[Column] Shin Ji-ye's Choice: Expansion or Extinction?

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, attended the welcoming ceremony for newly recruited personnel held on the 20th at the Chairman's Office of the New Era Preparation Committee in the Central Party Office in Yeouido, Seoul. He is taking a commemorative photo with Chairman Kim Han-gil and Shin Ji-ye, the representative of the Korean Women's Political Network, who is one of the newly recruited personnel. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Feminist Shin Ji-ye has caused confusion in the women's community after joining the People Power Party's presidential election committee. Even the citizens who had supported her are now voicing strong criticism. Shin likely anticipated that things would turn out this way.

First, Shin demonstrates a firm determination to eradicate violence against women. It appears she judged that as a professional politician, she must hold power directly to influence policy. She must have faced the limitations of the third political zone multiple times?that is, the hollow reality that policies cannot be realized without ultimately seizing power. On the 21st, Shin appeared on the radio and justified her actions by acknowledging the reality, saying, "I have no choice but to remain a faint voice."

However, the voices criticizing her decision are so strong that they drown out Shin's reasoning. Son Hee-jung, a research professor at Kyung Hee University's Institute of Comparative Culture, who publicly supported Shin when she ran for Seoul mayor in 2018, dismissed her by saying, "The green future you dream of will never come alongside voices opposing nuclear phase-out, tainted by infinite growth ideology." Even within the People Power Party, mocking criticism emerged. It was seen as an example showing that a conservative party can shake the feminist camp. Lee Kyung-min, deputy spokesperson for the People Power Party's Seoul branch, pointed out that "the key is that if only a good position is offered, she is ready to defect to the People Power Party anytime," adding, "(Feminists) can be recruited by the People Power Party, used a few times, and then discarded." He further said, "There will be more opportunistic feminists like Shin Ji-ye in the future, and in that case, the unified front of the feminist camp is likely to collapse rapidly. Like in Japan, I feel that the extinction of feminism is not far off."

On the same day, Shin said on the radio, "I had no choice but to select one candidate within the two-party structure, and the most important thing was the thought that women would be guaranteed more safety if there was a regime change." Does Shin's joining the People Power Party ignite the spark that signals the 'extinction of feminism'? Or will it end in a happy ending of 'value realization through power,' as Shin envisions? This question is asked because Shin's failure would not merely signify the end of an individual's political career.

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