2030 Turning Away from Unfairness and Double Standards... Changed Gender Sensitivity Also Influences

Strict Punishment for Real Estate Speculation While Secretly Increasing Their Own Wealth
Prosecutorial Reform Too Far from Public Welfare
Legislative Side Effects of Lease 2 Laws
Disappointment Grows Over Follow-up Measures on Sexual Harassment

On the 6th, one day before the Seoul mayoral by-election, an election commission official is checking the voting stamp at a polling station set up at Jangchung-dong Community Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun, Geum Bo-ryeong, Park Joon-i] Experts commonly analyze that the flood of 'unfairness issues' that erupted following the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal became a factor in the 2030 generation's support for conservative parties. The sense of betrayal that the ruling administration's proclaimed principles of 'equal opportunity, fairness in process, and justice in outcomes' at its inception turned out to be empty rhetoric was directly reflected in the votes.

Professor Kim Yoon-tae of the Department of Sociology at Korea University stated, "The 2030 generation is not a group strongly affiliated with a particular party but values fairness," adding, "The dissatisfaction that the current government failed to guarantee fair and equal opportunities was strongly reflected in voting behavior." Professor Choi Hang-seop of the Department of Sociology at Kookmin University explained, "The 2030 generation prioritizes the values of justice and fairness over political values such as conservatism, progressivism, anti-dictatorship, and unification," and interpreted that "they have experienced a lack of fairness in competition since childhood, and their anger has manifested in their votes."

There appear to be two backgrounds for the continuous emergence of unfairness issues during the Moon Jae-in administration. Although it was a regime emphasizing 'reform,' the discrepancy between the words and actions of its members, who had become vested interests, inevitably stood out. Additionally, there is a temporal background where a generation that did not inherit the progressive or conservative values of the 4050 age group entered the age of political expression and voting rights. In this context, issues such as the 'power inheritance' controversies involving former Ministers of Justice Cho Kuk and Choo Mi-ae, the vested class converting 'information access power' into private gain, and the subtle 'illegal wealth accumulation efforts' by lawmakers or Blue House officials were all succinctly summarized by the term 'double standards.'

The ruling party's reform legislation agenda (Fairness 3 Acts, Lease 2 Acts, Prosecutorial Reform), which they had set, also became a negative factor as these were either unrelated to people's livelihoods or failed to resolve their difficulties. Professor Park Sang-chul of the Graduate School of Political Studies at Kyonggi University pointed out, "The mainstream faction of the Democratic Party, the 86 generation, and pro-Moon groups were trapped in a dichotomous camp logic of progressive versus non-progressive, showing ignorance toward the 2030 generation's de-ideologized tendencies and universal values of fairness."

The 2030 generation, more sensitive to gender awareness than older generations, also strongly reacted to sexual misconduct incidents that emerged within the ruling party. Professor Kim interpreted, "The follow-up measures were insufficient. Such moral issues likely had a huge impact on voting behavior." Professor Park Sang-chul of Inha University noted, "From the perspective of the 2030 generation sensitive to gender issues, the ruling party's failure to respond responsibly naturally led to a loss of trust among young voters."

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