By Sunghea Khil

South Korean conservative leaders have distorted feminism for their own political gain. In twisting the definition of the feminist movement from one that promotes gender equality to one that simply despises men, the conservative party has garnered the support of young men, giving them an electoral advantage. In the 2022 presidential election, Yoon Suk-yeol’s exploitation of the country’s gender conflict helped him achieve victory.[1] According to an exit poll, only 34 percent of women in their twenties voted for Yoon, compared with 59 percent of men in the same age cohort.[2]

In recent years, the country has been wracked by an ongoing gender war, characterized by hostility between genders based on differing definitions of equality. While most liberal South Koreans believe feminism to be synonymous with gender equality, others ignore the country’s genuine problems with misogyny and gender-based inequality, and believe feminists simply hate men.[3] Much responsibility for this latter perception lies with Lee Junseok, the leader of the conservative People Power Party. Lee is relatively young, a breath of fresh air within the historically elderly People Power Party, and has a similarly fresh approach to growing his party’s influence. He has strategically and successfully exploited the gender conflict to appeal to young men, who are facing high unemployment rates and economic instability.[4] Some have posited that younger Korean men, frustrated that they are unable to mirror the masculinity of their fathers, are more anti-feminist than older men, since they view women’s advancement as a threat to their financial security. 58.6 percent of men in their twenties strongly oppose feminism.[5] This stance is borne out in their political choices; 72.5 percent of men in their twenties voted conservative in the last Seoul Mayoral election in 2021, at a higher rate than men in their sixties.[6]

Some young men like Moon Sung-ho, the leader of a prominent men’s rights group, are upset that men are continuously expected to take on financial responsibilities; while women, who have shifted into the working world, claim they are still being discriminated against but are not expected to be the primary breadwinners.[7] He expressed his frustration by saying, “Feminism is no longer about gender equality. It is gender discrimination and its manner is violent and hateful.”[8]

Despite the surge in anti-feminism among young men, misogyny in Korea is nothing new. South Korea, despite being a rising economic powerhouse and home to innovative companies like Samsung and Hyundai, remains remarkably patriarchal and sexist. Conservative Korean culture continues to reinforce gender roles in annual family gatherings, weddings, and national holidays, where women are expected to cook meals and are prohibited from participating in certain activities during ancestral memorial services. Legal norms, such as short prison sentences for perpetrators of sexual assaults, arguably perpetuate the norm of women being considered less equal. Women are also blatantly sexualized: female K-Pop stars, for example, are encouraged to stay single so that fans can project their sexual fantasies onto them. And the country’s persistent gender wage gap is 31.5 percent, the highest in member states in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).[9] 

Some South Korean radical feminists, frustrated by the status quo, have resorted to more militant tactics, such as starting the 4B Movement—no dating, sex, marriage or children.[10] Their extreme campaign has succeeded in pushing gender parity issues to the forefront in South Korea, but has only provided conservative politicians like Lee ammunition to demonize the entire women’s rights movement. Lee has said that “radical feminism is as toxic as terrorism,” and he has drawn parallels between “radical feminists” and the 9/11 terrorists.[11] Extremist feminist groups have been accused with hating men, a message that has empowered the Conservative party to reinforce existing culture and systems through political speeches and media.

As the icon of anti-feminism, Lee has started to translate these sentiments into regressive legislative policies. Since 2003, South Korea has used a quota system to close the gender employment gap in public service, but Lee seeks to reverse those gains. He argues that quotas for women are no longer needed and are unfair to men. Now Yoon Seok-youl, the conservative President-elect, has undone the outgoing President Moon’s policy that required 30 percent of the President’s cabinet posts to be filled by women. 

Yoon’s twenty-four-person transition team is 83 percent male, with an average age of fifty-seven. The majority were educated at Seoul National University—the top university in the country—and Ivy League schools. By dismantling gender quota systems and elevating such a specific subsection of the population to high-profile positions, Yoon is narrowing the definition of competence to mean older males with an elite education. Such a move could stifle social mobility and reinforce class and gender inequality. Furthermore, Yoon pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, stating that the existence of the Ministry worsens “reverse discrimination,” even though the Ministry spends just 7 percent of its budget on women’s issues and nearly 80 percent on youth and family issues.[12] 

Lee’s work coupled with President-elect Yoon’s forthcoming policies are hindering real progress toward narrowing the wage gap between genders, combatting sexist discourse and thinking, and achieving equal opportunities among political decision-makers. Instead, the new administration is actively politicizing discrimination against women, which is rampant in South Korean society.

About the Author

Sunghea Khil is a third-year joint Master in Public Policy and Urban Planning student at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Endnotes

1. Mr. Yoon was accused of pandering to widespread sentiment against feminists (and China) among young men, whose support proved crucial to his victory. Choe Sang-Hun, “Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korean Conservative Leader, Wins Presidency,” New York Times, March 9, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/09/world/asia/south-korea-election-yoon-suk-yeol.html. 

2. Raphael Rashid, “‘Devastated’: gender equality hopes on hold as ‘anti-feminist’ voted South Korea’s president,” The Guardian, March 11, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/11/south-korea-gender-equality-anti-feminist-president-yoon-suk-yeol.

3. Yoonjung Seo and Julia Hollingsworth, “How feminism became a hot topic in South Korea's presidential election,” CNN, March 8, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/08/asia/south-korea-election-young-people-intl-hnk-dst/index.html; Choe Sang-Hun, “The New Political Cry in South Korea: ‘Out With Man Haters’,” New York Times, January 1, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/world/asia/south-korea-men-anti-feminists.html. 

4. Statistics Korea, “De Facto jobless rates for Koreans, aged 15-29 (Unit: %, unemployed plus underemployed),” 2021, http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210622000216.  

5. S. Nathan Park, “Why So Many Young Men in South Korea Hate Feminism,” Foreign Policy, June 23, 2021, https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/06/23/young-south-korean-men-hate-liberals-feminists/; S. Nathan Park, “The Rise of the Incels,” Blue Roof Politics (blog), May 13, 2021, https://www.blueroofpolitics.com/post/the-rise-of-the-incels/

6. Dong-woo Chang, “How young voters, once solid supporters of liberal causes, turned against Moon's party in by-elections,” Yonghap News Agency, April 9, 2021, https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210409002300315. 

7. Thaïs Chaigne, “The South Korean men waging a vulgar and violent war against feminists,” The Observers, September 9, 2021, https://observers.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20210914-the-south-korean-men-waging-a-vulgar-and-violent-war-against-feminists 

8. Jake Kwon, “South Korea’s young men are fighting against feminism, “ CNN, September 23, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/21/asia/korea-angry-young-men-intl-hnk/index.html.

9. Yon-se Kim, “Korea to top OECD gender pay gap, again,” The Korea Herald, November 16, 2021, http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20211116000430

10. Jieun Lee & Euisol Jeong, “The 4B movement: envisioning a feminist future with/in a non-reproductive future in Korea,” Journal of Gender Studies 30 no. 5, 202, pp. 633-644, DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2021.1929097

11. Hyun-Kyung Kang, “'Radical feminism as toxic as terrorism,' says politician,” The Korea Times, June 28, 2019, https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2020/05/142_271403.html. 

12.  “2020 Listed Corporations and Public Institutions Gender Wage Gap Analysis Results,” Republic of Korea Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, September 1, 2021, http://www.mogef.go.kr/kor/skin/doc.html?fn=19d65afee6e447c694894721be7552c9.hwp&rs=/rsfiles/202203/