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Jun Jae-soo, the Democratic Party’s Busan mayoral candidate, speaks at a Kwanhoon Club debate held at Dongseo University’s Centum Campus on the 26th. Yonhap News
As the Busan mayoral race enters its final stretch, the campaign of Democratic Party candidate Jeon Jae-soo has launched an “Election Fraud Monitoring Unit” to counter illegal campaigning and the spread of false information. With criminal complaints and negative attacks intensifying between the ruling and opposition parties, the Democratic Party’s full-scale activation of an organized monitoring system is heightening tensions in the closing days of the campaign.
Ahead of early voting and the main election day on the 26th, Jeon’s campaign announced that it would launch the “Eurratchacha Jeon Jae-soo Campaign Election Fraud Monitoring Unit” and begin full-scale operations to block illegal campaigning and the spread of fake news.
The campaign said concerns over the spread of false information and smear campaigns have been growing online and across local communities, explaining that it has “established a 24-hour response system to take root a clean and fair election culture.”
The monitoring unit is composed mainly of lawyers, former civil servants, and former police officers. Attorney Kang Min-seok and Hwang Su-eon, former deputy chief of Jung-gu, are serving as co-heads, while the chiefs of 20 election liaison offices across Busan will serve as regional monitoring unit leaders.
The Jeon campaign plans to operate the monitoring unit along three axes: on-site, mobile, and online.
The “Alley-by-Alley Monitoring Unit” will conduct foot patrols centered on markets, shopping districts, and residential areas, focusing on monitoring the provision of cash or food, distribution of illegal printed materials, and smear campaigns. The “Rapid Response Monitoring Unit” will operate as a vehicle-based mobile system, dispatching to sites upon receiving citizen tips to secure evidence and support reporting to relevant authorities.
A separate online response organization, the “Busan Democratic Police Box,” will also be operated. It will continuously monitor social networking services (SNS), text messages, online communities, and open chat rooms to counter the spread of false information and fake news, and will pursue legal action when necessary.
Standing Election Campaign Committee Chairman Byun Sung-wan said, “This election is an important one that will determine the future of Busan, so no illegal acts or foul play can be tolerated.” He added, “We will create a fair election in which the choice of citizens and public sentiment win, not money and fake news.”
