"Repeal the Outdated Ministry of Gender Equality and Family" 16,000 People Join Cheong Petition in One Day

Petition Urging the Abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition Board Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Choyoung] Recently, amid the political debate over the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF), a petition calling for the abolition of MOGEF has gained attention by receiving more than 16,000 signatures within a day of being posted.

On the 20th, a petition titled "The anachronistic Ministry of Gender Equality and Family must be dismantled" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board.

The petitioner stated, "Since August 2017, there have been over 2,000 petitions on the Blue House National Petition Board calling for the abolition of MOGEF," adding, "Moreover, according to last year's The Research opinion poll, 74.3% of female respondents answered that MOGEF is being mismanaged."

He argued, "MOGEF serves as a revolving door and a stepping stone for female scholars and women's rights activists who have been active in women's organizations," and continued, "On the surface, it is packaged as representing women's rights, but in reality, it is busy securing the interests of some ideologically biased women's groups and uses women not for protection but as a means to gain political power."

He added, "Just looking at the accounting fraud and various donation scandals of the Justice Memory Solidarity last year and the sexual crime case of the late Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul, it is clear that MOGEF plays political games according to the tastes of the political world."

He went on, "Our country was proven to be a gender-equal nation, ranking 10th among OECD countries in the 2018 Gender Equality Index by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)," but pointed out, "Nevertheless, MOGEF has promoted the logic that individuals should be evaluated based on gender rather than personal effort, giving women quotas, allowances, extra points, and benefits, which has rather degraded women into incompetent beings."

Furthermore, he criticized, "MOGEF is leading the realization of radical feminism aimed at women's liberation through the dismantling of patriarchy," and said, "MOGEF, which should protect women and families, is not only at the forefront of demands for the complete abolition of the abortion law but is also attempting to revise the Framework Act on Healthy Families to package communities outside the bounds of universal morality, such as same-sex couples, cohabiting couples, and single-parent households, as families."

The petitioner concluded, "The tasks currently handled by MOGEF can be sufficiently performed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Education, the National Human Rights Commission, and the National Police Agency," and added, "Returning related tasks to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Ministry of Education and dismantling MOGEF is the way to secure efficiency in national administration."

Meanwhile, Minister of Gender Equality and Family Jeong Young-ae said on the 14th regarding the abolition debate, "We humbly accept the public's concerns and criticisms surrounding MOGEF and will strive to improve," but added, "A ministry dedicated to spreading the value of gender equality and addressing discrimination and violence against socially vulnerable groups is absolutely necessary."

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