[Political Fandom]⑥ Politicians Struggling with Fandom Overload

Kim Seonghwan "Mediation Needed When Opinions Are One-Sided"
Cheon Haram "Must Remember It's Not the Voice of Everyone"

Editor's NoteIn Korean politics, 'fandom' has become an indispensable presence. There is even talk that fandom dominates politics. The Democratic Party actively utilizes fandom as a political asset, following former President Moon Jae-in and former leader Lee Jae-myung. Newly appointed People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon also secured party leadership centered around fandom. However, fandom is also criticized for exhibiting extreme behavior that causes political polarization and expands conflicts. We diagnose and analyze the reality and reasons behind fandom politics and examine the possibilities for change. ① "Han Dong-hoon is a tool" "Lee Jae-myung is qualified" ② Activities expanding beyond online and offline to YouTube and media ③ Buying books to raise lawyer fees and SNS relay sponsorship ④ Large numbers in 'Jaemyung's Village' VS high views in 'With Hoonie' ⑤ Supporters worried about 'fandom fear' ⑥ Politicians suffering from fandom

"Stop the phone calls and texts..."

This is a message left on personal SNS in an exasperated tone. The author of the post is none other than former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung. After resigning from his leadership position last month, he posted on his personal Facebook, "Constant texts and calls are not encouragement or support but cause pain." Even contacts containing supportive messages are felt as 'pain.'

Former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's post on his personal SNS on the 30th of last month. / Image = Former leader Lee Jae-myung X (X, formerly Twitter)

Excessive fandom 'cancels' (excludes) those who voice opinions opposing the politicians they support. Once targeted, individuals face criticism from an unspecified majority. Phones become unresponsive, and aides are overworked. Sometimes, to avoid criticism, people no longer express opposing views.

Gwak Sang-eon Steps Down from Party Position... Unable to Withstand Fandom Pressure

Democratic Party lawmaker Gwak Sang-eon resigned from his deputy floor leader position due to pressure from fandom. On the 2nd, during a National Assembly plenary session vote to refer the impeachment investigation of four prosecutors to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Gwak abstained on prosecutor Park Sang-yong. Park investigated the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case. The Democratic Party had decided at a party meeting just before the plenary session to support the impeachment of the four prosecutors as party policy.

On the 5th, Gwak explained in a statement, "I abstained because I thought the evidence was insufficient to judge for or against impeachment based only on the proposal explanation," but demands for his resignation as deputy floor leader surged, mainly from hardline Democratic Party supporters. On the 10th, a protest was held in front of Gwak's Jongno district office. About a dozen hardline party members, centered around YouTubers supporting the Democratic Party, gathered. They put up banners and waved placards reading "Gwak Sang-eon, wake up." The protest lasted over four hours. On the afternoon of the 10th, Gwak voluntarily resigned.

A 'condemnation rally' was held in front of Assemblyman Gwak Sang-eon's office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 10th. The photo is a screenshot from a live broadcast video at the scene. Photo by YouTube channel 'Jeongchi Hanjan'

Gwak's aides said on the 14th, "The lawmaker only told us he 'decided to resign,' so that's all we know." Among the Democratic Party floor leadership who accepted Gwak's resignation, some reacted, "I'm not sure it was a matter worth such a reaction." One lawmaker said, "I didn't expect this situation to escalate this much," and another, when asked about whether it violated party policy, said, "Honestly, we don't really know either," adding, "It seems to be because of the pain experienced by party members during the 21st National Assembly."

Text and Fax 'Terror'... Death Character (死) Flooded Cho Jeong-hoon's Office

People Power Party lawmaker Cho Jeong-hoon recently earned a new nickname, "Jo Doo-al." This nickname was given by the fandom of People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon. After the general election, when Han declined President Yoon Seok-youl's luncheon invitation, Cho said, "He should have met even if he had to take two Tylenol." This remark triggered a phone attack from Han's fans.

Even before the 'two Tylenol' incident, Han's fandom began attacking Cho after the 22nd general election. The trigger was Cho's comment on a radio show, saying, "Candidate Han worked hard in the general election and seems to have some health issues; I hope he rests well and recovers." Cho's aides said, "At that time, the office was paralyzed."

Cho was also attacked by the fandom of former leader Lee Jae-myung, known as 'Gaeddal' (Daughters of Reform). Cho's aides explained that the attacks from Gaeddal in February last year were the most severe. It felt as if about 200,000 people were contacting Cho's mobile phone and office phone. At that time, Cho, then a member of the Transition Korea party, opposed the special prosecutor law for First Lady Kim Keon-hee. The aides said, "During that period, papers with the Chinese character for death (死) written in black on white backgrounds were continuously faxed to the office."

The aides revealed, "Cho has two phones, one for work and one personal, but neither phone nor battery lasted more than 40 to 50 minutes." They also said that about 800 to 900 identical messages came daily from different numbers. The attacks from Gaeddal against Cho repeated when he called for a special prosecutor investigation into the Lee Jae-myung-related Daejang-dong case and when he joined the People Power Party.

"Not fandom but active expressers" interpretation and advice for "calm response"

Some lawmakers declared they would not bend their principles. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seong-hwan openly stated that he voted for Woo Won-sik in the first half of the 22nd National Assembly Speaker election, which was a contest between Chu Mi-ae and Woo Won-sik. Since Chu consistently led in surveys among party members, it was not easy to say he 'dared' to go against party members' wishes. In fact, many comments on Kim's Facebook post criticized him for "cliquishness."

Kim said, "I did receive many calls, but many were encouraging," and asked, "In any party, there are people who actively express their opinions and those who do not. Isn't it a good thing for party members and lawmakers to communicate more actively?" When asked if a lawmaker should mediate when party members' opinions are one-sided, he replied, "Yes. It's not something to avoid, and hiding doesn't solve the problem."

Cheon Ha-ram, floor leader of the Reform New Party, evaluated from the perspective of a third party, "Both major parties have excessive hardline fandoms." He added, "Most of those people are highly politically engaged, while moderate and rational political supporters do not voice their opinions much." He said, "Lee Jae-myung's fandom even calls me 'subak' (watermelon) despite being from another party. They are very sensitive," but also noted, "When I ran for People Power Party leader, I received about 40,000 abusive text messages from People Power Party supporters."

Cheon advised, "In any case, politicians must do their best to gain the support of the 'silent majority' of the people." He continued, "Politicians with fandoms should actively communicate first to prevent fandoms from operating in harmful ways or attacking other politicians." He also said, "For politicians without fandoms, it is necessary to always remember that fandoms do not represent the opinions of all citizens and to respond calmly."