"We Won't Vote Just Because You Hand out Money" Twenty-Somethings Rebuke the Democratic Party

[경향신문]

Democratic Party Chairman Song Young-gil speaks during a meeting of the supreme council on May 17, 2021, at the National Assembly in Seoul. Yonhapnews

“We won’t be fooled by the promise that you’ll give us money.” “You should accept the thoughts of the people, instead of trying to teach us.”

The Democratic Party of Korea organized a meeting with people in their twenties on May 17, Coming-of-Age Day, but the young people poured out harsh criticism. They gave bitter advice telling the Democratic Party to cast off the image of a ggondae or a stubborn boss. The party’s leader Song Young-gil apologized, saying that the advice was uncomfortable but unavoidable.

Song organized the meeting to listen to the voices of young people as an effort to resolve the party’s loss of supporters in their twenties and thirties, shown in the party’s defeat in the April 7 by-elections. Eight people in their twenties, including ordinary college students as well as college student members of the Democratic Party’s committee of university students attended the meeting.

Kim Hanmiru a college freshman said, “In the past, when my friends teased each other, we’d ask if you supported the Liberty Korea Party (currently the People Power Party). But now, you get the feeling their laughing at you when they ask if you support the Democratic Party.” He continued and said, “We thought the Democratic Party would handle things fairly without taking sides when corruption was exposed, but in reality, they didn’t.” He also said, “Young people think justice and fairness are important.” In other words, he criticized the various naeronambul--which literally means, it’s true love when I’m involved, but an affair when it’s someone else’s business--or double standards concerning irregularities starting from the Cho Kuk incident to the recent land speculation by the employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and the controversial real estate issues involving ruling party figures.

Kim also mentioned the campaign pledges for young people made by the presidential candidates in the ruling party and said, “One said that he would give 10 million won to people who didn’t go to college, and another 30 million won when one is discharged from the military. Young people will no longer be fooled by these pledges and vote for them.” He criticized Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung’s idea to hand out 10 million won for international travel expenses to young people who don’t go to college and former party leader Lee Nak-yeon’s idea of giving 30 million won to people discharged from the military to help them start their careers.

During the meeting, participants complained about various social problems that young people faced, such as the timing of their vaccination, improvements to disease prevention measures, the problem of jobs, military issues such as a volunteer military system, and housing issues. They also spoke on gender conflicts, which was recently at the center of controversy, and said, “There are cases of reverse discrimination due to policies,” and asked the ruling party to resolve these issues.

Lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi, who was present at the meeting, met with reporters and said, “What hit closest to home and hurt the most was when they said, ‘You should accept the thoughts of the people, instead of trying to teach us.’” He added, “I think that is the direction toward which the Democratic Party should head in the future.”

Party leader Song said, “In a way, it is very uncomfortable to be here, but I am also sad and sorry.” He continued and said, “I also have a daughter who was born in 1991 and a son in 1995, and I feel that my time and theirs are different.” He added, “The young people have a much higher standard than the older generation when they demand justice and fairness. We will work to eagerly open the path to and accept the criticism of the following generation.”

As for the housing problem, Song explained his plan to raise the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for young people and newlyweds and said, “We will also present policies on housing for young people.”