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President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol speaks with Charge d’Affaires ad interim Christopher Del Corso of the US Embassy in Korea at a meeting held at the People Power Party’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on March 11. (pool photo)

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated his pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) in remarks Sunday, where he referred to the ministry as having “completed its historical purpose as a ministry.”

He also made it clear that he has no plans to adopt a quota system for employing women, which he characterized as “divvying up jobs.”

When asked about his plans for abolishing the MOGEF during a press conference that day at the People Power Party headquarters, Yoon replied, “I have made it a rule.”

“At the current time, I do not think it resolves issues of crimes and unfairness that women and men experience in concrete situations for us to adopt an approach of collective distinctions of ‘men’ and ‘women,’ with equal treatment for those groups,” he explained.

Speaking about the MOGEF, Yoon said, “The Kim Dae-jung administration created it because of severe collective gender discrimination in the past, and it has performed its role with a lot of legislation.”

“The right approach now is to respond more surely and individually to concrete issues of an unfair society and criminal matters. [The MOGEF] may have now completed its historical purpose as a ministry,” he added.

He also said, “I feel like we may need to envision an effective government organization for dealing with unfairness, human rights violations, and the protection of rights.”

Yoon also made it clear he does not plan to institute gender quotas when establishing his transition committee and Cabinet.

When asked about adopting a quota system, he said, “To serve the public properly, you need to bring on the most experienced and capable people in each field.”

“I don’t think you can achieve national unity by ‘divvying up’ positions,” he added.

“In particular, I think there’s a big risk that young people and future generations would be disappointed in the administration,” he warned.

Commenting on allocation on a regional basis, he said, “For the sake of national unity, the priority is on properly serving the public by choosing capable people, while providing fair regional development opportunities so that each region can achieve balanced development.”

“I don’t think it would help the development of the country as a whole for national unity to prioritize [gender-based quotas and regionally based allocation],” he continued.

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter; Kim Hae-jeong, staff reporter

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