Kim Hyun-sook: "Heads of Headquarters under the Ministry of Health and Welfare are 'Minister-level', Expanding Policies for Both Men and Women"

Concerns Over Reduced Role of Population, Family, and Gender Equality Headquarters Director in Government Reorganization Dismissed
"Minister-level Director Attends Cabinet Meetings and Can Discuss with Ministers"
"Gender Equality Policies Centered on Women Will Shift to Policies Benefiting Both Men and Women"

On the 6th, Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, responded to questions during a briefing held at the Government Seoul Office after reporting the government's joint 'Measures to Strengthen Support for Youth Inside and Outside Schools' at the State Affairs Ministers' Meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Minister Kim Hyun-sook of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) announced that the ministry will be abolished and the head of the newly established bureau under the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be equivalent to a 'ministerial level.' Regarding concerns that losing independent ministry status might make legal amendments difficult to implement, she dismissed them as "groundless worries."

On the 6th, Minister Kim Hyun-sook stated at a briefing held after reporting the government's joint 'Measures to Strengthen Support for Youth Inside and Outside Schools' at the State Affairs Ministers' Meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, "There have been talks about transferring (MOGEF) to another ministry and establishing it as a bureau head level, but I understand that the bureau head will be at the ministerial level."

Minister Kim said, "The minister of the ministry to which the laws currently managed by MOGEF are transferred will have the authority to amend them, and the bureau head will also participate in the Cabinet meeting and be able to discuss various matters alongside ministers. It is absolutely untrue that the work cannot be carried out because the position is downgraded from minister to vice minister level in another ministry." She cited the example of the head of the Trade Negotiation Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who can attend Cabinet meetings together with the minister.

Minister Kim argued that integration under the Ministry of Health and Welfare would actually enable more comprehensive work execution. She said, "If the (MOGEF minister) becomes a bureau head with considerable authority under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, I believe the content announced today could have included even more than what MOGEF had announced."

Regarding the direction after the reorganization of MOGEF, Minister Kim said, "The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will shift from being female-centered, as its name suggests, to policies for gender equality that are more inclusive and expanded to benefit both men and women."

In the government organization reform plan announced by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the same day, MOGEF will be abolished and transferred to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, where a new 'Population, Family, and Gender Equality Bureau' will be established. This bureau under the Ministry of Health and Welfare will oversee comprehensive life-cycle policies related to population, family, children, youth, and the elderly, as well as functions for gender equality and rights promotion. Women's employment affairs will be transferred to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated his commitment to abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, stating, "Isn't it time for the ministry to fulfill its historical mission?" Meanwhile, on the 14th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family at the Government Seoul Office, facing a crossroads regarding its existence, is in a restless and unsettled atmosphere. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Concerns have been raised that projects previously managed by MOGEF may face setbacks when transferred to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

In response, Minister Kim said, "The public officials currently at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family are not going anywhere else," adding, "When the ministry is transferred, everyone will move together, and the functions currently being performed will be automatically linked and activated to strengthen them. This is the reason we are announcing this policy."

Minister Kim explained that after the ministry's abolition and organizational status change, projects conducted by the MOGEF minister will be succeeded by other ministries.

She stated, "All MOUs created while the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family existed will naturally be succeeded when transferred to the new ministry," and added, "The change in the document name from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to another ministry's name should not be a problem."

MOGEF has been preparing the reorganization plan since June through a strategic promotion team but has not disclosed the details to the media. Minister Kim said, "I don't think the intermediate process, such as what other ministries said, is that important."

She added, "What matters is how the final result is brought about, and since all related government ministries under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration agreed on the same idea, it is appropriate to speak based on the final result."

MOGEF plans to hold a press briefing regarding the government organization reform plan as early as the 7th.

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