South Korea’s President Moves Forward With Pledge to Abolish Gender Ministry

When U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Seoul last September, she had a meeting with “Korean groundbreaking women” leaders to highlight the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Figure skating champion Kim Yuna and Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung were among the Korean women in attendance. The meeting was one of the three events Harris had during her eight-hour visit to South Korea. The two others were a DMZ visit and a bilateral meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol, where Harris also mentioned concerns about women’s empowerment directly to him. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also had a meeting with women entrepreneurs in Seoul in July and discussed strengthening women’s leadership and inclusive labor markets in the Korean economy. A similar event called the “Women Enterprise Conference” was held in New York in September by the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups. 

The U.S. focus on women’s empowerment in South Korea aligns with the Biden administration’s focus on gender equality both at home and abroad. On last year’s International Women’s Day, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order establishing the White House Gender Policy Council. One year later, on March 8, 2022, the White House laid out its National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, the first-ever U.S. government strategy document on the issue. However, the high-level outreach may also be an indication of U.S. concern about the state of women’s rights in South Korea.

Yoon pledged to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) during his election campaign earlier this year and requested a draft plan to implement the pledge after he won the election. In early October, the Yoon administration finalized its plan to dismantle the ministry. As opposition grew, Yoon defended the plan by saying that eliminating MOGEF would better support and protect women, children, families, and the socially vulnerable. The position of the Yoon administration appears counterintuitive, but warrants a review based on the substance of the proposal.

First of all, MOGEF’s remit is not solely dedicated to women’s affairs. In the 2022 MOGEF budget, 906.3 billion Korean won – or 61.8 percent of the ministry’s total annual budget – is assigned for family matters and 271.6 billion won or 18.5 percent for youth. As shown in the chart below, only a relatively small portion of the budget was solely dedicated to promote gender equality and women’s rights. However, some may argue that other portions of the budget are also used to serve the needs of women given the cultural context in South Korea, where women’s issues have traditionally been linked to broader family concerns.