Yoon's 'Abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family': Did It Succeed in Winning Back the Votes of People in Their 20s?

Realmeter Survey on the 12th... Yoon 39.2%, Lee 36.9%, Ahn 12.2%
Especially, Yoon's Support 41.3% vs Lee 19.7% Among Those in Their 20s

Abolition of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family... Support 51.9% vs Oppose 38.5%

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Recent polls showing a halt in the decline of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, highlight a rebound in the voting sentiment of the '20s' age group, which holds the casting vote. It is interpreted that pledges focused on the voting sentiment of men in their 20s, including the 'abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,' are influencing the approval ratings.

Photo by Yoon Seok-yeol, People Power Party presidential candidate Facebook

On the 12th, Realmeter conducted a hypothetical presidential race survey commissioned by YTN from the 10th to 11th (targeting 1,011 men and women nationwide aged 18 and over, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level). Candidate Yoon led candidate Lee with 39.2% to 36.9% within the margin of error, notably with Yoon’s approval rating at 41.3% among those in their 20s, higher than the 40.9% in their 50s. In contrast, Lee’s approval rating among those in their 20s was only 19.7%.

Recalling a survey conducted by Realmeter focusing only on the 2030 generation from the 3rd to 4th (targeting 1,024 men and women aged 18 to 39 nationwide, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), Yoon’s approval rating among those in their 20s was 15.1%, lower than Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party at 23.6%. At that time, the 20s vote was split between Ahn and Lee (26.4%).

In the first week of January (2nd to 7th), when internal strife within the People Power Party peaked and Lee’s approval rating was 40.1% and Yoon’s was 34.1%, a survey by the same organization (commissioned by OhmyNews, targeting 3,042 men and women nationwide aged 18 and over, with a sampling error of ±1.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level) showed that those in their 20s favored Lee (29.7%) over Yoon (25.9%).

The turnaround in sentiment among those in their 20s appears to be influenced by pledges such as the 'abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,' targeting the so-called 'Idaenam (20s males).'

In the Realmeter survey on the day, about half of the public supported Yoon’s pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. In particular, 64.0% of men said they 'support' it, and by age group, the highest response was among those in their 20s (60.8%).

On the 6th, Yoon introduced one-line pledges such as 'strengthening punishment for sexual crimes, strengthening punishment for false accusations,' and on the 7th, 'abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,' which received great support in male-dominated communities. On the 9th, he wrote on Facebook 'soldiers’ monthly salary 2 million won,' and the day before, he posted 'withdrawal of unscientific quarantine passes, withdrawal of 9 PM business restrictions, opposition to mandatory vaccination for children and adolescents.'

For detailed information regarding the polls, please refer to the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

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