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Protesters with Shout-out hold up placards as they protest the presidential nominees from South Korea's two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the People Power Party, over misogyny, outside of each party’s headquarters. (Yoon Woon-sik/The Hankyoreh)

“For women, the upcoming presidential election is not a contest between a greater evil and a lesser evil but one between two greater evils.”

Women in their 20s and 30s gathered in front of the headquarters of the People Power Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party to criticize the two major South Korean political parties by calling the 2022 presidential election a “misogynist presidential election.”

Shout-out, a women’s group made up of women in their 20s and 30s, denounced next year’s presidential election in a protest held Sunday in front of the headquarters of the People Power Party and the Democratic Party, both located in Yeouido, Seoul. The group demanded that presidential candidates from both parties cease their populist politics based on anti-feminism, saying, “We cannot put male politicians who exploit misogyny in charge of state affairs.”

The group also added, “Women will no longer stay silent on politicians who mass-produce hate.”

The 50 or so protesters dressed in black first gathered in front of the headquarters of the People Power Party. They criticized PPP presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl’s campaign promises such as the establishment of calumny as a viable charge against those who accuse another of sexual violence and the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as “misogynistic.”

One protester said, “According to a July 2019 study conducted by the Korean Women’s Development Institute, there were 824 cases between 2017 and 2018 in which those accused of sexual violence made counteraccusations of calumny against their accusers, 84% of which did not lead to prosecution,” adding, “This is proof that calumny charges are abused to silence victims of sexual violence.” The protester also said, “Yoon clearly understands this but is stirring up misogyny to drum up support for his candidacy.”

People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok and the party’s presidential nominee Yoon Seok-youl pose for a photo holding up a cake for Yoon’s birthday on Dec. 4 at Seomyeon Young Street in Busan. The cake reads, “95 days left! Let’s do a great job.” (Yonhap News)

The protest continued in front of the Democratic Party’s headquarters, where protesters mainly criticized the ruling party’s presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung for defending in court his nephew who brutally murdered two women in 2006.

A protester said, “Lee defended his nephew who committed a crime of misogyny, minimizing a clear case of premeditated murder as a case of dating violence and arguing that his nephew was mentally ill in order to appeal for a lenient sentence.”

Some protesters also criticized Lee’s frequent engagement with male-dominated online communities such as FM Korea, whose main user base consists of men in their 20s and 30s. One protester commented, “How can a presidential candidate who wants to become the leader of a nation casually pay his respects to an online community rife with misogyny?”

Protesters agreed that they will not vote for the lesser evil just to avoid the greater.

One protester noted, “Presidential candidates should make campaign promises geared towards gender equality that protects the basic rights of all citizens instead of catering to male voters in their 20s,” adding, “South Korean women will no longer cast their vote for misogyny.”

By Ko Byung-chan, staff reporter

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