Class Betrayal Voting: Income Group and Vote Choice in Korean Presidential Elections

This article provides a theoretical framework to explain vote choices of different income classes in South Korea. Depending on negative perceptions (especially on economic situations), surveillance capability, and the availability of distinctive alternatives, Korean voters have decided their own voting decisions in a different manner. In particular, Korean low income voters have cast ballots for conservative candidates, when they had negative perceptions on progressive incumbents or when they did not have sufficiently negative perceptions on conservative incumbents. As a result, even seemingly ‘class betrayal voting’ appeared in recent South Korean presidential elections.