KOREA NOW October 2014 Update 1

Month October 2014

Submitted by Kwang Yo Hyun, Sangyoon Lee
Subject Ilbe
Highlights Ilbe, short for Daily Best in Korean, is a user-based South Korean Web
Site. It is one of the many online communities in South Korea that deal
with different types of issues in the country. Anyone can post on the
website with anonymous username. This community is considered
very conservative in political viewpoint, and had received much of
media attention recently for having extremely reckless ideas about
social and political issues. Due to such reputation, the public see them
as right-wing radical group.

Relevance to UNFPA Ilbe community despises women, especially South Korean women.
The users denounce certain types of Korean women by calling them
kimchinyun (who lacks common sense) and bosuel (who abuses
her privilege as woman). The website has been sued multiple times for
sexual harassment of famous female celebrities and destruction of
public properties.

The community shows extreme hatred towards South Korean
Ministry of Gender Equality & Family for producing reverse inequality
of gender in the society. They argue that the ministry forces some
legislations that discriminate men in favor of women. For example, the
ministry tried to carry a bill that states women only seats in buses and
other public transportations. They believe the ministry shows a biased
attitude towards gender equality by creating discrimination against
men in terms of defending safe birth, family and womans rights.

Another key denouncement that the community makes is about low
birth rate in South Korea. Although low birth rate is a global
phenomenon in different parts of the world, this extremely
conservative group blames South Korean women as the sole reason
behind low birth rate in Korea. Quoting the data on birth rate from
UNFPA (which South Korea ranked as one of the lowest with rate of
1.3), they argue Kimchinyuns overwhelming demands regarding
marriage and relationship force men to live under extreme pressure,
create difficulties in marriage life, and eventually result in low birth
rate throughout the society.

Comments and
Recommendations
Equality of men and women in South Korea has been one of the
loudest issue in the society. Due to nations cultural and historical
backgrounds, women had been generalized to be weak, dependent, or
having trivial roles in the society. However, after inflow of Western
ideas of gender equality and advance of online and offline
consciousness on the matter of equality, the society of South Korea has
changed dramatically. While there are still many parts that are
necessary to be fixed in the society, South Korea seems to be managing
with its best capacity on the matter of gender equality.
In fact, the problem is not about gender equality, human rights,
violence against women, or etc.; it is more about extreme reaction that
occurs on a specific issue in the society. It seems like the society is
having hard time accepting neutral, or middle, perspective. South
Korea society tends to divide people into a team and force them to have
loyalties. Consequently two opposing groups are met to solve
problems, it rarely comes to consensus on a matter.
It might be very important for UNFPA to deal with radical ideas
presented in South Korean society.