PERSON IN FOCUS Lee Jun-seok falls back on politics of division to woo young male voters, again

Lee Jun-seok, head of the Reformist Party, clenches his fist during a launching ceremony of his party at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 20. Newsis

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reformist Party and former chairman of the conservative ruling People Power Party (PPP), is in the media spotlight, again, due to his contentious pledges which critics say are highly likely to cause further social divisions, specifically between generations as well as genders.

After establishing his breakaway party earlier this year, the 38-year-old Harvard graduate announced a proposal to revamp the free subway ride service for riders aged 65 and older. Under current laws, people aged 65 and above can use the subway free of charge in any city, regardless of income.

Lee pointed to this welfare policy as a significant factor contributing to the snowballing deficits of subway operators, vowing that he would replace it with a yearly voucher worth 120,000 won ($90). This provoked a vehement backlash from the Korea Senior Citizens Association, which criticized Lee for spreading malicious lies against the elderly and urged him to quit politics.

Earlier this week, Lee made another pledge to pass a bill mandating military service for women who wish to apply for certain civil service positions such as police officers, maritime police and firefighters.

This promise largely reflects the sentiments of some young men who have been protesting the current policy of requiring military service only for men, saying that conscription should be expanded to include women so as to address what they perceive as unfair.

His recent moves are quite reminiscent of the 2022 presidential election when Lee, then PPP chief, raised the idea of the abolishment of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as a campaign pledge for the party's then candidate Yoon Suk Yeol. During the election campaign, Lee emerged as a vocal critic of feminist groups, accusing them of neglecting men's rights.

This stance helped Yoon and his conservative party gain support from men in their 20s and 30s, who were once solid supporters of liberal blocs.

Political observers suggest that Lee appears to be employing a similar strategy for the upcoming April 10 general elections.

"After launching his own party, Lee has started to reassemble his primary support base — young men. He recognizes that male voters in their 20s and 30s are not steadfast supporters of the PPP, and aims to regain their support," said Park Sang-byung, a political commentator and professor at Inha University.

Lee Jun-seok, left, head of the Reformist Party, promotes his party's policies to the public near the Government Complex in Sejong, Wednesday. Yonhap

For one thing, the outspoken politician's attention-grabbing pledges have boosted the visibility of his newly launched party.

In a Gallup Korea poll conducted of 1,001 adults from Jan. 23 to 25, the approval rating for the Reformist Party stood at 20 percent, surpassing the 16 percent approval level of former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon's new party.

But Park was skeptical about the sustainability of this trend. "If Lee sticks with the current strategy, he will ultimately fail to expand his support base," Park said.

Kim Hyung-joon, a professor at Pai Chai University and former president of the Korean Association of Electoral Studies, commented that the young politician appears to be repeating his past mistakes.

"He appears to believe that the divisive strategy contributed to the PPP's victory in the presidential election. However, this was not the case. It was a failed strategy, considering that the conservative party lost a significant portion of young female voters to its rival, the DPK," Kim said.

The professor was cynical of Lee's old tactic of focusing exclusively on young male voters, believing that it would not pay off in the parliamentary elections.

"Targeting only young male voters while explicitly excluding young women and older adults appears to be an ill-advised strategy, particularly when considering the voter demographic and the relatively high voter turnout among women," he said.

In the 2022 presidential election, women in their 20s and 30s showed a higher voter turnout rate than their male counterparts. Plus, the upcoming general elections mark the first such election in the nation's history where eligible voters aged 60 and older outnumber those aged 30 and under.

Criticisms about the Reformist Party's divisive pledges have also risen within political circles.

"His strategy seems to be focused on gaining attention — being picked up by the media and appearing in broadcasts. That is the path to becoming a celebrity, or what we would call an attention-seeker, not the path for a serious politician," Jang Ye-chan, a member of the ruling party's Supreme Council, said in an interview with Channel A, Tuesday.

In response, Lee said that his proposals reflect his party's efforts to reform the nation.

"The alternatives we propose may, at times, be uncomfortable or perceived as unfavorable by certain individuals. However, these should not be disparaged by being labeled as 'divisive or hate speech.' These new perspectives show how we are genuinely striving for policy changes in Korea," he said.