Abuse of Ansim Number Extraction Method... Widespread Manipulation of Public Opinion Surveys in Jeonbuk

Organized Acquaintances' Bill Transfer... Voters from Other Regions Receive Survey Calls

New Version of 'Landline Call Forwarding' in 2010 and 2014... Serious Public Opinion Distortion

As the local elections approach, controversy continues in the Jeonbuk region over manipulation of public opinion through the transfer of mobile phone bills.
The photo shows a campaign encouraging voting during the 21st general election in 2020. Photo by [Photographer's Name]

[Jeonju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Han-ho] #. Hwang, who lives in Hyoja-dong, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, received a request from an acquaintance in mid-January to transfer his mobile phone bill to Guim-myeon, Wanju-gun. The acquaintance also said that if a call comes from a polling agency, he should support a certain candidate who is being mentioned as a candidate for Wanju-gun governor. At first, Hwang was skeptical. Since his address was registered in Jeonju-si, he was clearly a Jeonju citizen, and it did not make sense that moving the mobile phone bill to Wanju-gun would result in receiving a polling call for the county governor candidate. However, on February 20, less than a month after transferring the bill, Hwang actually received a polling call for the Wanju-gun governor conducted jointly by a local media company and an internet outlet.

As the June 1 nationwide simultaneous local elections approach, new polling manipulation activities are rampant in Jeollabuk-do.

The core issue is that some candidates are systematically moving mobile phone bills to specific regions in preparation for polling.

Currently, polling is conducted by polling agencies that receive virtual safe numbers from the National Election Commission.

The Election Commission obtains safe numbers from telecom companies, and it is said that telecom companies extract mobile phone safe numbers based on the billing address within the respective city or county.

Regarding this, a telecom company official stated, “We cannot disclose the method of extracting safe numbers due to personal information protection.”

Understanding this safe number extraction method, some candidates are mobilizing organizations to transfer mobile phone bills of voters from other regions to their own regions, which is happening throughout Jeollabuk-do.

In particular, in Imsil-gun, Wanju-gun, Sunchang-gun, and Jangsu-gun, the transfer of billing addresses is reportedly being carried out systematically and extensively.

In Wanju-gun, it is reported that an executive of a company with close ties to a certain candidate even instructed employees to transfer their billing addresses.

The problem is that transferring billing addresses in preparation for polling is a clear manipulation of public opinion.

Residents point out that voters living in other regions within Jeollabuk-do, or even in the metropolitan area, participating in polls as voters of that region directly distorts public opinion.

This is considered by local political circles to be a serious illegal and illicit act comparable to the wired phone call forwarding scandal that caused a huge stir during the 5th and 6th nationwide simultaneous local elections in 2010 and 2014.

Wired phone call forwarding refers to forwarding hundreds of newly opened or unused wired phone lines to a specific candidate’s election office or mobile phone to boost that candidate’s support rate, which was abused as a representative method of manipulating polls.

As the transfer of mobile phone billing addresses has become an open secret among candidates, political circles and investigative authorities are reportedly closely monitoring the situation.

A Democratic Party Jeollabuk-do Provincial Party official said, “We frequently receive reports about candidates increasing their support rates through mass mobile phone subscriptions and billing address transfers,” adding, “If such illicit methods are confirmed through internal investigations, measures to prevent them in advance will be necessary.”

Jeonju=Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Han-ho stonepeak@asiae.co.kr