In the shadow of Seoul’s centuries-old Gwanghwamun Gate, young businesswoman Shin Ji-young wears a rainbow headband and waves a flag criticizing South Korea’s impeached president alongside thousands of protesters.
A divide has emerged among South Korea’s young people since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a bungled martial law decree last month and hunkered down at his residence resisting arrest.
On one side, young conservative men — including evangelical Christians and those who openly support US president-elect Donald Trump — are railing against his impeachment. On the other, young women and supporters of liberal causes such as the LGBTQ+ community, climate justice and labor rights are calling for his immediate detention.
Photo: AFP
“I think the [gender] conflict already existed, but it became more visible as Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment issue arose,” Shin said.
“I think women are more sensitive to social disasters and discrimination. Men in their 20s and 30s, even though they are in the same generation, have always disagreed” that gender discrimination exists, the 29-year-old added.
Yoon’s move has widened the nation’s polarized politics and pitted Gen Z South Koreans on both sides of the divide massing on the streets of Seoul in sub-zero temperatures.
The anti-Yoon side has been largely represented at protests by a diverse group of liberal-leaning young people. It has included K-pop fans, gamers and feminist groups, along with quirky flags that read “introverts” and even an “orchid society.”
“As someone who supports sexual minorities, I think that the reason so many of them are coming out to the impeachment rally is because they want to create a better society,” student Song Min-ji, 21, said.
While some young people are trying to spread their liberal values and a lot of Yoon’s extreme supporters appear to be elderly retirees, he also has a group of young defenders who are causing concern.
Last week a far-right youth group held a news conference at the parliament where it named its sub-unit Baekgoldan or “White Skull Squad.”
The name refers to a unit that cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in the 1980s and 1990s, including some deadly beatings.
If the investigators move “forward with executing an arrest warrant for the president or deploy special police units, it could potentially lead to a civil war-like situation,” its leader Kim Jung-hyun said. “In such an unstable environment, the risk of foreign intervention or extreme social chaos could increase.”
Shin said the young men were becoming more extreme — including a group “that even advocates martial law.”
Others said the news conference had left them in despair, unable to know how they could converse with others in their generation who have such different worldviews.
“It really feels like we’ve reached a new low. It makes me angry. I feel overwhelmed,” said Noh Min-young, a 20-year-old student. “Ultimately, they are members of our society ... yet our perspectives seem so vastly different.”
The right-wing protesters have also heavily used South Korean and US flags, along with imagery of Trump, to convey their nationalist view that the opposition is in cahoots with North Korea.
Banners and placards have included Trump-like slogans such as “Make Korea Great Again” and “Stop the Steal.”
Experts say Yoon has used the support of young men for his own political survival, while dismissing the importance of young women.
“He recognized that it would be difficult to gain their [women’s] support, so he treated them as if they didn’t exist from the beginning,” Gyeongsang National University sociology professor Kwon Soo-hyun said.
“Economic instability acts as a key driver pushing young people toward conservatism,” she said, adding that Yoon’s administration has tried to blame “women influenced by feminism” and migrants.
While a gap between South Korea’s Gen Z clearly already existed, the protracted political crisis has made it more entrenched.
“When talking about politics with my friends, no matter how much I tell them the truth, they don’t listen,” Yang Ui-bin, 25, said holding a “Stop the Steal” sign. “So we naturally become distant.”
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