2030 All-in Yoon, After Ministry of Gender Equality and Game, Next is 'Coin'

Lee Jun-seok Announces Cryptocurrency Pledge
Opinions Divided on Strategy Focused on Young Men

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, has recently joined hands with Lee Jun-seok, the party leader, to focus on targeting the ‘2030 generation.’ Following the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the revitalization of the gaming industry, he is now boldly advancing into the cryptocurrency sector. Experts express concerns about the ‘sustainability’ of this election strategy, pointing out that it involves ‘dividing’ specific generations and groups or focusing only on highly volatile issues.

According to political circles on the 13th, the next ‘2030 generation targeting’ strategy that Lee is planning is cryptocurrency. Lee wrote on Facebook the day before, mentioning the recently established special committee on gaming, "Next is crypto (cryptocurrency). We will push so hard that the Democratic Party won’t be able to recover." This is a preview of handling cryptocurrency following the gaming sector. Since the reorganization of the election campaign headquarters, candidate Yoon has consecutively announced policies such as abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, raising soldiers’ monthly pay to 2 million won, and gaming pledges, focusing on targeting the 2030 generation. It can be seen as an ‘all-in’ strategy. This is a measure to recover the support base lost among the 2030 generation, and as analyses suggest it has some effect, they are even stepping on the accelerator.

Evaluations are mixed. Most experts agree that the strategy is ‘not bad’ from a strategic perspective. Political commentator Lee Kang-yoon said, "The votes lost due to candidate Yoon’s series of gaffes and family controversies mainly came from the 2030 generation," and added, "From the standpoint of trying to win them back, it was inevitable to present tailored pledges." Professor Park Sang-byeong of Inha University’s Graduate School of Policy also evaluated, "Fields like gaming and cryptocurrency are ‘Lee Jun-seok’s premium,’" and said, "Focusing on the areas where they can perform best is a good strategy."

The problem lies in the qualitative aspect of the policies. While it is good to present tailored strategies, the direction is moving toward excessively excluding and alienating other voters. Candidate Yoon’s recent pledges are largely composed of preferences reflecting especially those of males in their 20s within the 2030 generation. Professor Park Sang-chul of Kyonggi University’s Graduate School of Policy sharply criticized it as "divisive politics," and said, "Lee’s attitude of showing rejection toward those opposing this strategy can also produce adverse effects."

There is also an evaluation that these policies are merely ‘attention-grabbing’ measures. The political commentator said, "It is questionable how long the current strategy can maintain its support base," and added, "Policies on coins and gaming are not the only or major concerns shared by the youth generation. Solutions to fundamental issues faced by the youth, such as economic structure, jobs, fairness, and competition, must also be presented."

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