Everyone Chasing 'MZ Jobs'... Youth Vote Becomes a Late Variable in the Opposition Primary

Youth Relay Protests, Targeting YouTube
Which Candidate Will Capture the 2030 Vote?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] With the People Power Party (PPP) just over 20 days away from selecting its presidential candidate, each candidate's campaign is intensively targeting voter support in the final stretch. Especially recently, with 260,000 new party members joining the PPP?mainly from the metropolitan area and youth demographics?each campaign appears to be fervently trying to capture the 'MZ generation.'

From May 31 to September 27, the total number of new party members joining the PPP was recorded at 265,000. Among them, about 230,000 are responsible party members eligible to participate in the main primary vote.

Among the new members added over the four months, approximately 114,000 were in their 20s to 40s, accounting for 43% of the total increase. Specifically, the number of members in their 20s increased eightfold, those in their 30s by 7.5 times, and those in their 40s by about 7.5 times. This is an unprecedented result for a conservative party that previously had a low influx of young members.

In fact, each campaign seems to be aware of this change and is focusing on appealing to young voters. Hong Joon-pyo, a PPP lawmaker whose support among males in their 20s has been high in various polls, has recently been emphasizing communication by consistently engaging with young people. On the 15th, Hong shared on Facebook the news of support declarations from the student council presidents of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region, stating, "The 20s and 30s want Hong Joon-pyo as president," and urged, "Now, please listen to the voices of the youth, who are our future."

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, who had relatively weak support among younger voters, has recently started releasing youth-related messages again. Yoon’s campaign established youth committees in all 17 cities and provinces nationwide and continued the 'National Youth Relay Protests' to target young voters. Additionally, on the 10th, in observance of Pregnant Women’s Day, they proposed pledges aimed at the youth, such as strengthening support for pregnancy, childbirth, and infertility treatment.

Former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong has also been emphasizing a youthful image by actively producing various content on YouTube, where youth consumption rates are high. A campaign official from Won’s team stated, "We believe that YouTube had a considerable impact on Won’s ability to enter the party’s top four rankings."

Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min also emphasized 'fairness' by proposing a housing pledge on the 14th to lower the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) on mortgage loans to 90% for young people and newlyweds.

Nevertheless, each campaign’s response is that predicting the youth vote until the very end remains uncertain. A representative from Yoon’s campaign said, "The youth vote could be a variable until just before the candidate selection, so we cannot be complacent," adding, "Efforts at the candidate level to win the hearts of young voters will be necessary."

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