On the 13th, President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol said about the promise to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, “Have you not fulfilled the historical mission of the ministry?” He expressed his intention to actually implement the abolition of the Ministry of Leisure, not an election campaign. President-elect Yoon also said, “We have to hire people with the best experience and skills in each field, and sharing seats will not bring the nation together.” This is interpreted as meaning that the Moon administration will not continue the ‘30% female minister’ attempt. There are also opinions within the party against the abolition of the leisure ministry, and there is also an intention to put it to rest.
A newspaper editorial that actively supported Yoon’s claim appeared. In an editorial on the 14th, the Evening Munhwa Ilbo said, “It is right to abolish the Ministry of Leisure, an anachronistic ministry that divides men and women according to the purpose of President-elect Yoon’s point. claimed that He continued, “We need to create a society free of any type of gender discrimination, but it has already been confirmed that the solution cannot be the survival of the Ministry of Leisure.”
Politicians also demanded the abolition of the leisure ministry. The Munhwa Ilbo argued, “Even the Democratic Party, which is the majority party in the National Assembly, should not hold back the abolition of the Ministry of Leisure,” and “It is time for some of the people to oppose the abolition to realize that this is not really the way for women.” . After the election, the Democratic Party of Korea appointed Park Ji-hyeon, vice chairman of the Party Women’s Committee as the co-chair of the presidential election, and expressed its intention to represent the voices of women in their 2030s.
Media not calling for abolition of the Ministry of Leisure
Most of the media did not call for ‘abolition of the leisure department’. There are two main reasons for this. Although President-elect Yoon denied it, ‘structural sexism’ exists in Korean society, and ‘abolition of the leisure ministry’ is actually close to an empty slogan.
According to the Chosun Ilbo column on the 14th, “The glass ceiling that the new government must break,” the OECD released the ‘Glass Ceiling Index’ on the 7th. The Chosun Ilbo said, “It shows that the situation of Korean women has not improved much during the Park Geun-hye administration as a female president and the Moon Jae-in administration as a self-proclaimed ‘feminist president’.” Based on the Chosun Ilbo column, the expression “an anachronistic department of leisure that divides men and women” is anachronistic.
‘Abolition of the Ministry of Leisure’ is actually just a political slogan
Another reason it is difficult to say about the abolition of the leisure ministry is that even if the leisure ministry itself is abolished, it is difficult to eliminate the functions performed by the leisure ministry as well. The Ministry of Leisure is a small ministry that spends about 1.5 trillion won (about 0.24%) of the government budget of over 600 trillion won, and over half of the budget is used for family and youth policies. The actual budget for women’s policy is 7.2%. President-elect Yoon argues for the abolition of the leisure ministry on the grounds that there is no ‘structural sex discrimination’, but it is like burning thatched house three times to catch bedbugs.
This is the reason why the Lee Myung-bak administration failed to abolish the Ministry of Leisure. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which was created in 2001 with roles such as women’s policy and promotion of rights and interests, was expanded and reorganized into the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which also carries out family policy under the Roh Moo-hyun administration. The Lee Myung-bak administration also attempted to abolish the Ministry of Leisure with a similar purpose to that of President-elect Yoon, but since these were the roles that should be performed by any ministry anyway, the reorganization of the ministry was completed at the level of transferring family policy to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. However, even this was restored after two years and the youth policy was transferred to the Ministry of Gender Equality. This is a representative example of the conflict between the will of a politician and the work efficiency of a bureaucratic organization.
In an editorial on the 15th, Dong-A Ilbo said in an editorial “We should avoid the debate over the abolition of the wasteful leisure department,” and said, “The various functions of the leisure department cannot be ignored.” .
Whether the leisure ministry failed to fulfill its role in the current administration or did not resolve actual gender discrimination, the media, which saw the need for improvement because it failed to function for various reasons, did not even insist on ‘abolition of the leisure ministry’.
Joseon pointed out structural sexism
In a column on the 14th, Chosun Ilbo said about Yoon’s pledge to abolish the leisure ministry, “The hypocrisy and moral corruption of the current government, which is inconsistent in words and actions, has caused a lot of self-infliction. I hope that policies should be formulated with a clear understanding of this.” He added, “I would like to see the graph of Korea’s Glass Ceiling Index, which is a straight line from the bottom, even slightly upward due to the practical gender equality policy.” The Dong-A Ilbo also said, “Even though the elected Yoon is not recognized, there are many voices pointing out structural sexism in our society.”
The election results were also the basis for the argument for reconsideration. In an editorial on the 11th, JoongAng Ilbo said, “Gender division was a factor in the reduction of the people’s power in the end.” “Politicians should not promote gender conflict even if good policies cannot help those who find it difficult to start a family and have children. ” he asserted. The Kookmin Ilbo also stipulated in an editorial on the 15th, “The debate on the abolition of the Ministry of Leisure, which should be the touchstone of conflict resolution,” that “the blatant split that Lee Jun-seok, the representative of the People’s Power, attempted in the presidential election was virtually unsuccessful.”
Even a moderate-leaning newspaper insists on reconsidering the ‘abolition of the leisure department’
This led to the awareness of the problem that it should not be expanded as a stumbling block for state management after the election. In an editorial on the 11th, the Seoul Shimbun argued, “We would like to consider a plan to expand and reorganize the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, etc. to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, etc. to lead social integration, rather than abolish the Ministry of Leisure,” in its editorial “Abolition of the Ministry of Leisure, which has been confirmed by headwinds, and the approach of the transition committee is different.” did.
On the 14th, when Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the presidential transition office, announced that he would change some of his promises, the Seoul Shimbun published an editorial on the 15th saying, “How do we coordinate with the elected on issues related to the leisure ministry that differ from the thoughts of the elected president, and how to persuade the Democratic Party of Korea, which is in the position of protecting the leisure ministry, to improve it into a government organization for women? The success or failure of the first step of a joint government depends on this,” he said.
In an editorial on the 12th, Hankook Ilbo said, “The slogan to catch ‘Lee Dae-nam’ was strong, but even the elected people would not know that it caused a last-minute headwind for women in their 2030s.” Even if the functions between ministries are coordinated, it is desirable to consolidate and strengthen the roles related to women, children, and families.”
The Kyunghyang Shinmun and the Hankyoreh have repeatedly warned against the promise of abolition of the leisure ministry and warned of the dangers of gender discrimination.
According to the People’s Power presidential campaign promises, the Ministry of Leisure will be abolished and “a separate ministry will be established to protect families and actively respond to various social issues.” On January 8, at the time, Candidate Seok-Yeol Yoon posted on Facebook, “We will promote the establishment of a new ministry that will comprehensively deal with the issues of children, families, and population decline, rather than dividing men and women.”
In summary, it is interpreted to mean that the current Ministry of Leisure will be renamed to create a new Ministry, and that the women’s policy part of the existing Ministry of Leisure will be removed. Otherwise, there is a possibility of reorganization in such a way that the work is transferred by merging with some ministries such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare. However, in reality, it is impossible to eliminate women’s policy work, so there is a possibility that the relevant departments will be consolidated and the relevant budget will be drastically cut to try to erase ‘women’.
It is questionable whether it is in the interest of the elected candidate to pour out hateful language throughout the presidential election and to produce backlash within and outside the party after the election in order to eliminate the function that accounts for 0.24% of the government’s budget, which again accounts for less than 10% of the government’s budget. In addition, it is difficult to understand whether it is effective to eliminate ministries with many specialized manpower and transfer the functions to other ministries. Considering that President-elect Yoon did not even set up a women’s section in the transition committee, his will for women’s policy seems firm. With the exception of some media, such as the Munhwa Ilbo, the demand for reconsideration of related promises is expected to continue.
※ Media Today, we value your reports.
news@mediatoday.co.kr
