An Instagram Reels video of People Power Party Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon meeting former President Lee Myung-bak at Cheonggyecheon has topped 4 million views. With the June 3 local elections ahead, politicians are actively using social media and shorts as promotional media, but content that draws this much attention is rare. Oh's campaign said its "SNS strategy targeting younger voters worked."
On the 15th, Oh met the former president at Cheonggye Plaza in Jung District, Seoul, and the two walked about 400 meters together while meeting citizens. The video shows the former president picking up a cigarette butt that had fallen into Cheonggyecheon and telling Oh, "The Seoul mayor has to take responsibility." It naturally connected to the restoration of Cheonggyecheon, one of the signature achievements of the former president's tenure as Seoul mayor. As of the 22nd, the cumulative views of Oh's Instagram Reels showing this scene surpassed 4.5 million.
In addition, a video of Oh criticizing President Lee Jae-myung's real estate regulation policy also surpassed 1 million views. The video shows Oh appearing in a broadcast interview and saying, "(President Lee Jae-myung) said, 'There is no need to control housing prices with taxes, and I don't think that should be done,'" and, "To suddenly impose tax and loan regulations and then tell local government heads to handle the fallout is absurd."
Unlike Facebook, because Instagram is used more by younger people, most viewers of the video were in the "2030" youth cohort. Among total views of the former president's Cheonggye Plaza meeting video, those aged 18 to 34 accounted for 72%, and the share for the video criticizing the government's real estate regulations was 71%. Over the past month (Apr. 20 to May 20), 18 to 34-year-olds made up 59% of total views of content on Oh's Instagram account.
A university student in her 20s, a person surnamed Lim (27), said, "I subscribe to Oh's account, and (Oh Se-hoon) is, after all, a name I grew up hearing," adding, "As someone born and raised in Seoul who spent my 20s here, I have felt many of Oh's policies firsthand."
A member of Oh's campaign said, "We are in fact targeting younger voters," adding, "We avoid mechanically posting content such as pledges or the candidate's schedule, and in addition to trying new content formats, we take political judgment into account for the substance as well."