South Korea presidential candidates cater to crypto voters

The Democratic Party of Korea’s Lee Jae-myung and main opposition Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party view the support of crypto voters as critical in the country’s presidential race.

Both candidates had already reached out to cryptocurrency investors and had laid out campaign promises of attempting to regulate the market and make it a safer environment for its investors.

While the candidates vary on some details of their plan, overturning the ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) is one thing Yoon and Lee both agree on.

Kim Hyoung-joong, president of the Korea Society of Fintech Blockchain, said voters in their 20s and 30s will play a key role in deciding the presidential election.

“The 40s, 50s and 60s have already picked one candidate and they’re not changing, [Younger voters] are more fluid,” he said.

Influence of young voters

Cryptocurrency has proven to be a popular industry for the younger generation in South Korea and they’ve voiced their opinion on the current administration’s anti-crypto stance.

According to Kim, there is an estimate of “8.4 million people that hold cryptocurrencies in Korea, and more than 60% of them are in their 20s and 30s” demonstrating why Yoon and Lee is focused on collecting their votes.

Lee had also promised stricter protection for crypto investors whereas Yoon pledged to establish the Digital Industry Promotion Agency, a government institution aimed to guide the digital asset industry.