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By Kang Seung-woo
Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) has been elected as the new president to lead Korea for next five years after defeating Lee Jae-myung of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) by fewer than 250,000 votes, or 0.8 of a percentage point, in Wednesday's election.
The 61-year-old Yoon, who served as the prosecutor general under President Moon Jae-in, declared his presidency last July after resigning from the prosecution last March, following bitter clashes with the administration. He has never held any elected office before winning the presidential election.
Despite his inexperience in politics, more than 48 percent voted for Yoon. They turned out to vote against the ruling party, as they are frustrated by the soaring housing prices amid the ever-widening wealth gap between the haves and have-nots under the Moon administration, which led to the change of power.
In the lead-up to the election, public aspirations for a change of government had been hovering around 50 percent in polls, due to growing discontent with President Moon's policies. Yoon quickly emerged as a favorite to take on the ruling party in the presidential election.
On the campaign trail, Lee, a former Gyeonggi Province governor, appealed to voters, distinguishing himself from Yoon as an experienced politician who can manage state affairs stably and floating the idea of a coalition government for national unity.
East-west political divide
The nation's east-west political divide ― with the eastern provinces giving sweeping support for Yoon and the western provinces overwhelmingly turning out in favor of Lee ― returned once more in this election, showing how divided the nation is politically.
According to the National Election Commission (NEC), 75.14 percent of voters in Daegu and 72.76 percent of voters in North Gyeongsang Province favored Yoon, while Lee earned 86.1 percent of votes from South Jeolla Province, 84.82 percent from Gwangju and 82.98 percent from North Jeolla Province.
According to some polls ahead of the election, they said that the region-specific trend had weakened somewhat, after Yoon earned high approval ratings on parts of the ruling party's home turf, prompting PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok to boast that Yoon might earn 30-percent support in those areas, though Yoon's actual support ended up in the low-10 percent range.
"We can say regionalism in the presidential election was weaker than before, but it was still clearly visible in the two parties' strongholds, the DPK's Jeolla provinces and the PPP's Gyeongsang provinces," Hangil Research director and political analyst Hong Hyeong-sik said.
However, it may be a silver lining that Lee markedly gained 40.70-percent support from voters in Ulsan ― the first time that a liberal candidate exceeded 40 percent there.
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Gender divide
Another remarkable divide in the vote was observed in this election. People in their 20s were divided by gender: more men cast their ballots for Yoon, while the majority of women supported Lee.
According to the joint exit poll conducted by three local broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, 58.7 percent of male voters in their 20s supported Yoon, while 58 percent of female voters supported Lee. Another exit poll by cable network JTBC also showed similar results. Yoon received 56.5 percent of votes from male voters aged 18 to 29, while 60.2 percent of female voters of the same age group supported Lee.
During the campaign, Yoon and his party vowed to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which they accused of fomenting division between men and women, a pledge appealing to 20-something male voters and repelling female voters.
On the other hand, female voters in their 20s strongly supported the DPK candidate, who openly acknowledged the structural gender inequalities and gender discrimination in Korean society.
An unexpected defection from Lee among voters in their 30s seems to also have tipped the balance of the election results in Yoon's favor.
Pre-election polls showed that the age group was seen as consisting of strong supporters for Lee. According to a Gallup Korea, which conducted a weekly survey, the DPK candidate's percentage of approval had remained over 30 percent before reaching 40 percent last week, compared with the percentage of approval for Yoon, which fluctuated from 20 percent to over 30 percent.
However, the joint exit poll found that Yoon enjoyed more support than Lee: 48.1 percent to 46.3 percent. By gender, 52.8 percent of 30-something males voted for Yoon and 42.6 percent for Lee, while 49.7 percent of female voters in their 30s favored Lee and 43.8 percent preferred Yoon.
"Based on the exit poll results, disgruntled male voters in their 20s and 30s massively supported Yoon, meaning that men feel the situation is more unfair to them than women regarding issues linked to gender equality," Hong said.
The NEC's mishandling of ballots filled out by COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine during the early voting period was another talking point, as the agency's poor preparations triggered nationwide concerns that the election might be compromised ― even though some argue that it had enough time to get things right, despite the unprecedented circumstances.
Though the NEC issued multiple statements officially apologizing and pledged to improve its election guidelines, the commission has yet to offer sufficient explanations about the irregularities during the early voting period for COVID-19 patients.
The NEC came under fire over the weekend following revelations that poll station workers were collecting patients' ballots in plastic trash bags and other unofficial containers, rather than letting the infected voters place their votes directly in the designated ballot boxes, during the early voting period for infected voters on Saturday.
Despite the criticism from political circles, NEC Chairperson Noh Jeong-hee has not addressed the calls for her resignation.
"After a divided electorate has produced a divided government, Seoul may struggle to pursue policies of reform rather than politics of retribution. Growing South Korea's international role will begin with democratic resilience at home," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University.
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