Home > National > 2025 Presidential Election

Heaps of pamphlets 'haven't even been opened' as Korea's campaigns move online

Published: 02 Jun. 2025, 14:44 Updated: 02 Jun. 2025, 19:30

Election campaign leaflets remain in mailboxes at an apartment complex in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on June 1. Residents in 11 out of 55 households had not retrieved them. [JOONGANG ILBO]

At an apartment's recycling station in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Sunday, thick envelopes from the presidential race piled up — most unopened.

“Half of them haven’t even been opened,” Ahn, the 75-year-old building manager, said while sorting through stacks of discarded campaign booklets.

The glue on some envelopes was still intact. Residents dropped them off on the way out without a glance. Election mailers, meant to inform, now go straight to the bin.

“These pamphlets have been piling up here since earlier this week,” Ahn said. “Some are even scattered in the hallways, and we’ve been getting complaints to clean them up. I’ll deal with everything once the election’s over.”

The dilemma over paper election pamphlets has returned with this year’s presidential race. As more voters turn to social media and YouTube for political information, the usefulness of printed election materials is increasingly coming into question — especially given that mailing costs alone exceed 30 billion won ($22 million).

Unopened election leaflets are heaped at a recycling station at an officetel in Gongdeok-dong, Mapo District, western Seoul, on June 1. [JOONGANG ILBO]

At an officetel in Gongdeok-dong, Mapo District, western Seoul, white envelopes containing campaign booklets jammed the mailboxes on Sunday, just two days before the election.

Of the 242 households in the complex, more than 100 hadn’t retrieved theirs. A similar scene played out in a building in Gangseo District, western Seoul, where 70 out of 115 mailboxes still held untouched election materials.

“I didn’t bother opening it,” said Kim, a 31-year-old who voted early on Friday. “I’m not expecting anything new from the candidates’ pledges. I made my decision based on debate clips and news I saw online.”

Lee, 84, a resident of Byeollae-dong in Namyangju, Gyeonggi, added, “I only read the pledges of the candidate I support and threw the rest away. The candidate breakdowns my friends shared in our group KakaoTalk chat were more than enough to understand who’s who.”

Mailboxes at an officetel in Gangseo District, western Seoul, on June 1 [JOONGANG ILBO]

This shift away from traditional election materials isn’t new. In a voter awareness survey conducted by the National Election Commission (NEC) in the run-up to the last presidential election on Feb. 27 and 28 in 2022, 34.5 percent of 1,522 respondents said they got information about their preferred candidate from “internet and social media.”

This slightly outpaced those citing “media coverage on TV, newspapers or radio” with 34 percent, while 24.8 percent named televised debates or speeches. Just 2.3 percent said they relied on printed promotional materials.

Candidates have also adapted. Beyond TV appearances, major contenders are now showing up on YouTube comedy channels.

Hong Jin-kyung invited presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung, Kim Moon-soo and Lee Jun-seok onto her YouTube show. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Last week, TV personality Hong Jin-kyung featured Kim Moon-soo, Lee Jun-seok and Lee Jae-myung on her YouTube show, “Study King Jin Genius.” Each video racked up 1.05 million to 1.9 million views and 43,000 comments within four days.

Viewers responded positively, saying the clips revealed the candidates’ “authentic personalities” and even helped them decide whom to vote for.

Given the cost of producing and mailing paper leaflets, some experts argue it’s time to consider more efficient alternatives.

Around 24 million booklets were mailed out for this year’s 21st presidential election, according to the NEC. Although the full budget is not finalized until after the election, the NEC said the mailing costs — excluding production — were 32 billion won for the last election and about 37 billion won for this one.

“It doesn’t make sense to pour money into outdated campaign tools like paper pamphlets when information is now accessible through so many channels,” said Kim Cheol-hyun, vice president of a local association of political commentators.

“Even older generations are becoming more comfortable with digital platforms. We need to think about how to deliver useful, accessible election information in a smarter way.”

Hong Su-yeol, head of the Resource Recycle Consulting research institute, echoed that sentiment.

“In a digital era, printed election materials become a massive source of waste,” he said. “A better approach would be to only send printed versions to voters who request them, while using email or digital formats for everyone else.”

Still, some caution against phasing out paper completely, citing accessibility concerns.

“There are many elderly voters over 75 who have trouble even finding their polling place,” said Chung Soon-dool, a professor of social welfare at Ewha Womans University. “We shouldn’t ignore the need for paper pamphlets, but we can start preparing for a gradual digital transition.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE SU-MIN,KIM CHANG-YONG,PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]