Clearly Divided 2030 Male and Female Voter Sentiments... 'Gender Conflict' Becomes a Political Challenge

Male Edae-nam Support Ruling Party, Female Edae-nyeo Support Opposition, More Divided Than in the Presidential Election
"Gender Used Strategically in Elections... Imprinted on Voters"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Following the last presidential election, the 6·1 local elections also revealed a stark divide in party support among the 2030 generation based on gender. Analysts suggest that the election strategies appealing to specific genders during the presidential election carried over to the local election results. Regardless of the election outcomes, a new challenge has emerged for the political sphere: how to resolve the deepening gender conflicts.

Analysis of the exit polls jointly conducted by the three major terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS) on metropolitan mayoral candidates by gender and age showed that 65.1% of males aged 20 and under supported the People Power Party candidates, while 32.9% supported the Democratic Party candidates. The gap between the two parties was 32.2 percentage points. Conversely, only 30.0% of females aged 20 and under supported the People Power Party candidates, whereas 66.8% overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party candidates. The gap was 36.5 percentage points.

The voting tendencies of those in their 30s were similar. Among males in their 30s, 58.2% supported the People Power Party candidates, and 39.6% supported the Democratic Party candidates. On the other hand, 42.2% of females in their 30s supported the People Power Party candidates, while 56% supported the Democratic Party candidates. Although the gender gap in party support among the 30s was somewhat narrower compared to those aged 20 and under, the 2030 generation clearly showed distinct party preferences based on gender. This phenomenon was not observed in other age groups.

The gender polarization was even more pronounced than in the presidential election three months ago. In the presidential election exit polls, 58.7% of males aged 20 and under supported Yoon Seok-yeol of the People Power Party, while 36.3% supported Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party. The gap between the two candidates was 22.4 percentage points. Among females aged 20 and under, Yoon received 33.8% support, and Lee received 58%, with a gap of 24.2 percentage points. In this election, the gender gap in party support among those aged 20 and under widened to over 30 percentage points. Males consolidated more around the People Power Party, while females rallied more strongly behind the Democratic Party.

Analysts interpret the election results as a continuation of the political strategies focused on winning votes from specific genders around the last presidential election. After it was confirmed that 'Idaenam' (males in their 20s) massively defected from the Democratic Party in the April 7, 2021 by-elections, political parties rushed to introduce policies aimed at capturing the Idaenam vote. In particular, the People Power Party and presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol actively courted this demographic with pledges such as abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (Yeogabu) and raising soldiers' monthly pay to 2 million won.

As a reaction to this, the Democratic Party saw a tendency for 2030 female voters to flock to their side. In this election, Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, running for the National Assembly seat in Incheon Gyeyang-eul, also worked hard to win the support of the so-called 'Gaeddal (Reform Daughters)'?a fandom of female voters. The Democratic Party's recruitment of Park Ji-hyun, a female co-chair of the Emergency Committee in her 20s, after the presidential election can be seen in the same context.

Perhaps recognizing the female vote polarization during the presidential election, the People Power Party did not present a clear message targeting only Idaenam in this local election. However, debates over the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family continued under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, and criticisms about the exclusion of women from key appointments such as cabinet formation persisted. Although President Yoon recently nominated female candidates for positions including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Minister of Health and Welfare, and Commissioner of the Food and Drug Safety Administration to demonstrate efforts toward diversity, the local election results suggest these efforts did not significantly sway the hearts of 2030 female voters.

Professor Lee Jun-han of the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Incheon National University pointed out, "Since the 2021 by-elections, a phenomenon of party division by gender began to appear and expanded further in the last presidential election. Although gender-related issues were not highly prominent in the local elections, the gender conflicts and differences in party support by gender that have deepened since 2021 seem to have solidified and become ingrained in everyone's minds. This is the result of strategically exploiting gender in elections."

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