South Korean women throw down the gauntlet to ‘anti-feminist’ president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol

The People Power Party candidate was elected after playing to the fears of young men who felt threatened by women’s rights, but he won only by the thinnest of margins

While the election result was a disappointment for many women, activists say the close race shows that momentum is on their side

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A rally in central Seoul organised by the women’s rights activist group Hae-il. Photo: Handout

David D. Lee

Published: 7:00am, 16 Mar 2022Updated: 12:43am, 20 May 2023

It’s been just days since Yoon Suk-yeol won the South Korean presidential election, but already the backlash has begun.

Yoon, of the conservative People Power Party, beat his rival Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, in last week’s poll by a whisker, taking 48.56 per cent of the vote to Lee’s 47.85 per cent.

While many supporters gathered at Yoon’s home to shower him with praise, others had a very different reaction. The terms “immigration to Canada”, “candlelight protest” and “No. 2 man” – a derogatory term for Yoon’s male supporters – have been trending on South Korean Twitter ever since.

Among young women in particular there is a feeling that Yoon’s victory is something to be feared and resisted.

“I feel ashamed that I live alongside men who would vote for someone who wants to exclude women in the country even more,” said Soo-yeon, 18, a student in Seoul who voted for the first time and criticised Yoon’s plans to get rid of the national wage and privatise health care.

Now these issues are exposed for everyone to see

Kim Nan-ju, Korean Women’s Development Institute

It’s not only Soo-yeon who refuses to accept Yoon as her president. Women’s rights activists have labelled the 61-year-old former prosecutor general a misogynist for his rejection of evidence of systemic discrimination against women and his suggestion that feminism is to blame for the country’s low birth rate. The final straw for many women has been his pledge to abolish the gender equality ministry once and for all.

South Korean women throw down the gauntlet to ‘anti-feminist’ president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol

The People Power Party candidate was elected after playing to the fears of young men who felt threatened by women’s rights, but he won only by the thinnest of margins While the election result was a disappointment for many women, activists say the close race shows that momentum is on their side

The People Power Party candidate was elected after playing to the fears of young men who felt threatened by women’s rights, but he won only by the thinnest of margins

While the election result was a disappointment for many women, activists say the close race shows that momentum is on their side