Latest news with #LeeJunSeok
Yahoo
an hour ago
- General
- Yahoo
Image of South Korean politicians holding chopsticks misrepresented online
"The Democratic Party has no shame. Now they're doing the unimaginable en masse," reads part of a Korean-language Facebook post shared on May 28, 2025. A picture attached to the post shows several Democratic Party lawmakers and politicians holding up single chopsticks. "Of course, you all think you're Lee Jae-myung's son, so Lee Dong-ho is like a brother to you," the post continues, referring to the Democratic Party presidential contender and his son. The post surfaced shortly after the final debate before South Korea's June 3 presidential election, which was triggered by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol's removal from office following his failed martial law bid (archived link). According to The Korea Herald, Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok asked Lee Jae-myung and Kwon Young-gook of the Democratic Labor Party if it could be considered misogynistic if someone said, "I want to put a chopstick inside a woman's genitals" (archived link). The question was a reference to online comments alleged to have been made by Lee Jae-myung's son in 2020. Lee Jun-seok was roundly criticised following the debate for his use of sexually explicit language on national television (archived link). The same image was also used in similar posts that circulated widely among conservative social media users opposed to Lee Jae-myung and his Democratic Party, including prominent members of the rival People Power Party. The image, however, has been misrepresented. A keyword search found it shows a frame from a video posted on the official Instagram account of Democratic Party lawmaker Park Joo-min on May 14 (archived link). "The reason why we diligently brought our chopsticks -- number 1 challenge started by lawmaker Jung Chung-rae," reads its caption. The full video shows Park and other Democratic Party politicians each holding up a single chopstick, remarking that "even chopsticks say number one," a reference to Lee Jae-myung's candidate number on the ballot (archived link). Ryu Sam-yeong, one of the other politicians in the clip, said in a May 28 Instagram post that the video was filmed at Sagye Market in Seoul's Dongjak district following a day of campaigning (archived link). "This image was taken from footage filmed on May 13 and shows lawmakers Park Joo-min, Jeon Hyeon-hee, and others holding up chopsticks to symbolise the number one, encouraging support for the first candidate on the ballot," Ryu wrote. He also pointed out the video was filmed before the debate that brought the controversy about the chopsticks remark back into the spotlight. The timing "proves the claim is false" and posts spreading the claim do so "with clearly malicious intent", he told AFP over the phone on June 2. AFP has debunked more misinformation swirling around South Korea's election here, here and here.
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Why Gen-Z is voting differently and what it means for global politics
South Korea's young women are expected to lead a broad political backlash against the main conservative party during the presidential elections on June 3, punishing it for months of chaos. Multitudes of young men, though, are unlikely to join them. In democracies worldwide, a political gender divide is intensifying among Gen Z voters, with young men voting for right-wing parties and young women leaning left, a break from pre-pandemic years when both tended to vote for progressives. Recent elections spanning North America, Europe, and Asia show this trend is either consolidating or accelerating, with angry, frustrated men in their 20s breaking to the right. First-time South Korean voter Lee Jeong-min is one of them. He says he will vote for the right-wing Reform Party's candidate, Lee Jun-seok, on June 3. The candidate vows to shut down the ministry of gender equality, speaking to an issue that resonates with men like Lee, who particularly resents that only men have to do military service. 'As a young man, I find this to be one of the most unfair realities of living in Korea. At the prime of their youth — at 21 or 22 years old — young men, unlike their female peers, are unable to fully engage in various activities in society because they have to serve 18 months in the military.' In South Korea, almost 30 per cent of men aged 18-29 plan to back the Reform Party compared with just 3 per cent of young women, according to a Gallup Korea poll this month. Overall, more than half of the men back right-wing parties while almost half the women want the left-wing Democratic Party candidate to win. The divergence shrinks for older age groups. Political economist Soohyun Lee, of King's College London, said many young South Korean men felt unable to meet society's expectations: find a good job, get married, buy a home, and start a family. And they blame feminism, many believing that women are preferred for jobs. With negligible immigration in South Korea, Lee said, 'women become the convenient scapegoat'. ANGRY YOUNG MEN In South Korea and other democracies, Gen Z men are seeing an erosion of their relative advantage, especially since the pandemic — to the point where in a few countries the gender pay gap among 20-somethings favours young women. European Union (EU) data shows one of them is France, where men aged 18-34 voted in larger numbers for Marine le Pen's far-right party than women in last year's legislative elections. In the UK, where more young men than women vote conservative, males aged 16-24 are more likely to be neither employed nor in education than their female counterparts, official data shows. In the West, young men blame immigration as well as diversity programmes for job competition. In Germany's general election in February, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a record 20.8 per cent of the vote, tugged along by an undercurrent of support from young men — though the leader of the party is a woman. Men aged 18-24 voted 27 per cent for the AfD while young women ran to the other end of the political spectrum, voting 35 per cent for the far-left Linke party, according to official voting data. 'A lot of young men are falling for right-wing propaganda because they're upset, they have the feeling they're losing power,' said 18-year-old Molly Lynch, a Berliner who voted for Linke, drawn by its stand on climate change and economic inequality. 'But, it's actually losing power over women that wasn't actually equal in the first place.' The gender divide is not restricted to Gen Z, voters born since the mid-to-late 1990s. Millennials, who are in their 30s and early 40s, have felt the winds of change for longer. In Canada last month, men aged 35-54 voted 50 per cent for opposition conservatives in an election turned upside down by US President Donald Trump's tariffs on his northern neighbour. The Liberals, who had been braced for defeat, rode an anti-Trump wave back to power, thanks in large part to women voters. 'It tends to be men who have a bit more life experience and are now in that situation where they're saying, 'This isn't working out for me and I want change',' said Darrell Bricker, global chief executive of public affairs at polling firm Ipsos. Nik Nanos, founder of Canadian polling outfit Nanos Research, agreed, saying social media was accelerating democracy's 'angry young men symptom', especially in areas where blue collar jobs have dried up. A FOREVER WAR? Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, which promised a manufacturing renaissance and attacked diversity programmes, also resonated with young white and Hispanic men, but turned off young women, fuelling the country's big political gender gap. Roughly half of men aged 18-29 voted for Trump, while 61 per cent of young women went for his opponent, Kamala Harris. Young Black voters of both genders still overwhelmingly backed Harris. In Australia, which went to the polls this month, the Gen Z war did not play out at the ballot box. There was no clear divergence, with compulsory voting perhaps helping to explain why radicalised gender politics have not taken root. 'It tends to iron out extreme ideas, ideologies,' said political scientist Intifar Chowdury of Australian National University. So how does the Gen Z war end? Pollsters said it could drag on unless governments addressed core issues such as home affordability and precarious employment. One cited young men's health as another policy challenge, especially high suicide rates. Lee, of King's College, said the divide could make consensus on over-arching tax and welfare reforms harder to achieve. 'If the future generation is ever so divided along the lines of gender and then refuses to engage with each other to build social consensus, I do not think we can successfully tackle these huge issues,' she said. — Reuters
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
How a Gen Z gender divide is reshaping democracy
South Korea's young women are expected to lead a broad political backlash against the main conservative party during the presidential election on June 3, punishing it for months of chaos. Multitudes of young men, though, are unlikely to join them. In democracies worldwide, a political gender divide is intensifying among Generation Z voters, with young men voting for right-leaning parties and young women leaning left, a break from prepandemic years when both tended to vote for progressives. Recent elections spanning North America, Europe and Asia show this trend is either consolidating or accelerating, with angry, frustrated men in their 20s breaking to the right. First-time South Korean voter Lee Jeong-min is one of them. He says he will vote for the right-leaning Reform Party's candidate, Lee Jun-seok, on June 3. Lee, the candidate, vows to shut down the ministry of gender equality, speaking to an issue that resonates with men like Lee, the voter, who particularly resents that only men have to do military service. "As a young man, I find this to be one of the most unfair realities of living in Korea. At the prime of their youth — at 21 or 22 years old — young men, unlike their female peers, are unable to fully engage in various activities in society because they have to serve 18 months in the military." In South Korea, almost 30% of men age 18 to 29 plan to back the Reform Party compared with just 3% of young women, according to a Gallup Korea poll this month. Overall, more than half of the men back right-leaning parties while almost half the women want the left-leaning Democratic Party candidate to win. The divergence shrinks for older age groups. Political economist Soohyun Lee, of King's College London, said many young South Korean men felt unable to meet society's expectations: find a good job, get married, buy a home and start a family. And they blame feminism, many believing that women are preferred for jobs. With negligible immigration in South Korea, Lee said, "women become the convenient scapegoat." Angry young men In South Korea and other democracies, Gen Z men are seeing an erosion of their relative advantage, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic — to the point where in a few countries, the gender pay gap among 20-somethings favors young women. EU data shows one of them is France, where men age 18 to 34 voted in larger numbers for Marine le Pen's far-right party than women in last year's legislative elections. A carnival float depicting an exchange between Gen Z and baby boomers, is presented ahead of the traditional Rose Monday Carnival parade in Cologne, Germany, on Feb. 25. | REUTERS In the U.K., where more young men than women vote conservative, males age 16 to 24 are more likely to be neither employed, nor in education than female counterparts, official data shows. In the West, young men blame immigration as well as diversity programs for competition for jobs. In Germany's general election in February, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a record 20.8% of the vote, tugged along by an undercurrent of support from young men — though the leader of the party is a woman. Men age 18 to 24 voted 27% for the AfD while young women ran to the other end of the political spectrum, voting 35% for the far-left Linke party, according to official voting data. "A lot of young men are falling for rightwing propaganda because they're upset, they have the feeling they're losing power," said Molly Lynch, 18, a Berliner who voted for Linke, drawn by its stand on climate change and economic inequality. "But it's actually losing power over women that wasn't actually equal in the first place." The gender divide is not restricted to Gen Z, or voters born since the mid-to-late 1990s. Millennials, who are in their 30s and early 40s, have felt the winds of change for longer. In Canada last month, men age 35 to 54 voted 50% for opposition conservatives in an election turned upside down by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on his northern neighbor. The Liberals, which had been braced for defeat, rode an anti-Trump wave back to power, thanks in large part to female voters. "It tends to be men who have a bit more life experience and are now in that situation where they're saying, 'This isn't working out for me, and I want change,'" said Darrell Bricker, global chief executive of public affairs at polling firm Ipsos. Nik Nanos, founder of Canadian polling outfit Nanos Research, agreed, saying social media was accelerating democracy's "angry young men symptom," especially in areas where blue collar jobs have dried up. A forever war? Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, which promised a manufacturing renaissance and attacked diversity programs, also resonated with young white and Hispanic men, but turned off young women, fueling the country's big political gender gap. Roughly half of men age 18 to 29 voted for Trump, while 61% of young women went for his opponent, Kamala Harris. Young Black voters of both genders still overwhelmingly backed Harris. In Australia, which went to the polls this month, the Gen Z war did not play out at the ballot box. There was no clear divergence, with compulsory voting perhaps helping to explain why radicalized gender politics have not taken root. "It tends to iron out extreme ideas, ideologies," said political scientist Intifar Chowdury of Australian National University. So how does the Gen Z war end? Pollsters said it could drag on unless governments addressed core issues such as home affordability and precarious employment. One cited young men's health as another policy challenge, especially high suicide rates. Lee, of King's College, said the divide could make consensus on over-arching tax and welfare reforms harder to achieve. "If the future generation is ever so divided along the lines of gender and then refuses to engage with each other to build social consensus, I do not think we can successfully tackle these huge issues," she said.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
How a Gen Z gender divide is reshaping democracy
SEOUL/LONDON/BERLIN, May 29 (Reuters) - South Korea's young women are expected to lead a broad political backlash against the main conservative party at presidential elections on June 3, punishing it for months of chaos. Multitudes of young men, though, are unlikely to join them. In democracies worldwide, a political gender divide is intensifying among Gen Z voters, with young men voting for right-wing parties and young women leaning left, a break from pre-pandemic years when both tended to vote for progressives. Recent elections spanning North America, Europe and Asia show this trend is either consolidating or accelerating, with angry, frustrated men in their 20s breaking to the right. First-time South Korean voter Lee Jeong-min is one of them. He says he will vote for the right-wing Reform Party's candidate, Lee Jun-seok, on June 3. Lee, the candidate, vows to shut down the ministry of gender equality, speaking to an issue that resonates with men like Lee, the voter, who particularly resents that only men have to do military service. "As a young man, I find this to be one of the most unfair realities of living in Korea. At the prime of their youth — at 21 or 22 years old — young men, unlike their female peers, are unable to fully engage in various activities in society because they have to serve 18 months in the military." In South Korea, almost 30% of men aged 18-29 plan to back the Reform Party compared with just 3% of young women, according to a Gallup Korea poll this month. Overall, more than half of the men back right-wing parties while almost half the women want the left-wing Democratic Party candidate to win. The divergence shrinks for older age groups. Political economist Soohyun Lee, of King's College London, said many young South Korean men felt unable to meet society's expectations: find a good job, get married, buy a home and start a family. And they blame feminism, many believing that women are preferred for jobs. With negligible immigration in South Korea, Lee said, "women become the convenient scapegoat". In South Korea and other democracies, Gen Z men are seeing an erosion of their relative advantage, especially since the pandemic -- to the point where in a few countries the gender pay gap among 20-somethings favours young women. EU data shows one of them is France, where men aged 18-34 voted in larger numbers for Marine le Pen's far-right party than women in last year's legislative elections. In the UK, where more young men than women vote conservative, males aged 16-24 are more likely to be neither employed, nor in education than female counterparts, official data shows. In the West, young men blame immigration as well as diversity programmes for competition for jobs. In Germany's general election in February, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a record 20.8% of the vote, tugged along by an undercurrent of support from young men -- though the leader of the party is a woman. Men aged 18-24 voted 27% for the AfD while young women ran to the other end of the political spectrum, voting 35% for the far-left Linke party, according to official voting data. "A lot of young men are falling for right-wing propaganda because they're upset, they have the feeling they're losing power," said Molly Lynch, 18, a Berliner who voted for Linke, drawn by its stand on climate change and economic inequality. "But it's actually losing power over women that wasn't actually equal in the first place." The gender divide is not restricted to Gen Z, voters born since the mid-to-late 1990s. Millennials, aged in their 30s and early 40s, have felt the winds of change for longer. In Canada last month, men aged 35-54 voted 50% for opposition conservatives in an election turned upside down by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on his northern neighbour. The Liberals, which had been braced for defeat, rode an anti-Trump wave back to power, thanks in large part to female voters. "It tends to be men who have a bit more life experience and are now in that situation where they're saying, 'This isn't working out for me and I want change'," said Darrell Bricker, global chief executive of public affairs at polling firm Ipsos. Nik Nanos, founder of Canadian polling outfit Nanos Research, agreed, saying social media was accelerating democracy's "angry young men symptom", especially in areas where blue collar jobs have dried up. Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, which promised a manufacturing renaissance and attacked diversity programmes, also resonated with young white and Hispanic men, but turned off young women, fuelling the country's big political gender gap. Roughly half of men aged 18-29 voted for Trump, while 61% of young women went for his opponent, Kamala Harris. Young Black voters of both genders still overwhelmingly backed Harris. In Australia, which went to the polls this month, the Gen Z war did not play out at the ballot box. There was no clear divergence, with compulsory voting perhaps helping to explain why radicalised gender politics have not taken root. "It tends to iron out extreme ideas, ideologies," said political scientist Intifar Chowdury of Australian National University. So how does the Gen Z war end? Pollsters said it could drag on unless governments addressed core issues such as home affordability and precarious employment. One cited young men's health as another policy challenge, especially high suicide rates. Lee, of King's College, said the divide could make consensus on over-arching tax and welfare reforms harder to achieve. "If the future generation is ever so divided along the lines of gender and then refuses to engage with each other to build social consensus, I do not think we can successfully tackle these huge issues," she said.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
South Korea's presidential election by the numbers
SEOUL, May 29 (Reuters) - South Koreans go to the polls on June 3 to elect the country's 21st president, aiming to restore political stability after months of turmoil and fill a power vacuum following the botched attempt by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol to impose martial law. Here are some details about South Korea's election system: The election is held in a single round and the candidate who receives the most votes is deemed the winner and entitled to serve one five-year term. The top three candidates based on a recent Gallup Korea poll are the liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, with 49% public support, followed by his main conservative rival Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party with 35% and another conservative candidate, New Reform Party's Lee Jun-seok, on 11%. All of the six candidates remaining in the race are men with no women in the final lineup for the first time since 2007, according to the National Election Commission (NEC). South Korea has only had one female leader, Park Geun-hye. The youngest candidate is Lee Jun-seok, who is 40, and the oldest is Kim Moon-soo at 73. There are 44.39 million eligible voters, with women accounting for 50.5% of voters, according to data on the electoral roll from the interior ministry. South Korea is one of the world's fastest ageing societies and the number of voters aged above 60 accounts for about a third of the electorate, outstripping the 28% share of those in their 20s and 30s. Gyeonggi Province is home to the largest number of voters, accounting for 26.4%, followed by Seoul at 18.7% and Busan at 6.5%. A total of 205,268 people overseas voted between May 20 and 25 in 118 countries, the NEC said. South Korea's acting President Lee Ju-ho said on Monday the government was "transparently disclosing the entire process of the presidential election", according to his office. The National Election Commission will air CCTV surveillance footage of rooms storing ballots from early voting, with their entrances sealed before counting starts and transported ballots given police escorts, Lee said. After votes are cast, ballots will be initially sorted by machines and then election workers will count them, the NEC said. The official election campaign is relatively short in South Korea in a bid to contain costs. It started on May 12. There are 3,568 polling stations across the country open for early voting that will be allowed between May 29-30. Election day on June 3 is a public holiday and voting will run from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. with an indication of the results likely to start emerging that evening or early the next day. On June 4, the National Election Commission is expected to verify the results and the inauguration of the new president will be held. SOURCES: National Election Commission, Gallup Korea
