elect Unlike in 2002, Campaigners Fail to Attract Netizens
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
For the past several months, the nation's top Internet portals, Naver and Daum, have run a massive campaign to attract Web surfers with a special topic _ the Dec. 19 presidential election _ after the Internet played a decisive role in the 2002 race for the presidency.
They prepared bulletin boards and many other related sections for candidates and voters to exchange views, but have found Internet users not very interested in the online campaign this time around _ a stark contrast to the 2002 election.
Naver, the largest portal, launched ``Your Choice, 2007 Presidential Election'' last month with the National Election Commission.
The two organizations cooperated on the Web site to provide balanced information and a place for constructive debate on the campaign as they expected voters to flock to the Internet.
However, as of Nov. 21, there are only 120 postings on the site with an average of less than 400 viewers per article, a very small number given that thousands post their opinion on a single news article.
The situation is not that different for the nation's second largest portal, Daum, which joined the online services in July.
Daum tried to attract Web surfers in its special section by organizing contests of user-created content (UCC) with prizes. However, Only 70 UCCs were submitted to Daum in the last month.
Yahoo Korea also started a section for the presidential election last March and conducted surveys of candidates support rates. But the portal Web site hurt itself with criticism that the number of respondents was too small to prove reliable.
According to Rankey.com, which counts visitors to Web sites in Korea, about 130,000 people visited the presidential section of Naver in the first week of this month, while the total number of visitors to the portal amounted to 22 million.
Only 90,000 out of 18 million visitors to Daum stopped by its presidential section in the same period.
This means that less than 1 percent of Internet users of major portals visit the section devoted to the presidential race.
Internet Fever in 2002
In the 2002 presidential election, Internet portals and other outlets rushed to raise issues and attracted many voters to debates, and led public opinion.
For example, some portals reported major events such as the alleged evasion of mandatory military service by a son of Lee Hoi-chang, then the candidate of the major opposition Grand National Party (GNP), in real-time.
The so-called service evasion scandal played a critical role in preventing Lee, who had initially led the race, from winning the presidency.
Han Jong-woo a professor of political science at Syracuse University in the United States proved in his recent paper that the Internet was very influential in the 2002 election, particularly in favor of then candidate Roh Moo-hyun of the now-defunct New Millennium Democratic Party.
In the paper, ``From Indifference to Making the Difference: New Networked Information Technologies and Patterns of Political Participation Among Korea's Younger Generation,'' he said that Roh's victory was realized thanks to a high-tech campaign using the Internet.
``Without concerted efforts of Internet and mobile phone users who support Roh, the result of the 2002 election would have been different,'' Han said.
One of examples he suggested was the sudden increase in Internet users from the night of Dec. 18 night to the election day next morning on the news that independent contender Chung Mong-joon had withdrawn his support for Roh.
Supporters of Roh, who felt threatened by Chung's betrayal, were mobilized through the Internet and mobile phones.
Han showed as evidence that phone calls increased 16 percent on Dec. 19, 2002, compared with other Sundays.
However, the professor said it could damage democracy if a group of people are able to convene support through the Internet and influence a presidential race when voters are split.
Why Has the Internet Failed in 2007?
Experts said that indifference to online presidential competition reflects the reality as more and more people have lost interest in politics. The number of visitors to Web sites of each candidate in 2002 and 2007 support this rationale.
In November 2002, an average of 30,000 people visited the Web site of Roh's support group dubbed ``nosamo'' (www.nosamo.org) per day, while only 10,000 people stop by the Web site of ``love for Myung-bak'' (www.mblove.org) over the same period this year, even though GNP nominee Lee Myung-bak leads the race.
Another explanation of the Internet's weakened power in the presidential campaign is that portals are now so fully developed compared with the 2002 situation that Internet users do not pay particular attention to portals for the campaign.
``The year 2002 was time when portals grew at a tremendous pace with great attention from the public,'' Kim Dae-won, the official in charge of the GNP's Internet campaign, told The Korea Times. ``The portal fever was combined with the presidential race, which created the so-called netizen power.''
The 2002 election was very unique in terms of Internet influence, while the current situation of portals and other Internet outlets is now taken for granted, Kim added.
``People need to keep in mind that the Internet world is not a different world from reality,'' Kim continued. ``Internet users are the same voters with more virtual space in which to exchange their views.''
In terms of law and regulation, strict laws have weakened Internet portals' influence on the presidential election. A revised law governing elections now prevents political activists from conducting online propaganda for or against a certain candidate.
In the 2002 election, bulletin boards of Internet portals were covered with groundless rumors about candidates, which influenced the race. However, such a thing is totally outlawed for the 2007 election.
Article 93 of the Election Law revised in 2004 stipulates that Internet portals should not post any content, which supports or opposes a political party or a candidate 180 days before the election.
The United New Democratic Party (UNDP), whose standard-bearer Chung Dong-young enjoys relatively higher support from young people and Internet users, considers the strict law unhelpful for its campaign.
Chung Jin-wha, chief of the UNDP media and Internet team, said, ``The National Election Commission's regulation on Internet portals regarding the race is now too much, and what makes it worse, the GNP files complaints about bloggers who express support for the UNDP.''
Though the UNDP's ultimate goal is to revise the Election Law, it is impossible before the Dec. 19 election, she added. ``So the party will seek to provide protective measures for Internet users who want to express their opinion on the crucial race.''