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.
Korea marks Int’l Women’s Day with gender equality rally
Members of women’s rights groups carry flags as they arrive at a rally calling for greater gender equality in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Saturday, to mark International Women’s Day. Newsis
By Lee Hae-rin
Participants invoke ‘Revolution of Light’ amid Korea’s persistent gender divide
Korea marked this year’s International Women’s Day with rallies, awards and renewed political pledges over the weekend, underscoring both the gains women have made and the persistent gender gaps in the country.
Korean Women’s Association United hosted the 41st Korean Women’s Rally in central Seoul on Saturday, turning the Gwanghwamun area into a purple-hued sea of celebration and protest ahead of International Women's Day on Sunday.
This year’s Women’s Movement of the Year award symbolically went to all women who advocated for gender-equal democracy during the rallies calling for the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, with organizers rolling out a red carpet for participants to pose with bouquets and mock trophies.
Women of all ages attended in the event’s dress code of purple, long been used globally as a suffragette color symbolizing justice and dignity. It also became the trademark hue of Korea’s feminist movement in recent years, from annual women’s marches to #MeToo protests.
Participants hold banners reading "Complete the revolution of light" during a gender equality rally in central Seoul, Saturday, the day before International Women’s Day. Yonhap
Participants chanted, “Complete the revolution of light!” and “Gender equality is the completion of democracy!” The first referred to the main slogan of the impeachment rallies, which also featured calls for antidiscrimination and equal rights, while the latter reflected the backlash against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which had moved to abolish the gender ministry and scale back gender equality policies.
More than 50 booths were set up by civic groups, including Korea Women’s Hot-Line, Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center and Rainbow Action Against Sexual-Minority Discrimination, offering counseling, petitions and campaign materials.
Reading out the March 8 Women’s Declaration, participants urged the National Assembly to enact a comprehensive antidiscrimination law, guarantee dignity and rights for gender violence survivors, secure real equality in labor and reproductive rights, and push for constitutional revision and greater political representation for women.
Choi Mal-ja, last year’s Women’s Movement of the Year award recipient, took the podium as a speaker. Choi was convicted of inflicting serious injury in 1964 after biting the tongue of a man who tried to rape her, only to be found not guilty in a retrial last September when prosecutors finally acknowledged her act as a self-defense.
“Thanks to the activists who fight tirelessly for women victims, the world is changing,” Choi said. “I believe that today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.”
Choi Mal-ja delivers a congratulatory address at the 41st Korean Women’s Rally in Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap
Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyoung linked the women’s movement to Korea’s democratic future.
“Without the realization of gender equality, it is difficult to expect the completion of democracy,” she said in a congratulatory speech. “The ministry will always move forward together toward substantive gender equality.”
Despite rising employment rates for women, Korea still ranks near the bottom among advanced economies on many gender equality metrics.
According to OECD data, Korea has the widest gender pay gap among member states, with women earning around 70 percent of men’s wages on average. The Economist’s latest glass-ceiling index, which tracks how easy it is for women to advance at work, ranked Korea last among 29 OECD countries for the 12th consecutive year. Other data shows Korean women are overrepresented in low-wage jobs and underrepresented in management.
On Sunday, President Lee Jae Myung, marking the first International Women’s Day since his election, pledged on social media that his administration would restore and expand gender equality policies after years of rollback.
“I will do everything in my power so that Korea can be reborn as a truly gender-equal nation,” he wrote, vowing to build a community “where disparity does not become discrimination and difference is not a reason for exclusion.”