Do you know the real reason the "Dubai jjondeuk cookie" is trending?
The short-form video by Lee Jin-hyeon, the Reform Party candidate running for district council in Gwangjin District, Seoul, starts with a question. The video highlights the popularity of low-priced items like the Dubai jjondeuk cookie that offer "small but certain happiness" amid an economic slump, and it examines the reality of Korean society where the burden of life has grown due to surging real estate prices. The video has now surpassed 3.4 million views, ranking among the most-viewed campaign content for the June 3 local elections.
Lee is not the only one. Short-form campaign videos produced by young candidates from the Reform Party are drawing attention online, with views ranging from the hundreds of thousands to the millions. A short-form in which Ko Jae-yun, who won the Reform Party's nomination for Dangjin City Council in South Chungcheong, addressed local issues and stressed, "120 days from now, I will work to normalize politics in Dangjin," has topped 760,000 views. Considering that it is hard for campaign videos by candidates of the two major parties to surpass 10,000 views, the Reform Party's short-form campaign is being seen as a success for now.
◇"Street interviews, not loudspeakers on campaign trucks"… candidates' short-form videos gain popularity
Jeong I-han, the Reform Party's candidate for mayor of Busan, is also regularly posting short-form videos featuring street interviews with Busan residents. The approach involves proactively approaching people on the street to start conversations and repeatedly trying to talk even at the risk of being turned down. Unlike traditional campaigning that focuses on riding a campaign truck to raise name recognition, this is differentiated by its focus on listening to citizens' stories.
Explaining why he chose this campaign method, Jeong emphasized, "Standing stiff and asking for handshakes while shouting only your own name is not politics. Real politics is ultimately about listening." He said, "You cannot hear the real voice of a community through figures or statistics on paper alone," and added, "For me, the very process of asking again and again for (interviews) to meet even one more person and hear that voice is politics."
The street interviews are being reflected in actual policy design. He said, "As you listen to each and every person, you see what we missed," and explained, "Hearing residents on hillside roads complain that 'we're drenched in sweat just going to work' led us to conceive a Busan-style electric Ttareungyi, and hearing a father say his children cried because caregiver fees were too much led us to create a Busan-style safe caregiver-fee support program."
On the spread of a youth-centered "media campaign" within the party, Jeong said, "Until now, young people were merely an audience choosing someone. Now young people must become candidates themselves and move as a group," adding, "We must show that when we come together, we can be a real alternative. When you breathe together with young candidates in the field, the energy overflows and new ideas spring forth."
◇"Say it and it becomes Shorts right away"… Reform Party leads new election experiments
To back candidates' "media campaigns," the Reform Party has moved to develop its own technology. Ahead of the June 3 local elections, the party introduced a "Shorts production program" to support content creation. Developed with participation from leader Lee Jun-seok and Assembly members' offices, the system centers on unedited, real-time production, with videos completed the moment a candidate speaks in front of the camera.
Beyond media campaigns, the Reform Party is continuing a range of election experiments. It accepts applications for nominations easily online and has introduced a "990,000 won election package" that provides promotional materials such as business cards. It has also built a campaign support system with tools such as an "AI manager" that analyzes candidates' campaign routes and pledges, and an "automatic accounting system handbook" that helps manage funds.
Political circles view these attempts as a new movement different from traditional campaigning methods. While the use of digital platforms in Korean politics has remained a supplementary tool, the Reform Party is being credited with bringing it to the center of campaign strategy. In particular, because candidates can spread messages in real time without separate production staff, some say it could bring change to traditional campaigning that has relied on money and organizations.
It remains uncertain whether the Reform Party's election experiments will translate into actual votes. Even so, this attempt to shift the production and distribution of campaign content to technology is a rare experiment in domestic politics and bears watching for its potential impact on future campaign culture.
Shin Yul, a professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Myongji University, said, "This approach can help raise a candidate's name recognition and can be seen as a strategically fresh attempt," adding, "Especially in the long term, as generations accustomed to short-form content come to make up the majority of voters, short-form-centered campaigning could take root as one direction. It is also efficient in terms of expense."
However, "whether this will actually lead to votes in this local election is a separate matter," adding, "And since short-form is also video content, there is concern that AI-driven fake news could spread. Legal and institutional safeguards on how to regulate and filter this should be put in place together."