Statements Immediately After the March 2022 Presidential Election
Mentions of Money Transactions Also Appear
The Democratic Party of Korea on the 11th released an audio recording in which Mr. Myeong Tae-gyun introduces methods of manipulating public opinion ahead of the general election. The recording includes ways to distort and disrupt party nomination-related opinion polls.
The audio file and transcript released by the Democratic Party contain content where Mr. Myeong explains a method of conducting opinion polls using an automated response system (ARS) to identify supporters of the opposing party, and then conducting an opinion poll on the day of the party's official poll to make the opposing supporters mistakenly believe they have responded to the nomination-related poll. The Democratic Party estimates the recording was made in early March 2022, after the presidential election and before the 8th local elections.
Mr. Myeong says, "When you run the ARS, you get a full list of who the opposing supporters are," and adds, "On the actual day it runs, can't we also conduct a poll?" He continues, "Then the respondents will say they received an (official) call. But would they really have received an official call? They just think they did." The idea is to conduct a disruptive poll first, causing supporters to mistakenly believe they have already responded to the official nomination-related poll, thereby lowering the response rate of the opposing party's supporters.
Myeong Tae-gyun, a key figure in the allegations of Kim Geon-hee's involvement in candidate selection and the illegal opinion poll conducted by the Future Korea Research Institute, is seen leaving the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office in Seongsan-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam Province on the afternoon of the 8th. Photo by Yonhap News.
Mr. Myeong likened the act of supporters responding to polls to boarding a plane, saying, "The plane should be Korean Air (the party nomination-related poll), but some people board Asiana (the disruptive poll), and some who received our call also board. When counting votes, what happens? Only half boarded Korean Air."
He also mentioned tactics to respond if issues are raised about interfering with the party's nomination process. He said, "When we conduct polls, if the media asks why they can't do their own survey, just say, 'There is a survey done by the central party on that day, but since they are party members, they don't know about it.'"
Additionally, the transcript includes a statement, "If you approve the payment well, I can teach you everything." The Democratic Party explained this as a reference to monetary transactions.
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