| A screenshot of “Jaeming,” a website with over 250 videos related to the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, launched Tuesday / Screenshot from 'Jaeming' |
Candidates unveil online platforms to appeal to digital-savvy younger generation
By Lee Hae-rin
Presidential candidates have launched online platforms and mobile applications for their campaigns to give voters a unique digital experience.
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Tuesday unveiled a website named “Jaeming,” offering plenty of videos and other digital content related to candidate Lee Jae-myung and his campaign pledges.
Like the globally popular streaming service Netflix, Jaeming offers over 250 videos categorized under “Jaeming original,” “Wiki Jaem,” “Pledge Jaem” and “Participate Jaem.” The website curates its content based on a user's selection of interests to customize the experience.
The videos on the website take a similar format to viral videos on YouTube and other new media platforms. For example, one episode of “Jaeming original,” titled “What's in my bag,” shows DPK campaign officials presenting their personal belongings and giving lifestyle tips.
Moreover, Lee's pledges and past political achievements are presented in “Jae-myung-pedia,” an episode in the “Wiki Jaem” category, while 1,000 supporters' stories ― in support of the candidate ― are made into an audio book. Flash games and quizzes on Lee's pledges are also available in the “Participate Jaem” category.
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) also launched the new website “Today's Yoon ZIP,” filled with digital content related to its candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and his campaign pledges. The name is a combination of Yoon's surname with the digital compression file format “zip,” which is also a homophone for the Korean word for home. In addition, the website name sounds almost the same as a popular Korean interior design store platform, “Today's House.”
The website displays several short video clips of Yoon's campaign speeches and major pledges, categorized under “Pledges collection zip,” “Pledges for my town zip,” “Ads zip,” and “Trend now zip.”
| A screenshot of a YouTube video explaining the People Power Party's mobile campaign truck tracking application / Screenshot from YouTube |
The PPP also launched a mobile app that tracks the party's campaign trucks in real time, Monday. The app, named “Power of campaign” which sounds similar to the party's name in Korean, shows campaign stops with the trucks' real-time locations on a map.
The app also enables users to apply to give a speech at the campaign trucks and sends push notifications and messages with updates on the speech request. It is the top-ranked app under the game and events category on Google Play Store, as of 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The minor progressive Justice Party uploaded a short video to YouTube featuring Sim Sang-jung speaking in favor of the anti-discrimination law, while the center-right People's Party launched “Ahnflix,” a website with videos about Ahn Cheol-soo, Wednesday.
Along with their digital activities, Lee and Yoon have also been airing campaign ads on television.
The DPK released Lee's first presidential campaign ad, titled “Dear people who dislike Lee Jae-myung.” In the video, a man narrates, “Lee Jae-myung is too talkative, too aggressive, comes from a humble background and has complicated family issues. Well said. We're sorry, but please think again.”
The narration continues, “We know there is a lote of hate (toward Lee), but we are asking a bigger question. Who can bring about the recovery from both the economic recession and the COVID-19 pandemic? A competent president who knows about the economy, Lee Jae-myung.”
The PPP released two TV campaign commercials. The first episode narrates, “The people raised Yoon Suk-yeol up, and they want to bring back justice and common sense and change today's hope for tomorrow.”
In the second video, Yoon is seen with a toddler taking a baby step, while a voice narrates, “People have raised Yoon up and people made his fight against the vested rights possible,” followed by a video of a cheering crowd.