Justice Party mired in gender war

By Jun Ji-hye

A T-shirt worn by members of “Megalia,” a feminist community. / Korea Times

The minor opposition Justice Party is rapidly losing male members after issuing a statement allegedly siding with a radical feminist community.

The statement was issued on July 20 to criticize game firm Nexon for firing a female voice actor the previous day for posting a photo of her wearing a T-shirt reading “Girls do not need a prince” on her Twitter account.

The T-shirt is sold by an online anti-misogynist community called “Megalia” to raise funds for its lawsuit against Facebook that deleted the community’s page for its satirical hate speech against men.

The statement said the company invaded the voice actor’s right to work, but this resulted in some members quitting the party in protest against a party position. The members claimed that the party de facto supported Megalia which has been criticized for stirring up hatred toward men.

Amid intensified resistance, the progressive party, which holds six seats in the 300-member National Assembly, retracted the statement on July 25 and is making efforts to resolve intra-party conflicts over the issue by planning a meeting between party members next week.

“The discussion on the gender conflict has been ongoing in all opposition camps, not just in the Justice Party,” spokesman Han Chang-min told reporters. “We are planning to hold a debate next week to discuss overall issues concerning gender equality and misogyny in Korea.”

But such an effort seems to have failed to calm the resistance of party members, at least so far, as an increasing number are expressing their willingness on the website to leave the party.

Floor leader Rep. Roh Hoe-chan said during his radio appearance that the ongoing discussion on the gender issues is just a process of moving forward to a better society that realizes gender equality.

“It is improper for a party to side with one certain side,” he said. “The Justice Party will lead a discussion to create effective ways of overcoming sexual discrimination issues.”

The online community Megalia was created in 2015 in response to the website “Ilbe,” launched in 2010 and known for its ultra-right political views, most notably its radical anti-women stance.

Gender conflict here has been escalating since a murder in May when a man in his 30s stabbed a young woman in her 20s to death in a public bathroom near Gangnam Station.

The man reportedly told police that he committed the crime because women “ignored” him.

The case led to a fierce discussion between the genders about misogyny and systematic discrimination against women.