Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
FSS urged to take lead in accelerating gender equality
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By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
Korea has the lowest percentage of women on boards in the corporate sector according to a recent survey of 50 countries conducted by Credit Suisse.
Both the Korean government and private sector feel a profound sense of urgency to improve the situation because employing more talented women is one of the few options to tackle structural challenges, such as the declining workforce.
However, any meaningful change seems just a distant hope.
The survey shows Korea's percentage of female board members stood at 3.1 percent this year. This compares with the figure of countries at the top of the list such as France with 44.4 percent, Germany with 32.4 percent and the U.K. with 30.3 percent.
The statistics are particularly damning in the world of finance. According to a report from the Korea Institute of Finance, among men working in the finance sector, 21.9 percent were in management positions, compared to only 3.3 percent of women.
These numbers are disappointing, given that developed economies have begun recognizing the need to promote gender diversity at senior management levels.
This is not just based on the notion of gender equality, but promoting diversity of thought.
The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority has hinted this year that it would take a stronger regulatory stance toward gender representation at senior management levels. At the financial firms it oversees, women account for 15 percent of directors and 6.5 percent of CEOs.
In Korea, appointments earlier this year of the first female CEO of a securities firm and female executives at a major financial group made headlines.
Yet studies show it would take more than 100 years for gender representation to become equal, if the process remains voluntary.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) here checks firms' governance structures and internal control systems to regulate risks. FSS governor Yoon Suk-heun is known to have urged banks to enhance gender diversity, but the FSS remains a heavily male dominant institution.
Its most recent organizational board as of Nov. 1 shows that of the 93 executive and managerial positions, two are occupied by women.
This is in stark contrast to the fact that local financial groups have appointed more female managers to high-ranking executive positions to ensure gender equality and organizational diversity as well.
"Telling financial firms to increase their percentage of female executives will only make sense if the FSS does the same," a senior official in the finance sector said.