Troubled by Election Calls... Citizens Say "Fed Up"
Three Telecom Companies Operating 'Election Call Blocking Number' Service
"The phone rings like a morning call, and when I answer, it's an election poll. It's really annoying."
Mr. A, who lives in Seoul, tried to sleep in on his day off but was abruptly awakened by the ringing phone. However, what he heard on the other end was nothing but a poll recording. Annoyed, Mr. A hung up and tried to go back to sleep, but about an hour later, the phone rang again. It was another phone poll.
With the April general election just 60 days away, phone polls have surged, pushing citizens' fatigue to the limit. Moreover, as candidate suitability surveys for both ruling and opposition parties have intensified alongside general polls ahead of the election, it is common to receive multiple calls a day. There have even been reports of calls being made again after a certain period if the initial call was not answered. As a result, a 'sweet tip' to avoid polls has become a small topic of interest among citizens.
On the 8th, methods to avoid phone polls were shared widely on social networking services (SNS) and online communities, attracting much attention. Each telecom company operates a 'block election call number' service. By calling ▲SK Telecom (1547) ▲KT (080-999-1390) ▲LG U+ (080-855-0016), you can refuse to provide your number in the form of a virtual number to polling organizations. However, since there is a validity period for information provision, if the telecom company has recently provided your number to polling firms, you may still receive poll calls for a certain period even after blocking.
Many citizens also worry about personal information leakage due to the frequent poll calls. However, in the case of election polls, according to the Public Official Election Act, polling organizations conduct surveys after obtaining virtual numbers through telecom companies via the regional Election Poll Deliberation Committee. Each telecom company randomly extracts numbers according to gender, age, and regional ratios and provides them as different numbers from the actual ones, so personal information is not directly exposed.
Netizens who saw the post responded with comments such as, "I was about to get annoyed because of so many calls, but I will apply right away," "I thought I wouldn't need to set a morning call these days. That's how many calls I get," and "This is the sixth call today. It was really annoying, so this is good."
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