Only a week to go before Koreans head to the polls to pick a new leader.
So many candidates.
So little time.
Many Koreans are still unsure who to vote for.
For our News Feature tonight, Lee Un-shin sheds light on developers and their products
designed to help voters learn more about the candidates and make a quick, well-informed
decision.
Koreans will head to the polls in less than a week... for a snap election triggered by
the impeachment of the former president.
During the short 22-day campaign period, the candidates have been hitting the streets,
bombarding the internet with ads and participating in TV debates -- all to flood voters with
information.
With five major-party candidates and eight more minor-party candidates, voters are spoiled
for choice, but with so little time, the choices can be hard for voters to sort out.
"When I look at the candidates' policies, they seem to lack structure, and some seem
too similar."
"I still don't know much about the parties, so I plan to vote based on the candidates'
individual pledges.
Still, there are too many different policies to compare."
"It's important to know the candidates' policies.
I rely on online news sites, but it's hard to tell how much of it is factual."
Korea is already on the alert for fake news, but false election stories are running rampant,
even though their dissemination is classified as a crime.
That's where this fact-checking website comes in.
"Anyone can create or spread fake news these days.
It's impossible to track every single one, but we can try to help voters get better at
analyzing and evaluating stories with the information on our site."
The site can check anything -- from rumors to news stories to the candidates' statements
-- based on input from over a dozen media outlets.
The dashboard shows how factual something is -- or isn't.
"Different media outlets may have varying degrees of political bias, but on our website
they all provide detailed explanations on how they determined whether information was
true or not."
With fake news debunked, how does a voter go about choosing the right candidate?
For that, voters can take an online survey designed to let them choose which policies
they like, without knowing the candidate behind them.
"Many young voters used to vote based solely on a candidate's image, or because it was
someone their parents favored.
But this site encourages people to make their own choices by showing them the policies first
and the candidates later."
After taking the survey, users find out which policies best match their priorities.
Think you've already chosen the right candidate?
Think again.
"Users might be perplexed by the result, which often shows a different candidate than the
one they had planned on voting for.
It encourages users to study more, because now they are eager to find out more about
this new candidate."
So now that voters can filter out fake information...
and can think outside their comfort zone to consider all candidates...
it's time to meet Rose, your friendly robotic election guide.
"Instead of having to search online, this artificial intelligence technology provides
condensed information.
It's just what voters need."
Ask her anything -- "When is early voting?"
or "Where is the polling station closest to where I live?" -- and she'll text you a response
in an instant -- be that an answer or a link to website for further research.
"We get all kinds of questions, sometimes including slang or vile language.
We had to limit her learning ability to prevent confusion."
Increasingly sophisticated services like these are helping voters do their research -- especially
in this critically important but short election season.
But the services work best when voters take a proactive approach to political engagement.
"The ideal voter engages in a practice of re-evaluation -- by researching parties' policies
and comparing them with their own values and opinions.
I can't stress enough how important studying politics, and making a habit of it, really
is."
Lee Unshin Arirang News.