[The Editors' Verdict] The Justified Resistance of Young Women

The 20th presidential election has ended, but its aftermath is expected to continue for some time. This was a contest fought in an extreme ‘camp confrontation’ rarely seen before, and even the narrow victory margin of 0.73 percentage points has created ongoing tension marked by ‘mutual dissatisfaction.’ Fortunately, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s progress is moving swiftly. Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, has been appointed as the chair of the presidential transition committee, signaling the start of a joint government. Naturally, there is keen interest in how the direction of a ‘better regime change’ will be shaped through the transition committee’s activities.

After the Democratic Party’s defeat in the presidential election, the party leadership resigned and shifted to a non-standing committee system, but whether they can secure public support remains uncertain. They might find some consolation in the phrase ‘Jjeotjalsa’ (lost but fought well), but it is questionable whether they are conducting a proper analysis of why they lost.

The flow of political changes, which had been unusual even before the election, is gradually becoming clearer. The voices of young women are crossing the boundaries inside and outside the political sphere. Some have called them ‘Idaenyeo’ (women in their 20s from Ewha Womans University), but since this expression divides young people in their 20s by gender, including ‘Idaenam’ (men in their 20s from Ewha), the term itself was unappealing. It was an absurd confrontation framed by ‘bad politics.’ Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that this became the hottest confrontation during the last presidential election. Some gained political advantage from that frame, while others shed tears because of it.

Unfamiliar expressions like ‘No. 1 woman’ and ‘No. 2 man’ are appearing one after another on online communities. An unexpected rush to join political parties is also occurring. Moreover, the term ‘PESD,’ meaning ‘Post-Election Stress Disorder,’ has emerged. Although the election is over, this indicates that the ‘camp confrontation’ has not yet ended.

Immediately after his victory, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s first declaration was ‘national unity.’ The appointment of Ahn Cheol-soo as transition committee chair is in line with this. Therefore, attention was focused on how Yoon and the People Power Party would respond to the increasingly visible voices of young women right after the election. It was believed that ‘bad politics,’ which divides young people by gender and continuously produces hatred and exclusion between them, would make it difficult to conduct sound governance. Especially since Yoon declared national unity, it was expected that he would change after the election. He could not simply ignore the justified resistance of Idaenyeo, who are angry about the ‘Idaenam frame.’

However, President-elect Yoon was resolute. He stated that he would carry out his campaign pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which symbolizes gender conflict. He also expressed a negative stance on the ‘gender quota system,’ introduced to actively support women’s social participation. Unlike during former President Park Geun-hye’s transition committee, there is no women-related division in Yoon’s transition committee. This signals significant changes in the new government’s women’s policies. So how will young women, the Idaenyeo, respond to Yoon’s new government policy direction? They are likely to unite more, fight harder, and act more politically. The failure in the last presidential election probably became a decisive trigger. Given this situation, it will be difficult for the Democratic Party to support the new government’s revision of the Government Organization Act, which includes the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. This means that from the start of the new government, confrontation rather than unity is likely. There is also a possibility that this trend will continue into the June 1 local elections. This is why President-elect Yoon, who won narrowly, should listen more carefully to the justified resistance of young women.

Park Sang-byeong (Political Commentator)

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