Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
How many women will Korea’s new government see in Cabinet?
President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul’s Yongsan District, June 10. Courtesy of Presidential Office
By Lee Hae-rin
Lee Jae-myung’s pledge to place women in 30 percent of ministerial positions put to test
President Lee Jae-myung’s pledge to increase the number of women in ministerial positions to at least 30 percent is being put to the test with the imminent unveiling of the first Cabinet, following years of regression in women’s rights under the ousted Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
During a campaign event on May 28, Lee told reporters, “My goal is to exceed 30 percent women.” Earlier in 2022, he had acknowledged the existence of a social hierarchy between men and women in Korea, promising to strive for gender equality in his Cabinet.
While the Cabinet composition remains undisclosed, several women candidates have been mentioned as potential contenders for key ministries.
One of the most prominent figures among the potential candidates is Jeong Eun-kyeong, the former Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, who played a crucial role in Korea’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeong is joined as a potential Minister of Health and Welfare candidate by welfare expert Rep. Nam In-soon and former dentist Rep. Jeon Hyun-heui of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
Jeong Eun-kyeong, former Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency director who joined the liberal Democratic Party of Korea’s presidential campaign last month, speaks during Lee Jae-myung’s campaign event in Incheon, May 12. Yonhap
DPK lawmaker Lee Un-ju, who served as the chairman of the Economic Growth Committee during the presidential race, is a key candidate for the position of Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Rep. Han Jeong-ae, who served as the first chairperson of the National Assembly Climate Special Committee and Rep. Lee So-young, a former environmental activist, both from DPK, could potentially head the environment ministry.
As for the Minister of Justice — who will lead prosecution reform — former prosecutor and Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Park Eun-jung and former senior prosecutor Im Eun-jung are mentioned as nominees, as is former justice minister Kang Geum-sil, who chaired Lee’s election committee.
The North Jeolla Province branch of the teachers union recommended DPK lawmaker Bak Seung-ah for the position of education minister, while several former and current lawmakers who have campaigned for women’s rights were put forward as nominees for gender minister, including Reps. Nam In-soon, Lee Soo-jin and Kim Nam-hee of the DPK, as well as women’s studies scholar Kwon In-sook.
It was only during the Moon Jae-in administration that Korea saw the proportion of female ministers exceed 30 percent. The initial cabinet was 27.7 percent female in 2017 and reached an all-time high of 33 percent in 2020, with six out of 18 ministers being women.
However, under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which repeatedly claimed that “no structural gender discrimination exists in Korea” and pushed to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the proportion of female ministers in the Cabinet sharply declined, with only three women, accounting for 18 percent of the positions.
A member of a women's rights group holds a sign that reads, "No more retreat in gender equality," during a press conference supporting the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the Constitutional Court in Seoul, Feb. 18. Newsis
Despite its economic and educational progress, Korea has fallen far behind in terms of closing the gender gap in politics.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, Korea ranked 72nd out of 146 countries in terms of political empowerment, and 103rd in the proportion of women in parliament.
With only 20.3 percent of lawmakers in the incumbent 22nd National Assembly being women, Korea is ranked 35th out of the 38 OECD nations in women’s political representation.
Meanwhile, the latest release from UN Women earlier this month revealed that women’s political leadership is regressing globally. Women hold just 22.9 percent of cabinet positions across the globe, and the number of cabinets with at least 50 percent women has dropped from 15 last year to just nine.
“The world is witnessing the erosion of women’s political leadership at the very moment we need inclusive decision-making the most,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women. “When women are excluded from the highest levels of leadership, we all lose; as societies forfeit the more equitable, responsive governance that gender-balanced leadership makes possible.”
Experts emphasize that Lee’s government, which has proposed the concept of a “government of popular sovereignty,” must adequately represent women, who constitute half of Korea’s population.
On April 30, a coalition of 17 women’s rights organizations presented 25 gender policy tasks, saying the establishment of a gender-equal cabinet should be the new administration’s top priority.
According to Kim Eun-ju, director of the Center for Korean Women and Politics, a gender-equal cabinet is a “fundamental prerequisite.”
“It’s not enough to simply surpass 30 percent. At least half of the cabinet should be composed of women. The system must be structured so that women’s voices are genuinely reflected in the policy-making process,” she said.