South Korean Presidential Election Candidate Yoon Goes NFT

Key Insights:

• South Korean presidential candidates go NFT to woo young voters.
• Lawmakers have not only minted NFTs but also accepted crypto donations.
• The use of digital assets comes despite rising concerns over the use of NFTs and cryptos in illicit activity.

NFT chatter continues to dominate the crypto news wires this week. Digital assets and lawmakers have had a love-hate relationship in recent months.

While NFTs and the Metaverse offer tremendous opportunities, a marked increase in illicit activity has led to greater regulatory scrutiny.

Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine and concerns over Russia circumventing sanctions by way of the crypto market, South Korean lawmakers continue to show support for digital assets.

South Korea Presidential Candidate Mints NFTs to Woo Voters

Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative candidate in South Korea’s 9^th March presidential election, has reportedly minted images and videos to woo voters. The NFTs belong to the candidate himself and are a final bid to attract younger voters.

According to the report, Yoon plans to mint 22,329 NFTs on the AERGO blockchain. To date, Yoon has minted more than 4,000 NFTs, each with a price tag of 50,000 Korean Won.

Yoon is not the first presidential candidate to woo young voters with NFTs. Democratic Party candidate and rival Lee Jae-myung airdropped NFTs to campaign donors in February.

In January, ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee announced he would accept crypto for political donations. In addition to Bitcoin (BTC), supporters could also make donations in Ethereum (ETH), PayProtocol Paycoin (PCI), and several other cryptos.

Other Plans

Lee also announced plans to give NFTs to donors in his campaign. To ensure compliance with the Political Funds Act or the Public Official Election Act, donors would not be buying NFTs.

Instead, donors would receive memento NFTs that reportedly include a picture of Lee and his policies.

One key difference between the two candidates is their stance on North Korea. Lee supports diplomatic engagement and economic cooperation.

Yoon, however, calls on North Korea to denuclearize before there are any discussions on a peace pact or any economic support.