Personality test enters South Korean politics
The conservative People Power Party incorporated the immensely popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test into its primary for the June 3 presidential election, with several candidates revealing their personality types for the first time during a televised debate held over the weekend.
All eight presidential hopefuls vying for the party's nomination were asked to reveal their MBTI types as a way of introducing themselves to viewers, in debates held on Saturday and Sunday.
Former People Power Party chief Han Dong-hoon, ex-Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok all claimed their type to be "ENTJ": extroverted, intuitive, thinking and judging. People in this category are often described as "natural leaders" and visionaries.
The candidates highlighted their natural leadership capabilities and goal-oriented minds, pledging to stick with and pursue the policy plans they have announced, if elected president.
Rep. Na Kyung-won and former lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja described themselves as 'ENFJ,' where "feeling" substitutes for "thinking" in the prior description. This combination is thought to have warm hearts, as 'the protagonist,' 'the giver' or 'the teacher' types.
Yang described her personality type as that of a 'warm leader,' saying she shares the same type as former US President Barack Obama, South African activist and former President Nelson Mandela and American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Na, on the other hand, said that ENFJ people have a 'strong sense of responsibility.'
North Gyeongsang Province Gov. Lee Cheol-woo said he was 'ESFJ' — "sensing" instead of "intuitive." People with this personality type are described as "caregivers" or "consuls.'
Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo said he took the MBTI test when he was running in the People Power Party primary for the 2022 presidential election, revealing his type as 'ESTJ,' which is believed to be the 'executive' or 'supervisor' type.
Despite MBTI being a big trend here, it is rare for politicians here to reveal their MBTI types to the public, or for a political party to incorporate the pseudoscience into major political events such as primaries.
Ahead of the 2022 election, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was the conservative party's presidential candidate at the time, stated his MBTI type as 'ENFJ' through a website promoting his policy goals.
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