Did the Concentration of Women in Their 20s Create an 'Ultra-Close Presidential Election'?... Even the People Power Party Says "We Need to Rethink Our Strategy"

20th Presidential Election, 0.7% Point Difference 'Neck-and-Neck'
Some Point to 'Idaenyeo' Rallying as Main Cause
Jin Joong-kwon: "Large Number of Women in Their 20s Left"
Calls for Reflection Within People Power Party
"Must Recognize Young Women's Alienation and Exclusive Sentiments"

On the afternoon of the 10th, citizens at Seoul Station are watching news related to President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] There is a view that the reason President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's 'nail-bitingly close race' against Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, in the 20th presidential election was due to the mobilization of women in their 20s. It is pointed out that the People Power Party's election strategy, which focused on 'Idaenam' (male voters in their 20s), may have provoked backlash among female voters.

On the 10th, when the vote count was completed, President-elect Yoon received 16.39 million votes, accounting for 48.6% of the total valid votes. Candidate Lee received 16.14 million votes, and President-elect Yoon defeated Candidate Lee by a mere 0.7 percentage points to win the presidential election.

The vote difference between President-elect Yoon and Candidate Lee was only 247,077 votes, the smallest since the introduction of the direct presidential election system in 1987. The previous smallest margin was when Kim Dae-jung of the New Politics National Conference defeated Lee Hoi-chang of the Grand National Party by 390,557 votes in the 15th presidential election. This means that this election saw more intense conflicts than ever before.

Some argue that the reason for the extremely close race may be that young women rallied behind Candidate Lee in the final stages of the election. According to the joint exit polls released the day before by the three terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS), the support rates among people in their 20s differed sharply by gender.

President-elect Yoon's support rate among men in their 20s was 58.7%, while among women in their 20s it was 33.8%. Candidate Lee recorded 36.3% among men in their 20s and 58.0% among women in their 20s. As a result, the overall support rate among people in their 20s was 45.5% for President-elect Yoon and 47.8% for Candidate Lee, with Candidate Lee narrowly ahead.

The leadership of the People Power Party is watching candidate Yoon Seok-yeol closely as he observes the narrow exit poll results from the three major broadcasting stations in the vote counting situation room set up at the National Assembly Library on the 9th. / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

In this regard, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon said on the 9th during SBS's election broadcast, "I did not expect such a close presidential election. I predicted a lead of about 4.5 percentage points (for President-elect Yoon) on the broadcast, but when the results came out, it was only 0.6 to 0.7 percentage points, which surprised me."

He added, "The unification process was not beautiful, and many women in their 20s dropped out. On International Women's Day, the proposal to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and to use the gender equality budget to buy THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) must have felt like a real fear."

Young female voters expressed that their support for Candidate Lee was less about sympathy and more about their aversion to President-elect Yoon and the People Power Party.

A female office worker in her 20s, Ms. A, said, "I originally had no intention of voting for the Democratic Party in this election. How could I vote for a party where all the public officials involved in sexual assault controversies were from the Democratic Party?" However, she confessed, "Seeing Candidate Yoon and the People Power Party, who pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, I felt that Yoon must never become president."

Mr. B, in his 20s, who was a supporter of the Justice Party but voted strategically for the Democratic Party this time, said, "Many of my friends were strongly against Yoon Suk-yeol. Although they do not support Candidate Lee or the Democratic Party, they voted with the intention of blocking the People Power Party this time." He added, "This means that many female voters have turned their backs on the People Power Party."

In this presidential election, President-elect Yoon faced criticism from some women's groups and civic organizations as being 'anti-women.' He proposed abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and, in August last year, when he was a presidential candidate for the People Power Party, he sparked controversy by saying, "Feminism is politically exploited to the extent that even healthy relationships between men and women are emotionally blocked."

President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is holding up the certificate of election he received from young aides at the People Power Party's campaign headquarters disbandment ceremony held at the National Assembly Library on the afternoon of the 10th. / Photo by Yonhap News

Also, during the presidential TV debate on the 2nd, when asked "What is feminism according to Candidate Yoon?" he answered, "It is a form of humanism," which drew criticism from other candidates.

Within the People Power Party, voices are emerging that the election strategy needs to be reconsidered. Kim Jae-won, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, appeared on MBC radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 10th and admitted, "I think there was a lack of soft approach to young women, women in their 20s to early 30s, and I think this is something that should be reviewed in the election strategy process."

Regarding the possibility of reconsidering the pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, he said, "There will be many discussions."

Yoon Hee-seok, a spokesperson for the same party, said in an interview with TBS radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' "We have to acknowledge that, as a result, the gender conflict between Idaenam and Idaenyeo was made more prominent. Although that was not our original intention, we recognize that we need to consider the sense of alienation or exclusive feelings that young women might have had going forward."

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