단상斷想

Lee Jae-myung's government nominated lawyer Won Min-kyung as Minister of Gender Equality and Family. Candidate Won has not only a lawyer career, but also has been a key figure in women's movement organizations, including Director of Korea Women's Hotline, Chairperson of the Women's Human Rights Committee of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), Advisory Committee Member of the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center, and Chairperson of the Steering Committee of the Women's Human Rights Center 'Boda'. However, this career goes beyond simple advocacy for women's human rights and is deeply connected to organizations that are socially classified as feminist. The appointment of a person with feminist tendencies as minister is expected to cause complex and multi-layered repercussions throughout society, beyond political appointments. Candidate Won Min-kyung can be said to have sufficient activity details to be classified as a practical feminist in Korean society. It is a worrying part.

The Lee Jae-myung government has received the results of a complex interplay of the historical context and current situation of Korean radical feminism, which began with the women's movement in the 1970s and became 본격화 (full-fledged) after the emergence of Megalia in 2015. Recently, these Korean women's movement groups are said to be sending enthusiastic love calls even to overseas Korean community organizations. Women's groups, having realized the nature of politics revolving around money, have begun to exploit the fact that any justification is good as long as they can get it with taxes.

It is analyzed that the deepening conflict within the women's movement will be inevitable in the future. Radical feminism in Korea has developed strong female-supremacist language and anti-male narratives centered on online communities such as Megalia and Womad, and has deepened the gap with moderate egalitarian women's movements through radical discourses such as the 탈코르셋 (Escape the Corset) movement and female supremacy. In this context, as seen in the case of candidate Kang Sun-woo, even if they are women, they have shown a merciless attack on those who do not show absolute loyalty to feminist ideology and mention that social consensus is needed for policies such as the anti-discrimination law or non-consent rape crime. This is a phenomenon that combines the compressed competition, distrust, and collective conflict culture of Korean society, and the radical camp is showing an exclusive offensive against female politicians, public officials, and even victims who do not agree with their line. If you look at the reaction of the women's community to candidate Won Min-kyung this time, you will know the candidate's feminist tendencies and the results.

Politically, there are concerns that the social spread of gender conflict and political polarization will intensify. Former President Moon Jae-in declared himself a "feminist president" in the 2017 presidential election and made progress during his term in appointing female ministers, initiating gender equality policies, and abolishing the abortion law. As a result, gender conflict has expanded among young men and conservative voters, and it is expected that the Lee Jae-myung government's appointment of the Minister of Gender Equality and Family will show a similar or even stronger trend. In particular, if the radical feminist camp unilaterally and fully supports socially controversial policies such as the anti-discrimination law or non-consensual rape law, which they are strongly promoting, without sufficient social consensus, it is likely to flow in a direction that fulfills the ideological demands of a specific group rather than democratic procedures and social integration. As a result, there is a high risk of causing social division and conflict that is far from the original purpose of gender equality.

The bias in policy operation and the damage to public interest are also raised as very serious concerns. One of the main characteristics of the radical feminism camp is the tendency to maximize their interests through political power and collective empowerment. They have openly expressed organized support to make certain politicians or public office candidates "on our side," or, conversely, have not hesitated to engage in campaigns to defeat and criticize politicians who do not align with their views. If a national administrative department, which should be operated fairly and neutrally for all citizens, is operated only for the benefit of a specific gender group and receives a confident demand to represent only the interests of women, this will not only lead to a serious distortion of national resource allocation but also fundamentally undermine the public interest and neutrality of administration. In particular, in a situation where the Jae-myung Lee government has publicly stated that it will reorganize the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family into a Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to guarantee the rights of families and individuals regardless of gender, if a person deeply rooted in extreme feminist ideology takes the helm, this will create a contradictory situation that directly contradicts the original purpose of the ministry's reorganization, and will result in strengthening another form of gender bias under the guise of gender equality.

The overall decline in social trust and the damage to democratic values are also serious problems that cannot be overlooked. The radical feminist camp has systematically excluded those who do not agree with their line through extreme exclusivity and aggression, and has indiscriminately rejected and distorted even legitimate demands such as victim-centeredness or structural problem solving for structural problems such as sexual violence, sexual discrimination, and glass ceilings with violent words and actions. In this process, the moral persuasiveness of the movement itself has been significantly weakened, and the appearance of some politically entrenched women's groups claiming to be 'representatives' and taking public office or trying to exert political influence has greatly contributed to instilling a negative perception of them as a 'power-oriented group' in the eyes of the public. Appointing a person with these tendencies and background as a minister carries the risk of fundamentally undermining public trust in overall government policies, and is likely to undermine the basic values of democratic diversity and inclusiveness, thereby weakening the integration of society as a whole.

Concerns about the balance of legal procedures and judicial justice are also very serious. Radical women's movements, including the Minbyun Women's Human Rights Committee, have been criticized for excessively advocating victim-centered approaches in cases of sexual offenses, prostitution, and domestic violence, intentionally downplaying the possibility of false accusations, and undermining the balance and fairness of legal procedures. They have shown a tendency to prioritize condemnation and political purges based on ideological factionalism rather than determining the essential truth of the case. As seen in the case of former Mayor Park Won-soon, they have played a role in amplifying social conflict by judging complex issues with a simple good-versus-evil framework. If a person with this background and way of thinking takes on a key ministerial position in the government, the fundamental principles of judicial justice, such as the presumption of innocence, guarantee of due process, and evidence-based judgment, could be seriously threatened in the process of formulating and implementing related policies, which could fundamentally shake the rule of law itself.

Furthermore, these personnel appointments are likely to make generational and class conflicts in Korean society more complex and acute. Currently, young Korean men have been raising concerns and dissatisfaction about reverse discrimination amid economic difficulties and social 불안, and there is a growing tendency to perceive the spread of radical feminism as a factor that infringes on their opportunities and rights. In this situation, the appointment of a minister with radical feminist tendencies will connect existing gender conflicts with conflicts between generations and classes, making the conflict structure of the entire society more complex and difficult to resolve. In particular, in the current situation where faith in fairness and meritocracy is shaken, the appointment of personnel suspected of ideological bias will further weaken public trust in social fairness and undermine the foundation of social integration.

Ultimately, for true gender equality and social integration, a mature approach that avoids ideological extremism and respects diversity and inclusion is desperately needed. Gender equality and the advancement of women's rights are clearly important values that Korean society should pursue, but to achieve this, a democratic and rational process is needed that balances the interests and rights of all members of society, rather than maximizing the interests of a particular group and empowering them to exert political influence.

In order for the Lee Jae-myung government to properly realize the original purpose of reorganizing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and secure public trust, it is most important to carefully select personnel who are not mired in a specific ideology, possess an ideological balance, and can embrace various perspectives and positions. Otherwise, the noble cause and value of gender equality will rather be reduced to a tool for justifying social division and conflict, and the damage and aftereffects will be borne entirely by all citizens, especially future generations, which will have an irreversible negative impact on the development and integration of Korean society.

Originally, yin and yang should be in harmony, but as a result of Korean politics growing from rotten roots, men and women have snarled at each other and confronted each other as if to devour each other. Families have disintegrated and marriage has become adultery. The issue of gender equality is a complex matter involving organic and complex human physiology, and is itself history. Discovering a very good cornucopia called taxes and the thrill of eating it will be as sweet as the fruit of good and evil. Even if I want to proceed with the selection of personnel responsibly in response to social demands and historical tasks, now yin is no longer yin, and yang is no longer yang. The bad habit created by another innocent victim sacrificed to gender equality will make the already useless womb even more estranged.