Korea's political decision-making system is more focused on the older generation than the younger generation, especially children and youth. The underlyingl cause of intergenerational inequality in the political realm is the restriction on political p ...
Korea's political decision-making system is more focused on the older generation than the younger generation, especially children and youth. The underlyingl cause of intergenerational inequality in the political realm is the restriction on political participation of the younger generations, including children and youth, by the age stipulated by political relations laws. under the current Public Election Act, the age of voting rights is '18 years old and the age of the right to be elected is prescribed as a citizen of '25 years of age or older'(Member of Parliament-omitted below).
Under this rule, children and young people under the age of 18, who are both restricted in their suffrage and vote for election, cannot be representatives of their interests, and they have no right to elect representatives. As such, whether it is a policy directly related to children or youth, or a policy that they are responsible for in the future, intergenerational inequality can be deepened as a matter of intergenerational conflict, when it is necessary to accept and be responsible for the consequences of policies that have not been fully participated in the political decision-making process.
Therefore, this study would like to propose a legislative amendment to the age of eighteen years of election as a practical guarantee plan-in a way that children and youth can represent themselves and reflect their intentions-for the political participation of children and youth, in the current legislative age of legislative improvement. In this regard, the Constitutional Court shall determine the justification for the justification of the constitution of the age of the right to be elected under Article 16, paragraph 2, of the current Public Election Act. in this regard, it judges the justification for the rationale of the constitutional age of the elected age under Article 16 (2) of the Constitutional Court of Korea, 'necessity of competence and quality' and 'legislator's discretion'. After looking at the relationship between representative democracy and suffrage, especially the limitations on the election, regarding the necessity of downgrading the age of election, implications are suggested by analyzing the current state of foreign election age.
Ultimately, legislative amendments are proposed to allow the age of the right to election under Article 16 (2) of the Public Election Act to be lowered from the current 25-year-old to 18-year-old. It is further suggested that efforts should be made to reach a social consensus on the introduction of the elected age for 18 to 16 years of age, which is being actively discussed internationally.