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SCMP’s Asia desk

South Korea’s young voters are more ideologically divided than older generations, a new survey has found, with men in their 20s gravitating toward conservatism while their female peers largely favour liberal politics, raising concerns about the country’s growing polarisation.
The poll – commissioned jointly by Seoul National University and the Chosun Ilbo newspaper – ranked respondents’ ideological orientation on a scale of one to 10, with higher scores indicating more conservative tendencies. Men in their 20s recorded an average score of 5.42, while women in the same age group averaged 4.64.
Such a significant gap was not observed in other age groups, the Chosun Ilbo noted in a report on the results published on Friday.
The poll was conducted from February 25 to 26 and surveyed 1,546 men and women nationwide.
The same trend was also reflected in respondents’ choices of political parties and perceptions of foreign countries.


Nearly 30 per cent of young male respondents supported the conservative ruling People Power Party – the party of impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol – about five percentage points more than those backing the liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition.
In contrast, the young women surveyed overwhelmingly leaned towards the Democratic Party, with a support rate of 43.7 per cent, compared to 16 per cent who backed the ruling party.
Young men also showed more favourable attitudes towards the United States and Japan, while women rated China more favourably.
The ideological and political divide between young men and women was also marked by mutual hostility, with survey respondents rating the opposite gender unfavourably, the report noted.
Some blamed political parties for amplifying gender conflicts.
“I don’t have a strong preference for any political party, and I’m exhausted by all the gender-related conflicts,” said a 25-year-old female office clerk, identified only by her surname Choi, as quoted by Chosun Ilbo.
“I feel like political parties have fuelled the current gender divide by attacking each other over gender issues.”
A male university student interviewed by the paper pointed to policies under former president Moon Jae-in, who described himself as a “feminist president,” claiming they frustrated many men who saw the measures as disproportionately benefiting women.

“Regardless of how much the Moon Jae-in administration actually implemented policies supporting women, it framed women as vulnerable victims and fuelled gender conflict,” Hanna Kim, a professor at the Institute for Future Strategy of Seoul National University, told the newspaper.
The survey also indicated a broader shift to the right among younger generations, along with deeper mistrust in the political system.
Respondents in their 20s logged an average ideological index of 5.04, which rose to 5.24 for those in their 30s. Only 33 per cent and 32 per cent of the respondents in those two groups, respectively, believe the current political system is democratic.
Those in their 40s and 50s were generally more liberal and said they trusted the political system around 10 percentage points more compared to respondents in the younger age brackets.
People born in the 1960s and attending college in the 1980s, collectively called the “86 Generation”, are considered to have played a key role in the country’s democratic movement and to be more liberal leaning.
“This is the first time since the 86 Generation that a specific age group has drawn significant political attention,” Kang Won-taek, director of the Institute for Future Strategy of Seoul National University, was quoted as saying by Chosun Ilbo.
“People in their 20s and 30s today are increasingly defined by their shift toward conservatism,” he said.


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The poll found that men and women in their 20s had the largest political ideology gap of any age group


The poll found that men and women in their 20s had the largest political ideology gap of any age group.


Yoon Suk-yeol

Moon Jae-in

Women and gender

Gender

Young South Korean men and women deeply divided on politics, survey shows

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The poll found that men and women in their 20s had the largest political ideology gap of any age group

The poll found that men and women in their 20s had the largest political ideology gap of any age group