“Gender equality perspective is needed in the male-dominated military… Women’s conscription system must also be discussed.”

“There are quite a few female soldiers, but the military system is male-centered, so I think it would be good to look at it from a gender equality perspective.” “As the population is decreasing, it seems necessary for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to prepare in advance for the issue of the female conscription system.”

On the 25th, 97 people in their 20s and 30s gathered at Baekyang Nuri at Yonsei University to discuss how to deal with the life problems faced by men through gender equality policies.

As a result of an on-site survey of participants, 83.1% answered yes to the question, “Do men also have a hard time because of their gender?” and 84.4% agreed to the question, “Do you think the scope of gender equality policies should be expanded to include men?”

Discussions in the public forum centered on male-centered military culture, reverse discrimination due to military service, parental leave and use of mental health services that are not easy for men, and job restrictions and division of work due to gender concentration.

One participant shared her experience, saying, “I asked my boyfriend to get psychological counseling, but he refused,” and another participant confessed, “I got injured while serving in the military and my hearing got worse.”

In addition, direct and indirect experiences were shared, such as problems faced by minority genders in occupations that are biased toward one gender, such as male nurses or hairdressers, and not being able to take childcare leave due to income issues.

However, there were mixed opinions as to whether gender equality policy should cover these issues.

For example, when one participant who served as a company commander in the military until recently said, “Even though there were about 20% of the soldiers in the military, the system for women has not been developed,” another participant countered by saying, “Military service should be focused on the treatment of soldiers, not gender.”

A session was also held where participants created and proposed gender equality policies.

Specific alternatives were presented, such as improving the awareness of middle managers to promote male childcare leave, introducing a gender equality point system that provides benefits for completing training, and establishing a support center for rich families.

The areas most in need of gender equality policy were 'strengthening data to identify policy blind spots' (16.7%), 'alleviating barriers to men's use of the care system' (13.5%), 'improving blind spots in support for victims of violence' (13.2%), and 'relationship and role education to reduce gender stereotypes' (12.9%).

Minister of Gender Equality Won Min-kyung said, “There is no need to place men’s experiences through policy and improving women’s structural inequality on opposite sides,” and emphasized, “What is important is not dividing the problems of men and women, but how to solve restrictions due to gender.”