President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol holds a press conference at the National Assembly on the 10th. yunhap news
President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol’s promise to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has emerged as a hot potato. Yoon-elect lost the female vote and narrowly won by 0.73 percentage points in the vote. There are voices in the people’s power that we should reexamine the abolition of the Ministry of Leisure and reach out to women and the middle class.
尹 side “We will keep the promise to abolish the leisure department”
Kim Eun-hye, a spokeswoman for the elected president, met with reporters on the 11th and said, “The pledge to abolish the leisure ministry will be seriously discussed at the Presidential Transition Committee.” In a call with the Hankook Ilbo, he said, “The basic position is to keep the promises of the elected candidates.” Jang Je-won, the elected chief of staff, also said, “Nothing has been decided (problems such as putting the promise to a lower priority).”
People’s power also clashed over ‘abolition of the Ministry of Leisure’
In order to target the votes of men in their 20s who are anti-feminist, President-elect Yoon put forward a promise to abolish the leisure department. However, there was more to lose, such as turning their backs on women in their 20s and 30s to the 4050s.
Kim Jong-in, former chairman of the People’s Power Emergency Response Committee, said in a radio interview, “The issue of gender conflict has completely divided the votes. Cho Eun-hee, elected representative of Seoul National Assembly Seo Cho-gap, also said, “The function of the leisure department should rather be upgraded to the level of deputy prime minister.”
President-elect Yoon’s side publicly refuted it rather than appearing to be contemplating it. Rep. Kwon Seong-dong, who is a close aide to Yoon-elect, said on Facebook, “The abolition of the leisure ministry follows the public opinion and the spirit of the times. At the same time, he said, “It was rather the Democrats who blindly pushed the promise to abolish the Ministry of Leisure as if it was a gender conflict and misogyny.”
President-elect Lee Jun-seok, who strongly pushed the promise to abolish the Ministry of Leisure, publicly criticized President-elect Jo Eun-hee and said, “We have a responsibility to actively support President-elect Yoon’s policies to ensure stable state management.”
The ball went over the takeover. There is likely to be a debate at the transition committee level over whether to dismantle the leisure department and transfer its functions to other ministries, or whether to revive the organization by removing the ‘woman’ from the name.
The ‘female’ subcommittee has also disappeared.
President-elect Yoon did not have a separate ‘Women’s Division’ in the transition committee, but incorporated it into the Social Welfare and Culture Division. At the time of former President Park Geun-hye’s transition committee, there was a women’s section. It is said that President-elect Yoon’s intention is to address gender equality issues along with social policies such as low fertility, labor, and welfare. Spokesperson Kim explained, “The gender equality issue is not a gender issue, but reflects the humanistic philosophy and will treat women and men equally.”
Kim Ji-hyun reporter hyun1620@hankookilbo.com