by Yoo Seungki
SEOUL, June 11 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean neo-liberalist was elected Friday as the youngest-ever chief of the country's major conservative party, raising both expectations for a political reform in the conservative bloc and concerns about his excessive focus on competition.
In the national convention of the main conservative opposition People Power Party, Lee Jun-seok won 43.8 percent of the ballots that were cast online and by telephone from Monday to Thursday among party members and ordinary citizens.
The 36-year-old, who never held a parliamentary seat, defeated long-term lawmakers that include former four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won securing 37.1 percent of support and current five-term lawmaker Joo Ho-young garnering 14.0 percent of the ballots. Both Na and Joo served as floor leaders of the conservative party.
It was the first time in the country's modern political history that anyone in his or her 30s was elected as the leader of the ruling or the main opposition party.
Lee lost to the runner-up Na in the voting among members of the conservative party, but the young politician won a landslide victory thanks to support in the opinion poll from ordinary citizens, believed to be men in their 20s and 30s.
Lee has gained a high popularity from young male voters in recent years as he publicly denounced radical feminists for seeking an unfair privilege for women under the government of President Moon Jae-in who vowed to become a feminist president during his election campaign in 2017.
In the male-dominated South Korean society, women still earn less than men in the same companies and are poorly represented in both the private and public sectors, leading the government to drive policies for improved rights of women.
Many young men believed that they were discriminated against because of the policies, although they agreed that women in their 40s or higher were disadvantaged in the patriarchal society. They even believed that they are being punished for the patriarchy and discrimination committed by the older generation.
According to a survey in 2019 by the Korea Women's Development Institute, about two-thirds of male respondents in their 20s believed that feminism is a female supremacy, a misandry and a violent one.
The institute said women emerged as a competitor for young men to overcome under the neo-liberalistic education policy of the previous governments that encouraged an unlimited competition for survival in the hyper-competitive society.
Young male voters, who once were one of the biggest supporting groups for President Moon in the last presidential election, turned their back against the ruling Democratic Party in the April by-elections for the country's two biggest cities of Seoul and Busan.
In the leadership race, Lee pledged to remove all gender and youth quotas and offer no advantage for women and young candidates in every election to gain support from the disgruntled young men, but his pledge caused a harsh criticism from his rivals.
The five-term lawmaker Joo said in an interview with YTN Radio that the excessive emphasis on the fair competition may never be considerate of those falling behind in the competition, calling Lee's pledge a "neo-liberalist" idea and "very dangerous."
The former four-term lawmaker Na told an interview with TBS Radio that the unconditional meritocracy and elitism can undermine fairness, saying Lee "kicked away the ladder" after receiving his benefit from the youth quota.
Lee, the Harvard graduate, started his political career in 2011 as a member of the emergency leadership council of the Grand National Party (GNP), a predecessor of the People Power Party.
He was reportedly handpicked by then GNP chief Park Geun-hye, becoming the youngest-ever leadership member of the biggest conservative party at the age of 26 owing to the quota earmarked for a young politician.
Lee was once called "Park Geun-hye kids," but he supported the impeachment of Park who was inaugurated as the country's first female president in February 2013 but became the country's first president to be ousted from office over a corruption scandal in March 2017.
During an election campaign in the Daegu city, a political home turf of the conservative bloc and Park, Lee expressed his gratitude for the ousted president but he emphasized that the impeachment was just and fair.
Despite the remark, he was selected as the party chair by conservative voters, some of whom still believe that Park was impeached on false charges. Lee's election itself can raise hope for a political reform in the conservative bloc.
Concerns remained about whether the young leader can tune up lots of interests among presidential candidates in the conservative bloc ahead of the presidential election in March next year.
Lee said in his acceptance speech that the biggest task will be a victory in the presidential election, vowing to make the People Power Party a party where diverse presidential candidates and their supporters can co-exist. Enditem