One surprising aspect of the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election was young voters’ massive support for the unified opposition candidate, Park Won-soon. Exit polls showed he received support from 69.3 percent of voters in their 20s, 75.8 percent of voters in their 30s and 66.8 percent of voters in their 40s. This contrasted with 43.1 percent support he received from voters in their 50s and 30.4 percent from voters aged 60 and older.
Young voters in Korea have traditionally preferred liberal candidates. But in the 2007 presidential election, conservative candidate Lee Myung-bak won support from a fairly large proportion of the young electorate. At the time, Lee was backed by 45.8 percent of voters in their 20s, 41.4 percent of voters in their 30s and half of voters in their 40s.
Seen against this backdrop, the swing of young voters away from the conservative candidate in the Seoul by-election is conspicuous. What caused the young people who voted for a conservative presidential candidate four years ago to change allegiance in the mayoral vote?
The question is not so difficult to answer. It was the incumbent government’s failure to live up to their expectations. They voted for Lee in the hope that he would make their lives easier. But their lives have since improved little, although the nation’s economy has managed to grow amid a global financial crisis.
For instance, many people in their 20s are under stress from high tuition fees. After graduation they have difficulty finding jobs. And a large number of people in their 30s and 40s feel stuck in a hopeless state as their dreams of living affluently later in their life are dashed by the ever-rising costs of educating their children and renting a home.
While it is not difficult to figure out the problems plaguing these young people, it is by no means easy to address them because they are mostly structural in nature. For instance, the shortage of jobs for college graduates and the worsening polarization in Korean society are partly the result of domestic companies’ desperate efforts to cut costs following the 1997-98 financial crisis.
Korean companies have consciously sought to downsize their workforce, increase the employment of irregular workers and substitute cheaper foreign parts and materials for expensive domestic ones. This strategy helped improve their bottom line, but it resulted in fewer jobs available for university graduates, less demand for local parts and materials and smaller income for many households.
Following the Oct. 26 by-election, Lee said he would take the outcome of the by-election seriously, implying that he saw it as a stern judgment on his government. His aides have started studying measures to address the grievances of the younger generations. The ruling GNP has also set out to explore ways to mitigate the economic problems and other issues facing disenchanted young and middle-aged voters.
These efforts are laudable. But it would be wise not to expect too much from them. The government’s ability to tackle structural problems, such as the growing number of irregular workers and worsening income inequality, is limited, as has been well illustrated by a series of campaigns it has launched, including the most recent fair society drive.
Opposition parties do not have silver bullet solutions to such problems either. People chose Park as the new Seoul mayor not because they thought he would be able to resolve them but because he was willing to listen to them and look at their problems from their perspectives.
In this regard, the government and the ruling party would do well to keep their ears, eyes and minds open to better communicate with the disgruntled younger generations. Good communication is the key. They also need to give them more say in drafting policies aimed at tackling their problems. If they continue to disregard their voices, it would be at their own peril.
