37 out of 694 Young Candidates
Account for 80% of Those in Their 50s and 60s
The proportion of candidates in their 20s and 30s running in the 22nd general election was found to be only about 5%. There is criticism that there are too few young politicians to represent the youth, who are relatively more sensitive to fairness, common sense, and justice rather than ideology or factional logic among the overall voters.
According to the National Election Commission on the 9th, the proportion of candidates aged 30 or younger in the April 10 general election was 5.3% (37 out of 694 candidates). Those in their 40s accounted for only 10.6% (73 candidates).
The largest age group among all candidates was those in their 50s, accounting for 45.2% (314 candidates). This was followed by those in their 60s at 35.3% (245 candidates), and those aged 70 and above at 3.6% (25 candidates). Combining candidates aged 50 to 70 and above accounts for 84% of the total.
The voter demographics by generation are the exact opposite.
According to the Election Commission, voters in their teens number 895,000 (2%), those in their 20s number 6,118,000 (13.8%), and those in their 30s number 6,559,000 (14.8%), making voters aged 10 to 30 account for about 30% of the total. This is followed by those in their 40s at 7,857,000 (17.8%), 50s at 8,711,000 (19.7%), 60s at 7,695,000 (17.4%), and those aged 70 and above at 6,414,000 (14.5%).
Sumin Kim, People Power Party candidate for Cheongju Cheongwon. [Photo provided by Candidate Kim's campaign]
There is a large regional disparity in young candidates. In Seoul and Gyeonggi, there are 18 candidates aged 30 or younger, but in the Gangwon region, there are no young candidates at all. In Jeonbuk and Jeonnam, strongholds of the Democratic Party of Korea, there is only one candidate in their 20s and none in their 30s. In Daegu and Gyeongbuk, conservative strongholds, there is only one and two candidates in their 30s, respectively. In the Chungcheong region, there is not a single young candidate in Chungnam, and in Chungbuk, Kim Soo-min, the People Power Party candidate for Cheongju Cheongwon, is the only one.
A political insider said, “If candidates aged 50 and above account for more than 80% of the total, there will inevitably be criticism regarding the meaning of an election that chooses representatives of the people,” adding, “Young people, who face various difficulties from finding employment to buying their own homes, hope that the number of parties and politicians who can empathize with, solve, and represent their difficulties will increase.”
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