Ministry of Gender Equality and Family: "Increase the Proportion of Women in Senior Public Sector Positions to 30% by 2027"

Announcement of 5-Year Plan to Enhance Gender Representation
Expansion of Female Military Officers from 8% to 15% Range

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has set a goal to increase the proportion of women in senior and managerial positions in the public sector to around 30% by 2027. The proportion of female military officers is also planned to be expanded to about twice the current level.

On the 18th, the Ministry announced a comprehensive plan for the next five years to enhance gender representation in the public sector. The plan's name was changed to reflect a gender equality policy, following the 'Plan to Enhance Women's Representation in the Public Sector' that has been promoted since 2013.

First, the plan aims to raise the proportion of women among senior officials in central government ministries, headquarters department heads, and local government department heads to the 30% range. As of 2020, the proportion of women among senior officials in South Korea was only 8.5%. The goal is to raise this to a level comparable to the OECD average of 37.1% for senior officials in central governments (2020).

For professors at national universities and faculty members at the four major science and technology institutes, progress will be monitored according to each institution's gender equality action plans. In particular, in the science and technology fields where female participation is low relative to the proportion of female faculty, the four major science and technology institutes (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology) will operate systems to prevent research discontinuity among female faculty.

Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, is giving a greeting at a meeting with heads of women's economic organizations held on the 24th at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Additionally, the proportion of female military officers will be expanded from 8.8% (as of 2022) to 15.3% by 2027. In the police force, from 2026, recruitment of new officers will be conducted without gender distinction, selecting candidates through integrated recruitment. The Coast Guard will pursue balanced personnel management according to its mid-term workforce management plan.

For government committees, recommendations for improvement will be made and managed for committees where one gender exceeds 60% representation.

Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, stated, "Through cooperation with related ministries in the two previous plans, we have achieved expected results. However, since there are still areas where gender balance needs improvement, continuous efforts are necessary to ensure that gender balance is reflected in the organizational composition of the public sector, contributing to fairness and diversity."

She added, "Even after this plan is announced, we will continuously review whether there are additional areas where gender balance improvement is needed from a gender equality perspective and whether there are policy improvement demands."

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