Women's Group: "Yoon Solidifies Position by 'Shaking Up Ministry of Gender Equality and Family'... Restore Normalcy to Ministry"

Urgent Call for Nomination of Ministerial Candidate to Achieve Gender Equality

Women’s organizations opposed the government’s move to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, calling for the nomination of a minister candidate who will implement gender equality policies and for the normalization of the ministry.

The “National Civic Action to Prevent the Abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Strengthen Gender Equality Policies,” consisting of 902 civic groups nationwide, held a press conference on the morning of the 23rd in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office to make this statement.

They said, “On the 22nd, the Presidential Office explained that President Yoon Suk-yeol’s decision not to appoint a successor minister and to maintain the deputy minister acting system, leaving the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family minister position vacant, is based on the idea that ‘even before the law is amended, a firm expression of the executive branch’s commitment to fulfilling campaign promises is necessary.’ They pointed out that the government intends to amend the Government Organization Act in the next National Assembly session to abolish the ministry and reassign related duties to other ministries.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

They also stated, “President Yoon, who pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family during his candidacy, has maintained his political position by shaking the ministry whenever facing political crises over the past two years since his election. The ministry changed the name of the government’s comprehensive plan ‘Plan to Enhance Women’s Representation in the Public Sector’ to ‘Plan to Enhance Gender Representation,’ merged gender equality policy research institutions with others that have different purposes and functions, and cut the 2024 budget for preventing violence against women and supporting victims by 12 billion KRW.”

They added, “The ministry’s role as the dedicated agency for realizing gender equality has been significantly weakened, including the removal of gender equality from the policy implementation systems of central and local governments and from educational curricula.”

They criticized, “For a long time, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which has been an administrative system subject to misunderstandings and stigma, has been used as a political tool under the slogan of ‘abolishing the ministry’ rather than functioning as a practical system to promote gender equality. In this process, the reality of gender discrimination has been distorted and minimized, making life harder for women and socially vulnerable groups.”

They further said, “The reality of women’s human rights held hostage by the Yoon administration is reflected in the lowest glass ceiling index among OECD countries, a gender wage gap of 31.5%, daily occurrences of gender-based violence, and the pain of witnessing a government that denies all these structural discriminations.”

They urged, “Shaking the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is tantamount to trampling on the value of gender equality. Stop the repeated attempts to abolish the ministry immediately!”

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