"Edaenyeo Votes Are Idle..." Lee Jae-myung Sharing 'Anti-Feminism' Messages, Are Women Turning Away?

'Keep Distance from Feminism' Lee Shared Community Posts Twice
Civilians: "Truly Think About Youth", "Women Are Marginalized"
Political Circles Also Criticize as "Ajae", "Role Model of Anti-Feminism"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] "The votes of the 'I-dae-nyeo' are drifting aimlessly."

Recently, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, has been actively targeting the votes of the 20s and 30s generation, especially the so-called 'I-dae-nam' (men in their 20s). However, in this process, he has argued that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) should remove 'women' from its name and adjust its functions, and has also sparked controversy by openly sharing community posts containing anti-feminist messages.

Women in their 20s and 30s and women's organizations have reacted strongly, saying, "Are women not youth?" It seems difficult to avoid criticism that the policies are not inclusive of all youth but rather focus on a specific gender and some claims, thereby fueling gender conflict.

Park, a woman in her 20s working in an office, said recently that when she looks at the statements and actions of presidential candidates, "It feels as if women do not exist at all." Park said, "They keep saying youth, youth, but there seems to be no candidate who truly thinks about youth or delivers sincere messages. Moreover, seeing some candidates openly share posts that portray feminism as an absolute evil just to gain some male votes makes me feel like they are declaring that women are not considered at all. What woman could possibly vote for a candidate who shares such things?"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, shared a post from an online community on his Facebook page on the 10th. The post contains content such as "Please stop this madness of feminism," which has sparked controversy.
Photo by Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party presidential candidate's Facebook

Earlier, on the 10th, Lee shared a post titled "A Letter from Hong Ka-dan to Candidate Lee Jae-myung" on Facebook, recommending, "Let's read it together." This post was published on the DC Inside 'Lee Jae-myung Gallery,' and 'Hong Ka-dan' refers to a volunteer group of people in their 20s and 30s who supported Hong Joon-pyo in the People Power Party presidential primary.

The author of the post pointed out that the reason men in their 20s and 30s turned away from President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Party was 'feminism' and 'real estate,' demanding Lee to "stop the madness of feminism" and "destroy feminism." The post also strongly criticized President Moon, saying, "The president and feminist forces are both hosts and parasites."

On the 8th, Lee also printed and distributed to his campaign committee members a post from the male-centered community FM Korea (Femco) with the message that "we need to distance ourselves from feminism." This post contained anti-feminist messages such as "The Democratic Party has excluded young men regarding feminism" and "We must pass legislation representing young men's voices and differentiate from the Moon administration's feminist-prioritized policies."

Lee recently proposed changing the name of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to 'Ministry of Equality and Family' or 'Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.' On the 9th, he said on Facebook, "Marriage, childbirth, and childcare are still a heavy burden for our youth and women," but also argued that "just as discrimination against women is unacceptable, discrimination against men is also wrong," advocating for renaming the ministry and adjusting some of its functions.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, is giving a speech at the launch ceremony of the Democratic Party's 20th presidential election campaign committee held on the afternoon of the 2nd at the KSPO Dome in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Some criticize Lee's actions as a shallow attempt to gain votes by riding on hateful sentiments. While loudly claiming to listen to the voices of youth, he is actually fueling gender conflict by only heeding some male netizens' claims.

Kim, a 35-year-old office worker, said, "Who would dislike listening to the voices of youth? But it is problematic for a presidential candidate to share posts that clearly contain misogynistic messages and have an obvious intent to cause division." He added, "Anyone with common sense would know that this is not about genuinely thinking of youth but about winning votes. Ultimately, it will be a self-defeating move."

Criticism toward Lee also continues in the political sphere. Sim Sang-jung, the Justice Party presidential candidate, wrote on Facebook, "It was only five years ago that saying 'I will be a feminist president' was common sense in a presidential election," and said, "The candidates of the two major parties are taking on the role of leaders of anti-feminism with shallow gender awareness. Is there no place for 'women' in Lee Jae-myung's youth?"

Ryu Ho-jeong, a member of the same party, called Lee and People Power Party candidate Yoon Seok-youl "old men," criticizing, "The candidates of the two entrenched parties defined healthy feminism, pledged to strengthen false accusation laws, and eventually shared community posts asking to stop feminism," adding, "In the end, they failed to empathize with women's lives and selectively chose citizens to win."

Meanwhile, as the controversy spread, Lee explained the reason for sharing the community post, saying, "I wanted to convey the desperate cries of youth who feel there is not a single politician listening to their voices," and stated, "There are various 'interpretations' about my recommending the post, so I will speak frankly." However, he did not specifically address the criticism that he used the vague term 'youth' without mentioning 'women' or that he is excluding women.

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