Bill calling for civil defense training for women sparks controversy

People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, a contender for the PPP leadership race, speaks at a seminar at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Wednesday. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]

People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon proposed a bill Wednesday requiring women to undergo mandatory civil defense training, a controversial move which lawmakers across party lines and civic groups say is promoting gender conflict.

Through this bill, women aged 20 to 40 will be required to receive annual civil defense training annually, just as men do. Exceptions will be made for women who are pregnant or who have recently miscarried.

"Men and women are equally responsible for protecting themselves and their families during wartime or a similar emergency, or during acts of terrorism," Kim said while explaining his new bill.

Skeptics point out that the bill may be a tactic to draw in support from young men in their 20s and 30s, while alienating female voters and contributing to gender conflict.

Currently under the Framework Act on Civil Defense, implemented in 1975, men aged 20 to 40 are required to receive up to 50 hours of national civil defense training annually.

Training includes first aid and emergency response measures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as well disaster responses like evacuation procedures.

Also included in the training are survival tactics for chemical, biological and radiological attacks, as well as education on industrial accident prevention and traffic and fire safety.

Kim is a leading candidate in the PPP leadership race slated for the party's national convention in March, widely supported by ardent partisans of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

With former lawmaker Na Kyung-won dropping out of the PPP leadership race Wednesday, a two-way race for party leadership is expected to unfold pitting Kim, a traditional conservative, against Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a more moderate former presidential hopeful.

The proposed bill is one of Kim's pledges in his bid to run as PPP chairman.

On Sunday, Kim said that he will propose an amendment to the Civil Defense Framework Act to include women in civil defense training after the Lunar New Year holiday, remarks which drew an immediate online backlash.

"Seeing the recent Ukrainian crisis, the need for basic survival training to protect oneself, whether women or men, can't be emphasized enough," said Kim, explaining the proposed amendment.

"In order to promote the national interest, we will proceed step-by-step with the legislation related to women's basic survival training, rather than immediately introducing women's basic military training."

He indicated that such training would be needed in a potential conflict between South and North Korea.

However, his proposal is being criticized by women's groups as just another political tactic by the PPP to get votes from young men, a strategy also employed during the presidential election and general election last year.

It is also drawing criticism from conservative and liberal lawmakers alike who are skeptical of both the feasibility of the proposed bill and the motives behind it.

PPP Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday, "I can't help suspecting that it's a gender pledge, not a security pledge."

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) criticized Kim's proposed bill for trying to promote division between the genders.

"It's pitiful that a person who wants to become the opposing party's leader will separate people into men and women," said Lim Oh-kyung, a DP spokesperson, in a briefing Wednesday at the National Assembly.

"A person who wants to become the [PPP] leader is trying to divide men and women with populist pledges aimed at winning votes for men in their 20s and 30s."

"This is the defense version of the pledge to abolish the Gender Equality Ministry," wrote DP Rep. Kwon In-sook in a Facebook post Wednesday. "Acts that promote war and strife between people must be immediately halted."

Critics immediately pointed out that such a bill is unrealistic as there has been little effort to gauge public opinion on the matter, saying that it will be difficult to pass in the National Assembly.

In a Facebook post Tuesday, Kim rejected criticism that the policy is aimed at attracting votes from men in their 20s, stressing he proposed the bill to start a debate on the issue which has long remained a "taboo" in political circles because of concerns over votes.

Gender politics is not a new tactic for the PPP and was heavily employed ahead of the 2022 presidential and local elections.

Former PPP chief Lee Jun-seok, the party's youngest leader, pushed for policies that appealed to young men apparently fed up with the feminism movement, which in turn distanced female voters.

Such policies included abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, one that was carried on by Yoon as a presidential campaign pledge.

Rep. Kim has also pushed for military training for women in the past.

On Oct. 18, 2022, Kim wrote in a Facebook post, "Promote compulsory basic military education for women!"

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]