Lee Jun-seok "Gangnam Station Protest Framed as 'Died Because She Was a Woman'" vs Jin Joong-kwon "Inciting the Young Generation"

Lee Jun-seok and Jin Joong-kwon Clash Over Gender Equality Issues in 'MZ Generation Talks Politics'

Jin Joong-kwon, former professor at Dongyang University / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Former People Power Party Supreme Council member Lee Jun-seok and former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon engaged in a debate over gender equality issues. Lee argued that incidents such as the Gangnam Station murder case are unrelated to gender issues, while Jin countered that this was a distorted form of agitation.

On the 2nd, Channel A held a forum under the theme "The MZ Generation Talks Politics." The discussion included former professor Jin, former Supreme Council member Lee, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee So-young, and Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young.

Former Supreme Council member Lee referred to the 2016 "Gangnam Station murder case" and the "Isu Station pub assault case," stating, "Simple criminal cases like the Gangnam Station protest or the Isu Station incident are overshadowed by the gender frame," and added, "The social gender frame was established under the premise that the victim died because she was a woman, but do we say that a man died because he was a man when Ko Yoo-jeong killed her ex-husband?" Lee's argument is that these are general incidents, not crimes triggered by gender hatred.

In response, former professor Jin said, "Taking trivial matters and generalizing policies as feminism gone too far may be cheered by young men in their 20s (Idae-nam), but it is a provocative rhetoric."

Regarding Lee's reasoning, Jin criticized, "Lee Jun-seok continues this because of his position within the party. Distorting social issues and offering distorted solutions based on his personal ideology to agitate the younger generation leads to bad outcomes."

Lee also raised his voice against lawmaker Jang. Earlier, Jang said, "The reason women raise their voices for gender equality is safety issues," and pointed out, "According to 2019 police statistics, there were 19 male rape victims under 30 and 3,338 female victims. If women under 30 are 175 times more likely to be raped than men, how can asking for gender equality and safety as equal citizens be considered an excessive demand or gender equality?"

Lee countered, "Due to the nature of sexual assault crimes, there can be differences between men and women," to which Jang responded, "You can't just pass over it like that. How can 'naturally' come out of that? I think you need to correct that."

Then Lee said, "What you said about rape and sexual molestation is correct," but added, "Then how should we interpret recent murder cases that seemed to stir up gender conflict?"

Former Lee Jun-seok, Supreme Council Member of the People Power Party [Image source=Yonhap News]

Former Supreme Council member Lee also debated lawmaker Lee So-young on the topic of "deprivation of women's social participation opportunities." Lee said, "There are two lawmakers in their 30s, and although I also graduated from a science high school, if there are structural barriers to women's participation in science and engineering, I would run together to create equal opportunities," and questioned, "Are there obstacles that prevent women from studying math and science?"

Lawmaker Lee So-young pointed out, "When daughters become social leaders, many parents do not want that, which is a clear social perception," and former Supreme Council member Lee emphasized, "That is a problem of family education."

Previously, former Supreme Council member Lee and former professor Jin had ongoing clashes over gender issues. On the 28th, Jin wrote in a JoongAng Ilbo column, "About ten years ago, I advised two smart conservative young men to 'study hard,' and one of them was former People Power Party Supreme Council member Lee Jun-seok. I still care for him," but added, "However, he is going down a strange path. He does not listen even when criticized. Forcing advice on someone who refuses to listen, even if it is given with affection, is a nuisance, so this is the last time."

He continued, "They say the three female ministers who benefited from the gender quota are incompetent and that the country's livelihood has collapsed," and criticized, "They claim this is because top talent was not appointed and there was an obsession with numerical gender equality. Can this even be called a statement?"

He further explained, "Goldman Sachs' 2019 report predicted that if the gender gap is closed, South Korea's GDP would increase by 14.4%. In Japan, companies with a higher ratio of female managers have higher sales and profitability compared to the average," adding, "This disproves men's prejudice that women's abilities are inferior."

Former professor Jin said, "Mr. Lee lacks this common sense. He fills his deficient education with things he picked up from male-dominated online communities, but such talk should never be brought into public discourse," and added, "He may be cheered in male-dominated sites, but in public discourse, he is only called ignorant. That's why I told him to study every time we met."

In response, former Supreme Council member Lee said, "So, are you saying that the 'nonsense philosophy' that 'gender quotas improve productivity,' which some philosopher in a dark room believes as 'absolute truth,' is why leading domestic and international companies do not implement it due to 'misandry'?" and argued, "The reason why South Korea's top companies do not accept Professor Jin Joong-kwon's simple prescription to increase productivity and raise GDP by 14% is simple: because it's nonsense."

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