Elderly voters emerge as key factor
Elderly voters listen to a campaign speech in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap
Those aged 60 and older near 10 million
By Yi Whan-woo
A sharp rise in the number of elderly voters is becoming a key factor in the elections, analysts said Tuesday.
The number of eligible voters aged 60 and older has reached a record high of 9.84 million, up from 8.17 million in the 2012 parliamentary elections, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).
The tally also outnumbers young voters in their 20s and younger.
According to the election watchdog, there are 8.37 million voters in their 50s; 8.84 million voters in their 40s; 7.61 million voters in their 30s; 6.71 million voters in their 20s; and 680,000 voters who are 19 years old.
“This suggests that the parties should consider underscoring welfare benefits for senior citizens more and more in their election campaigns in the future,” said Yoon Hee-woong, a senior researcher at Opinion Live.
He speculated that that number of voters in their 60s and older will surpass 10 million by the 2017 presidential election.
Lee Kang-yun, a journalist-turned-political commentator, agreed, saying, “The retired people now tend to be more interested in their well-being than national security or political issues.”
The analysts partly attributed a change in the trend to an increase in the number of retired baby boomers ― the post-war generation born between 1955 and 1963 after the 1950-53 Korean War.
“The baby boomers learned about the Korean War through text books, not directly in their lives, and studies show they perceive threats from North Korea less seriously compared to the older generations,” Yoon said. “As more baby bombers will retire and enter their 60s, the parties should consider how to bolster their welfare amid the sluggish economy.”
The experts, however, said an increase in the number of senior voters will not necessarily lead to an increase in support for the ruling Saenuri Party in the general election and afterwards.
They also said that elderly citizens are mostly disgruntled with the Saenuri Party’s welfare pledges. This is why the party needs to come up with a better welfare plan in the future to woo elderly voters, they said.
“Let’s make sure that elderly voters will vote for the ruling party because they tend to be slow in changing in their political affiliations, not just because they like the party’s pledges on welfare this time,” said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University.
It is seen that many of the welfare pledges from the parties and their candidates in 253 election constituencies require financial support from the central government.
Meanwhile, the Park Geun-hye administration scrapped Park’s plan presented during the 2012 presidential race to offer 200,000 won ($174) every month to all seniors regardless of their income. It cited the more-than-expected expenditure it would take to implement the plan.
“The voters have learned that candidates are throwing out sugarcoated promises that will never be carried out once the election ends,” Yoon said. “Elderly voters are not likely to vote for progressive-minded opposition parties but it’s also possible that some of them will not bother to cast their ballots at all, Wednesday.”