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Populism, grievance and online opinion drive campaign pledges to abolish Gender Ministry

Published: 20 May. 2025, 07:00 Updated: 19 May. 2025, 22:12

LEE SOO-JUNG
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The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family at the government complex in central Seoul in 2022. [NEWS1]

[EXPLAINER]

Abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has resurfaced as a bone of contention in the ongoing presidential campaign. This controversial topic also emerged in the 2022 presidential election, bringing Korean voters a sense of déjà vu over the gender divide.

The latest debate comes after Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok promised to abolish the Gender Ministry as a key campaign pledge last week.

“The existence of the ministry only benefits a cartel of female [rights] advocacy groups,” Lee said Wednesday, in remarks echoing his previous claims that the Gender Ministry does not represent the interests of men and women equally.

The Gender Ministry plans and coordinates women's policy, advances women’s rights and status, supports and protects youth activities and welfare, and establishes support policies for families and multicultural families.

Lee Jun-seok’s pledge appears to embody Korea's gender conflict, particularly visible between young men and women in their 20s and 30s who feel underrepresented in society.

What are the ministry's origins?

Inaugural Gender Minister Han Myeong-sook, left, speaks during a luncheon with then-President Kim Dae-jung at the Blue House in central Seoul in 2002. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The ministry dates back to the Presidential Commission on Women's Affairs, founded in 1998 under the Kim Dae-jung administration. The Gender Equality Ministry was launched in January 2001, separating from the Ministry of Health and Welfare tasks aimed at advancing women's rights and status through policy against gender discrimination. Kim asked inaugural Minister Han Myeong-sook to “open a gender-equal society through active female participation.”

Although the Korean name of the ministry literally meant “the ministry of women,” its official English title was “the Ministry of Gender Equality.”

In 2005, the Ministry of Health and Welfare transferred responsibility for family policies to the Gender Ministry, which was renamed the "Ministry of Gender Equality and Family" in English. However, its Korean name still includes the word "women.”

In 2014, the ministry revised the Framework Act on Women’s Development to the Framework Act on Gender Equality, encompassing men in the equality initiative. The act mandates the central and local governments to “provide equal opportunities and treatment for men and women and let them share the same amount of responsibility and rights.”

Why is there a movement to scrap the ministry?

A 2021 petition that called for abolishing the Gender Ministry earned 263,550 signatures. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

While not a new issue, the ministry has faced a more pressing existential crisis in recent years.

The debate reflects the country's contradictory gender equality data. In 2023, the UN Development Programme assessed that Korea had the 12th highest level of gender equality of its 193 member states — almost equivalent to France and Spain. In contrast, the World Economic Forum ranked Korea at 94th out of 146 countries last year, placing Korea's gender inequality below African countries such as Ghana and Zambia and Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates.

A 2021 petition to abolish the Gender Ministry gained 263,550 signatures in a month. The petitioner, whose gender was undisclosed, called the ministry an "anachronistic agency" that stereotypically frames women as victims in "a Korean society that has been proven to be gender-equal.”

The petitioner also argued that the ministry "rendered women an incompetent entity by offering […] preferential treatment in employment.” To clarify, the employment quota applies to both men and women to prevent underrepresentation of a certain sex or gender in state agencies, according to the Ministry of Personnel Management.

Then-President Moon Jae-in’s office rejected the petition. It said that the ministry has a duty to build an “inclusive society, including those at risk of structural discrimination, such as women and youth.”

Then-candidate Yoon Suk Yeol posts a campaign pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on his Facebook in January 2022. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

In 2022, Yoon Suk Yeol, as a People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate, pledged to completely shutter the ministry, labeling it a source of gender division. He wrote on Facebook that he would create “another agency to manage policies for children, families and population crises comprehensively.” The post earned 16,000 likes at the time.

Kim Eun-ju, director of the Center for Korean Women and Politics, said calls to abolish the ministry have been an “effective construct in elections since the 2020 general election,” adding that they were likely to repeat in future presidential elections.

She said that the narrative "resulted in young male voters showing support for the conservative PPP and young female voters casting their ballot for the liberal Democratic Party (DP) in favor of preserving the Gender Ministry."

However, Yoon didn't follow through with the pledge, which faced significant backlash at the time, and retained the Gender Ministry. Yet, its top position has remained vacant as Yoon didn't appoint a new minister to replace ex-Minister Kim Hyun-sook, who resigned in February last year.

The ministry received an annual budget of 1.77 trillion won ($1.26 billion) this year, accounting for around 0.26 percent of the yearly state budget. Specifically, 1.45 trillion won is allocated to family policies, and 259 billion won to gender equality policies.

How do candidates view the Gender Ministry?

Lee Jun-seok, a presidential candidate from the Reform Party, speaks during his campaign in South Chungcheong on May 16. [YONHAP]

The Reform Party’s Lee Jun Seok has demonstrated an overtly antagonistic stance on the Gender Ministry.

Lee, a former PPP leader, said the Gender Ministry was now “unnecessary” on Wednesday. He noted that the ministry helped remove patriarchal customs over 20 years ago when it was founded, adding that such efforts should “come to an end.”

“The National Human Rights Commission of Korea should handle cases related to women’s rights when such cases exist,” Lee said. “Investigative and judicial authorities should handle crimes against women, not the Gender Ministry.”

Since Yoon's campaign in 2022, Lee has tried to appeal to young men in their 20s and 30s for votes.

Lee Jae-myung, a presidential candidate from the liberal Democratic Party, speaks during his campaign in North Jeolla on May 16. [NEWS1]

Lee Jae-myung outlined his gender policies on Friday, which centered on three main pillars: providing a safe environment for women, stern punishment against digital sex crimes and reducing gender disparity in labor.

However, he made no mention of the Gender Ministry.

“I will improve everyone’s rights by reducing discrimination and fixing unfairness,” Lee said.

The DP is also reportedly discussing ways to scale up the ministry and change the word “women” to “gender equality” in the ministry’s official Korean name.

Kim from the Center for Korean Women and Politics criticized that the DP, which spearheaded gender equality initiatives in the past, is now erasing the labels of “women” and “gender” without directly mentioning the Gender Ministry. She said the DP seems to believe an explicit move to defend female rights would turn off male voters.

PPP presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo has not yet clearly defined his gender equality policies. He said Wednesday that his stance was “neither to dismantle the ministry nor to unconditionally expand it.”

Heo Min-sook, a researcher from the National Assembly Research Service, told the Korea JoongAng Daily that “overrepresentation of certain voices from online forums, which do not represent all young male voters in their 20s and 30s, could lead people to believe such opinions were mainstream.” Heo added that candidates' promises to tear down the Gender Ministry aimed at such an effect.

A Reform Party official — asked if Korea had fully achieved gender equality and if the human rights commission would also address rights violation complaints from men — had not provided a statement by press time.

Are there ways to end the divisive gender narrative?

Women's rights activists hold a rally in front of Busan City Hall to criticize a budget cut for gender equality policies in March last year. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

Yun Ji-yeong, a philosophy professor from Changwon National University, said campaign pledges to abolish the Gender Ministry are a “populist and pork-barrel strategy.” Yun said the promise has already defined eligible voters as a “male population,” reinforcing a limited and male-centric perspective by erasing female voters from the political sphere.

Regarding how to end the debate over the Gender Ministry during election periods, Prof. Yun suggested that removing “women” from the ministry’s Korean name and putting “gender equality” in the Korean name could be a solution.

“By adopting alternative language other than women, the government needs to raise public awareness that gender equality benefits the entire society,” Yun said.

Heo, the parliamentary researcher, said male voters who supported former President Yoon, who promised to abolish the ministry, "should ask themselves whether their lives had improved during his term and realize the irony if they conclude Yoon's gender policies did not change their lives for the better."