Seongnam City Single Women List Controversy... Women Treated as 'Marriage Partners' Rather Than for Their Abilities
Published 28 Aug.2021 08:03(KST)
Updated 28 Aug.2021 14:50(KST)
Seongnam City Employees Compile List of 151 Women with 'Photos, Ages, Personalities'
"Is This the Joseon Dynasty?" "How Do You See Your Colleagues?" Citizens Outraged
Experts Say "Ignoring Abilities and Treating Them as Objects... Violence Against Individuals"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] A scandal has erupted after it was revealed that an employee in the personnel department of Seongnam City Hall in Gyeonggi Province created and delivered a 'list of personal information of unmarried female public officials in their 30s' to the mayor's secretary. The employee who delivered the document reportedly told the secretary, "Pick someone you like."
Among citizens, criticism poured out with comments such as "Is this the Joseon Dynasty?" and "How do they see female employees?" Experts pointed out that this revealed an outdated perception that does not regard women as professional workers but merely as marriage prospects or evaluates them based on appearance and age.
According to Seongnam City on the 26th, Lee, a former secretary to Mayor Eun Su-mi, reported to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission that in mid-2019, while serving as a secretary, he received a list of personal information of unmarried female employees aged 31 to 37 from the personnel department staff.
The document, spanning 12 pages of A4 paper, contained photos, names, ages, affiliations, and ranks of 151 unmarried female public officials in their 30s. Although some sections were left blank, it also included items intended to assess personality traits.
The document was confirmed to have been prepared by Mr. A (grade 6), who belonged to the personnel team. Mr. A stated that he received the document from Mr. B, a manager-level employee. In an interview with SBS on the 25th, Mr. A said, "Mr. A, who was the deputy head of the personnel team, said it was 'a document painstakingly prepared over a month,'" and that Mr. B told him, "Pick someone you like from this list," referring to himself as unmarried. He claimed that this document was a sycophantic gesture aimed at currying favor with himself, who was serving as a secretary in the mayor's secretariat, a core power department of the city.
In response, the city stated, "Mr. A himself admitted to creating the document," and "He testified that he does not remember why he made it as it was a long time ago." On the 26th, the city suspended Mr. A from his position and requested an investigation on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act. Mr. B, who is known to have been involved in the document's creation, is reportedly suspended from his position due to another matter.
After this fact became known, posts demanding severe punishment for the list's creator and distributor continued on Seongnam City's internal internet network. One employee expressed anger, saying, "Is this the Joseon Dynasty? Do they even see the women we work with as colleagues? It feels like human rights are being trampled."
Some pointed out that this incident revealed a sexist culture that evaluates female employees not by their abilities but as 'marriage prospects' or based on appearance and age. Even now, it is not uncommon for female employees to be forced into specific roles unrelated to their work or subjected to discriminatory remarks and behavior in the workplace.
According to the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) on the 28th of last month, a Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education official recently caused controversy by saying during a kindergarten teacher training session that "kindergarten teachers are the best brides" and "(due to the serious low birthrate problem) teachers should give birth." This sparked criticism that female employees' opinions or personal situations were disregarded, and women were viewed merely as marriage partners or tools for childbirth.
Regarding the Seongnam City unmarried women list, political circles also pointed out that "the culture of forced marriage can lead to criminal acts."
Oh Hyun-joo, spokesperson for the Justice Party, said at a press conference on the 26th, "If the document was created without the consent of the parties involved, it is a serious human rights violation that infringes on the personality rights and personal information rights of unmarried female public officials in the workplace. It is beyond absurd; it is appalling." She criticized, "This incident shows that the culture of forced marriage can violate someone's human rights and even lead to criminal acts."
Spokesperson Oh added, "It is unlikely that the personnel department employee did this voluntarily. It is necessary to thoroughly investigate under whose orders and why the document was created, and how and to what extent the information was used."
Experts pointed out that a culture that evaluates women based on appearance, age, or only as marriage prospects constitutes violence that infringes on human rights. Bae Jin-kyung, head of the Korean Women Workers Association, said, "This incident is shocking because it shows that there was a belief within the organization that it was acceptable to create and circulate internal information as documents." She pointed out, "Underlying this behavior is the perception that no matter how hard women work in the workplace, they are not recognized for their professionalism or abilities but are treated merely as 'unmarried women' or 'marriage prospects.'"
She continued, "A culture that does not respect women's preferences or opinions and thinks and judges as if women can be taken at will can be a very violent human rights violation for the individuals involved. It is essential to thoroughly investigate who ordered the document and why it was created."
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