Unwanted 'Heo Kyung-young Calls' No More... Heo Kyung-young "Sincerely Apologizes"

"No Means of Promotion, It Was My Own Countermeasure"
"Claiming to Have Suffered Massive Reporting Damage from the Media"

Huh Kyung-young, Presidential Candidate of the National Revolutionary Party / Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] It appears that the 'voting encouragement calls' made by Heo Kyung-young, the presidential candidate of the National Revolutionary Party, which have recently caused dissatisfaction among some citizens, will no longer be made. Candidate Heo announced that he would "not make calls anymore" in consideration of the critical public opinion.

On the 24th, during a conversation with comedian Choi Kijeong on the YouTube channel 'Heopa Channel,' Candidate Heo said, "Dear citizens, I sincerely apologize if the frequent calls caused any inconvenience," and added, "I will not make calls anymore."

Regarding the reason for making voting encouragement calls recently through the Automated Response System (ARS), Candidate Heo claimed, "I have suffered tremendous media damage on terrestrial and comprehensive programming channels," and "compared to the exposure frequency of candidates from ruling and opposition parties, I have been subjected to media damage at a ratio of thousands to one."

He further explained, "Since the broadcasts do not cover me and I am not included in opinion polls, the ways to make myself known have evaporated," and "as a self-help measure, I chose to spend my own money to legally use phone calls as a means of guidance."

Candidate Heo said, "The calls are operated by an AI system," but also acknowledged, "I am well aware that there are some voices of criticism."

He bowed his head and said, "Dear citizens, I sincerely apologize if the frequent calls caused any inconvenience, and I will not make calls anymore."

Recently, some netizens have expressed dissatisfaction, saying that calls encouraging voting from candidate Heo come even during work hours. / Photo by Twitter Capture

Previously, Candidate Heo's side also sent voting encouragement calls during the April 15 general election last year. It seems that this time as well, calls were chosen as part of the presidential election strategy. Among netizens, these are called the so-called 'Heo Kyung-young calls,' which start with the phone number prefix 02-780, and when contacted, the message "Hello. This is presidential candidate Heo Kyung-young. How hard has it been for you lately due to COVID-19?" is played.

When the calls were first sent, it became a hot topic on social networking services (SNS) and online communities, with people posting so-called 'proof shots' saying "I also received a call." However, as time passed and the calls came too frequently, some netizens expressed dissatisfaction, calling it a 'nuisance.'

For example, on the 12th, a claim arose on the SNS 'Twitter' that Heo Kyung-young calls were even coming to emergency center work phones, causing disruptions to medical work, sparking controversy.

The tweet by user A stated, "A call came to the emergency medicine specialist transfer hotline work cell phone. On a weekend when I was extremely busy, I almost threw my phone," and expressed frustration, saying, "Mr. Heo Kyung-young, you are free to do PR, but if you call places like this, I will vote for you or not."

Another netizen B, who saw the post, appealed, "One weekend afternoon, within about an hour, 10 out of 15 phones in our intensive care unit rang with Heo Kyung-young calls," adding, "Patients don't suddenly get up and go home on weekends, and I was so busy and annoyed to death."

In addition, netizens shared their experiences of damage, saying, "When I worked at a vaccination center, calls came there too," and "Calls were made to the trauma center call center as well." Some raised suspicions that personal information such as citizens' phone numbers might have been leaked to Candidate Heo's side, as calls were even made to elementary school students who do not have voting rights.

Regarding this controversy, the National Revolutionary Party explained, "Since we contracted with a service company, we did not know that calls were going to external medical centers," and "We will consider improvements to exclude such cases, and it is absolutely not illegal collection of personal information."