Campaign Mailers Ahead of Local Elections Spark Fears of Wasted Public Funds

With the local elections just two days away, campaign mailers delivered to households nationwide are reportedly being left unopened. In one officetel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, one-third of the mailers in mailboxes were left untouched, and in a mixed-use building in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, almost all residents neglected their campaign mailers. Some unopened mailers were found collected in plastic bags, while others were pulled from mailboxes and piled up in corners. The campaign mailers, which were supposed to be delivered by the 24th according to election law, are being ignored by voters.

Over 30 billion won in taxpayer money is spent on sending out campaign mailers, leading to criticism of this waste of public funds. Due to their coated and heavily printed nature, campaign mailers are difficult to recycle and are mostly disposed of through landfilling or incineration.

Hong Seong-geol, a professor of Public Administration at Kookmin University, stated that campaign mailers are "completely analog" and need to be updated to reflect the times. He suggested the need for methods such as providing election information via QR codes or using eco-friendly, easily recyclable materials for the mailers.