Gender inequality has always been one of South Korea's most sensitive and difficult problems. Recently, a new type of political correctness has emerged in South Korea. Among the 20-year-old Korean young people, the gender war continues to escalate.

Gender inequality has always been one of the most sensitive and difficult problems in South Korea. Recently, a new type of political correctness has emerged in South Korea. The practitioner of this political correctness is an angry young Korean man, targeting the group Korean feminists. Korean men believe that they are the "victims of gender discrimination and feminism", and regards feminists as cancer . Among the 20-year-old Korean young people, the gender war continues to escalate.

Bae In-kyu, 31 years old, is head of Man on Solidarity, one of the most active anti-feminist groups in South Korea.

Korean male "uprising" against feminists

In South Korea, there is such a group of young men who will appear whenever Korean feminists gather to oppose gender discrimination and sexual violence. Most of them were dressed in black, chanting among the feminists: "Get out of men who hate men! Feminism is a mental illness!" In their mouths, this group of "psychopaths" are "ugly feminist pigs." The men also made a "dong!dong!" sound to imitate the sound of feminists walking.

These male movement elements target anything linked to feminism. According to the New York Times , they accused a woman who was about to give a speech in college for malicious dissemination of masculinity, and the university finally had to cancel the woman's speech. They also often target female celebrities, such as they criticized the athlete who won the gold medal in archery at the Tokyo Olympics, just because she had super short hair.

The gold medalist of archery at the Tokyo Olympics, Andyama (right).

In August 2021, because the GS25 corporate advertisement contains a pinched finger pattern, they believe that this is blatantly mocking the size of Korean male genitals. They threaten to boycott the multi-billion dollar business. Even though the female designer of the advertisement denied that her design "had a concealed expression of discrimination against men", GS25 punished her and publicly apologized. The men also pointed the finger at the government, accusing the government of pushing the feminist agenda and believed that the government should reform the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the central administrative agency of South Korea, as soon as possible.

This is the emerging new political correctness in South Korea. These angry young men hold a common view: feminists are their number one enemy. Because of feminists, their opportunities are destroyed. Pinch finger pattern in

GS25 corporate advertising.

Bae In-kyu is head of Man on Solidarity, one of the most active anti-feminist groups in South Korea. The group has over 450,000 subscribers on YouTube. The group's purpose is "feminists equal to hating men", and the motto of is "until the day when all feminists are eliminated!" Pei In-kui said in an interview with the New York Times: "We don't hate women, and we don't oppose improving their rights." But he immediately added: "But feminism is a social crime."

Korean rapper San E (Zheng Shan) produced the song "Feminist" to satirize Korean feminism. In the lyrics, he wrote: "What else do you want? We have given you enough space in the subway, bus, parking lot. Oh, girls don't need a prince! Then pay half the house when we get married."

Korean rapper San E.

Why did anti-feminists emerge in South Korea?

Older Korean men admit that they benefit from the patriarchal culture that marginalizes Korean women. In an era when supplies and money were scarce, sons were often sent to higher education, while daughters were victims. Even in some families, women are not allowed to eat with men at the same table. The newborn girl is named Mal-ja, which means "Stop quickly." Once it is discovered that it is a girl, it is common to get rid of it.

However, as Korea becomes increasingly wealthy, more and more families are beginning to pamper their daughters. Although gender is still very unequal, there are more women going to college than men, and they have a lot more opportunities in the workplace than in the past. Young men in South Korea have begun to see women as competitors in the cruel job market. Many Korean men believe that they are at a disadvantage. They delayed their job search because they had to serve in the military, resulting in losing competitiveness in the job market. Korean men are becoming increasingly dissatisfied. According to a May 2021 poll, nearly 79% of Korean men in their 20s said they are the victims of sexism .

On the other hand, Korean women have launched an attack on the tradition of gender inequality since ancient times. South Korea's #MeToo movement is considered the most successful in Asia. At the same time, it also pushes anti-feminist and anti-feminist movements to a new height. South Korea ranks first according to the gender conflict survey conducted by Ipsos (Ipsos) in 2021. In the online community where men dominates, misogyny culture prevails. They portray feminists as radical aversions and spread fears about feminists. In their eyes, women who advocate abortion rights are "family disruptors", and feminists are not advocates of gender equality, but "female supremacists".

South Korean politics turn to support anti-feminist

With the March 2022 South Korean presidential election approaching, the gender war has penetrated into South Korea's presidential campaign. With the emergence of fierce anti-feminist voices, no major candidate has spoken out for women’s rights. However, in South Korea five years ago, when feminism was "righteous" and President Moon Jae-in called himself a "feminist" during his campaign.

Although Moon Jae-in recruited a leader of a well-known feminist group as a senior campaign adviser to his party in December last year, Democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung (Lee Jae-myung) tried to win over young men, "Just just as women should not be discriminated against because of their gender, men should not be discriminated against because they are men" .

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-ming.

South Korea's largest opposition party candidate for the national power Yun Seok-yeol (Yun Seok-yeol) takes the anti-feminist movement. He accused the female family of "potential sex offenders" and promised that once elected, if a "false and false case" of the allegations against men would be rehabilitated.

National Power Party leader and patriarch Lee Jun-seok (Lee Jun-seok) believes that South Korea's gender inequality has been exaggerated and that women have received too many special treatments they do not need. He supported the abolition of the "female quota system" under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, believing that women do not need to be assigned a certain proportion of positions. He also supported the abolition of the Female Family Department, bluntly stating that feminists are "a baseless victim mentality." His remarks have made him one of the most popular politicians in the young male generation of South Korea. Current affairs critic Jin Joong-Gwon pointed out that the ideas spread by Lee Junxiu represent the radical ideas of the right, which has led to the 20-year-old men becoming more misogynistic and conflicts between men and women are about to break out.

Jinsook Kim, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania , said politicians are using the frustration and resentment of young men to win their votes. Because “they consider themselves victims of feminism.”

National Power Party leader and male power fighter Lee Junxi.

pictures and sources: New York Times, France 24, some pictures of are from the Internet

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