College student becomes ruling party's leadership member

Park Seong-min, 24, former spokeswoman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) who represented young members of the party, was appointed as a member of the party's Supreme Council by the party's new leader Rep. Lee Nak-yon, the party announced Monday. Screen capture from Facebook

Park tasked with helping party reflect opinion of women, younger generation

By Jung Da-min

A female college student has been appointed as a member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Supreme Council by the party’s new leader Rep. Lee Nak-yon.

The exceptional appointment reflects Lee’s pledge to listen more to opinions from young people and women in drawing up policies. Attention is on whether she can really help the party come up with better policies appealing to the younger generations and women, who used to be a strong support base for the DPK and President Moon Jae-in but have been expressing disappointment following multiple gender- and employment-related issues.

The party announced, Monday, that Park Seong-min, who was one of the party’s spokespeople and represented young members, had joined the Supreme Council.

“Park has performed her role as the youth spokeswoman admirably, which has been highly recognized from within and outside the party,” Rep. Choi In-ho, the party’s new top spokesman also appointed by Lee, said during a press briefing. “The party leadership thinks Park is the right person who can swiftly respond to gender-related issues as a woman and a young member, while actively seeking to communicate with the people and proposing solutions to the party to resolve such issues.”

Park’s appointment has brought attention as she would be the youngest Supreme Council member ever in the party’s history.

Born in 1996, the 24-year-old Korea University student first joined the DPK last September as a youth spokeswoman, selected through the party’s open interview for the role in a part of its efforts to appeal to the younger generation.

But critics remained skeptical whether the symbolic appointment would bring an actual policy reform of the DPK or merely remain as a political show pretending to care about the younger generations without specific practical plans to support them.

In fact, the DPK has been losing support from younger generations due to its failing economic and job policies as well as controversies over the unfair policies of the Moon government and abuses of power by prominent figures.

The employment of subcontracted workers at Incheon International Airport Corp. in June, in particular, brought criticism from young people as the government only focused on realizing Moon’s pledge for “zero irregular workers,” aimed at providing employees job security, while depriving many jobseekers of opportunities.

The controversy last year surrounding former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who allegedly used his influence to help his children in admissions to prestigious universities, was also among the factors that triggered young voters to turn their backs on the ruling bloc.

This year, sexual harassment allegations against former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don and the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon have put the ruling bloc under criticism that its leadership lacks gender sensitivity, resulting in decreasing support from women in opinion polls.