Reform Party floor leader Cheon Ha-ram speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday. At left is party leader Lee Jun-seok. [Yonhap]
Reform Party floor leader Cheon Ha-ram speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday. At left is party leader Lee Jun-seok. [Yonhap]

Reform Party floor leader Cheon Ha-ram said Monday that the votes of people in their 20s and 30s "cannot be bought with money," directing the remark at the Lee Jae-myung administration.

Speaking at the party's supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Cheon said attention to younger voters has been strong since the local elections, and that the Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced plans to extend national health insurance coverage to hair loss treatment for people aged 20 to 34.

The ministry recently said it would seek to expand national health insurance benefits for hair loss treatment starting in the second half of this year, following a public consultation process.

Cheon said the younger generation values fiscal sustainability and opposes handout-style support. He cited National Assembly Budget Office projections showing the national health insurance fund is on track to post a deficit of 5.2 trillion won (approximately $3.42 billion) this year, widening to 9.4 trillion won in 2028 and 39.5 trillion won by 2035.

"When the national health insurance is running a deficit, we need to prioritize — emergency care, serious illnesses and rare intractable diseases should come first," he said. "Young people are the ones saying this most loudly. That is why it is hard to win over the younger generation with hair loss treatment."

Cheon said winning the support of young voters requires upholding principles and fairness, not offering handouts. He added that if President Lee declared today that he would not drop the charges against himself, his approval rating among people in their 20s would rise by at least 5 percentage points — without any hair loss benefit at all.

Cheon also addressed the ballot shortage during the recent election, saying it is not enough to simply criticize the National Election Commission and move on when voting rights were infringed. "For polling stations where ballots actually ran short and voting rights were violated, a selective by-election is the principled and fair response," he said.

He said a full re-run of the election, by contrast, "is not reasonable, as it would override the will of citizens who exercised their sovereignty normally." The Reform Party, he said, will file an election petition with the National Election Commission Monday calling for a selective by-election.


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