Ruling and Opposition Parties Compete to Win 2030 Voter Support as 'Casting Vote'

Opposition Faces Internal Conflict as Hong Jun-pyo Supporters Resign
Ruling Party Plans Strategies Including Youth Lectures and Housing Supply Initiatives

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate (left), and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporters Kum Boryeong and Jeon Jinyoung] As the 2030 generation is expected to play the role of a 'casting vote' in next year's presidential election, both ruling and opposition parties are deeply concerned about securing their support. The People Power Party (PPP) has fallen into internal strife characterized by 'party members vs. party members' and 'leadership vs. leadership' due to the defection of 2030 youth members who had supported Representative Hong Joon-pyo, while the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is making every effort to win over young voters who harbor resentment toward the current administration.

On the 9th, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, appeared on a radio show and, when asked about the 2030 defections, said, "Some unreasonable people in the conservative camp keep making derogatory remarks like 'initial reverse selection' and '2030 only makes up a handful'." He added, "I want to ask whether those making such remarks have ever gathered even 10 people from the 2030 generation in their lifetime." This statement is interpreted as a direct response to Kim Jae-won's comment the previous day that "the number of defectors is 40." According to the PPP, as of the previous day, more than 1,800 responsible party members in the metropolitan area had defected, with over 75% of them belonging to the 2030 generation. Lee said, "The high proportion of defections among the 2030 generation is far more serious than the absolute numbers," adding, "If it appears that the party is trying to downplay the situation, it will anger more people to the point that they might also defect."

The 2030 party members who wanted 'Muya-hong' (unconditionally supporting the opposition candidate Hong Joon-pyo) are now divided and in conflict with the 5070 party members. They find it hard to understand why Hong Joon-pyo leads candidate Yoon Seok-youl by more than 10 percentage points in public opinion polls but trails by more than 20 percentage points in party member votes. In the party member vote, the support rate for Hong among the 2030 generation was more than twice that of Yoon. The party bulletin board is in turmoil with posts such as 'Back to the Korean Party,' 'Fed up with the Power of the Elderly,' and 'Reverse Selection Spies' appearing simultaneously.

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is actively targeting the youth vote, which is relatively weak in support for him. The day before, he shared an internet community post analyzing "Why 2030 males support Representative Hong Joon-pyo" with members of his election campaign committee, devising a niche strategy. Since the 5th, he has been meeting with young people. Targeting the conservative stronghold of Daegu and Gyeongbuk (TK), he gave a lecture titled "Youth Ask, Lee Jae-myung Answers" at Kyungpook National University. On the 6th, he visited youth housing in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, and announced plans for large-scale public housing supply, including considering prioritizing some units for young people.

His messages are also directed at the youth. On the 7th, Lee posted on Facebook, "If populism is necessary to save hopeless youth, I am willing to do it," adding, "I want to create a Lee Jae-myung government that stands with the silent and sorrowful lives of the people."

Meanwhile, Lee was scheduled to attend a virtual asset-related meeting on the morning of the 9th to continue efforts to win youth support, but the entire day's schedule was canceled after his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, was hospitalized due to a fall accident in the early morning.

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