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| Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea poses with participants in the conference of the Korean National Council of Women in Seoul, under the banner "Gender Equality is the Answer for the Future of Everyone," last week. He promised to fill 30 percent of his Cabinet with women if he becomes president. / Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
Presidential frontrunner Moon Jae-in and his closest rival Ahn Cheol-soo have pledged to appoint more female ministers in the next government.
Whoever wins the race, 30 percent of the Cabinet members in the next administration are expected to be women ― for the first time in Korea's history.
Moon of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) visited the Korean National Council of Women in Seoul last week to attend the conference, "Gender Equality is the Answer for the Future of Everyone."
Speaking to the representatives of 200 women's organizations, he vowed to fill 30 percent of his Cabinet with women if he becomes the president.
"And then I will try to increase the rate to 50 percent by the end of my term," Moon said. "I will also consider revising laws to guarantee that 30 percent of the National Assembly seats are allocated to women."
Moon, who promised to become a "feminist president," also plans to require companies to reveal the salary information of their employees by law. This way, he thinks, the wage gap between men and women can be narrowed.
Ahn of the People's Party visited the Seoul YMCA building, Monday, to meet the leaders of the women's organizations. There, he also promised that 30 percent of his Cabinet will be filled with women if he gets elected.
Ahn said he wants to create a presidential body dedicated to women's rights, and reshuffle the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family so that it can focus more on women's issues.
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"Women's rights can be improved greatly if the leader is willing to make changes," he said. "I think some parts of the Constitution should be revised too."
The Justice Party's Sim Sang-jung, the only female contender in the race, has long been an advocate for women's rights.
To make Korea a country truly for everyone, she said, it is important to secure 50 percent of the Cabinet and Assembly seats for women.
As a lawmaker, she has already proposed a bill to extend the period of parental leave to 16 months from 12 months and to require each parent to take at least three months off.
"Low birthrate policies that do not consider why women do not have babies have all proved to be failures and will fail again," she said.
Yoo Seong-min of the conservative Bareun Party has promised to increase the proportion of women in his Cabinet too.
By doing so, Yoo distanced himself from another conservative candidate of the Liberty Korea Party, Hong Joon-pyo, who has been embroiled in a sex crime scandal.
In his 2005 memoir, Hong said that he provided a stimulant to his friend during their college years, knowing that his friend would use it to drug a female college student he wanted to have sex with.
Hong, who has not announced any pledges for women's rights, has been facing pressure to drop his candidacy since the revelation of his alleged crime last week.
The proportion of female members in the Cabinet was highest when the late President Roh Moo-hyun formed his Cabinet in 2003 with four female ministers.
Ironically, experts say, social and political conditions for women worsened under Park Geun-hye, Korea's first female president.
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