights effectively?

Posted : 2019-02-22 17:46

Updated : 2019-02-22 17:48

Lee Hyun-seung, center, the CEO of Policy Bridge, talks with a group of people in their 20s and 30s willing to run for district representative elections. / Courtesy of Lee Hyun-seung

Policy Bridge head make people access easily to politics

By Jung Hae-myoung

These days it is easy for people to submit online petitions through the Cheong Wa Dae website on various political and social issues.

But before the website, there were efforts to connect politics and citizens, and Policy Bridge, created in 2016, was one of them.

Lee Hyun-seung is the CEO of Policy Bridge and Polbox, another platform, and has been devising methods to build a bridge between politics and the public.

"There was no platform that connected the political arena and citizens," Lee told The Korea Times. "Now there are websites where people can freely raise their political voices and policy ideas online, but portal sites used to be the only places where people could speak."

He started the platforms hoping to make political movements practical. Lee first got the idea while working at the National Assembly as a staffer of a lawmaker.

"The politicians in the party I was working for were passionate about gathering signatures (from citizens supportive of their policy ideas)," Lee said. "However, there was not much difference even with a million signatures. It seemed ineffective and I felt sorry for the people who gave us their personal information.

"So I wanted to make a platform that could really make the changes that people want."

Two other staffers, a designer and three to four lawyers gathered as a team.

"Startups in the political field are not a safe way to make profits, and even more so in Korea because lobbying is not legal here," Lee said. "However, we met a lot of people who wanted to give opinions but did not know how to."

For such people, he makes online campaigns to attract people with similar opinions and helps them put the campaigns into practice through crowdfunding.

In one case, he helped set up a law to prohibit zootomy at schools by receiving petitions.

"More than 110,000 frogs are killed for anatomy class and the practice is also significantly traumatic for students," Lee said. "We made a request to replace it with a teaching aid model, transferred the request to the National Assembly and (with some lawmakers submitting a bill) it was finally passed."

In 2018, he organized a group of people in their 20s and 30s who wanted to run as independent candidates for district councilors at local elections.

"Most of them had never been involved in politics," Lee said. "People from different fields, such as academics, bakers and even interpreters came. Regardless of the result, it was very good to see ordinary people running for the district councilor election."

The business started with a good cause, but it is not an easy path. Most people are not willing to "pay" to execute rights they already have.

"For YouTube, it can attract people with specific political orientations, so it can earn profit very easily," Lee said. "Our platforms focus on providing technology and service regardless of political inclination, so there are some challenges."

But he is continuing to bridge the gap between the public and politicians.

"Currently we are renewing the websites and developing a system to process information and data stacked up in the National Assembly," Lee said. "We hope such technology can promote sustainable development and give citizens a chance to express their political opinions more efficiently."

haemyoung.jung@gmail.com