“How Sensitive Am I in Relationships?”... Relationship Counseling Booths Appear at University Festivals

“Warm Love Interference” Booth at Kyunggi University Festival
Preventing Dating Violence... Led by the Ministry of Education’s Gender Equality Policy Office
"Gender Equality Control Tower... Ensuring Organizational Stability"

On the 18th, the Gender Equality Policy Office of the Ministry of Education is counseling students at the "Warm Intervention of Love" experience booth set up at Kyonggi University Suwon Campus. Provided by the Ministry of Education.

On May 18, the first day of the festival at Kyonggi University’s Suwon Campus, a booth bearing the sign “Warm Intervention of Love” stood beyond the lively crowd of students and food stalls. This program, now in its third year and led by the Gender Equality Policy Office of the Ministry of Education, was established to prevent campus crimes such as dating violence and digital sexual violence. While the subject matter is serious, the booth’s approachable “mobile relationship counseling center” format allowed anyone to stop by, blending naturally into the festival atmosphere. With growing support from universities, the number of participating schools increased from four in 2022, to eight last year, and to ten in 2024.

At Kyonggi University, which operated the booth for the first time this year, about 150 students visited in one day. Students shared a variety of concerns, such as, “I want to start dating, but I don’t know how to approach someone,” and “It’s hard to refuse my boyfriend’s unreasonable requests.” Four professional counselors provided free consultations and TCI temperament tests to analyze students’ personalities. Jung Ilsun, Director of the Gender Equality Policy Office at the Ministry of Education, explained, “Couples take the TCI test to understand each other’s personalities and realize the reasons behind previous conflicts.”

There were also activities such as OX quizzes to discuss whether it is justifiable to check a partner’s phone without consent or to demand location sharing, and self-checks to assess one’s relationship sensitivity. The Gender Equality Policy Office system was introduced in 2018 as a result of the #MeToo movement and is currently operated in nine ministries, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of National Defense. The office is responsible for overseeing sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention policies and gender equality policies in each ministry. In particular, the Ministry of Education achieved the mandatory implementation of gender equality education in elementary, middle, and high schools through the revision of the Framework Act on Education in 2021.

Director Jung said, “We have responded swiftly as the control tower for gender equality policy in the education sector,” adding, “Even during the deepfake incident, we were able to respond quickly by cooperating with provincial and metropolitan education offices.” Having worked for over 25 years as a women’s policy expert, she was appointed to the position in 2023 through an open recruitment process. The office consists of a total of eight members, with a budget of approximately 1.825 billion won for this year.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to gradually expand the Gender Equality Policy Office system to all ministries and strengthen inter-ministerial cooperation. Director Jung emphasized, “The Gender Equality Ministry needs to establish standard work guidelines to ensure organizational stability.”

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