Feminism in Korea

Feminism in Korea shows the intersection between race and sex as one’s identity as a Korean also affects how they perceive or do not perceive themselves as feminisms.

South Korea’s largest issue is that it doesn’t recognize its social issues as big issues. In terms of the women’s movement, I feel like Korea has recently taken a huge step back. We had a female president of the first time, Park Geun Hye, who was already a controversial figure because her father had previously been president, but had been seen as a dictator. She was recently caught in a national scandal for consulting a cultist on national secret matters and allowing for this cultist to be involved in lots of corruption in the country. There was also a connection between her to the Sewol tragedy as under her presidency, the ferry that sank almost three years ago, had never been brought up from the ocean, causing a lot of the families of missing bodies to rally in protest. For 3 years, Koreans gathered in front of the city hall to protest. After the political scandal blew up, millions of Koreans all gathered weekly, almost daily to protest, and she was ultimately successfully impeached. The new president is, of course, a man, and I am quite sure that if a female decides to run for the presidency in the future, Park Geun Hye’s name will be brought up. I also do believe women are encouraged to be fragile and delicate in Korean society, such as in active, sports-based reality shows like Running Man, the female guests are often complimented for their look only or the men will always take their spot on the team, and there’s also the fact that women are not mandated to undergo military service like Korean men are. So, I would say the feminist movement is not exactly strong in Korea as both men and women don’t seem to find too much problem with it. Being a feminist in Korea is different from being a feminist in other parts of the world; therefore, to be one, you must simultaneously acknowledge both aspects of your identity.