Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea said on the 28th that he would expand the functions of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and reorganize it into a 'Ministry of Gender Equality.' He also stated that he would consider gender and age balance when forming the new cabinet. The target is for the proportion of women among all ministers to be 'over 30%.' However, specific figures were not included in the pledge document. Amid the rise of Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party over his 'female hatred' remarks just before the presidential election, it is noteworthy that the Democratic Party, which has distanced itself from gender issues, has introduced women's pledges.
On this day, the candidate noted on Facebook, 'Despite women still experiencing structural discrimination in many areas of our society, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has postponed gender equality policies to a lower priority,' referring to the recommendation from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for the government to halt the appointment and abolition of the Minister of Gender Equality and Family. He added, 'There can be no more regression.'
He declared efforts toward ▲ strengthening the governance system to promote gender equality ▲ expanding the gender equality policy officer system in central ministries and local governments and enhancing coordination and collaboration on gender equality policies ▲ establishing dedicated gender equality departments within local governments. The candidate stated, 'We must create a society where everyone enjoys equal rights and opportunities without discrimination,' and 'I will embrace diverse voices and seek common solutions.'
In particular, he pledged to strive for a goal of 'over 30% female representation' when forming the cabinet after taking office. The candidate met with reporters after appearing on the 'K-Initiative TV' live stream titled 'I’m in the same boat with 14 million ants' that afternoon and said, 'I’ve thought about whether we can secure over 30% of women among ministers and senior advisors, and while I’m not confident, I will do my best.' He further remarked, 'It's difficult to publicly and explicitly promise 30%, but I will do my utmost to exceed 30%.'
The Democratic Party's pledge to expand the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family came just a day after Lee Jun-seok, the Reform Party presidential candidate, found himself at the center of controversy with his 'female hatred' remarks. The day before, during the third television debate, Lee criticized comments made by Lee Jae-myung’s child, mentioning explicit expressions related to women's bodies.
Previously, the Democratic Party did not include women's policies when announcing 10 major pledges on the 12th. There were suggestions in the political arena that they intentionally avoided 'gender issues,' being mindful of the male voter sentiment in their 30s. It has been suggested that the candidate, in emphasizing 'center-right' and 'unification' for the purpose of expanding his support base, remained silent on women's rights issues to attract votes from relatively weak support among young men.
However, following the controversial remarks by the Lee Jun-seok candidate, 'female hatred' has emerged as an issue, and Lee Jae-myung has directly announced women's pledges on social media. The presidential pledge document released on the same morning included such content. The candidate emphasized, 'I will create a safe society for women,' pledging to strengthen response systems for crimes of violence against women occurring in intimate relationships, enhance prevention and response to digital sexual crimes, create official national statistics on dating violence, and establish 24-hour safe public restrooms.