{"id":2199147,"date":"2022-10-13T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199147"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:10","slug":"yoon-moves-to-scrap-gender-ministry-in-appeal-to-anti-feminist-supporters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/10\/yoon-moves-to-scrap-gender-ministry-in-appeal-to-anti-feminist-supporters\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoon moves to scrap gender ministry in appeal to anti-feminist supporters"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has moved a step closer to shutting down the country\u2019s gender equality ministry and fulfilling a campaign promise, in what appears to be a calculated move to appease anti-feminist supporters who interpret efforts to improve gender inequality as a personal attack against themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, the administration <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> plans to collapse the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) into other parts of government, removing its cabinet minister position and splitting MOGEF\u2019s portfolio between the labor ministry and health ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n

The loss of a dedicated pro-women and family agency will reverberate across South Korea. The ministry has <\/span>spearheaded efforts<\/span><\/a> to address problems that disproportionately affect women and children since 2001, including digital sex crimes, workforce gender gaps and participation, political representation and childcare benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics say that getting rid of MOGEF and its minister will make it <\/span>more difficult<\/span><\/a> to make progress in these areas. The Yoon administration <\/span>maintains<\/span><\/a> that the ministry\u2019s functions will remain government priorities, and that the reorganization will actually strengthen Seoul\u2019s ability to tackle relevant issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever the case, there are obvious political motivations for scrapping MOGEF.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoon was elected to office earlier this year <\/span>partly thanks<\/span><\/a> to the support of young men who oppose feminism. Abolishing the ministry was one of Yoon\u2019s <\/span>key pledges<\/span><\/a> during the presidential election.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he\u2019s struggled to capitalize on this support as a result of his <\/span>hiccups<\/span><\/a> in the diplomatic arena and <\/span>slow progress<\/span><\/a> toward getting rid of the gender ministry. Yoon\u2019s <\/span>approval rating<\/span><\/a> sits at a mere 29%, according to the latest Gallup Korea poll.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in order to abolish the ministry, Yoon needs to get the National Assembly to revise the Government Organization Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem for the president is that the opposition Democratic Party holds a majority in the National Assembly. Party leader and Yoon\u2019s former rival in the presidential elections Lee Jae-myung expressed his <\/span>opposition<\/span><\/a> to the changes last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Yoon administration is unable to abolish the ministry, it could become a rallying point for anti-feminist voters ahead of the parliamentary elections in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Amid ongoing gender issues, South Korea faces a demographic crisis | Image: Office of the 20th President<\/a> (May 5, 2022)<\/p><\/div>\n

ONGOING DECLINE<\/b><\/p>\n

But the Yoon administration\u2019s efforts to placate anti-feminist voters while justifying the nuances of their proposed changes to everyone else does little to solve South Korea\u2019s gender inequality issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea ranks 99 out of 146 countries for gender disparity, according to the World Economic Forum\u2019s recent <\/span>\u201cGlobal Gender Gap Report 2022.\u201d<\/span><\/a> The country scored particularly poorly in inequality for estimated earned income (120th) and representation in senior official and management positions (125th).<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korean culture is traditionally patriarchal, which accounts for a lot of the resistance to women\u2019s increasing participation in society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only do women <\/span>face discrimination<\/span><\/a> from employers who worry about them getting pregnant and dropping out of work, they also face cultural <\/span>expectations<\/span><\/a> to do housework and look after the children after <\/span>working long hours<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also huge problems with <\/span>sex crimes<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>dating violence<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>stalking<\/span><\/a> \u2014 the list goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n

These factors, along with South Korea\u2019s <\/span>high cost of living<\/span><\/a>, are pushing more and more women to avoid marriage, having children and even dating altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

All these factors contribute to South Korea\u2019s population decline: By 2070, the number of South Koreans is expected to decline from 52 million to 38 million, according to <\/span>Statistics Korea<\/span><\/a> in September.<\/span><\/p>\n

This aging society will not only hamper economic growth and increase the burden of younger Koreans to support the elderly. It will also have an impact on national security, since a smaller population will <\/span>reduce the size<\/span><\/a> of the ROK military, which requires all men to serve roughly two years to defend against North Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, unlike many other countries that face similar demographic issues, South Korea is <\/span>reluctant<\/span><\/a> to accept immigrants.<\/span><\/p>\n

This <\/span>suggests<\/span><\/a> that the electorate would rather politicians solve the underlying societal issues of the country\u2019s low birth rate than accept large numbers of immigrants. But as the row over MOGEF shows, the ruling party and many in society aren\u2019t willing to face these underlying issues and how to solve them.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not going to be easy politically, but unless the Yoon administration acknowledges the reality of South Korea\u2019s gender gap, it will be able to do little to alter trends that are poised to fundamentally change the country within the next few decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Edited by Arius Derr<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Culture & Society<\/span><\/a>Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has moved a step closer to shutting down the country\u2019s gender equality ministry and fulfilling a campaign promise, in what appears to be a calculated move to appease anti-feminist supporters who interpret efforts to improve gender inequality as a personal attack against themselves. Last week, the administration announced plans to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5769,"featured_media":2199148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[25,27],"yoast_head":"\nYoon moves to scrap gender ministry in appeal to anti-feminist supporters - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/10\/yoon-moves-to-scrap-gender-ministry-in-appeal-to-anti-feminist-supporters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yoon moves to scrap gender ministry in appeal to anti-feminist supporters - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has moved a step closer to shutting down the country\u2019s gender equality ministry and fulfilling a campaign promise, in what appears to be a calculated move to appease anti-feminist supporters who interpret efforts to improve gender inequality as a personal attack against themselves. 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