South Korea’s very own Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was established as soon as the late President Kim Dae-jung was sworn into the Blue House in February 1998. The Ministry, whose Korean name literally translates as the ‘Ministry of Women and Family,’ still has many questioning its role. Among other policies, it is more (in)famously known for introducing the menstruation leave. This week, it was announced the Ministry would receive 14 billion won [approx $13m] more than the government’s initial budget of 537.9 billion won [approx. $506m].
From Yonhap News:
Budget of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family reaches 537.9 billion won… 14 billion won more than the government proposal
After the National Assembly’s review, the budget of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family for the new year has gone up 14 billion won from the one that the government initially planned.
The Ministry announced that the amount of expenses under the discretion has increased 88.6 billion won (19.7 percent) to 537.9 billion (budget: 302.6 billion, fund: 235.3 billion) from the last year’s expenses (449.3 billion).
14.03 billion won has been added to the amount that the government proposed, 523.9 billion.
The increase has taken place in the following categories: Child Care Support (5.8 billion), Surveillance on harmful media contents for minors (1.8 billion), Multicultural Family Support (1.2 billion), Education Programme for Sexual Violence Prevention and Gender Equality (1 billion for each), Cultural Centre for teenagers (1 billion).
An associate of the Ministry said, ‘Sexual violence on women and children has become a serious issue last year. The budget on the related categories seems to leap over the course of the parliamentary review.’
To take a close look at each category, it is expected to spend 66.6 billion won for Child Care Support, an increase of 23.1 billion won over last year’s 43.5 billion expenditure. The budget increase is due to the expansion of After School Child Care Service for elementary school children: they can now receive 720 hours of care per year rather than 480. The number of households benefiting from this service grew from 30,000 to 46,800.
The budget for supporting female and child victims of sexual violence and its prevention has gone up to 30.6 billion and 15.8 billion won, respectively, which is 5.8 billion and 6.7 billion won more than last year.
The Ministry also disclosed the fact that they are going to spend 48.7 billion won (compared to 33.2 billion in last year) for supporting single parents and 62.9 billion won (over last year’s 57.7 billion) for multicultural families.
Comments from Nate:
jj63****:
I myself am a woman but I still do not think that there is a need for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Please drastically reduce the funding for the Ministry or completely get rid of it. Use its funding to increase the salary of our nation’s soldiers, who are right now shivering and struggling in the cold outdoors.
swma****:
What is there to say when the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family gets 500 billion won and the Ministry of Defense gets 600 billion won for its soldiers… Make a Men’s Ministry as well, this is reverse discrimination. The reality is that it’s harder to be a man and live in South Korea.
sang****:
ke ke ke ke ke Seriously, where is the money going inside the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family? The Ministry of Defense is always running short, and its soldiers are the defenders of our country.. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family reports such and such costs but are they really working hard??? Aid for female crime victims? or is it payment for their personal expenses? perhaps to fix up the interior of their offices? Why is there even such a ministry?
nsu0****:
This is all because of President Kim Dae-jung’s wife, Lee Hee-ho, who made the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
elit****:
All those women who grow up with an inferiority complex about men and go to girl’s schools… In particular, the feminazis at Ewha Women’s University who have grabbed hold of government institutions, we are now in 2013 seeing how they express their inferiority complex without any restraint ke ke ke men in our country are just cows to them ke ke ke we just work in silence ke ke ke ke the reality is that the military draft makes things unequal…if we were living in a developed country we might just join up without a problem, but then again such countries also take good care of their soldiers and their women volunteer to serve alongside men. They are able to live in harmony, but if they had to serve like Korean men I think we would see them demonstrating in the street…the reality is that it is tougher for Korean men than it is for women.
shch****:
Get rid of those fucking bitches
dydw****:
you spend that much? on what???
fkst****:
who the hell made this ministry? fucking bullshit….
jack****:
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family only takes on the responsibilities it wants and pushes all of the difficult work over to the Ministry of Health and Welfare..
njcn****:
The only reason why they don’t get rid of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is because then the National Assembly members would have nowhere to put their slush funds.
cbh1****:
You would think that the Ministry is up to something, do they really need 5.38 billion won? is it more important than defense funding? I don’t understand why they are giving more to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family while defense funding is being cut.
a01*****:
I promise to vote for whichever politician, regardless of party affiliation, makes getting rid of the Ministry of Gender and Equality part of their platform. The way they do nothing and screw up all the time, it’s enough to make you question whether they are even trying to help women.
taej****:
It’s clear that we should improve women’s human rights. But has the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family done anything effective to achieve that goal since it was founded?? Absolutely not. After we stopped Korean women from selling their bodies domestically, they now go abroad to do it in other countries. The ministry is reforming our society so that men are being pitted against women. The Ministry itself [note: the literal translation of the Ministry’s title is not “Ministry of Gender Equality and Family”, rather “Ministry of Women”] is part of the problem, rather than being established for the improvement of human rights for all, it is just for women. How can a Ministry of Women do anything but lobby for laws biased in favor of women?
ono5****:
Hey, oble****, do you work for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family or something? All of your comments are about the Ministry or about women. Take away the struggles of women and all of the other problems are the responsibility of men. Women should stop inventing controversies and take care of their own business
a21c****:
I looked up where that 66.6 billion won in “childcare services” was going and found out it is only being spent in the city of Bucheon. The service asks mothers to pay someone 500 won per hour as a babysitter, the state pays the rest of their salary with tax money ke ke shit, if it’s my tax money then give it to the whole country, why are we just giving it to people in Bucheon ke ke
zira****:
Did you know that Kim Dae-jung made the Ministry of Gender Equality and Families only to grab the female vote? And who was the first Minister?? A famous Roh Moo-hyun supporter.. some silver-tongued maggot.. Kim Dae-jung, damnit Kim Dae-jung!! You fucking bastard!
wpql****:
I can’t do anything but swear, what does the Ministry even do?
hjdo****:
That’s a lot of money thrown into the garbage
jksg****:
I completely agree with the top comment. I think it would be more effective to get rid of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and use its funding to increase the defense budget. That money could allow for improving the benefits for soldiers and increase military salaries. A few women complain that life a woman’s life in South Korea is miserable…but I cannot agree with such comments….they have too much prejudice about men and are obsessed with them. Why is it that men are never supposed to cry and are so small-minded? Men have to be strong, men can never cross a woman. Men have to protect women. You’ve all heard such phrases before, right? You women might be casual about phrases like this but they make men feel vulnerable and stressed. And let’s be honest, who pays the bigger share when you go out on dates? Who is it that has to serve in the military in the only divided country in the world? Is it women, or is it men? You women have two years to enjoy while men are in the army. And who is it that pays for the bigger share of wedding costs? Who is responsible for buying your first house? How much do you contribute for the furniture? Have you heard the phrase, sex costs 30 million won? According to society’s expectations, men are responsible for providing everything I have put on this list…. This is South Korea… it’s harder to live as a man than as a woman….
msh****:
Why did they make the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family? The Ministry Health and Welfare could have taken care of all of this
