Did Yoon Suk-Yeol's Win Make Gender Equality Worse in South Korea?

Yoon won over his male demographic while alienating himself with the females.

Following Yoon Suk-victory yeol's in the most closely contested presidential election in history, widespread dislike for him among the female population has led many to believe that his triumph has increased the country's gender conflict, particularly among the younger population.

The National Police Agency on Monday ordered the Seoul cyber police to look into a series of comments on an online forum that discussed the possibility of the president-elect being assassinated, according to a press release. The websites under dispute include theqoo.net and Women's Generation, both of which are dominated by women.

In Korea, there are various online groups with members that are predominantly male or female, and these communities are marked by fights over political viewpoints and feminism, among other things.

When Yoon's "anti-feminist" position, which included a commitment to dismantle the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, was brought to their attention, the majority of female-dominated blogs expressed support for Lee. Yoon has said on several occasions that systemic gender discrimination no longer exists in Korean society.

When confronted with a police investigation into an alleged assassination plan, some users of Theqoo.net sought to drag in FM Korea, a predominantly-male website that they blamed for sparking the entire incident. FM Korea was eventually expelled from the site.

A member of Theqoo.net commented, "I questioned (the police) why the media stories are solely about us since the original thread originated in FM Korea, and we just'mirrored' it, and they informed me the website might be explored too, if there is proof," to which almost a hundred users responded positively. It is widespread practice on feminist websites in Korea to "mirror" anti-feminist or otherwise unfriendly remarks, usually with the subject of the criticism changed, which is known as "mirroring."

Although none of the members has provided evidence that their site's message was a meme that originated on FM Korea, the website did publish a note asking male-dominant website members not to submit contentious or critical comments on the website.

The male-dominated societies tend to single us out and insist on ludicrous statements that will not be accepted by the female-dominated communities.... "Those who persist in causing this sort of disturbance and specifically targeting female-dominant societies may find themselves stopped without notice," the document stated.

Women and girls have been suffering in the most heinous ways even before the election, thanks to gender-based conflict. FM Korea, DC Inside, and other male-dominated communities had been accused of being responsible for the suicide of YouTuber Cho Jang-mi, who committed suicide in February.

Previously, Cho had been the subject of cyber bullying as she was suspected of belonging to a feminist online community after she employed gestures and statements that were peculiar to extreme feminist online groups. Despite Cho's denials of any affiliations with the contentious communities or her identification as a feminist in general, the bullying continued.

Feminism has become something of a virtual black mark on the reputations of celebrities. According to a study conducted by the local newspaper Hankuk Ilbo in 2021, 62.7 percent of the male population is opposed to feminism. Contrary to popular belief, 42.8 percent of the female population felt the same way, with just 41.7 percent stating that they have no ill will against the country.

This might imply that rather than the notion of feminism, there is a strong negative reaction to how it is used in Korean culture, notably by politicians, rather than the ideology itself.

There has been a massive outpouring of criticism against the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) during the 2021 by-elections, in which self-proclaimed feminist President Moon Jae-party in's suffered a crushing defeat, from young males concerning the party's approach to feminism. They expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that they were being stigmatized as a result of gender-related issues that the elder generation had created.

What causes twenty-something adolescents who spend their free time playing internet games at home to suddenly become (called) sex offenders? The reason they turn out to vote is because they believe in feminism. This is something we'll have to watch," wrote Twitter user Kyung Mo-son in a post that received 307 likes.

In response to a sense of deprivation, countless petitions to Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly have been filed, with males claiming that they are unfairly penalized by being required to serve for two years in the military as well as women. When asked about drafting women in 2021, the presidential office said that it was a "multifaceted problem that has to be adequately examined."

However, the political left has been losing popularity among young men for some time, and Moon is unpopular among them. This was evident even before he assumed office, as seen by his receiving just 37 percent of the votes of 20-something males in the 2017 election, the lowest level of support he received from any demographic other than the over-60s, who tend to vote conservatively.

As of May 10, the guy who identified himself as "Suk-yeol-hyeong" (hyeong is a term Korean men use to refer to older men with whom they are friends) will be in charge of the country's administration.

With no majority in the National Assembly, it is unclear how much of his controversial "anti-feminist" promises — he also promised to crack down on false rape allegations — will be implemented. However, gender conflict has not abated in the country in the weeks following the country's closest and possibly most divisive presidential election in history, as evidenced by recent polling results.


Krees DG

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