"Not Saying We Should Give Up on Women's Policies"
People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok is speaking at a meeting with young entrepreneurs at Daegu Samsung Creative Campus during his visit to Daegu on the morning of the 7th. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, explained that the party's 'abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF)' does not mean "giving up on women's policies." This came amid concerns raised mainly by female lawmakers in response to People Power Party presidential candidates such as former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min and lawmaker Ha Tae-kyung consecutively advocating for the abolition of MOGEF.
On the 7th, after visiting Samsung Creative Campus in Buk-gu, Daegu, Lee responded to a reporter's question that "Yoon Hee-sook, a People Power Party lawmaker, expressed concerns about the abolition of MOGEF" by saying, "I think the intention is to review whether the methodology MOGEF has used so far is wrong."
However, he expressed doubts about the reason for MOGEF's existence. Lee said, "MOGEF was established as a special ministry about 20 years ago, so it is time to evaluate its performance," adding, "Despite consistently receiving budgets and operating, the gender conflict has dramatically increased over the past 10 years, which raises the need to question whether the current operational form should continue as it is."
Earlier, the abolition of MOGEF was triggered by People Power Party presidential candidates former lawmaker Yoo and lawmaker Ha. Yoo proposed as a presidential pledge that various women's issues currently handled by MOGEF be divided among different government ministries and suggested establishing a presidential-level 'Gender Equality Committee.' Ha also advocated for abolishing MOGEF and proposed creating a presidential-level 'Gender Conflict Resolution Committee.'
Lee also added in an interview with SBS the previous day, "I believe that entities like MOGEF are the worst way to solve women's issues," stating, "MOGEF has almost become a nominal ministry with a weak department, reduced to just running campaigns, and with such an approach, even if there are discrimination or inequality issues against women, they will not be properly resolved."
As the abolition debate arose within the party, female lawmakers pushed back. Yoon, who is also running in the presidential primary, appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the same day and said, "It is true that MOGEF has 'lost public favor,' but since it handles tasks that are difficult for other ministries to solve, the most important consideration should be how to address the functional gap that would arise," emphasizing the need for a plan. Supreme Council member Jo Soo-jin also criticized on Facebook the previous day, saying, "It is as if they are saying that ministries or systems to promote 'gender equality' are no longer necessary," and pointed out, "This is another form of 'divisive politics.'"
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