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When YouTube meets local politics:The ‘BBK scandal’ in

the 2007 presidential election of South Korea

Yeon-Ok LeeRoyal Holloway, University of London, UKHan Woo ParkYeungNam University, South Korea

AoIR annual conference16-18 Oct 2008, Copenhagen

Social Network Sites in National Context

Background (1)

• “Korea is a great laboratory of the digital age.” (Eric Schmidt, CEO Google, Seoul Digital Forum, 30 May 2007)– The country’s impressive level of technological

uptake– Unique evolution of online culture in Korean

cyberspacee.g.

• Naver > Google, Yahoo• NateOn > MSN messenger• Cyworld > MySpace, Facebook• Pandora > YouTube

Background (2)

• A liberal underdog Roh Moo-Hyun won the 2002 presidential election by 2.3% of the votes– A grassroots campaign force manifested through

Nosamo, an Internet-based voluntary association of Roh’s supporters

• The front-runner Lee of the conservative GNP maintained a wide margin in opinion polls throughout the entire election period in 2007– The media’s prediction in the early months of 2007

was that user-created content (UCC) would be the ‘next big thing’

The ‘BBK scandal’

• A few days before the election, a video clip released that contradicted Lee’s earlier statements denying any connection with BBK (i.e. a financial firm found to be a scam) and those of state prosecutors clearing him of any involvement.

• current electoral regulations prevent the distribution of such a video clip on the Internet in the 180 days prior to the election.

Article 93 of the Public Official Election Act

• According to the article, from 180 days before the election day to the election day, no one shall distribute or post materials containing support for or opposition to a political party or candidate, or materials showing the name of a political party or candidate with the intention of influencing the election.

• Examples of such materials are articulated as “an advertisement, letter of greeting, poster, photograph, document, drawing, printed matter, recording, tape, video tape, or the like”.

• The inspection bodies and enforcing authorities applied this article to blog posts and user comments made on news sites or Web portals.

The ‘BBK scandal’

Data collection

• Hyperlink analysis– URLs of the Web pages that either send a

hyperlink to the YouTube clip or quote its address in-text (every three days)

• Interaction network analysis– User comments and responses (436 items from

271 unique IDs)– Valued matrix and binary matrix

• Semantic network analysis– A content and discourse analysis of the comments

(420 items after data cleaning)

Findings (1)

• Targeted audience were Korean voters – The original contributor’s explanation– No subtitle

• The appropriation of the global social networking space for domestic political issues to circumvent the electoral law

YouTube users’ reaction to the clip

View Comments Favorite

11 Dec 651,381 385 80

14 Dec 838,428 497 99

17 Dec 907,305 522 107

18 Dec 927,962 532 108

Findings (2):Power law of contribution

Attitudes towards Lee MB

English Korean Others Sum

For 13 5 0 18

Against 134 111 0 245

Neutral 46 15 0 61

Others 79 27 3 109

Sum 272 158 3 433

Examples• 9 out of 13 comments by JapanEmpire explicitly supportive

of Lee– “GNP candidate and former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak is a

wealthy, experienced, and sincere Christian, I'm sure he doesn't lie like others. Also, he will be the second best president after Park Chung-hee of the ROK.Korea needs a great president with strong leadership who will really improve the economy and possibly eliminate corruption.”

• Seebuddy9 left 12 comments containing consistent messages against (and addressed to) the then candidate Lee– “Hey Mr. Lee! You are not qualified as Korean president. You

know why? Korean people saw your bottom of immorality. What about your criminal record in Korean police too. Now, Korean people fighting corruption against Mr. Lee and grand national party. The president of Korea should required transparency with strong accountability. That is reason you are not qualified. Withdraw your candidacy immediately!”

Attitudes towards Korea

English Korean Others Sum

For 8 15 0 23

Against 59 48 0 107

Neutral 99 59 0 158

Others 106 36 3 145

Sum 272 158 3 433

Examples

• 6 out of 9 comments by Danfrphils were of anti-Korean nature– “Korean citizens must be the dumbest in

the world. It's a sad statement that using this kind of untruthful mud slinging politics might actually work again in Korea. It worked 5 years ago. I hope we don't stoop to that level in the US.”

Interactional network through the comment facility – Lee MB

Interactional network through the comment facility - Korea

CONCOR diagram (Eng)

Word groups (Eng)

Findings (3)

• The diffusion of information and the political discussion further to the clip stayed within the Korean cyberspace bounded by the invisible line of language– cf. Irrelevant (and sometimes racially

motivated) comment under the clip itself

Further discussion

• Not exactly a “UCC election”– Clip released from the rival party– Unauthorised campaign efforts versus exercise of the

right to free expression (of political opinions)

• Context dependency of online social networking– Legal framework– Market dynamics– ‘Soft institutions’ such as collective-oriented value

system

• A case of non-technological contextual factors hindering the development of Internet culture?

Yeon-Ok LeePhD ResearcherNew Political Communication UnitDept of Politics & International RelationsRoyal Holloway, University of LondonEmail: yenn.lee@rhul.ac.ukhttp://www.yawningtree.net

Han Woo Park, PhDAssistant Professor Dept of Communication & InformationYeungNam University, South KoreaEmail: hanpark@ynu.ac.krhttp://www.hanpark.net

* Many thanks to the members of the New Media & Society Lab at YeungNam University for their help during data collection.