Yoon acknowledges need for gender equality after query by US reporter

President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a joint press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden held after their summit, Saturday. Yonhap

Yoon admits equal opportunities were not fully ensured for women

By Lee Hyo-jin

President Yoon Suk-yeol said he plans to ensure that more opportunities will be given to women, in response to a U.S. reporter's question about Yoon's male-dominated Cabinet and the administration's plans to improve gender equality in Korea.

During a joint press conference held after the summit with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, Saturday, Yoon received the question from Washington Post reporter Seungmin Kim, who pointed out the lack of gender diversity among the Cabinet members of the new administration.

Currently, 16 out of the Yoon administration's 19 Cabinet members including the prime minister are males, mostly in their 50s or 60s. Among the 41 newly-appointed officials at the vice minister level, 39 are men.

Kim also asked Yoon, who had pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family during his presidential campaign, about the government's plans to improve gender equality in the country.

These questions from the foreign press to the Korean president seemed unplanned, as reporters were requested by the Korean moderator to pose only one question to their own president. Moreover, given that the press conference was held to share the outcomes of the summit, which focused on bilateral cooperation in economic security and global supply chains, the U.S. reporter's questions about Korea's domestic politics seemed unexpected.

After a short pause, Yoon responded, "If you look at the public official sector, especially the minister cabinet, we really didn't see a lot of women advancing to that position thus far. Probably in various regions, equal opportunities were not fully ensured for women."

"We have actually a quite short history of ensuring that. So, what we're trying to do is very actively ensure such opportunities for women," he added.

But Yoon's remarks that equal opportunities have not been fully ensured for women raised eyebrows, as he has been insisting that systemic gender discrimination does not exist in Korean society ― one of the reasons why he views the country no longer needs a gender equality ministry.

During his election campaign, Yoon pledged to abolish the ministry, also citing problems with its responses to sexual harassment cases. The ministry has been accused of having remained silent or inactive in response to sexual violence cases committed by high-profile officials, including the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon.

The exchange between Yoon and The Washington Post reporter amounted to a second round of tensions surrounding his views on gender equality, following a written interview conducted with the media outlet earlier in March, when Yoon was running for president.

When asked whether he was a feminist, Yoon replied, "Feminism is a form of humanism, recognizing that gender discrimination and inequality are a reality and it is a movement to correct that. In that sense, I consider myself a feminist."

His response triggered heated debate among the public. Yoon's interpretation of feminism drew a backlash from women's rights groups, while anti-feminist men's rights groups, who were his loyal supporters, were furious that Yoon had declared himself a feminist.

Following the controversy, Yoon's media team told local reporters that the written responses published by The Washington Post do not represent the candidate's view, explaining that an incorrect version of his answers was sent to the media due to an "administrative error."

Shortly after, Michelle Lee, the reporter who conducted the interview, shared a full version of Yoon's answers to her questions provided by the campaign team on Twitter, which specifically included the phrase, "In that sense, I consider myself a feminist."

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