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Japan Forward
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Forward
South Korea's Choice of Next Leader Crucial to National Security
このページを 日本語 で読む In South Korea, on June 3, voters will select a successor to impeached former President Yoon Suk-yeol. With less than a month to go, South Korea's main candidates in the presidential election have now been selected. Their campaigns will necessarily focus on how to end the domestic political turmoil. However, South Korea's foreign and defense policies also impact the peace and stability in Northeast Asia, including Japan. Hopefully, there will be a serious debate on issues related to national security. Kim Moon-soo, former Minister of Employment and Labor, was chosen as the ruling People's Power Party candidate on May 3. However, former Prime Minister Han Duk-soo, a conservative who served as acting president, also announced his candidacy as an independent. Former progressive Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, however, has been leading in the polls. His party is the largest of the opposition parties. Interest will now be focused on whether conservatives can unite around a single candidate to challenge Lee. Lee also has problems. On May 1, the Supreme Court of South Korea overturned a March Seoul High Court verdict that had acquitted Lee of charges of violating the Public Offices Election Law. Some observers believe that the Supreme Court ruling, which suggested Lee may be guilty, may cause moderate voters to turn away from him. South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-Myung (©Sankei) Clearly, South Korea's domestic politics are in flux. However, it is important to note that the security environment surrounding the country has also been seriously deteriorating. In 2024, Russia and North Korea signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty. North Korea's dispatch of troops to aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine has been justified, based on that treaty. It stipulates that each side will provide the other with military assistance in the event of a contingency. That increases the likelihood that Russia may join the conflict in the event of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula. It is possible that North Korea could attack South Korea at the same time that China invades Taiwan. This has also been pointed out. In the past, Lee has made statements like, "Whatever happens in the Taiwan Strait has nothing to do with us." He has also said, "South Korea should not get involved in a Taiwan emergency." However, to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, cooperation among Japan, the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan is desirable. Furthermore, Lee has made other provocative statements like "Japan is a military adversary" and the "US should withdraw [from the Korean Peninsula]." We recall with concern such past comments by Lee. They were not only anti-Japanese but also ignored the severe security environment in Northeast Asia. The parties that would delight most in a weakened Japan-South Korea and Japan-US-South Korea solidarity are none other than the autocratic nations of China, North Korea, and Russia. Both Kim and Han are trying hard to distance themselves from Yoon, but it would be undesirable for all of Yoon's policies to be rejected. The security cooperation with Japan and the United States that Yoon promoted is unrelated to his martial law declaration fiasco. Hopefully, the candidates will forthrightly attest to the importance of Japan-US-Korea cooperation.. Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun このページを 日本語 で読む
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japanese Cross-Party of Lawmakers Question Social Platformers on Regulating Election Misinformation; Google LLC, X Corp., LY Corp., Attend Discussion
The Yomiuri Shimbun Ichihiro Aisawa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Election System, delivers a speech at an in-depth cross-party discussion on election campaigns at the Diet building on Thursday. Ruling and opposition parties on Thursday began a cross-party, in-depth discussion to tackle election-related disinformation spread on social media and questioned operators of social platforms about what initiatives they have taken to counter it. Major political parties have generally been consistent in agreeing on the importance of creating some regulations and discussing the details. 'Disinformation is clearly spreading online and is heavily affecting voters,' said Ichihiro Aisawa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on the Election System. He expressed deep concern over the confusion caused by false and misleading information seen in elections across the country last year. An additional clause of the revised Public Offices Election Law, which came into effect on May 2, stipulates that 'necessary measures shall be taken' against disinformation, leading political parties to discuss the matter. Representatives from YouTube operator Google LLC, X Corp. and LY Corp. attended Thursday's closed-door meeting that lasted over an hour in the Diet. The operators explained their initiatives in three areas: monetization of campaign-related content, fact-checking and identification of social media posters, according to the sources present at the meeting. The three operators explained their initiatives at a similar meeting held by the LDP in March. In the materials submitted at that time, each company insisted that it has voluntarily had its staff, specialized agencies and artificial intelligence systems delete text and video content deemed to be false or harmful. Regarding monetization, LY said it would withhold payments if it confirmed violations of its terms of service, such as the spread of misinformation through short videos. These efforts were likely reported as well at Thursday's meeting to seek understanding. However, such voluntary efforts have limited effectiveness. Lawmakers who attended the meeting reportedly discussed issues such as account verification, methods for removing false information and possible deterrent effects of suspending monetization. 'There are two aspects to this issue: freedom of expression and how to control the spread of false information,' said Hiroshi Oogushi, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Executive Deputy President. 'This is a very difficult issue, but we want to achieve results.' He added that ways to fact-check would be further discussed in the future.
Yomiuri Shimbun
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Social Media and Elections: Outdated System / Social Media's Decisive Role in Mayoral Race Sparks Debate on Use of Internet in Campaigns
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Spectators take pictures of a candidate for the Nagoya mayoral election during a campaign speech in Nagoya in November. This is the final installment in a series of articles that examines the challenges faced by the nation's election system, which has been criticized as outdated. One Sunday in November last year, a week before the Nagoya mayoral election, a crowd of people were seen using their smartphones to film former Nagoya Deputy Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa's street speech in front of JR Nagoya Station. Hirosawa, 61, ran as the successor to former Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, 76, who had just contested the recent House of Representatives election. He was essentially in a showdown with Kohei Otsuka, 65, a former senior vice minister for the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. Otsuka was supported by Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura, 65, and a cross-party alliance of four ruling and opposition parties. Leveraging Kawamura's popularity with independent voters, Hirosawa's campaign posted numerous photos where he posed with Kawamura to X, formerly Twitter. They also allowed YouTubers to do livestreams from their campaign vehicles. With every successive speech, greater numbers of people appeared, smartphones in hand. And when the ballots were counted, Hirosawa claimed his first election victory, with 392,519 votes, over 130,000 more than Otsuka, despite the former senior vice minister's significantly stronger organizational backing. An analysis by The Yomiuri Shimbun using a social media tool from User Local Inc. showed a massive disparity in the use of X hashtags during the election, with the number of posts tagged #hirosawaichiro on X, including reposts, reaching about 145,000 during the election period, far exceeding the roughly 38,000 that were marked with the #otsukakohei hashtag. 'Our message reached voters because of social media,' said Katsuyoshi Tanaka, 41, who was in charge of online strategy for Hirosawa's campaign. Restrictions and changes While Japan's electoral system provides public funding for campaign materials, including vehicles, posters, political broadcasts and election bulletins, it also imposes detailed restrictions on campaign spending, vehicle numbers and leaflet quantities. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said that granting unlimited freedom could distort elections, and that certain rules are necessary to ensure fairness and impartiality. Online campaigning used to be prohibited, compelling parties and candidates to stop updating their websites during election periods. However, in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, an exception was made, allowing online publication of election bulletins for the benefit of people who relocated to other municipalities, boosting the movement to lift the broader online campaign ban. The ordinary session of the Diet began deliberations on revising the Public Offices Election Law at the end of fiscal 2012. According to election planner Hiroshi Miura, who testified as a reference witness in the Diet, there was a consensus between the ruling and opposition parties to allow parties, candidates and voters to use websites to solicit votes for specific candidates. However, discussions regarding the lifting of the ban on using email to solicit votes were contentious. To prevent mass sending of one-sided slanderous emails, they decided to allow only parties and candidates to use email to campaign, but not voters. Meanwhile, because social media accounts were at that time primarily used like campaign homepages, made for users to access and view of their own volition, these services fell under the category of 'websites, etc.' and were not subject to regulation. 'Social media was not very prominent in the political world at the time, and people had no idea that it would come to be used as a means of mass dissemination the way it is now,' Miura said. Transforming elections 'The lifting of the online campaign ban transformed elections by allowing voters to participate in campaigns,' said Prof. Harumichi Yuasa of Meiji University, who is knowledgeable in electoral systems. Candidates in elections prior to this had campaigned throughout their constituencies distributing leaflets and making speeches to gain and spread support. With the online campaign ban lifted, it became possible for voters to take part in election campaigns by doing things like recording and sharing street speeches. Video sharing services, including short-video sites allowing clips ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes, were perfectly suited to this. Social media became a powerful weapon for candidates without organizational or financial power. But the one-sided delivery of election-related information to unknown masses of people through smartphones led to the proliferation of extreme and unverified information on social media as users sought to attract attention. There have been a series of cases going beyond the bounds of what was envisioned by the law, such as people taking advantage of existing election systems, like political broadcasts, for their businesses or using social media to attack others. The Public Offices Election Law includes language to the effect that efforts must be made to ensure that the internet and other tools are used properly, in ways that do not impair the fairness of elections. 'The reality is that actions that run counter to this principle are now left unaddressed. Parties, voters and the government must make continuous efforts to safeguard fair and impartial elections,' Yuasa said.
Yomiuri Shimbun
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Social Media and Elections: Outdated System / Social Media's Decisive Role in Mayoral Race Sparks Debate on Use of Internet in Campaigns; Politics Experts Say Current Laws Leave Huge Potential for Abu
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Spectators take pictures of a candidate for the Nagoya mayoral election during a campaign speech in Nagoya in November. This is the final installment in a series of articles that examines the challenges faced by the nation's election system, which has been criticized as outdated. One Sunday in November last year, a week before the Nagoya mayoral election, a crowd of people were seen using their smartphones to film former Nagoya Deputy Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa's street speech in front of JR Nagoya Station. Hirosawa, 61, ran as the successor to former Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, 76, who had just contested the recent House of Representatives election. He was essentially in a showdown with Kohei Otsuka, 65, a former senior vice minister for the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. Otsuka was supported by Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura, 65, and a cross-party alliance of four ruling and opposition parties. Leveraging Kawamura's popularity with independent voters, Hirosawa's campaign posted numerous photos where he posed with Kawamura to X, formerly Twitter. They also allowed YouTubers to do livestreams from their campaign vehicles. With every successive speech, greater numbers of people appeared, smartphones in hand. And when the ballots were counted, Hirosawa claimed his first election victory, with 392,519 votes, over 130,000 more than Otsuka, despite the former senior vice minister's significantly stronger organizational backing. An analysis by The Yomiuri Shimbun using a social media tool from User Local Inc. showed a massive disparity in the use of X hashtags during the election, with the number of posts tagged #hirosawaichiro on X, including reposts, reaching about 145,000 during the election period, far exceeding the roughly 38,000 that were marked with the #otsukakohei hashtag. 'Our message reached voters because of social media,' said Katsuyoshi Tanaka, 41, who was in charge of online strategy for Hirosawa's campaign. Restrictions and changes While Japan's electoral system provides public funding for campaign materials, including vehicles, posters, political broadcasts and election bulletins, it also imposes detailed restrictions on campaign spending, vehicle numbers and leaflet quantities. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said that granting unlimited freedom could distort elections, and that certain rules are necessary to ensure fairness and impartiality. Online campaigning used to be prohibited, compelling parties and candidates to stop updating their websites during election periods. However, in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, an exception was made, allowing online publication of election bulletins for the benefit of people who relocated to other municipalities, boosting the movement to lift the broader online campaign ban. The ordinary session of the Diet began deliberations on revising the Public Offices Election Law at the end of fiscal 2012. According to election planner Hiroshi Miura, who testified as a reference witness in the Diet, there was a consensus between the ruling and opposition parties to allow parties, candidates and voters to use websites to solicit votes for specific candidates. However, discussions regarding the lifting of the ban on using email to solicit votes were contentious. To prevent mass sending of one-sided slanderous emails, they decided to allow only parties and candidates to use email to campaign, but not voters. Meanwhile, because social media accounts were at that time primarily used like campaign homepages, made for users to access and view of their own volition, these services fell under the category of 'websites, etc.' and were not subject to regulation. 'Social media was not very prominent in the political world at the time, and people had no idea that it would come to be used as a means of mass dissemination the way it is now,' Miura said. Transforming elections 'The lifting of the online campaign ban transformed elections by allowing voters to participate in campaigns,' said Prof. Harumichi Yuasa of Meiji University, who is knowledgeable in electoral systems. Candidates in elections prior to this had campaigned throughout their constituencies distributing leaflets and making speeches to gain and spread support. With the online campaign ban lifted, it became possible for voters to take part in election campaigns by doing things like recording and sharing street speeches. Video sharing services, including short-video sites allowing clips ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes, were perfectly suited to this. Social media became a powerful weapon for candidates without organizational or financial power. But the one-sided delivery of election-related information to unknown masses of people through smartphones led to the proliferation of extreme and unverified information on social media as users sought to attract attention. There have been a series of cases going beyond the bounds of what was envisioned by the law, such as people taking advantage of existing election systems, like political broadcasts, for their businesses or using social media to attack others. The Public Offices Election Law includes language to the effect that efforts must be made to ensure that the internet and other tools are used properly, in ways that do not impair the fairness of elections. 'The reality is that actions that run counter to this principle are now left unaddressed. Parties, voters and the government must make continuous efforts to safeguard fair and impartial elections,' Yuasa said.
Yomiuri Shimbun
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Social Media and Elections: Outdated System / Surrogate Candidates Threaten Fairness of Japan's Elections, Causing Local Govts to Lose Patience
This is the fourth installment in a series that examines the challenges faced by the nation's election system, which has been criticized as outdated. *** 'As a candidate, I will seek to be elected.' This is the sort of oath that candidates running for the Tottori-Shimane constituency in the House of Councillors election this summer must now submit, after a decision by the joint election commission for Tottori and Shimane prefectures. Though the oath seems to state the obvious, officials decided on the measure to prevent so-called double-horsepower campaigning, according to the commission's director general. In double-horsepower campaigning, candidates run in elections not to win, but to help another candidate secure victory. The Public Offices Election Law limits the number of election campaign cars and flyers per candidate. Double-horsepower campaigning effectively doubles the amount of resources for a candidate, threatening the fairness of elections. Swaying the Hyogo election Double-horsepower campaigning was a prominent part of the Hyogo gubernatorial election in November, which was won by Gov. Motohiko Saito. The election was held after a whistleblower accused the governor of using his position to commit misconduct, such as harassment of others in the workplace, also called power harassment. The Hyogo prefectural assembly passed a no-confidence motion against Saito, who subsequently lost his position. In the gubernatorial election that followed, Takashi Tachibana, leader of the NHK Party political group, became a candidate. 'I will offer legally valid support for Mr. Saito,' he said. After Saito would deliver a speech, Tachibana would show up and tell those still left in the audience that Saito had never requested gifts or engaged in power harassment, and that TV stations were attempting to brainwash people. A third-party panel, which investigated the allegations against Saito, reported in March that it had found 10 cases of power harassment by the governor. Although the panel did not find any illegality in the alleged acceptance of gifts, it asserted that it was generally true that he had brought back many local products he received during his work trips. In the latter half of the election campaign, from Nov. 8 to 16, Saito's team posted advance notices on X about street canvassing at 40 locations. On eight of these days, Tachibana scheduled his election campaigning to take place at 16 locations that seemed to track Saito's schedule. He was in Tokyo for one day to see Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was meeting with parliamentary groups in the Diet building. 'I wanted to know what was true about the allegations against Mr. Saito, and Mr. Tachibana gave me the answers,' said a woman in her 60s who supports the Hyogo governor. On a given day during the campaign period, posts on X referring to Saito and Tachibana outnumbered by about 80% to 820% those referencing former Amagasaki City Mayor Kazumi Inamura, who was running against Saito, according to analysis by University of Tokyo Prof. Fujio Toriumi. On seven of the 17 days in the campaign period, posts touching on Tachibana alone exceeded those referring to Inamura. 'Tachibana is an influencer who has a large number of followers,' said a person who was close with the Inamura team. 'I believe he significantly impacted the election results.' Dubious legality When Tachibana announced his candidacy for the Chiba gubernatorial election in March, he did not seek support for himself. Instead, he indicated he would back Gov. Toshihito Kumagai. But he withdrew because Kumagai said his support would be 'unwelcome.' During the election campaign, Tachibana gave roadside speeches outside Chiba Prefecture, such as in Hyogo and Osaka prefectures, and continued to relate his own theories about the problems in Hyogo Prefecture, which were unrelated to the gubernatorial election. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has noted that surrogate candidacies may be against the Public Offices Election Law, since it limits the number of election campaign cars and flyers per candidate. However, the law has no specific clause banning the practice, and it does not account for candidates not seeking to win themselves. 'Double-horsepower campaigning obviously harms the fairness of elections and poses serious problems,' said Prof. Airo Hino of Waseda University. 'If elections continue to be conducted inappropriately, it will increase distrust in the electoral system. Effective countermeasures should be taken at the earliest possible stage.' Slow to act 'We must move quickly to determine how election campaigns should be run, and do so in a way that will satisfy everyone,' Ishiba said in February as he answered a question at the Diet. At a meeting of the election campaigns council on April 1, ruling and opposition parties agreed to give top priority to discussing how to handle double-horsepower campaigning. However, changes are not expected to be made in time for the upper house election this summer. As for the written oaths introduced in Tottori and Shimane prefectures, they are not legally binding. 'Individual constituencies shouldn't have to do this,' said Shimane Gov. Tatsuya Maruyama at a news conference on April 22. 'We're forced to clean up the mess caused by the failure at the national level to establish an election system.'
