[Reporter’s Notebook] We Cannot Label Anxious Youth as Far-Right

The reporter has a close younger friend who works in Yeosu. Usually a reserved young man who never complains about his work, he once let slip a lament last year: "These days, all the jobs are being taken by the JjangX."

In this era where globalization is the norm, even young people working in industrial sites acutely feel the pressures of international competition. Due to the price-cutting offensive of Chinese companies, the chemical industry in Yeosu has been unable to escape a prolonged slump for years, and the increasing number of foreign workers each year has made the workplace feel unfamiliar to the reporter's friend. There is a sense of urgency that cannot be suppressed by reason, a feeling experienced in one's very skin.

The growing anti-China sentiment among young people cannot be interpreted solely as a 'far-right' political tendency. When covering a pro-martial law rally hosted by a conservative youth group on December 6 last year, the reporter found that the participants seemed less like hardline groups immersed in far-right ideology and more like young people searching for direction. For them, concerns about the country heading in the wrong direction seemed to outweigh debates over whether martial law was right or wrong. Perhaps this anti-China sentiment is an expression of various anxieties about the confusing domestic situation.

Even looking at the voting tendencies of the younger generation over the past ten years, it is difficult to conclude that their far-right tendencies have intensified. In the 2020 general election, both men and women in their 20s showed higher support for the Democratic Party of Korea than for the United Future Party (now the People Power Party). The following year, in the Seoul mayoral by-election, both men and women in their 20s and 30s supported the conservative candidate, Mayor Oh Sehoon, but in the 2024 general election, even the so-called 'Idaenam' (men in their 20s) showed diverse political preferences, with proportional support for the Democratic Party and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party exceeding that for the Reform Party. One political scientist explained, "Looking at the trends, the 2030 youth are not becoming more right-wing, but rather are characterized by very high volatility over short periods."

Experts caution against hastily labeling young people as a far-right group. Professor Yoon Seokjun of Sungkonghoe University, who has analyzed the far-right shift among European youth for several years, said, "Whenever I encounter far-right discourse in Korea, I compare it to the difference between a cold and the flu. The symptoms may be similar, but they are actually completely different illnesses and require different treatments," adding, "Before concluding that a group has become far-right, we need to make a precise diagnosis first."

Youth anxiety must not be exploited by politicians or anti-China forces. Branding an entire generation as far-right is a serious issue. The far-right is often seen as a group that threatens constitutional order and is called upon not for compromise or coexistence, but for eradication. Care must be taken to ensure that premature far-right discourse does not become another stigma for young people who are already lost and anxious.