Democratic Party 2030 Generation Emergency Committee Members Speak Out: "Eliminate Discrimination and Guarantee Opportunities"

Democratic Party's First Emergency Committee Meeting
Park Ji-hyun "Expand Female and Youth Nominations"
Kwon Ji-ung "Must Begin Full-Scale Legislation of the Equality Act"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Ki-min Lee and Myung-hwan Lee] The Democratic Party's 2030 generation emergency committee members raised their voices on the 14th, urging the Democratic Party to take action to eliminate discrimination and inequality.

Park Ji-hyun, co-chair of the Democratic Party's Emergency Committee, stated at the first emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido that day, "We will reform the nomination system so that young politicians can challenge and thrive in politics without being bound by additional points or quota systems. In line with reform and change, we will expand nominations for women and youth."

She added, "The lack of opportunities for them (women and youth) is a structural problem in the political arena, and we will sufficiently reflect (expand) the scope of opportunities."

Criticizing the silence over power-related sexual crimes by ruling party figures, she said, "We will introduce a zero-tolerance policy for sexual violence, sexual misconduct, and power-related sexual crimes," adding, "This will be strictly applied as a criterion for nominations in the upcoming local elections." She also mentioned, "We plan to propose new evaluation criteria that verify not only the completion of gender sensitivity education, disability awareness education, and multicultural education but also these aspects."

Park also indirectly criticized ruling party members who sent condolence wreaths to former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung's father's funeral, saying, "There are still people in the Democratic Party who cover for politicians who violate social norms through school ties, regional ties, blood relations, and favoritism. While personally offering condolences may not matter, public displays are frequent."

During the last presidential election, Kwon Ji-woong, former youth election committee head and emergency committee member, said, "The Equality Act, also called the Anti-Discrimination Act, was a pledge of then-presidential candidate Roh Moo-hyun in 2002 and was first proposed as the Anti-Discrimination Act in 2007. Twenty years have passed since discussions began, and under the state's passive response, discrimination and inequality in our society have deepened." He emphasized, "This local election should be an opportunity to persuade the enactment of the Equality Act, not an excuse to delay it."

He continued, "During the period without the Equality Act, we lost Sergeant Byeon Hee-soo, and we frequently faced dormitories and rental housing being easily rejected by administration. In a society where it is difficult to openly reveal one's region of origin, family type, gender identity, or political opinion, we have neglected numerous discriminations. Discrimination naturally solidified into inequality."

Kwon stressed, "Nine out of ten citizens say this law is necessary," adding, "Former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and President Moon Jae-in have also stated the need for the enactment of the Equality Act."

Finally, he appealed, "We ask members of the National Assembly, local councilors, and candidates to join us," and said, "The persuasion process will not be easy, but the majority of the public will praise the enactment of the Equality Act."

Meanwhile, Park and Kwon attended the meeting via video conference as they were confirmed positive for COVID-19 that day.

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