Jeong Hyun-baek, Former Minister of Gender Equality and Family, "Strengthening Gender Equality Policies and the Need for a Care Control Tower"

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Jeong Hyun-baek, former Minister of Gender Equality and Family, is giving an interview with Asia Economy at the Women’s Future Center located in Yeongdeungpo-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 18th.

Jeong Hyun-baek, former Minister of Gender Equality and Family who led the ministry under the Moon Jae-in administration, said in an interview with this paper on the 21st, "A plan to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in the new government or to lower its status to a committee, office (處), or agency (廳) would rather lead to a 'regression of gender equality policies.'"

Jeong, a historian, served as Minister of Gender Equality and Family from July 2017 to September 2018 and has held positions such as representative of the Korean Women's Associations United and People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. She said, "There is still a Gender Equality Committee directly under the Prime Minister, but it is only an advisory body without executive functions," adding, "Offices or agencies do not have the right to propose legislation, and even when submitting bills related to gender equality such as gender-based violence, the Ministry of Justice often opposes them or they face difficulties passing through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. If the dedicated ministry for gender equality policies disappears, it will become impossible to amend laws in line with changing times."

Jeong suggested that the 'care' policies scattered across the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (childcare), Ministry of Health and Welfare (institutional care), and Ministry of Education (school care) should be consolidated into one place. She said, "It is important to connect institutional care and after-school care, but currently, differential treatment based on whether the mother is employed is being overlooked," adding, "Even if career-interrupted women learn new skills and get employed, if care is not resolved, career interruptions will recur and the invested budget will all go to waste."

She continued, "Care is not just a women's issue but a sociologically important issue. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family should be given the role of a control tower overseeing care policies and include a gender-sensitive perspective," adding, "A ministry that considers the role of overall coordination by following other ministers around in Cabinet meetings and persistently pushing for coordination is necessary. It is difficult to solve these issues through dialogues at the bureau or division chief level within ministries."

Jeong said the repeated controversy over the existence of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is due to "the political elites' and policy makers' lack of understanding of gender issues." She said, "In advanced countries, gender equality is considered the completion of democracy, and similarly in France, although young people face difficulties with jobs and housing, that frustration does not manifest as 'gender conflict.'"

Compared to 21 years ago when the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was established, women still experience structural gender discrimination, while men tend to focus on improvements. Regarding this, Jeong said, "The proportion of female candidates in the civil service exam, public service exam, and law school entrance exam is high. Looking only at this group, some question why policies for women are necessary, but that is because they are concentrated in places with no entry barriers. If we focus on impoverished youth, the story changes."

Jeong said, "Generation conflict is not a single issue but a fictitious narrative that politicizes 'generations,'" adding, "Rather than being swayed by such narratives, young people should consider and resolve unfair treatment such as youth unemployment rates and the proportion of irregular workers. It is time for the government to show serious efforts on youth policies, not gender division tactics."

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