[2020 National Audit] Prosecutor's Office and Ministry of Justice 'Glass Ceiling'... Severely Insufficient Number of Female Senior Officials

Choi Ki-sang: "We Must Break the Solid Glass Ceiling to Meet National Policy Goals"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] It has been revealed that there is only one female senior official working at the Prosecutor's Office and two at the Ministry of Justice (as of the end of 2019).

According to the 'Status of Female Senior Officials' data submitted by the Ministry of Personnel Management to Choi Ki-sang, a member of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the Prosecutor's Office had 1 female out of 24 senior officials (4.2%), and the Ministry of Justice had 2 females out of 42 (4.8%). In 2018, among 24 senior officials at the Prosecutor's Office, 1 (4.2%) was female, and at the Ministry of Justice, 1 out of 38 (2.6%) was female. Although the number of senior officials at the Ministry of Justice increased by 4 within a year, the number of female senior officials increased by only 1.

The Moon Jae-in administration announced as a national agenda the goal to achieve the appointment targets for female and STEM managers by 2022. According to the Basic Plan for Balanced Personnel established by the Ministry of Personnel Management in July 2018, the proportion of female senior officials with decision-making authority is to be expanded to 10% by 2022. By 2022, the Prosecutor's Office should appoint 2.4 female senior officials, and the Ministry of Justice 4.2, but the current proportion of female senior officials in each institution falls short of even half of the target.

Assemblyman Choi said, “There is a great concern that the high glass ceiling in the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice will become an obstacle in preparing and implementing policies to protect female victims,” and added, “Now that the president’s term has entered its fourth year, the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice should create an opportunity to break the solid glass ceiling in line with the national agenda goals.”