Image: Word cloud of each candidate's social network accounts. Credit: Hankook Ilbo.
The most frequently used words of the two leading candidates suggest that the president-elect Yoon Seok-yeol 윤석열 spent most of his time attacking Lee Jae-myung 이재명, the Democratic Party candidate.
In a Hankook Ilbo 한국일보 analysis of the vocabulary used in the two candidates’ social networking sites from July to December 2021, the most frequently used word for both Lee and his rival Yun Seok-yeol 윤석열 was “Lee Jae-myung.” For Lee, the most frequently used words also included “economy” 경제, “real estate” 부동산 and “basic income” 기본소득, showing a focus on pocketbook issues.
In contrast, Yun’s most frequently used words included “Daejang-dong” 대장동, “investigation” 수사, and “Democratic Party” 민주당, revealing the emphasis on attacking Lee based on the real estate scandal. The same trend emerged in the two candidates’ speeches.
In CBS News’ analysis of the two candidates’ rally speeches from February 15 to 28, Lee Jae-myung said his own name 557 times and Yun’s name 27 times. In contrast, Yun Seok-yeol said his own name 45 times, and Lee’s name 98 times.
