The Korea Times

Vintage TV drama clip goes viral after ballot paper shortages disrupt local elections

A scene from the popular SBS television drama "Rustic Period," which first aired more than two decades ago, has unexpectedly resurfaced online following controversy over ballot paper shortages during Korea’s local elections on Wednesday. The scene, which dramatizes the infamous March 15, 1960, election fraud that helped trigger the downfall of President Syngman Rhee’s government, has been widely shared on social media and online communities since the Election Day disruptions. In Episode 121 of the drama, originally broadcast on Sept. 22, 2003, political gangster Im Hwa-soo, portrayed by actor Choi Jun-yong, is shown plotting to manipulate the 1960 election. In the scene, Im instructs his subordinates to stuff ballot boxes with votes equivalent to 40 percent of the electorate in favor of the ruling Liberal Party. One subordinate raises concerns that such a plan would require diverting genuine ballots from voters and asks whether citizens would simply tolerate not receiving their voting papers. Im dismisses the concern, replying that ordinary people would not understand what was happe