Kim Ki-hyun Proposes Introduction of 'Female Civil Defense Training'... Yoon Sang-hyun Criticizes as "Gender Pledge"

"Suspected Gender Pledge, Not Security Pledge
Yoon Must First Implement Promise to Abolish Ministry of Gender Equality"
Kim: "All Systems Face Backlash When Changed"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, who is running for the People Power Party's March 8 party representative election, criticized fellow candidate Rep. Kim Ki-hyun's proposal to introduce 'basic military training for women.'

On the 24th, Rep. Yoon posted on Facebook expressing concern that Kim's proposal to introduce basic military training for women as a party representative policy pledge "might be perceived by the public as a political expression."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Rep. Kim announced that he would introduce a bill to amend the Civil Defense Basic Act, which includes women in the civil defense training target group, as his first bill immediately after the Lunar New Year holiday. Kim wrote on Facebook the day before, "Some say this policy is aimed at winning the votes of 'Itaedam' (male university students in their 20s), but rather, it is a topic that the political sphere has avoided due to vote concerns. Let's have a proper discussion in the National Assembly."

In response, Rep. Yoon said, "From the perspective of social stability and cohesion, civil defense training should be mandatory for all citizens," adding, "I think it is not good to separate men and women like this for civil defense training aimed at the safety of all citizens. I cannot help but suspect that Rep. Kim's recent pledge is not a security policy but a gender policy."

He continued, "The administration has yet to implement even the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which is President Yoon's pledge," emphasizing, "If you are truly not concerned about votes, the Yoon administration should first fulfill even one of the promises already made to the public to demonstrate sincerity."

At a press conference that day, Rep. Kim expressed confidence, saying there is "no issue of feasibility" in introducing civil defense training for women. He said, "Civil defense training requires 50 hours per year. It is naturally a matter of just carrying it out."

When asked about concerns over women's backlash, Rep. Kim said, "Every system faces opposition when changed," adding, "Refusing to change a system because of opposition is essentially doing nothing. We can engage in rational persuasion."

He also left room for future discussions on including women in the entire scope of military service obligations. Rep. Kim said, "It will start by incorporating women into the civil defense system, but fundamentally, there is a need to approach male and female military service obligations from a new perspective," adding, "I believe we can progress step by step through a public discourse process."

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