Yoo Seung-min: "Abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been considered for a long time... The Ministry of Unification needs to be maintained"

"Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Lacks Unique Functions" Claims 'Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Uselessness Theory'
Regarding Ministry of Unification: "Symbolic Importance in Division Reality"

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Yoo Seung-min, former People Power Party lawmaker who declared his presidential candidacy, expressed his views on the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Unification. Yoo maintained his pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, saying it was "something he has thought about for a long time," but stated that the Ministry of Unification needs to be retained.

In an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 19th, Yoo said, "True gender equality means that neither men nor women are unfairly discriminated against," and argued, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has actually been making mistakes continuously over the past 20 years."

He added, "It has no real power and has not been able to perform properly," and said, "If I become president, I will create a Presidential Commission on Gender Equality directly under the president, and I will serve as the chairman myself to establish gender equality bureaus in all ministries."

He emphasized, "If this is done in all ministries, it can perform much better than the current Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which is doing a poor job."

Yoo had previously revealed his pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in a post on his Facebook page on the 6th.

At that time, he explained that most of the tasks handled by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family could be shared by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Justice, and others, and said, "After abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the budget overlapping with other ministries' projects will be used to introduce policies for young people who have completed mandatory military service."

Regarding criticisms that his pledge is riding on the recent 'gender conflict' emerging mainly among the 2030 youth generation, he stressed, "I am advocating for true gender equality, and I also advocated for abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family four years ago," adding, "This is not a promise made in response to recent gender conflicts or anything like that."

Yoo referred to the recent controversy over the sexual assault case involving a female non-commissioned officer in the Air Force, saying, "It was an issue that should have been properly handled, but even if the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family existed, it had no role or means to address problems arising in the military," arguing the ministry's ineffectiveness.

He further criticized, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is a ministry without its own inherent functions. Since it originally had no inherent functions, I don't understand why it keeps asking for budget expansion and more power," and pointed out, "Essentially, having a separate ministry and entrusting everything to it is actually not helpful for gender equality."

However, Yoo drew a line regarding the recent proposal by Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, to abolish the Ministry of Unification, saying, "I have a different view."

He emphasized, "The issue of unification holds symbolic importance in our divided reality," and said, "The Ministry of Unification needs to be retained."

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