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Young Koreans participate in the rally with K-pop light sticks to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his martial law declaration in Yeouido, western Seoul on Dec. 7. (Yonhap) |
Young Koreans, who had been seen as increasingly indifferent to politics, were among those their presence felt on the streets of Yeouido on Dec. 7 when the impeachment vote was held at the National Assembly.
After experiencing the candlelight rallies to remove the country’s first female president Park Geun-hye in 2016, young Koreans started to take an active stance on political issues. But in the last presidential election, turnout among voters aged 19 to 29 was the lowest of any age group, at 70.9 percent.
Turnout among voters in their 50s, 60s and 70s came to 81.4 percent, 88.2 percent and 89.2 percent, respectively, according to National Election Commission.
But many young Koreans joined the protests in Seoul street last week, mainly to call for impeachment.
Students were holding signs reading “University students protect democracy,” Rose and Bruno Mars’ hit single “APT” was played and colorful K-pop light sticks illuminated Yeouido’s winter night.
“Many things have changed since Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration,” a Korea University student Moon Seoung-gi, who took part in different rallies on Dec. 4, 6 and 7, told The Korea Herald on Monday.
Moon, who used to be a person to sleep around midnight at the latest, said that he tries to check the latest news in regards to the martial law turmoil which led him to stay awake until 3 a.m.
Though his new daily routine exhausts him a little bit, Moon believes that it is the right thing to do, adding that such change can be found among his close friends as well.
“I can see my friends share their thoughts online and talk about the news on KakaoTalk. I personally found it interesting to see more-than-expected number of my friends making their voices heard offline by participating in the student council-led activity,” the student shared some of the noticeable changes.
“I am a little embarrassed, but I was not a person who checked political and social issues in a daily basis. But, thanks to Yoon, things are different now,” said a 33-year-old game company marketer surnamed Kim. “Many breaking news are being updated in different KakaoTalk group chats as well.”
Another university graduate surnamed Sung shared that she participated in Saturday’s rally not only to express her anger, but also to prove that they (young Koreans) are concerned about politics.
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University students join the rallies at the streets of Yeouido with signs reading “University students protect democracy" on Dec. 7. (Yonhap) |
Political critic Lee Jong-hoon said that the young Korean’s political participation represents their pent-up anger.
“The millennials and Gen Z were suffering from various issues, ranging from gender conflict to soaring rent and real estate, over the last several years. And Yoon’s martial law declaration sparked their fury,” the critic told The Korea Herald.
Lee explained that the level of political participation continued to decrease since the martial law declaration in 1979 after President Park Chung-hee was assassinated.
“There was a candlelight rally (in 2016), but it did not lead to the growth of student-led protests or student activists. But, the millennials and Gen Z in this era deserve to be identified as a specific generation,” Lee shared his personal opinion with The Korea Herald.
“We have 6·3 Generation -- the student activists who held the fierce anti-Treaty protests under martial law in 1964 -- and 386 Generation, who were the center of the student-led democratization movement in 1980s. I think it is appropriate to call the young generation 12·3 Generation,” said Lee, the number referring to the date when Yoon made his martial law declaration.
