The new president of Korea is ushered in by misogyny

As women’s rights have grown in popularity and awareness in South Korea, the backlash against feminism has also widened. Yoon is well known for being at the forefront of this trend, catering to a group of young male voters that his right-wing party, People’s Power, identifies as “anti-feminist”.

Under the umbrella of youth strategy, he created buzz and influence by targeting this noisy, energetic subgroup. Missing from his strategy are the voices of women.

People’s Power, like the current ruling Democratic Party, has a poor record on women’s rights. After the catastrophic defeat in the 2017 election – after President Park Geun-hye was impeached and jailed – the conservative party (then the Liberal Party of Korea) desperately needed new strategies, especially the expand to a younger establishment. Merging with others to start People Power, it found one of its answers in frustration.

An important turning point was last year’s election in charge of Seoul’s mayor: 70% of male voters in their 20s voted for the winning People Power candidate, a significant portion fueled by the popularity of the party. the growing reputation of the 36-year-old “anti-feminist” politician Lee Jun-seok. Lee later became the youngest leader in the party’s history and a key aide to Yoon’s campaign.

Many supporters of Lee and Yoon’s young men argue that men face “reverse discrimination” in South Korea, which has the highest gender pay gap among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Economic Development (OECD) and only 19% female representation in the National Assembly.

Jumping into the wrong fight, members of People’s Power called feminism “unconstitutional”, comparing it to extremism and fascism. Yoon’s platform includes stronger penalties for false claims of sex crimes – although these make up a fraction of the cases – and the repeal of South Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. . The ministry was established in 2001, to support stigmatized single mothers, sex crime survivors, female workers and immigrant women.

Yoon – whose policies regarding women focus on traditional motherhood in wedlock – indicated that he wants to replace the current ministry with a new organization focused on children and families. It is unclear how far he will go, or how far he can go. Congress is currently dominated by the Democratic Party. Even Yoon’s party is divided on this policy.

After Yoon’s victory was confirmed, the reaction from women’s rights advocates was harsh. “This is a heartbreaking and painful ending,” said Kwon In-sook, a prominent feminist politician and Democratic legislator.

Admittedly, the Democratic Party is not a feminist’s paradise either. Lee Jae-myung, its presidential candidate, initially tried to appeal to male voters to be “anti-feminist”, including acknowledging the existence of reverse discrimination and the need to organize Reorganized the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Only when it became clear that Yoon had a strong place in these votes did Lee serve more strongly for feminists and young women.

“I never tried to divide the sexes,” Yoon said after his win. “I was misunderstood and attacked during the race; Why do I have to divide men and women? ”

Such a pretense of innocence isn’t a good enough reason to hope that Yoon’s bite will be softer than his barking when it comes to women’s rights. So much damage was done.

If there’s reason to be hopeful, it’s that Korean feminism is firmly rooted, filled with prolific civil debates and tireless advocates of gender equality. It weathered decades of storms – and will outlast this one.