In South Korea, Mr Noh was among lawmakers campaigning to lower the minimum age for candidates, arguing that the candidate age should match the voting age, which has been 20 since 1960. Others wanted to abolish age limits entirely.
The movement to change the law was linked to the student-led Democratic protests of 1987. Activists said they wanted to dispel the notion that political participation should be reserved for the elite, an idea that dates back to Park Chung-hee’s military dictatorship.
Efforts were gradually successful: the voting age was lowered to 19 in 2005. In 2019, the National Assembly approved a further reduction to 18 years. That year, the legislature lowered the age limit for candidacy.
“It’s a lot to have some experience or knowledge, but I don’t think politics necessarily requires a huge amount of that,” said Park Joo-min, 48, another MP.
Despite the change, Mr. Jung, the 22-year-old who was elected to the city assembly of Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province, said that speaking to a party official to try to be nominated felt “like that banging your head against the wall”. (He has campaigned on promises to help strengthen the city’s transportation infrastructure.)
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