Aftermath of 'Butter Knife Crew' Full Suspension... Party Demands "Apologize for Stigmatization"

Ministry of Gender Equality Notifies Project Operators of 'Complete Suspension' Without Explanation
Demands Public Apology, Disclosure of Suspension Grounds and Process from Ministry
Female Participant Ratio Was Not Part of Initial Requirements
"Dividing Citizens with Double Standards, Stigmatizing, and Defaming"

After the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family decided to fully review the Butter Knife Crew project immediately following remarks by the ruling party floor leader, a strong backlash has ensued. The ministry neither provided the companies running the project with grounds or explanations for the suspension nor did it uphold trust by denying its own project.

The social cooperative Party issued a statement on the 11th, urging, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family must officially apologize to the participants of the Butter Knife Promotion Team project for spreading inaccurate information, clearly disclose the grounds and process for halting the project, and responsibly carry out gender equality initiatives."

Party is the company contracted to operate the Butter Knife Crew project with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which notified them of the full suspension on the 27th of last month.

Party emphasized, "It is unfair to suspend this project, which is conducted with the approval of the National Assembly and government departments, on the grounds of objections to the ‘female participant ratio,’ which was not included in any requirements. This year, additional points for diversity composition such as region, gender, and age group were added to secure participants from various backgrounds, and all these processes were thoroughly consulted with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family."

The Ministry announced on June 30th, just five days after the Butter Knife Crew launch ceremony, that it would review the project. This decision came the day after Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized on social media on the 4th of last month that "the Butter Knife Crew project amplifies gender conflicts, supports taxes biased toward a specific ideology, and repeats outdated practices that were previously condemned."

In response, Party stated, "Despite being the responsible ministry, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family decided to review the project without correcting the baseless claim that it ‘amplifies gender conflicts’ and did not consult or seek opinions from Party, the project operator, or the project team." They also pointed out, "The only reason given for suspending the project was the high proportion of female participants, and the minister participated in stigmatizing citizens by dividing them with a double standard in media interviews."

Party criticized, "The criticism from Assemblyman Kwon Seong-dong reflects only the views of some anti-feminist online communities. There is insufficient evidence to claim that a project that has not even started activities amplifies gender conflicts, and accepting only blatantly misogynistic opinions actually fuels gender conflicts and stigmatizes with hatred."

Party further stated, "Minister Kim Hyun-sook committed a rudeness by participating in stigmatization and dividing citizens involved in the Ministry’s project with a double standard, saying in an interview with Chosun Ilbo, ‘After receiving a call from Assemblyman Kwon and reviewing it, I found that there were too many women among the members and that they differed from the ordinary 20s and 30s generation I saw at school.’ This has damaged the honor of the officials and participating teams who have been striving to create a better society and the long-standing project."

The Butter Knife Crew began in 2019 and supports teams engaged in activities to spread a culture of gender equality. This year, the project included special fields such as gender equality, easing gender conflicts, creating a fair youth job environment, and mental care?keywords emphasized by Minister Kim Hyun-sook since her inauguration?and had selected teams to carry out the project and even held a launch ceremony.

Party stated, "The Ministry’s explanation that ‘criticism arose after the launch, and since no improvement direction was found, the project is suspended’ regarding teams directly selected by the Ministry and supported by the minister at the launch ceremony is unacceptable. This act breaks the promise made to citizens who devoted their time and effort to solving government-established tasks to improve and develop a gender-equal society."

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