Young South Korean men and women deeply divided on politics, survey shows

The poll found that men and women in their 20s had the largest political ideology gap of any age group

People stage a rally supporting feminism in Seoul, South Korea, on February 12, 2022. Photo: AP
South Korea’s young voters are more ideologically divided than older generations, a new survey has found, with men in their 20s gravitating toward conservatism while their female peers largely favour liberal politics, raising concerns about the country’s growing polarisation.

The poll – commissioned jointly by Seoul National University and the Chosun Ilbo newspaper – ranked respondents’ ideological orientation on a scale of one to 10, with higher scores indicating more conservative tendencies. Men in their 20s recorded an average score of 5.42, while women in the same age group averaged 4.64.

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