Have you ever heard the word jeolmchiin? A combination of jeolmeun [young] and jeongchiin [politician], the phrase was coined and is used by New Ways (newways.kr), a non-profit organization operating under the motto, "We develop the politicians we want to elect." New Ways is dedicated to creating a political system where jeolmchiin up to age 39 can focus on solving problems. ▲ Park Hye-min, head of New Ways. (Photo credit: Park Hye-min) These days, with controversies involving corruption around nominations, suspicions of fraud, and abuse of power among politicians like National Assembly members and ministerial candidates, it's difficult to imagine a vision for Korean politics. The idea of ??transforming the political ecosystem with young politicians is bound to be met with skepticism. The illusion that simply having young politicians would be good has already been shattered over the past few years. However, I still believe that Korean politics being dominated by middle-aged and older men is a serious problem that must be addressed. What kind of politics does New Ways envision? How does it view June’s nationwide simultaneous local elections, which will see countless politicians emerge? What preparations are they making? I met with New Ways director Park Hye-min at the organization’s headquarters in a shared office in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, to discuss the matter. One thing became clear from the interview: as long as there are people who strive to change politics, we can dream about the future of politics. Can society’s problems be solved through better systems? Ms. Park isn’t someone who has always had a strong interest in politics, nor was she active in the political arena before. She was an office worker who had built her business career working in startups, investment firms, and the strategic planning department of an airline. However, she was "someone with a keen interest in solving social problems through systems." "I fundamentally believed that social problems needed to be solved through systems, so I enjoyed finding and imagining those solutions. I did this even while working. It was like a lifelong question. Even in high school and college, I constantly asked myself, 'How can we create a system where people can work together to solve problems?'" While working at her third company, Ms. Park decided she wanted to "focus on solving one problem for a while," so she quit. During this break, she naturally began watching political news more frequently, and it was then that she heard about two incidents that shocked her. "It was the Nth Room case and the sexual harassment allegations against former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. To me, these were obviously political issues and felt like crises, but others were less interested than I expected. I felt like they didn't even understand the nature of the problems. I saw it as a question of who would make the decisions. I also thought, 'I'm tired of going to protests and rallies every time and making demands. We need to take the power from them.' I thought we need to change the decision-makers in politics." ▲ A screenshot from New Ways’s website. The yellow box reads: “We develop the politicians we want to elect. In order to make a society worth living in for people in their 20s and 30s, the young politician organization New Ways works with voters to make a political ecosystem in which young politicians can focus on solving problems.” The gray box reads: “We develop young politicians. We discover and cultivate new political leadership that can go beyond the limitations of established politics. We create a platform where diverse talented people, committed to solving social problems, can collaborate and grow together, transcending party affiliation. We operate the New Ways Boot Camp where participants learn the skills and attitude to help them built a support base while solving problems, as well as a community for boot camp alumni.” Making efforts to change the decision-makers in Korean politics Ms. Park began to delve deeper into the world of politics. Having experience in a startup, she used that as a reference for comparison while observing the political landscape, and began to question what she saw. "In the startup world, a leader’s decision-making and training are crucial, but in politics, there's no system for evaluating or giving training on leadership," she explained. Above all, she realized she wanted to see politicians who spoke her language?because if you want someone to understand your life and change it for the better, that person needs to see the world similarly. "For that to happen, shouldn't this person be around my age?" she thought. "In 2018, only 7% of candidates for the National Assembly and only 6% of those elected were under the age of 39. I realized, 'It's hard to get elected, but it's also really difficult to become a candidate.' I looked into it and found that Korean political parties lack a talent development system, and that the recent, highly publicized issue of nominations was a major obstacle. I decided I needed to start making changes, to experiment." When people think about changing politics, they usually think of "entering enemy territory"?going inside and directly creating change. But Park Hye-min took a different approach. "You know the limits of partisanship. For example, on the issue of sexual violence, it feels like the Democratic Party, the People Power Party, and the Justice Party are all pretty similar. I thought we needed a new common sense that transcended partisanship and political identity. I also felt the existing framework was becoming tedious. 'Shouldn't we focus a little more on building a different ecosystem?'" Ms. Park and Kwak Min-hae, a current New Ways executive, met in an online community for women working in startups and decided to dedicate the last years of their twenties to "creating a system that would allow talented individuals to break into politics and thrive there." That's how New Ways was born. ▲ New Ways’s book, We’re Developing Jeolmchiin, published by Wisdom House in 2024. Not “youth politics [cheongnyeon jeongchi]” but “jeolmchiin”? New Ways defines it target group as people aged 39 and younger, and aims to bring about change through these young people. But isn't "youth" not a universal truth? Is New Ways's "jeolmchiin" different from the "youth politics" that have been talked about before? Park Hye-min stated, "First of all, I prefer not to use the term 'youth politics.'" “The ‘youth politics’ framework creates an atmosphere where young politicians feel compelled to only discuss youth-related policies. And it limits their activities to a separate arena called youth politics?rather than positions of real power like party leader or supreme council member, they become a ‘youth party leader’ or ‘youth supreme council member.’ It's also used to strictly demand high moral standards and originality from young politicians, things that are not demanded of older politicians (those in their 50s and 60s).” Ms. Park added, "When I listen to people talk about 'what is youth [cheongnyeon] politics?', I often find that they're asking for just good politics, and it has nothing to do with age." In that sense, the "young [jeolmeun] politics" New Ways pursues is not simply a matter of a politician’s biological age, but rather of their perspective. "Most people in their 20s and 30s today don't really feel like they have a clear future ahead of them. I believe that those who view the world with the perspective and priorities of this generation and possess the capacity to solve problems based on specific regions and agendas are jeolmchiin [regardless of their age]. Still, the reason New Ways has an age limit is because we believe there are such things as contemporaneity [dongsidaeseong] and generationalness [sedaeseong], and that we have learned certain things from our experiences of them.” “If ‘youth politics’ is a narrow pen created by the older generation, then ‘young politics’ refers to capable contenders who jump its fences, determine agendas for the future, and create real change,” she explained, and the vision of what New Ways is pursuing began to emerge. New Ways is making a variety of efforts to foster the development of its ‘young politicians.’ Recognizing the absence of a talent development system within Korean party politics and the aging party membership that make it extremely difficult for young politicians to enter or advance, New Ways seeks to go beyond simply discovering young politicians. They see themselves as "ecosystem builders" who help young politicians achieve real-world success and growth, and they also operate practical training programs. "To encourage nonpartisanism, we group together prospective politicians from different parties?the Democratic Party, the People Power Party, and progressive parties?and provide training. By fostering camaraderie and friendship that transcends partisanship, we create a culture that fosters rational debate and cooperation in the National Assembly. One of the participants, a woman in her 30s and a Democratic Party supporter, told me, 'I had so much fun today.' I asked, 'Why?' and she replied, 'It was my first time talking to a man who supports the People Power Party. But it was fun.' I've even seen cases where people from different parties continue to meet up and work together. While it may seem like they’re very different, when among established politicians these individuals share a minority identity [of being young], which is why they have common ground. Furthermore, they all aspire to be politicians, are prepared to talk over different ideas, and understand the importance of meeting peers their age. This is what makes for such effective discussions." These training programs also function as positive peer pressure for participants. They encourage them to think, "Oh, that person’s doing this or that? I should work hard too." The programs also get participants to identify problems they want to solve and think more deeply about how to solve them and how to win elections. This is how young politicians grow. ▲ The “2026 Local Elections” section of New Ways’s website lets visitors search for twenty- and thirtysomething young politicians in their own districts. (Screenshot: https://newways.kr; translation by article translator) ‘Politics is more fun than I thought!’: Voters’ role is the most important It's crucial for New Ways to increase the percentage of young people actually elected and ultimately change the composition of legislative bodies. New Ways is already in the middle of conducting experiments for the upcoming nationwide simultaneous local elections. The goal is not to elect one or two young people, but to secure an ‘effective percentage’ of candidates who can have a real voice in legislative bodies. New Ways' goal is to achieve at least 20% young politicians among provincial councils, and at least 30% among capital-area councils. Currently, the figure stands at around 10%. Ms. Park: “We plan to focus our support on the six strategic districs in Seoul: Seodaemun, Nowon, Dongdaemun, Gangdong, Gangnam, and Mapo. These areas are home to New Ways’s incumbent lawmakers and new candidates. With the goal of reforming the composition of the legislature from these areas, we're continuing to connect politicians with voters there. We've already gathered voters and held briefing sessions for incumbent lawmakers in December of last year and January of this year. In February and March, we'll also hold events where voters can raise issues and politicians can share their opinions. Instead of politicians appearing only during elections and promising, ‘I pledge to do this or that,’ voters will be able to offer counterproposals, to say, ‘This other thing is important. How could you address it?’ New Ways uses the [transliterated English] term "casting manager" instead of "voter." This is what "We develop the politicians we want to elect" means. Casting managers don't just vote during elections; they support politicians and communicate their demands. They don't just wait for change, they participate in creating it. Ms. Park, emphasized, "Voters shouldn’t be satisfied with their passive role of just marking a ballot at the polling station. They should be actively involved in the candidate selection process and actively demanding what they need from politicians on a daily basis." Where should voters start? Ms. Park says, “To be honest, young people like me primarily express their opinions on social media, but the real pressure on politicians comes from direct contact. You need to call or text your local representative or the relevant standing committee member's office directly to provide feedback. Those who oppose (a certain ordinance or bill) may actively call to protest, but if those in favor or support remain silent, politicians may mistakenly believe public opinion is negative. So, even if it's inconvenient, I urge you to take action." ▲ In New Ways’s “Policy Copy-and-Paste!” section, you can send a request for different ordinances to your local politicians. (Screenshot: https://newways.kr; translation by article translator) Another option is to utilize the "Policy Copy-and-Paste" service New Ways has created. Policies currently available include the "Jeonse Fraud Harm Prevention and Victim Support Ordinance," the "Relational Crimes [crimes occurring within trust-based relationships such as those between family members or intimate partners]? Prevention and Victim Protection and Support Ordinance," and the "Support Ordinance for Creating Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises People Want to Work For." Using "Policy Copy-and-Paste," you can easily submit these policies to your local council members and request their adoption. Ms. Park added, "Becoming a 'casting manager' for New Ways and participating in various activities, subscribing to and supporting the New Ways newsletter and YouTube channel, supporting young politicians you admire or joining political parties?it’s all important." She continued, "Many people who participate in New Ways activities say, 'Politics is more fun than I thought.' I think we need to continue to build on those experiences." She also emphasized that if you're affiliated with a political party in this local election, "don't forget to actively participate during the primary period where the candidates are decided?vote so that the good candidates you want advance to the general election." Concluding the interview, New Ways’s head said, "I hope many young politicians can experience winning, but in a way that suits them, and with a compelling story and vision. […] Not like, 'I won even though it was ugly and I had to play dirty,' but by winning with a beautiful and wonderful story. I don't think that happens very often. I want to win like that." [Translated by Marilyn Hook] Original Article :https://ildaro.com/10377 Published Jan. 30, 2026 젊은 정치인 왜 필요하냐면요 | 일다https://ild 모바일 바다이야기 고래 aro.com aining on