Parties clash over labeling nationality in comments

Jan 12, 2026, 07:50 am

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/ Song Eui-ju

South Korea’s rival parties have clashed over a proposal by Jang Dong-hyuk to mandate nationality labels on portal-site comments and restrict foreign nationals’ voting rights in local elections. The opposition People Power Party (PPP) argues the measures are needed to protect “digital sovereignty” and prevent manipulation of public opinion, while the ruling Democratic Party denounced the idea as “anti-China incitement” aimed at shoring up falling approval ratings.

In a Facebook post on Jan. 10, Jang claimed that “South Korea is under threat,” citing a case in which an account that posted more than 65,000 comments criticizing the PPP over seven years was traced to access locations in China.

Jang added that public opinion supports the proposal, saying surveys show 64% favor displaying nationality on comments and 69% support limiting voting rights for foreign nationals based on reciprocity. With the number of foreign residents eligible to vote in local elections surpassing 140,000, he said, “it is time to follow the public will.”

Park Sung-hoon, the PPP’s chief spokesperson, echoed the argument, claiming that so-called Chinese “comment brigades” go beyond political interference to disparage Korean industries. “Posting comments that say Huawei is better than Samsung and distorting public opinion amounts to a war without gunfire,” he said, urging the Lee Jae-myung administration to move swiftly to introduce the system to safeguard digital sovereignty. PPP spokesperson Cho Yong-sul also said nationality labeling does not restrict freedom of expression but represents a “minimum transparency measure” to block foreign interference hidden behind anonymity.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea, however, pushed back sharply. Floor spokesperson Kim Hyun-jung said in a briefing that the proposal amounted to “outdated ideological attacks and conspiracy theories,” adding that the PPP’s claims were indistinguishable from arguments made by far-right YouTubers.

She accused the opposition of “cowardly deflection,” saying the party was trying to blame external forces for its plummeting approval ratings rather than confronting its own problems.

#Jang Dong-hyuk #People Power Party #Democratic Party