-Organized by alliance of women groups
Sponsored by 4 feminist media including The Women’s News

The women groups in Korea are going to invite presidential candidates to a TV debate series to talk about their women-related policies for 4 days starting from November 21.
The ‘Preparatory Committee for the Debate on Women Policies of the 16th Presidential Election Candidates,’ made up of over 80 women groups including Women’s Hotline, Womenlink Korea and 21st Century Forum, announced its plans on November 13. The 4 main presidential candidates will be invited to attend separate discussions, which will be held in the international meeting room on the 2nd floor of the Broadcasting Center.

The debate, entitled ‘Women’s Vision, New Leadership,’ will open from November 21, inviting New Millennium Democratic Party’s Roh Mu Hyun on the 21st, Democratic Labor Party’s Kwon Young Gil on the 22nd, National Unity 21’s Chung Mong Jun on the 25th and Grand National Party’s Lee Hwe Chang on the 26th. The debates will be telecast live for one-and-a-half hours from 11 am by Korea Broadcasting Service.

Each candidate will be seated close to the audience and the audience seated in an oval formation to create a natural ambience to the discussion. Moderating the debate will be Sociology Professor Lee Young Ja from the Catholic University of Korea, and a panel of 15 will be throwing questions at the candidate. The panel consists of 5 experts each from a variety of fields. The questions will be categorized into 5 main areas, namely education, labor, health and environment, reunification and politics, and human rights and welfare.

The preparatory committee plans to obtain the candidate’s answers to women-related issues in advance to make tables and graphs that will be shown during the debate. Common questions that will be put to all 4 candidates include ▲timing for the abolishment of the hoju system and alternatives ▲proportion of increased budget for childcare ▲employment problems ▲expansion of women’s participation in politics ▲measures to prevent prostitution.

The organizers explained the purpose of the debates by saying, “Many media are actively examining the presidential candidates, but women’s issues are still far down the agenda list. The debates will serve to relay the women voters’ voice to politicians and to examine the candidates’ gender awareness and women policies.”

Kim Gi Seon-Mi, policy director with KWAU, says that she will focus on “how detailed and realistically possible the candidates’ women policies are.” She asks viewers to “watch closely to see if the candidates have proper attitudes towards women’s issues and if they regard women’s issues as a national agenda.”
The TV debate organized by women is the second of its kind, with the first having taken place in 1997 during the 15th presidential election and organized by 88 women groups together with The Women’s News. The main results of the 1997 debate would be the inauguration of the Gender Equality Ministry - which was a hot issue at that time - and the stipulation of the women’s quota in the Political Party Act. This year’s debate includes more sponsors: feminist media companies including Miz. N and The Women’s News.

<reported by Bae Young-hwan ddarijoa@womennews.co.kr>

An opinion has been raised regarding the public budget to finance women employment policies. The opinion is that such budget decisions need to be assessed from the viewpoint of gender-equal allocation.
Womenlink Korea opened a ‘Women Policies and Budget Assessment Workshop’ on November 12 on the 11th floor of the National Human Rights Committee and announced that “in the process of implementing policies and budgets related to women employment, assessing whether gender equality was a part of the deliberations is an important criteria in policy evaluation.” Since April, Womenlink has set up a ‘research team on the evaluation of women labor policies and budgets’ to compare the Equal Employment Bureau’s policies and budgets from 2000 to 2002 against the purpose of the Gender Equality Employment Act. During the workshop, the research team presented their evaluation results on ▲women’s work skill development and employment promotion ▲equal opportunities and treatment ▲maternity protection ▲childcare support for working mothers.

In assessing budgets, the research team emphasized that the proportion of the Labor Ministry’s budget allocated to women labor policies was still too small. It was also pointed out that although the budget for women labor policies shows an increase year-on-year in terms of statistics, the actual expenditure did not increase. In particular, there was a sharp decrease in this year’s budget allocated for developing work skills and facilitating employment. It was also emphasized that covering the budget for maternity protection using employment insurance defeats the purpose of getting society to take on the burden of maternity protection.

In evaluating each policy, the research team pointed out that the past 3 years’ policies to develop women’s work skills and promote women’s employment did not reach all women. There was also the lack of practical policies to deal with problems faced by working women everyday, such as facing discrimination in promotions, staff dispatch and lay-offs, as well as being given lower salaries or forced into irregular employment. Also mentioned was the lack of policies to support working mothers such as childcare leave and childcare facilities. After the presentations, Womenlink Korea announced 9 recommendations to facilitate women labor policies that can address gender discrimination and realize gender equality.

<reported by Cho Hye-won nancal@womennews.co.kr>

Supreme Court - “Employer made legitimate decision to dismiss wife of married couple before other employees in the process of justified retrenchment”
Womenlink Korea - “Supreme Court’s ruling is an infringement on women’s right to work”

In times of financial crisis, are women really less economically affected than men?
It has been pointed out that despite the presidential candidates’ campaign pledges to ‘expand and stabilize women employment,’ the reality faced by women is still unstable employment. Not unrelated to this situation is the women groups’ strong protest against the recent Supreme Court ruling that “in case of much-needed retrenchment, it is legal for an employer to choose to dismiss before other employees one spouse if both spouses are in his employment.”

Two women dismissed by the Nonghyop Central (Agricultural Cooperative) filed a lawsuit against their former employer, claiming that ‘it was unfair to put them at the top of the retrenchment list just because their husbands also worked for Nonghyop.’ The women had asked the court to order Nonghyop to cancel the dismissal, but had lost the case in a lower court. Then on November 8, Section 8 of the Supreme Court (presided by Judge Yoo Ji Dam) re-confirmed the original ruling.

The management of Nonghyop had told the two women to hand in their resignations in 1999, stating that ‘if the wife, who is less affected by unemployment than her husband, refuses to retire, the husband will have to take turns to go on leave.” Forced in this manner to early retirement, the two women filed a lawsuit against their former employer.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Womenlink Korea issued a statement saying, “Dismissing the wife of a married couple working in the same company is clearly unjust and discriminatory, as proven in the Supreme Court case involving a married couple in Allianz that the plaintiff won in April. The recent ruling thoroughly tramples on women’s desperate efforts for minimum rights to a livelihood.”
Womenlink says that “since the ruling is by the Supreme Court, there are no further legal measures that can be taken.” However, it emphasized, “The Supreme Court is clearly being anachronistic in reversing its own ruling in April that dismissing married couples is unjustifiable.”

<reported byShin Ah-ryeung arshin@womennews.co.kr>

◀ The wives of the main presidential candidates gather on November 12 to share their opinions on ‘the role of the first lady.’ From the left: Kang Ji Yeon (Mrs. Kwon), Kim Young Myeong (Mrs. Chung), Kwon Yang Sook (Mrs. Roh) <photograph by Min Won-ki>

“Keep a tight reign on the president’s relatives.” (Mrs. Roh) “Harmonize traditional and newly-required roles.” (Mrs. Chung) “Focus on elevating women’s status and meeting childcare needs.” (Mrs. Kwon) The wives of presidential candidates were as confident in their pledges as their husbands.
New Millennium Democratic Party candidate Roh Mu Hyun’s wife Kwon Yang Sook, National Unity 21 candidate Chung Mong Jun’s wife Kim Young Myeong, and Democratic Labor Party candidate Kwon Young Gil’s wife Kang Ji Yeon attended a seminar on ‘the role of the First Lady’ organized by the Association of Korean Women Journalists on November 12. At the request of the moderator, the would-be first ladies revealed a variety of ‘theories on being the first lady.’ Grand National Party candidate Lee Hwe Chang’s wife Han In Ok did not attend.
Kwon (Mrs. Roh) said, “The first lady must form a close network with women leaders to work for the elevation of women’s social status and the achievement of gender equality. Such efforts, however, must be in harmony with current laws, institutions and the people’s sentiments.” As if conscious of the corruption scandals involving the current president’s sons, Kwon also added, “The first lady must strictly supervise and manage the relatives, children and friends of the president.”

The first lady should…
“… play the role of the opposition party in the Blue House.” - Kwon Yang Sook (Mrs. Roh)
“… be the president’s political comrade.” - Kang Ji Yeon (Mrs. Kwon)
“… harmonize discrete aid and active assistance.” - Kim Young Myeong (Mrs. Chung)

Kwon also added, “I have always tried to help my husband without either over-doing or under-doing things. I hope to play the role of the opposition party within the Blue House if my husband is elected.” Kwon’s choice of roles as the first lady includes ▲guaranteeing the president’s physical and mental well-being ▲keeping the president aware of opposing opinions ▲developing women’s potential and raising women’s status.

Kang Ji Yeon, wife of candidate Kwon Young Gil, said, “The duties of the first lady are as important as the husband’s management of national affairs. She should not remain simply an aide but become an active supporter.” Mentioning former first lady of France Danielle Miterrand as an example, Kang emphasized that “the first lady is the president’s political comrade and partner.” Francois and Danielle Miterrand were comrades in the Resistance during World War II.

Kang also said that the first lady should “actively initiate efforts to address gender discrimination and childcare needs.” She promised to “stand by the socially marginalized while working to elevate the status of women.” Kang also added that “the Korean public would find it hard to accept Hillary Clinton’s style as first lady.”

Unlike the other two would-be first ladies who read from a prepared script, candidate Chung’s wife Kim Young Myeong gave a short impromptu speech. Kim agreed with the seminar’s conclusion that “first ladies have a certain role to play,” and said that “the first lady is a position requiring difficult decisions and considerations.”

Kim added, “People seem to view the role of the first lady differently these days. I think it is important to harmonize the traditional role of discrete aid and the new role of active supporter.”

The 3 ladies did not leave their seats throughout the 3-hour seminar, listening attentively to the presentations. After the event, they exchanged words with the participants one by one.

Professor Ham Seong Deuk from the Public Administrations Department of Korea University said at the seminar, “the first lady must listen to the voice of the people, and actively advise the president as befits the first chief-of-staff and political partner of the highest policy decision maker.”

Professor Ham also said that “there must be a policy support system in place for the first lady to fulfill her role.” She recommended ▲the appointment of the tentatively-named ‘special aide to the first lady’ and ▲the announcement by each would-be first lady of her ‘pet project’ outlining what she would do when she becomes first lady. Ham also proposed ▲increasing the staff and budget for the First Lady Office in the Blue House and ▲evaluating the past first ladies’ activities and achievements from a long-term perspective.


<reported by Bae Young-hwan ddarijoa@womennews.co.kr>

(The Women's News http://www.womennews.co.kr)  

Articles condensed by Lee- In-hwa, translated by Cho Eung-joo.

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