By Choi Sung-jin
Until the early 1990s, women accounted for little more than 20 percent of government employees. The share of successful female applicants at state tests to hire seventh- and ninth-level employees hovered below 30 percent and the comparable portion plunged to 10 percent as the grade rose to the fifth level.
This is why the government introduced the "female employment target system" in 1996, which made it mandatory for all agencies to fill at least 20 percent of their vacant posts with women.
Twenty years later, the situation has completely reversed.
Now the government is implementing a "gender-equal employment objective system," instructing public offices to hire more men to meet the target rate.
According to the Ministry of the Interior Friday, various local public offices employed 616 additional people under the gender-equal hiring system between 2010 and 2016. Among them, men numbered 458, or 74.4 percent, nearly three times higher than women whose number stood at only 158 (25.6 percent), indicating the system benefited male applicants far more than females.
Behind the reversal was the Constitutional Court's decision in 1999 that ruled the "veterans extra point system" unconstitutional on state exams in employing public workers. The government abolished the system _ which gave extra points to test-takers with military service _ the following year. This sharply pushed up the number of successful women applicants, prompting men to complain about "reverse discrimination" and forced the government to switch to a gender-equal employment system.
Since the implementation of the new system _ which calls for additional hiring of male or female applicants if the acceptance rate of either gender fails to reach 30 percent _ women had benefited more from it than men. Since 2010, however, the share of male beneficiaries has exceeded that of females. In 2014 and 2015, more than 80 percent of the additional successful applicants thanks to the system were men.
Ministry officials described the recent phenomenon as a "whirlwind of women" _ the predominance of female applicants over males in all state tests to select government employees. Out of the 41 successful applicants on this year's exam to recruit diplomats last month, for instance, 29, or 70.7 percent, were women. Three out of the12 successful male applicants benefited from the gender-equal employment system.
According to the Ministry of Personnel Management, the number of female government employees stood at 315,290 as of the end of 2015, accounting for 49.4 percent of the total. Women are expected to outnumber men in officialdom by this year-end, officials said.
The female dominance has led to the "dearth" of male officials in public offices. As the successful female applicants' rate exceeds 60 percent at local government tests to recruit seventh- and ninth-level officials, most offices are reportedly bent on securing officials who meet "three major qualifications" of unmarried, male, and veteran.
Among central government offices, the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) has the highest rate of female employees with 75.2 percent, followed by the Ministry Gender Equality and Family (66.7 percent), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (56.9 percent) and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (56.9 percent).
The Korean National Police University is limiting the rate of women in recruiting new students. KNPA announced Friday that it has set the female recruitment rate at 12 percent for next year, defying the advice from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to increase the rate.
"Because of the characteristics of police jobs and the differences in physical ability, the departments are limited to which we can assign women," the police agency said in a statement. "Abrupt changes in the employment ratio can adversely affect not only organizational operation but our ability to maintain public security."
Despite women's brisk advances to officialdom, the glass ceiling has not even come close to being broken in that it keeps female employees from rising to high posts amid the conservative atmosphere of public offices, officials said. As of the end of last year, women accounted for only 3.7 percent of ranking government employees in the first or second levels.
Some feminist groups are calling for the government to introduce a system that obligates public offices to fill certain portions of higher posts with women.
Until the early 1990s, women accounted for little more than 20 percent of government employees. The share of successful female applicants at state tests to hire seventh- and ninth-level employees hovered below 30 percent and the comparable portion plunged to 10 percent as the grade rose to the fifth level.
This is why the government introduced the "female employment target system" in 1996, which made it mandatory for all agencies to fill at least 20 percent of their vacant posts with women.
Twenty years later, the situation has completely reversed.
Now the government is implementing a "gender-equal employment objective system," instructing public offices to hire more men to meet the target rate.
According to the Ministry of the Interior Friday, various local public offices employed 616 additional people under the gender-equal hiring system between 2010 and 2016. Among them, men numbered 458, or 74.4 percent, nearly three times higher than women whose number stood at only 158 (25.6 percent), indicating the system benefited male applicants far more than females.
Behind the reversal was the Constitutional Court's decision in 1999 that ruled the "veterans extra point system" unconstitutional on state exams in employing public workers. The government abolished the system _ which gave extra points to test-takers with military service _ the following year. This sharply pushed up the number of successful women applicants, prompting men to complain about "reverse discrimination" and forced the government to switch to a gender-equal employment system.
Since the implementation of the new system _ which calls for additional hiring of male or female applicants if the acceptance rate of either gender fails to reach 30 percent _ women had benefited more from it than men. Since 2010, however, the share of male beneficiaries has exceeded that of females. In 2014 and 2015, more than 80 percent of the additional successful applicants thanks to the system were men.
Ministry officials described the recent phenomenon as a "whirlwind of women" _ the predominance of female applicants over males in all state tests to select government employees. Out of the 41 successful applicants on this year's exam to recruit diplomats last month, for instance, 29, or 70.7 percent, were women. Three out of the12 successful male applicants benefited from the gender-equal employment system.
According to the Ministry of Personnel Management, the number of female government employees stood at 315,290 as of the end of 2015, accounting for 49.4 percent of the total. Women are expected to outnumber men in officialdom by this year-end, officials said.
The female dominance has led to the "dearth" of male officials in public offices. As the successful female applicants' rate exceeds 60 percent at local government tests to recruit seventh- and ninth-level officials, most offices are reportedly bent on securing officials who meet "three major qualifications" of unmarried, male, and veteran.
Among central government offices, the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) has the highest rate of female employees with 75.2 percent, followed by the Ministry Gender Equality and Family (66.7 percent), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (56.9 percent) and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (56.9 percent).
The Korean National Police University is limiting the rate of women in recruiting new students. KNPA announced Friday that it has set the female recruitment rate at 12 percent for next year, defying the advice from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to increase the rate.
"Because of the characteristics of police jobs and the differences in physical ability, the departments are limited to which we can assign women," the police agency said in a statement. "Abrupt changes in the employment ratio can adversely affect not only organizational operation but our ability to maintain public security."
Despite women's brisk advances to officialdom, the glass ceiling has not even come close to being broken in that it keeps female employees from rising to high posts amid the conservative atmosphere of public offices, officials said. As of the end of last year, women accounted for only 3.7 percent of ranking government employees in the first or second levels.
Some feminist groups are calling for the government to introduce a system that obligates public offices to fill certain portions of higher posts with women.
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