[Youth Politics Report] Political Parties Must Change to Survive... "A System to Nurture Youth into Politicians"

Lack of Talent Development Systems in Political Parties
Effectiveness of Youth Quotas and Proportional Representation Must Be Enhanced

Former National Assembly member Yoo Seung-min is giving a congratulatory speech at the 4th Youth Politics School graduation ceremony held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 8th. 2020.11.8 Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Experts point out that to revitalize youth politics, a nurturing system should be established at the party level to support the entire process from education to party membership, candidacy, and election. Of course, youth-targeted political education programs have been promoted so far, as seen in cases like the 'Youth Politics School' initiated by the Bareun Party and the 'Youth Politics School' of the Democratic Party of Korea. However, many evaluations suggest that these talents have not yet developed enough systematic support to secure positions in the actual political arena.

Professor Choi Jin of Kyonggi University Graduate School of Political Studies said on the 21st, "There are various education programs, but they tend to have strong partisan characteristics and lack continuity," adding, "Usually, schools are temporarily established for the political use of their own parties, and programs or processes that nurture future leaders beyond party lines or the progressive-conservative divide are weak."

The consensus among experts is that what is needed is a change in political parties. Lee Kwang-jae, Secretary-General of the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters, diagnosed, "The talent development system within parties has regressed significantly compared to the past. During the 'Three Kims era,' the head of the training institute was one of the five key party executives, showing how important member training was, but now, there is no member training education in each party or it is placed under a separate research institute." He emphasized, "Looking at European models, in cases like the Young Commoners Party, the party leader later becomes the leader of an independent Commoners Party and then the prime minister, and the process leading to actual politics is activated. In Korea, it is necessary to develop party training institutions or external think tanks and link them to party activities."

On the morning of the 17th, applicants for the Gangwon Province metropolitan and basic councilor nominations in the 8th nationwide local elections are waiting for the start of the 2022 People Power Party public office candidate basic qualification evaluation (PPAT) held at Sangji University in Wonju, Gangwon Province. 2022.4.17 [Image source=Yonhap News]

There are also calls to enhance the effectiveness of youth political talent appointment systems such as youth quotas and proportional representation. Quotas for women and youth applied during elections have been criticized for being used indiscriminately without considering regions and characteristics.

A Democratic Party re-elected lawmaker criticized, "If political newcomers are simply placed in strange areas under the pretext of 'strategic nomination,' won't the incumbents who were originally preparing in those regions just stand by?" adding, "There is no structure in South Korea that allows political newcomers to enter local areas."

There is also an argument that the scope of proportional representation should be expanded in the long term. Lee Jung-jin, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly, diagnosed, "South Korea has a low proportion of proportional representation members, and in the case of the mixed-member proportional system, the effect of proportional representation was not significant due to satellite party phenomena," adding, "In the long term, moving toward increasing the number of proportional representation members will influence enhancing candidate diversity."

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