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.”
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
RSS