A coalition of women’s rights group holds a press conference near the National Assembly in Seoul, Dec. 12, 2023, calling for increased female representation in Korean politics. Newsis
With few female candidates, 22nd National Assembly expected to remain male-dominated
By Lee Hyo-jin
Discussions concerning women’s rights and gender equality are expected to be limited in the upcoming National Assembly, as few political parties — none of them major — have included campaign pledges to address these agendas.
Women’s rights activists are concerned that the absence of such dialogue, coupled with a significantly low number of female candidates, would result in a diminished representation of women in the 22nd National Assembly.
Out of a total of 59 political parties competing in the April 10 general elections, 33 have uploaded their list of campaign pledges on the National Election Commission (NEC) website.
Upon reviewing the pledges of the 33 parties, The Korea Times found that only four minor progressive parties – the Green Justice Party, the New Jinbo Party, the Labor Party and the Women’s Party – have prominently included the enhancement of gender equality as their main agendas.
Major parties such as the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have categorized women-related agendas under pledges to address demographic challenges, protect labor rights, or enhance social protection against crimes.
Some parties appear to be backtracking on their support for gender equality.
The Jayu Party, an ultra right-wing party, vowed to amend relevant laws to ensure that “education on gender equality aligns with biblical values that uphold the sanctity of life, not toward gender freedom, in order to protect family values and childbirth.” This would entail reducing budgets currently allocated for gender equality and women’s rights policies, the party said.
The virtual absence of campaign pledges on women’s rights is noteworthy, considering that out of a total of 44.25 million eligible voters in the upcoming election, slightly over half, or 50.7 percent, are women, according to NEC data.
Women’s rights groups expressed deep disappointment at the lack of attention to these issues.
“It’s difficult for me to evaluate which party would perform well and which would not in terms of women’s rights because, technically, none of the parties have prioritized gender-related issues in their election campaigns,” said Do Gyeong-eun, an activist at Korea Women’s Hotline.
Do criticized the major parties’ inclusion of women policies in the category of measures to tackle demographic challenges, stating that such a tendency reflects “the outdated narrative that women bear a greater responsibility for the nation’s low birthrate.”
She also voiced concerns about the lack of female candidates.
Out of a total 696 candidates running in 254 constituencies nationwide, only 98 are women, accounting for just 14 percent of the total. This falls far below the Public Election Law’s recommended level of 30 percent.
Even if all 98 female candidates were to win, which is highly unlikely, the representation of women in the 22nd Assembly would still be below the 19 percent of the current one.
“The figure is particularly concerning given that the nation needs more female members in the next Assembly to counteract the incumbent administration’s policies that retrogress on women’s rights,” Do said. “This election overall highlights that Korea still has a long way to go to change the male-dominated political arena.”
People supporting women’s rights stage a rally in Seoul supporting feminism, Feb. 12, 2022, ahead of the presidential election that took place on March 5 that year. AP-Yonhap
Fear of feminism controversy
The lack of interest among political parties in addressing women’s rights may be attributed to the politicization of the term “feminism” in Korea in recent years. Gender issues have become excessively sensitive in politics, particularly following the 2022 presidential election, analysts said, leading candidates to tread carefully to avoid making it a hot-button election issue.
During the previous presidential campaign, then-PPP candidate Yoon Suk Yeol’s pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family gained popularity among many young males who felt disadvantaged by women-centric policies. Former DPK candidate Lee Jae-myung, who is the current leader of the party, secured a significant number of young women’s votes, capitalizing on Yoon’s unpopularity among female voters who were turned off by the PPP’s anti-feminist pledges.
The gender divide has only deepened since then, making it risky for politicians to prioritize gender-related agendas in the lead-up to the election, according to political commentator Park Sang-byeong.
“Traditionally, liberal parties have been more inclined to gender equality issues than conservative ones. However, the DPK appears cautious about emphasizing gender issues in their campaign, as it may trigger backlash from young male voters. It wants to avoid unnecessary risks,” Park said.
An official at the National Election Commission checks ballots, to be used in early voting for the parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Daejeon, Thursday, a day before the two-day early voting period. Yonhap
However, some critics point out that it’s not just gender equality that is absent from the election agendas.
“Not only gender-related issues, but others such as welfare policies for the elderly, support measures for young people or the marginalized, have been put on the backburner in the parties’ campaign pledges,” said Cho Jin-man, a professor of politics at Duksung Women’s University.
“It appears that the focus of candidates’ campaigns is not on the commitments they are going to make if they are elected, but rather on criticizing how their rivals have been doing a terrible job,” he added.
In the escalating campaign rallies, the primary slogan of the DPK is to claim victory over what it terms the “incompetent” Yoon administration and to put an end to prosecutorial tyranny. Meanwhile, the ruling PPP has branded the DPK leader as a “criminal suspect” deserving imprisonment.
Cho said, “The absence of discourse and rational debate on how to improve people’s livelihood is concerning. The purpose of the election should be to select lawmakers who can truly represent people’s voices for the next four years.”
