January 21, 2025
Seoul ——Since the South Korean Congress passed the impeachment bill against President Yoon Seok-yeol on December 14, large-scale protests have broken out across South Korea. Demonstrators supporting and opposing Yoon Seok-yeol demanded either criminal punishment for Yoon Seok-yeol or the restoration of the president's office.
Anti-Yin protests have seen a significant increase in young female participants, while pro-Yin protests have attracted large numbers of men in their 20s and 30s – in contrast to traditional older conservative supporters (usually in their 50s and 60s) or in their 50s) has changed.
A large number of young people in their 20s and 30s were spotted at protests at the Seoul West District Court on Saturday and Sunday. To protest against the court's extension of Yin's detention order, a group of protesters, including some in their 20s and 30s, forced their way into the court.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, of the 90 attackers who have been detained, 51%, or 46 people, are in their 20s and 30s. The rest are spread across different age groups.
Despite such a radical form of protest, the number of young people at rallies supporting Yin has significantly increased.
On the morning before Yoon Eun-hye was arrested on January 15, near the presidential residence in Yongsan District, central Seoul, many young people protesting against Yoon Eun-hye's arrest were seen holding signs that read “I will fight side by side with President Yoon Seok-yeol” and ” President Yoon”. President Yoon Seok-yeol, don’t worry, our people in their 20s and 30s are by your side. “
“I was surprised at first by the president's declaration of martial law, but I believe he made this statement out of good intentions,” Lee Tae-kang, a male pro-Yin protester in his 30s, told reporters during the protest “Korea Herald”. Impeaching and arresting him will only further the advancement of our country.
Recent polls show that Yin's support is also concentrated among men in their 20s and 30s. According to Gallup Korea statistics, the approval rates of men in their 20s and men in their 30s were 15% and 19% respectively in the third week of December, while they rose to 25% and 29% respectively in January.
When asked what prompted men in their 20s and 30s to persist in opposing Yoon's impeachment and imprisonment, experts cited their “hatred and distrust” of the main opposition Democratic Party because of the power it would have if the Constitutional Court passed. May be handed over to the party.
“Korean men in their 20s and 30s often view themselves as being at a disadvantage compared to women of the same age, primarily because compulsory military service allows them to delay college or (women) enable them to pursue future goals earlier,” Cheng said. Koo Jeong-woo, a professor at the Department of Sociology at Kyunkwan University, told The Korea Herald. “This perception leads to suspicion of the Democratic Party, which they believe does not represent their interests. Instead, they find themselves more likely to identify with the party’s anti-feminist rhetoric.
Professor Koo added that young women's active participation in protests urging Yin's impeachment may have prompted these men to express their concerns as well.
“Past protests urging Yin's impeachment, and the National Assembly's push for Yin's impeachment, created a reactionary sense of urgency among young conservative men,” Koo explained. “Such radicalism is seen as a threat to the traditional gender power structures they seek to uphold and sustain.”
