East Asia: Facts and Analytics 2025/4
DOI: 10.24412/2686-7702-2025-4-86-98
URL: PDF
Author
| Shirikalova Alisa A. |
| Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences |
| ORCID: 0009-0008-0047-5029 |
| E-mail: alisashirikalova@gmail.com |
Abstract
The article examines the evolution of South Korean Internet culture from the late 1990s to the 2020s and its role in shaping gender conflicts and the electoral preferences of the young generation in the Republic of Korea. The main purpose of the study is to analyze the factors contributing to the formation of the youth political agenda in contemporary South Korea, with a focus on the role of Internet culture, digital discourse, and gender conflicts. Since the late 1990s, South Korean Internet culture has evolved from spontaneous anonymous online discussions into a significant factor in the country’s socio-political life. Internet neologisms, which initially emerged as a form of satirical expression, have gradually transformed into ideological markers and a means of articulating collective sentiment. By the early 2020s, online conflicts and their language, as well as digital activism, have significantly influenced the transformation of youth identity and political self-determination, gradually becoming part of populist politics. The 2022 and 2025 presidential elections demonstrated the growing polarization of the electoral behavior of the young generation, which is associated with the candidates’ statements on issues relevant to youth, including gender discrimination. Social networks and online platforms have contributed to the intensification of gender polarization in South Korean society, while simultaneously providing young people with new forms of political participation. The use of digital communities and the rhetoric of “justice” by political leaders such as Yoon Suk-yeol and Lee Jun-seok illustrates the institutionalization of Internet discourse within electoral politics and the transformation of “online” identities into a tangible political force.
Keywords
Republic of Korea, Internet neologisms, gender conflicts, digital culture, antifeminism, gender polarization, Idaenam
Support
The research was carried out within the state assignment of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (project No. FMSF-2024-0018 “Prospects for a Korean settlement and Russia’s interests”).
Acknowledgments
–
For citation
Shirikalova A.A. (2025). Gendernaya polyarizatsiya molodezhi v sovremennoy Respublike Koreya [Gender polarization of youth in the modern Republic of Korea]. Vostochnaya Aziya: fakty i analitika [East Asia: Facts and Analytics], 7 (4): 86–98. (In Russian). DOI 10.24412/2686-7702-2025-4-86-98
References
Asmolov K.V. (2023). Prezidentskiye vybory-2022 v Respublike Koreya [Presidential elections-2022 in the Republic of Korea]. Problemy Dal’nego Vostoka [Far Eastern Affairs], 2: 80–96. (In Russian). DOI 10.31857/S013128120019649-4.
Kim N.N., Khokhlova E.A. (2017). Evolyutsiya sotsial’nogo polozheniya zhenshchin v Koreye: ot traditsionnogo obshchestva k sovremennomu [Evolution of the social status of women in Korea: from traditional to modern society]. Vostok. Afro-aziatskiye obshchestva: istoriya i sovremennost’ [Oriens. Afro-Asian Societies: History and Modernity], 3: 106–122. (In Russian).
Mozol’ T.S. (2021). Evolyutsiya stereotipov maskulinnosti v koreyskom yazyke [Evolution of masculine gender stereotypes in Korean]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Vostokovedeniye i afrikanistika [Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies], 2 (13): 212–233. (In Russian). DOI 10.21638/spbu13.2021.206
Samsonova V.G. (2025). Rynok truda i ekonomicheskoye razvitiye Respubliki Koreya [The Labor Market and Economic Development of the Republic of Korea]. Moscow: ICCA RAS. 188 p. (In Russian). DOI 10.48647/ICCA.2025.69.15.001
Ahn Jin Hyun (2018). Hanguk midieo-e natanan yeoseong oemo damron: 2000-nyeon ihu nyuseu gisa bunseogeul jungsimeuro [Discourse on Women’s Appearance in the Korean Media: Focusing on Analysis of News Articles since 2000]. Doctoral dissertation. Seoul National University. (In Korean). [안진현. 한국 미디어에 나타난 여성 외모담론: 2000 년 이후 뉴스 기사 분석을 중심으로].
Andronic M. (2025). ‘Life is to Protest’: Evolution of Korean Women’s Performance and Contentious Resistance. Thesis. Università Degli Studi Di Padova.
Ashman A.L. (2021). The Kimchi-Bitch cultural complex: Modern misogyny, memes, and millennial men in South Korea. In: Cultural Complexes in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan: Spokes of the Wheel, 227–258. Routledge. DOI 10.4324/9781003007647-15
Choi Young Ji (2017). Sobisahoe-wa cheongnyeon sedae-ui ‘yeoseong hyeomo’ [Consumer Society and Misogyny Among Young People]. Master’s thesis. Seoul National University. (In Korean). [최영지.소비사회와 청년세대의 ‘여성혐오’].
Jung Hee Jin, Cho Ami (2021). Online seongbyeol hyeomo pyo hyeon-e gwanhan yeongu: cheongsonyeoni sayonghaneun ‘gimchi-nyeo’ kiwo-deureul jungsimeuro [A study on online gender based hate speech. Focusing on the keyword ‘Kimchi-nyeo’ used by teenagers]. Journal of Future Oriented Youth Society, 18 (2), 65–91. (In Korean). DOI 10.34244/JFOYS.2021.18.2.4 [정희진, 조아미. 온라인 성별혐오표현에 관한 연구 -청소년이 사용하는 ‘김치녀’ 키워드를 중심으로-].
Kim Bo-Myun (2018). Hyeomo-ui jeongdong gyeongjehak-gwa peominiseuteu jeohang: Ilgan Besteu, Megallia, geurigo Womad-reul jungsimeuro [Late modern misogyny and feminist politics: the case of IlBe, Megalia, and Womad]. Journal of Korean Women’s Studies, 34 (1), 1–31. (In Korean). DOI 10.30719/jkws.2018.03.34.1.1 [김보명. 혐오의 정동경제학과 페미니스트 저항: <일간베스트>, <메갈리아>, 그리고 <워마드>를 중심으로].
Kim Bo-Myung (2024). Hanguk sahoe bosu upa antifeomineojeum-ui damron-gwa silcheon: 20dae namseong-gwa bosu gaesingyo antifeomineojeumeul jungsimeuro [Discourse and practice of conservative antifeminism in South Korea: focusing on men in their twenties and conservative protestant antifeminism]. Journal of Korean Women’s Studies, 40 (1), 183–211. (In Korean). DOI 10.30719/JKWS.2024.03.40.1.183 [김보명. 한국사회 보수우파 안티페미니즘의 담론과실천: ‘20 대 남성’과 보수개신교 안티페미니즘을 중심으로].
Kim D. (2020). Mirroring the misogynistic wor(l)d: civic imagination and speech mirroring strategy in Korea’s online feminist activism. In: Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change, 152–161. NYU Press. DOI 10.18574/nyu/9781479891252.003.0017
Kim J. (2018). Misogyny for male solidarity: online hate discourse against women in South Korea. In: Mediating Misogyny: Technology, Gender, and Harassment, 151–169. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-72917-6_8
Kim Y. (2021). Mirroring misogyny in Hell Choson: Megalia, Womad, and Korea’s feminism in the age of digital populism. European Journal of Korean Studies. DOI 10.33526/EJKS.20212002.101
Song J. (2014). The Soybean Paste Girl: the cultural and gender politics of coffee consumption in contemporary South Korea. The Journal of Korean Studies (1979–), 19 (2): 429–448.
Dates
| Received Date: | 2025.10.27 |
| Accepted Date: | 2025.11.29 |
| Publication Date: | 2025.12.23 |