‘Immigration to Canada’ trends on Twitter as South Korea elects president ‘K-Trump’
The internet was abuzz with pleas to immigrate to Canada after South Korea’s conservative leader won the elections
Election day in South Korea looked a lot like election day in the United States in 2016 when Donald Trump became president.
The internet was abuzz with pleas to immigrate to Canada after conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, dubbed K-Trump, was elected the new president of South Korea on Thursday.
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The newly elected president led many Koreans to flood Twitter with almost 16,000 “immigration to Canada” tweets, making it a trending topic throughout the day.
Former top prosecutor Suk-yeol beat liberal ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung by less than one per cent, making it one of the closest presidential elections in recent history.
Suk-yeol drew criticism throughout his campaign for making outlandish statements.
In July 2021, he lambasted South Korea’s outgoing president Moon Jae-in’s policy to promote better work-life balance that limits workers to 52-hour work weeks — 40 hours a week, plus another 12 hours of overtime.
“Workers should be allowed to work 120 hours a week and then take a good rest,” said Suk-yeol, adding the system should allow for more flexibility for those who need to work longer hours during peak periods.
