Only 3.5% of Democratic Party candidates running in constituencies receive youth bonus points

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] It has been revealed that only 3.5% of the Democratic Party's district-level general election candidates are eligible for youth bonus points. Following the controversy surrounding the #MeToo allegations against Won Jong-geon, the party's second recruited talent, which left a stain on the recruitment of external young talents, concerns are rising that the measures to nurture internal young talents have effectively become meaningless.

On the 30th, the Democratic Party announced the results of the recruitment held over nine days from the 20th to the 28th, revealing the list and ages of 475 district candidates. Among them, only 17 candidates met the party's youth criteria (45 years old or younger), accounting for approximately 3.5%.

Previously, the Democratic Party stated that youth candidates would receive up to a 25% bonus point in this general election. Specifically, candidates aged 29 or younger receive 25%, those aged 30 to 35 receive 20%, those aged 36 to 42 receive 15%, and those aged 43 to 45 receive 10% bonus points.

The youngest candidate among those who completed the recruitment this time is 38 years old (4 candidates). This means that there may be no youth candidates receiving more than 20% bonus points in this primary. Moreover, two of these candidates have overlapping districts, so the effect of the bonus points is expected to be minimal.

Additional recruitment is expected depending on the results of future district redistricting and mergers, but the proportion of youth candidates is unlikely to change significantly.

According to the Democratic Party Youth Committee, 41 candidates aged 45 or younger have passed the eligibility screening by the Public Election Candidate Verification Committee. Among the 15 recruited talents announced so far, 9 are youth aged 45 or younger. However, most of them have not yet been assigned to districts. It is analyzed that they are likely to be used in proportional representation or strategic nomination areas, meaning the bonus points may effectively be unnecessary.

A political insider said, "There are clear limits to attracting young people through the incentive of bonus points," adding, "Fundamental system reforms are needed to enable young people to actively participate in politics."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.