Ruling and Opposition Leaders Cast Early Votes Near University
25% of 20s and 23.4% of 30s Are Undecided Voters
As observations emerge that the votes of the 20s and 30s generations could be the biggest variable in the April 10 general election, the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties appeared to be conscious of the young floating voters as they both completed early voting near university campuses.
From the left in the photo: Han Dong-hoon, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, Lee Jae-myung, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Photo by Asia Economy, Yonhap News]
On the 5th, Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, cast his early vote at the Sinchon-dong Community Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, near Ewha Womans University.
After voting, Chairman Han told reporters about this general election, "It is a confrontation between those who want to defend their own sins and those who have lived honestly by abiding by the law." He added, "If we go to the polling stations, we will win, but if we don't, the Republic of Korea will collapse," urging participation in early voting.
Chairman Han’s early voting near Ewha Womans University appears to be aimed at the controversy surrounding Kim Jun-hyeok, the Democratic Party candidate for Suwon Jung in Gyeonggi Province, regarding the 'Ewha Womans University female students’ sexual bribery to U.S. military officers.' Earlier, Kim’s remarks on a YouTube channel in 2022, stating that "Kim Hwal-ran (the first president of Ewha) played a major role in sending comfort women to the military" and "during the U.S. military government period, Ewha students were sexually bribed to U.S. military officers," became known and sparked controversy.
On the 4th, members of the Ewha Womans University Alumni Association gathered at Ewha Womans University in Seoul to condemn candidate Kim Jun-hyuk's offensive remarks and demand his resignation. Photo by Yonhap News
In response, Ewha graduates held rallies and strongly opposed Kim’s remarks, demanding his resignation. The student council also issued a statement calling Kim’s remarks "a clear defamation that insulted and hurt the members of Ewha" and demanded that no inappropriate content about Ewha be used to escalate political strife in the future.
On the same day, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader, cast his early vote with KAIST students at an early voting station near the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon. This is interpreted as an attempt to highlight the government’s cuts to research and development (R&D) budget support and the so-called 'mouth-shutting controversy' that occurred at the KAIST graduation ceremony.
On February 16th, 2024, at the graduation ceremony held at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, a graduate was being restrained while standing up and protesting toward President Yoon Suk-yeol during his congratulatory speech regarding the R&D budget. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
In February, Shin Min-ki, a spokesperson for the Green Justice Party’s Daejeon branch and a KAIST graduate, protested President Yoon’s R&D budget cuts at the KAIST degree conferment ceremony but was forcibly removed with his mouth covered by security guards. Subsequently, KAIST alumni collectively protested in opposition.
On that day, Leader Lee said, "I wanted to point out the importance of science and technology and the government’s ignorance of policy together with the KAIST students who were mouth-shut," and urged, "Exercising sovereignty is deciding my life, and it is deciding the entire future of our children, so please vote a lot."
The fact that the leaders of both parties voted near universities with many young people is also noteworthy. Currently, the young generation has a higher proportion of so-called 'floating voters' who have not yet decided which side to choose compared to other age groups. This is why there is an analysis that their votes could determine the outcome of this general election. According to a survey conducted by Research & Research on behalf of Dong-A Ilbo from March 28 to 29 targeting 1,004 adults nationwide, 25% of voters in their 20s and 23.4% of voters in their 30s were identified as floating voters.
This survey was conducted using 100% wireless telephone interviews with wireless RDD sampling, and the response rate was 9.3%. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed information, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.
Meanwhile, the National Election Commission announced that as of 3 p.m. on the same day, the voter turnout was 11.12%. Among the total 44,280,011 eligible voters, 4,922,548 had completed early voting since 6 a.m. that day. This is 2.6 percentage points higher than the early voting turnout at the same time during the 21st general election in 2020 (8.4%).
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