Kim Hyun-sook: "Government Organization Act Reform Now the National Assembly's Responsibility... Will Watch the Discussions"

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family 2023 New Year Press Conference
"Policy Implementation Will Continue While the Ministry Exists"
"'Gender Equality' Is Embedded in National Agenda"

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyun-sook is answering questions at the New Year's press briefing held at the Korea Press Center on the 12th.
[Photo by Ministry of Gender Equality and Family]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, expressed her intention to closely monitor the National Assembly's discussions regarding the revision of the Government Organization Act. She also emphasized that while the ministry continues to exist, it will steadily carry out the policies it has been pursuing.

At a New Year's press briefing held on the 12th at the Korea Press Center, Minister Kim stated, “Until the revision of the Government Organization Act, which centers on the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, is passed, we will pursue policies under the principle of strengthening the state's protection of women, families, and youth while the ministry remains in place.” She added, “We will do better in our current work, uncover blind spots, and observe the National Assembly's discussions on the passage of the Government Organization Act, respecting the Assembly's decision.”

Currently, the ruling and opposition parties are operating a ‘3+3 Policy Consultative Group’ to discuss the revision of the Government Organization Act and related matters. Regarding this, Minister Kim emphasized, “If there are areas where we can provide support during the National Assembly's discussions, we will fulfill our role by explaining relevant details thoroughly.”

In response to criticism that ‘gender equality’ was omitted from the major work plans recently reported by the ministry to the President, she said, “It is not true that the gender equality part was specifically omitted.” She explained, “Since the national agenda includes ‘families where no one is left behind, a society where everyone participates together, and strengthening protection for victims of the five major types of violence,’ I believe gender equality is fully integrated.”

She continued, “Gender equality is a very important value and clearly a core value in the ministry’s policy implementation.” She added, “Now that issues of gender discrimination have greatly improved in terms of laws and systems, the intention is to view things from a broader perspective to incorporate the opinions of the MZ generation and resolve generational conflicts.”

Meanwhile, the ministry has set plans to focus on single-parent families, childcare services, and youth policy areas in its previous work report.

The ministry plans to increase the annual childcare service support hours from 840 to 960 hours and expand the number of supported households by 10,000 to 85,000 households. However, there are concerns in the field that supply is insufficient compared to demand. In response, the ministry plans to announce related measures in the first half of the year after consultations with relevant ministries. Minister Kim said, “We will soon announce a plan to advance childcare services that includes reforming the training system for childcare personnel and improving the quality of care services to revitalize the private care market.”

Additionally, Minister Kim stated that the functions of Youth Counseling and Welfare Centers will be strengthened and support for out-of-school youth will be expanded. The plan includes operating specialized high-risk psychological clinics for suicide and self-harm at all youth counseling and welfare centers nationwide and newly assigning clinical psychologists to 17 metropolitan-level counseling centers to increase support.

Furthermore, the ministry aims to cooperate to ensure that the ‘Out-of-School Youth Support Education Ordinance’ is enacted in all provinces and cities and to improve systems so that superintendents can support out-of-school youth. Minister Kim said, “To provide tailored support for the diverse needs of out-of-school youth, we will expand dedicated spaces by 10 locations and significantly increase health checkup items.”

Support policies for women with career interruptions were also specified. Minister Kim explained, “We will seek ways to expand and maintain women's participation in economic activities so that women who want to work can do so freely.” She added, “We will actively support career-interrupted women to enter high value-added fields such as IT, AI, and bio, and expand multinational networks.”

In closing, Minister Kim promised, “Since taking office as Minister of Gender Equality and Family, I have devoted a lot of time to preparing ways to provide optimal services to the public.” She pledged, “We will continue to do our best so that the ministry can become a department that empowers the people.”

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