Youth politics confronts an expensive starting line - 경향신문

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On the 20th, at the Democratic Party’s central headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, during the joint speech session for the preliminary race for party leader and Supreme Council members, party leadership contenders (from left) Kim Min-seok, former prime minister, Ko Min-jung, Jeong Cheong-rae, former leader, Kim Bo-mi, former Gangjin County council member, and Representative Song Young-gil, together with Supreme Council candidates, pose for a commemorative photo. National Assembly Press Photographers

Money entrusted and held. That is the dictionary definition of the ‘candidate deposit’. When reading political news, you can take it to mean ‘the money a person who wishes to run in an election entrusts in order to become a candidate’. The Public Official Election Act specifies the deposit amounts, such as 300 million won for a presidential election and 15 million won for a constituency National Assembly election. The same law also lays out refund rules, including a full refund if the vote share exceeds 15%.

There is also a deposit system for intra-party elections. Ahead of its Aug. 17 party convention, the Democratic Party has recently faced criticism inside and outside the party over this issue. Today, Dot-Line-Plane looks into what happened.

The Democratic Party Central Party Election Commission (the Election Commission) met yesterday (21) and decided to reduce the deposits for candidates in the Aug. 17 party convention.

Previously, the party had set the convention deposits at 100 million won for party leader candidates and 50 million won for Supreme Council candidates. For young politicians outside the National Assembly, these amounts posed a major burden.

After young politicians, senior leadership contenders, and even the president voiced criticism, the party election commission revisited the deposit issue. The Democratic Party finalized deposits by lowering each by 20 million won, setting the party leader deposit at 100 million won→80 million won and the Supreme Council deposit at 50 million won→30 million won.

Youth candidates running in the Democratic Party convention from outside the National Assembly receive a 50% reduction under the rules. Even so, the previous deposits were far too large for young candidates to shoulder.

In particular, critics argued that the latest increases were excessive compared with the 2024 convention. The Democratic Party said it raised deposits because election administration costs rose along with membership, but even taking that into account, the absolute amounts remained high.

Young politicians who threw their hats into the ring for this convention spoke with one voice in criticizing the hefty deposits. Kim Bo-mi (37), a party leader candidate, said, “They tell youth to take on challenges, yet they do not even let us stand together at the starting line,” bluntly adding that the Democratic Party is becoming a “party that expels youth.”

Kim Hyeong-nam (37), running for the Supreme Council, noted that the preliminary deposit for Supreme Council hopefuls rose from 5 million won in 2024 to 20 million won this year, criticizing, “Even when the price of a snack goes up by 100 won, a company offers an explanation, yet our party quadruples the deposit without a proper explanation.”

Jeong Min-cheol, a Supreme Council candidate born in 2001, publicly shared a personal bank account to raise the deposit and became embroiled in controversy over a potential violation of the Political Funds Act. The episode stood in stark contrast to the 440 million won in donations that flowed into former leader Jeong Cheong-rae’s fundraising account, highlighting the bleak reality for young politicians without money.

Senior politicians also weighed in in favor of reducing deposits. Kim Min-seok, a former prime minister running for party leader, said, “I simply cannot understand it,” and former leader Jeong Cheong-rae said, “Even to me, the deposits are far too high.” Six-term lawmaker and party leader candidate Song Young-gil said, “What the Democratic Party needs now is not higher deposits but broader opportunities.”

President Lee Jae Myung also said, “Sitting lawmakers have salaries and political funds, so their burden is relatively lighter, but for those outside the National Assembly, especially young people, the burden will be heavy,” adding, “For young candidates, I would at least like to help publicize their fundraising accounts.”

Of course, a certain level of deposit is needed to prevent a glut of candidates. But a raised threshold can become a wall that young people aspiring to politics cannot cross at all. New faces appearing in a party is valuable regardless of camp. That is why not only the Democratic Party but also the People Power Party reduces deposits for young candidates running in party conventions.

As the governing party that receives large sums in state subsidies, the Democratic Party would be hard-pressed to be seen as acting responsibly if it blocks young politicians’ entry with money. President Lee Jae Myung also said, “The party’s finances are not strained, and there is both hardship among young people and a need for policy consideration.”

The crux of the current deposit controversy is the ‘neglect of youth’ argument that high deposits make it hard for young politicians to enter. Yet it also spun off into political wrangling that drifted from the substance, including a dispute over President Lee Jae Myung’s involvement in party affairs.

Come election season, both sides court the youth vote. We have seen many times how a party that loses an election reflects that it “failed to read the hearts of those in their 20s and 30s.” But it seems contradictory to raise barriers to entry for young politicians in internal party elections while formulating youth policy. If parties listen first to the voices of the youth closest to them, might they not also hear the voices of those farther away?

“Even when looking at a single thing, do it three-dimensionally” is the slogan of the Kyunghyang Shinmun newsletter <Dot-Line-Plane>. We analyze issues worth readers’ consideration by point (facts), line (contexts), and plane (perspectives) to present them in a multidimensional way. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 a.m., spend ten minutes a day reading <Dot-Line-Plane> to build your ‘thinking muscles’.