A woman in her 20s, identified as A, recounted the conversation that led to her breakup with her boyfriend. “I told him I had attended a rally calling for President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment, and he replied, ‘People like you are ruining this country.’ That was the end of our relationship.”
A survey by a government-affiliated research institute found that public perception of social conflict in South Korea reached an all-time high last year. Among the various sources of division—including income inequality, regional disparities, gender issues, and tensions between large corporations and small businesses—political polarization between progressives and conservatives was seen as the most severe. The ongoing political turmoil, fueled by President Yoon’s declaration of martial law in December and his impeachment, has further deepened divisions. As ideological rifts widen, personal relationships are increasingly strained, with political differences leading to broken engagements and fractured ties among family and friends.
According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) 2024 survey on social integration, the perceived level of societal conflict in South Korea hit 3.04 out of 4 last year, the highest since the survey began in 2018. The findings were based on interviews conducted from June to August with 3,000 adults aged 19 to 75. Respondents rated the severity of conflicts on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 meaning “not severe at all” and 4 indicating “very severe.” While the index had remained in the high 2-point range in previous years, it surpassed 3 for the first time in 2023.
Political polarization was rated at 3.52, the highest among all categories of social conflict. It was followed by regional divisions between the Seoul metropolitan area and other provinces (3.06), conflicts between regular and irregular workers (3.01), labor-management disputes (2.97), and economic disparity (2.96). Experts warn that tensions could escalate further as the Constitutional Court prepares to rule on the president’s impeachment.
Choi, a 29-year-old office worker, has been in a five-year relationship but hesitates to marry because his girlfriend is a staunch supporter of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung. “I used to think love could overcome political differences, but now I worry that if we get married, we’ll just argue every day and end up divorcing,” he said. Similar concerns frequently appear on online forums, with posts asking, “My boyfriend supports Yoon’s martial law declaration—should I break up with him?” and “I got into a huge argument trying to change my girlfriend’s political views.”
KIHASA’s survey found that political polarization (3.52) outpaced other longstanding sources of social tension, including regional divides (3.06), labor disputes between regular and irregular employees (3.01), employer-employee conflicts (2.97), income inequality (2.96), and disparities between large corporations and smaller firms (2.81). Middle-aged respondents (3.55) perceived political divisions as the most severe, followed by elderly respondents (3.53) and young adults (3.47).
The increasing political divide has fractured personal relationships, triggering family disputes and even broken engagements. Park Kyung-hee, a 60-year-old homemaker, said she now sleeps in a separate room from her husband, who spends his time watching far-right YouTube channels.
Political polarization has also exacerbated other societal divides, including gender, generational, and regional tensions. On Mar. 1, large-scale protests both for and against Yoon’s impeachment took place nationwide, including in downtown Seoul and near university campuses. According to Seoul’s resident population data, only 8.6% of men in their 20s and 30s participated in impeachment rallies, compared to 27.6% of women in the same age group, underscoring a gender and generational divide. Political conflicts have deepened family rifts, with younger generations dismissing their parents as “reactionary old-timers” for attending anti-impeachment rallies, while older generations accuse left-leaning children of bringing “shame to the family.” Some engaged couples have postponed pre-wedding meetings with in-laws to avoid political clashes, while families gathering for the holidays now opt to keep the television off entirely.
Koo Jeong-woo, a sociology professor at Sungkyunkwan University, noted that political polarization is fueling broader social divisions. “To prevent political conflicts from further straining personal relationships, society as a whole must foster a mindset of mutual understanding and integration,” he said.
