Poet Ryu Geun: "When Men Go to the Military, Women Should Do Social Service... Just Trying to Balance Fairness"

Poet Ryu Geun. / Photo by Facebook Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Poet Ryu Geun, known for his pro-government stance, argued that "women should now fulfill some duties for the community" and insisted that "while men serve in the military, women should engage in social service."

This statement is interpreted as a claim that the dissatisfaction of the majority of men in their 20s, who largely ignored the Democratic Party of Korea in the April 7 by-elections, is related to the issue of "military service."

In this election, Seoul Mayor-elect Oh Se-hoon defeated Democratic Party candidate Park Young-sun by a wide margin of 18.3 percentage points. While 72.5% of male voters in their 20s supported Oh, only 22.2% supported Park.

Mr. Ryu began by saying, "Why are men in their 20s acting this way? Let's first clear away this suspicious and strange social atmosphere where people immediately shut down any discussion about the unfairness of military service between men and women in their 20s, and then talk."

He continued, "How did this issue become a booby trap in our country that you die if you touch it? Our country clearly imposes the proud duty of national defense on women as well. It's just that it has always been postponed," he claimed.

He added, "At that young age, after being deprived of freedom and spending most of the time doing meaningless labor unrelated to their major, when they return, they have to compete with women who have diligently prepared in their positions. Isn't that tough? This is about fairness of opportunity," he emphasized.

Mr. Ryu said, "There is no need for men to necessarily go to the military just because of the duty of military service. During that time, it is right for women to perform 'alternative service' obligatorily," and explained, "Men go to the military, and women perform alternative service to balance equity."

He went on to say, "women should perform about 18 months of social service as alternative service at the wage level of male soldiers," proposing care for the elderly, disabled, homeless, and children.

He also pointed out, "How much social cost would be saved? Our community all pretends not to know how much tax is being reduced by the costs borne by men who protect the country without any proper compensation," he criticized.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.