Opposition calls for lowered voting age. Conservatives vie for support of 20s group.

With an earlier-than-planned presidential election drawing near and recent turbulence across political terrain, it has become vital for rival parties to tightly grasp their base of support and, if possible, expand it further.

The key task for both the conservative and progressive camps is to win the favor of young voters, ranging from their late teens to 20s.

For the conservative bloc -- the ruling Saenuri Party and the newly founded Barun Party -- these youngsters symbolize the spirit of reform and communication, values which the conservatives have been accused of lacking.

Interim leader of the ruling Saenuri party, In Myung-jin at a town hall event with a group of young people (Yonhap)
Interim leader of the ruling Saenuri party, In Myung-jin at a town hall event with a group of young people (Yonhap)

The opposition, on the other hand, is seeking to lower the legal voting age from the current 19 to 18, which will not only expand the voter pool to progressive-leaning youths, but also gesture at its efforts to better guarantee the people’s political rights.

The subcommittee of the parliamentary security and public administration committee Tuesday passed a revision bill of the Public Official Election Act, lowering the legal voting age from 19 to 18.

Though the bill has yet to pass two more committee-level votes as well as a full floor vote at the general meeting, optimism is building as this was the first time that the lowering of the voting age obtained approval in legislature.

The lowering of the legal voting age was one of the key political agendas last year during the candlelight vigils in which a number of teenage students took to public platforms to denounce the wrongdoings of the Park Geun-hye administration.

“To disapprove of lowering the voting age is equivalent to countering the public sentiment shown in the candlelight vigils,” Rep. Woo Sang-ho, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, said earlier while urging for the passage of the election law revision.

The National Election Commission also submitted its opinion that South Korea should join in the global trend of lowering the voting age.

Of the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states, Korea is currently the only country that limits voting rights to those 19 and above. Japan revised its voting age from 20 to 18 last year.

But the Saenuri Party, whose support base in the elderly group, has been opposing the change. The new centrist-right Barun Party has remained divided over the issue, with some members calling for reform and others expressing concern over the consequences.

The two conservative entities are more concerned about young party members in their 20s and 30s.

With a sense of crisis that reformist figures may defect and join the new party, Saenuri Party’s leadership Tuesday held a forum to communicate with young party members.

“As the ruling party in power, the Saenuri Party should bear the responsibility for the (harsh) reality which our youngsters face,” said In Myung-jin, the emergency committee chairman. “I am ready to face criticism from all of you.”

Interim leader of the ruling Saenuri party, In Myung-jin speaks to a group of young people at a town hall event (Yonhap)
Interim leader of the ruling Saenuri party, In Myung-jin speaks to a group of young people at a town hall event (Yonhap)

During the meeting, the young party members criticized the party’s recent factional divide, which led to the defection of reform-minded representatives and the creation of the new Barun Party.

The Barun Party also held a debate session to present the party’s policy platform and hear opinions from the young generation.

　“The Saenuri Party has always been shunned by those in their 20s and 30s,” said Rep. Oh Shin-hwan, spokesperson of the new party.

“The Barun Party plans to open its ears to the young generation and establish policies that may actually be of help to them.”

By Bae Hyun-jung ()