Why are South Korea’s young men turning against Moon Jae-in and his ruling party?
- Unpopular housing policies and a backlash against Moon’s perceived ‘feminist’ agenda has seen support for his Democratic Party administration collapse among Korean men in their 20s and 30s
- Not so among young women, however – meaning victory for the opposition is far from guaranteed at the next presidential elections set for March 2022
But when Koo again had a chance to cast his ballot during the Seoul mayoral by-election earlier this month, the 30-year-old financial specialist shunned the president’s Democratic Party in favour of the conservative opposition candidate, Oh Se-hoon.
Koo is among the countless young Koreans who feel let down by Moon’s progressives amid a series of corruption scandals and policy failures, including tighter mortgage rules that were introduced to cool soaring real estate prices but have only put home ownership further beyond reach.
“Last year, I rushed into looking for a starter home even before confirming my wedding venue as rental deposits and housing prices soared,” Koo said. “I found it hard to get loans as the bankers I met weren’t caught up with all the updates on housing-related policies and hesitated to provide me with loans.”
Young men, in particular, have turned against the ruling party in their droves since Moon’s election in 2017.