South Korean teenagers demand right to have their voices heard.

Politically energised: South Korean teen demonstrators demanding the National Assembly pass a Bill on lowering the voting age to 18, with some including Kim Jeong-min (right) getting their heads shaved bald in protest. — The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

IN front of the main gate of the National Assembly on Thursday morning, Kim Yoon-song had her head shaved bald. The 15-year-old was wearing what looked like a white hairdressing gown; written across it was ‘Suffrage is human rights’. Tears rolled down her face as the last bits of her hair fell to the ground.

“I’ve been slapped on my face or got my hair pulled so many times at home for simply talking back to elders and expressing my opinions, only because I was a teenager,” Kim told The Korea Herald. Having the right to vote is to have the right to speak. It means to have the right to live as a human being.