The Political Implications of Rising Anti-Feminism in South Korea by Se-A Oh

Women and girls in South Korea often designate the title of a “survivor” to themselves after a “mudjima beomjae” occurs near them. “Mudjima beomjae” translates to “do-not-ask crime” literally, or an unprovoked assault in English. This often takes place in the form of misogyny, such as in the case of the 2016 Gangnam Station femicide,1 where a young woman was murdered brutally in a public restroom. The murderer later said that he had intended to kill any random woman, simply because women had “always ignored him.” His statement sparked the hashtag #survived across students of nearby schools. This slowly transformed into activism for the official address of the discriminative attitudes women have to face in the country. Their logic lies here: Why do women still have to fear for their lives even in a public restroom in the 21st century, and be grateful for each day that they survive from such arbitrary misogynistic treatment? 

In their 2022 presidential election, South Koreans faced a dilemma between two candidates, of which conservative Yoon Seok-Youl promised to remove the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.2 Yoon and his supporters believed that by promoting feminism, men’s rights had degraded. They claimed that men, having to fulfill their compulsory military service of 1.5 years, are at a disadvantage in the competition for jobs compared to women, who do not have to. Some pointed to feminism as the cause for South Korea’s dropping demographics, simply because it had encouraged women to work as they please. After he won, he proclaimed to abolish the gender ministry as soon as he begins his official presidential tenure. South Korean women are now exposed to the dangerous potential of regression to a more Confucian society, where there remains no single government institution in the fight for equal rights in the political setting. 

Many who have recently come across this country may not know its extremely gender-suppressive history, which was due to the influence of Confucianism. Although its male-supremacist traditions largely grew off as the country underwent modernization, the outdated ideology has only transmuted into the form of anti-feminism and persists as a social boundary for women, such as the societal expectations that they should retire once pregnant. In spite of efforts to combat misogyny through feminism, anti-feminists continue to prosper by a powerful majority without understanding the true meaning of feminism, which is to balance men and women, not raise women over men. As a result of the widespread incomprehension, the opportunities that the gender ministry has worked to provide may be gone, such as the benefits certain women have seen thanks to its use of media to promote a more positive perception of homosexuality.3 

Without the ministry, women may further deepen their status as the socially underprivileged. A controversial issue in South Korea that pertains to sex is the laws regarding sexual violence. In the United States, anyone that commits sex crimes against children is sentenced to life in prison, regardless of the state. In China, rapists are sentenced to death by firing squads. In South Korea, however, child rapists may be sentenced to as little as 3 years and 2 months,4 which has brought the slang “Cotton-Bat Punishment”, which satirizes how light the punishments are. As seen, awareness of sexual violence committed against women and girls is very low, even when there existed the gender ministry. Just imagine how much worse the judicial state of affairs may become if the ministry disappears. In the stance where constitutional amendment is called for by women, these laws may linger in its current state, if not amended to even fewer years in prison for sex offenders. 

Women and girls in South Korea today live under dangerous conditions simply for their sexual identity. Although feminism rose in advance to combat the struggle, anti-feminism has risen along in recent years as a result of the perception that the country’s scarce resources have been unequally distributed in favor of women. In the largely anti-feminist scene today, it is necessary for the government to prevent the removal of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. By doing so, the ministry could continue its works toward improving legislations pertaining to sexual violence, raising awareness of the significance of gender equality, and overall raising the standard of living for women in South Korea. Moreover, it would be essential to correct the misconception that feminism is equal to female supremacy.