By John Burton
Fareed Zakaria's Global Public Square show on CNN is one of the few American television programs devoted to international issues. So it grabbed my attention when Zakaria, a respected foreign affairs analyst, took the time recently to comment on Korea's anti-feminist movement.
Zakaria noted that "there is a growing men's rights movement among young South Koreans, fanned in forums online and opportunistically courted by the country's right-wing politicians. The aggrieved men feel that policies to advance women in government and the workplace have left them behind," despite Korea having the highest gender wage gap among advanced industrial countries and few female chief executives and corporate board members.
He explained that Korea's traditional patriarchal society is being challenged by the rise of a generation of well-educated women who are entering the workforce and demanding greater representation in government and the private sector. But this is occurring against the backdrop of high youth unemployment, soaring housing prices and growing income inequality.
Zakaria warned that "young men are feeling the twin pangs of entitlement and insecurity that scholars often say lead to reactionary attitudes" and that "an under-noticed part of right-wing authoritarian movements globally is a deep antipathy to women's rights."
Right-wing parties in Europe such as Fidesz in Hungary and Vox in Spain as well as conservative Islamic fundamentalists have all adopted harsh attitudes toward women. This is now also occurring and being exploited within the Korean presidential election with conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol promising to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as he courts young male voters, who are emerging as a critical bloc that could swing the election in his favor.
Some scholars view the anti-feminist movement as one example of a democratic decay that threatens Korea. That conclusion may seem surprising. Korea is widely seen as one of the most democratic countries in Asia on par with Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Its success in establishing robust democratic norms after decades of military rule serves as a shining example for other emerging democracies to emulate.
In the most recent index measuring democracy by Freedom House, Korea had the same ranking as the United States. But as concerns grow about the state of democracy in the U.S. following the presidency of Donald Trump, there are signs that the same may be happening in Korea. This became apparent during the presidency of Park Geun-hye who appeared to reflect the authoritarian tendencies of her father, Park Chung-hee, before she was brought down by the Candlelit Movement.
President Moon Jae-in, who was elected as a reformer, has been subject to criticism that he too has resorted to illiberal measures at times, such as proposing to curb press freedom through tougher libel laws. This has contributed to an increasing polarization in Korean politics.
Public faith in democracy could be weakened further by the current presidential race, which has been marked by harsh invective between the two main candidates who are both viewed as generally uninspiring.
Whoever is elected will come to office with several weaknesses. One is that neither Lee Jae-myung, the progressive candidate, or Yoon have legislative experience, the traditional route to power. However, they were selected by voters as the standard bearers of their parties precisely because they were regarded as non-establishment figures, which reflects a growing mood of populism both in Korea and around the world.
The polarized nature of the presidential campaign will make it difficult for either Lee or Yoon to govern effectively once they are in office. The election campaign has largely focused on appealing to tribal political loyalties based on ideology, class, generation and gender rather than policy debates on such issues as the economy or national security
Moreover, Lee or Yoon will come to power as "damaged goods." Media reporting of the presidential campaign has been dominated by corruption allegations and family problems. This undermines public confidence in either man even before they take office.
Since both candidates are widely reviled by the public, the temptation for either Lee or Yoon will be to govern according to populist impulses rather than democratic institutional values. They will have strong executive powers at their command, including the prosecutor's office and the intelligence agency, which could be used to target opponents.
The continuing dominance of the two main political parties and the growing polarization between them also threatens to discourage the future participation of centrist voters while creating a stalemate in the National Assembly. In periods of weak political consensus, there is a tendency among Koreans to respond to populist appeals ― from the "Mad Cow" protests of 2008 to the Candlelit Movement in 2016.
These are not the ingredients for a flourishing democracy. I know because I'm seeing the same factors undermine American democracy.
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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Zakaria noted that "there is a growing men's rights movement among young South Koreans, fanned in forums online and opportunistically courted by the country's right-wing politicians. The aggrieved men feel that policies to advance women in government and the workplace have left them behind," despite Korea having the highest gender wage gap among advanced industrial countries and few female chief executives and corporate board members.
He explained that Korea's traditional patriarchal society is being challenged by the rise of a generation of well-educated women who are entering the workforce and demanding greater representation in government and the private sector. But this is occurring against the backdrop of high youth unemployment, soaring housing prices and growing income inequality.
Zakaria warned that "young men are feeling the twin pangs of entitlement and insecurity that scholars often say lead to reactionary attitudes" and that "an under-noticed part of right-wing authoritarian movements globally is a deep antipathy to women's rights."
Right-wing parties in Europe such as Fidesz in Hungary and Vox in Spain as well as conservative Islamic fundamentalists have all adopted harsh attitudes toward women. This is now also occurring and being exploited within the Korean presidential election with conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol promising to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as he courts young male voters, who are emerging as a critical bloc that could swing the election in his favor.
Some scholars view the anti-feminist movement as one example of a democratic decay that threatens Korea. That conclusion may seem surprising. Korea is widely seen as one of the most democratic countries in Asia on par with Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Its success in establishing robust democratic norms after decades of military rule serves as a shining example for other emerging democracies to emulate.
In the most recent index measuring democracy by Freedom House, Korea had the same ranking as the United States. But as concerns grow about the state of democracy in the U.S. following the presidency of Donald Trump, there are signs that the same may be happening in Korea. This became apparent during the presidency of Park Geun-hye who appeared to reflect the authoritarian tendencies of her father, Park Chung-hee, before she was brought down by the Candlelit Movement.
President Moon Jae-in, who was elected as a reformer, has been subject to criticism that he too has resorted to illiberal measures at times, such as proposing to curb press freedom through tougher libel laws. This has contributed to an increasing polarization in Korean politics.
Public faith in democracy could be weakened further by the current presidential race, which has been marked by harsh invective between the two main candidates who are both viewed as generally uninspiring.
Whoever is elected will come to office with several weaknesses. One is that neither Lee Jae-myung, the progressive candidate, or Yoon have legislative experience, the traditional route to power. However, they were selected by voters as the standard bearers of their parties precisely because they were regarded as non-establishment figures, which reflects a growing mood of populism both in Korea and around the world.
The polarized nature of the presidential campaign will make it difficult for either Lee or Yoon to govern effectively once they are in office. The election campaign has largely focused on appealing to tribal political loyalties based on ideology, class, generation and gender rather than policy debates on such issues as the economy or national security
Moreover, Lee or Yoon will come to power as "damaged goods." Media reporting of the presidential campaign has been dominated by corruption allegations and family problems. This undermines public confidence in either man even before they take office.
Since both candidates are widely reviled by the public, the temptation for either Lee or Yoon will be to govern according to populist impulses rather than democratic institutional values. They will have strong executive powers at their command, including the prosecutor's office and the intelligence agency, which could be used to target opponents.
The continuing dominance of the two main political parties and the growing polarization between them also threatens to discourage the future participation of centrist voters while creating a stalemate in the National Assembly. In periods of weak political consensus, there is a tendency among Koreans to respond to populist appeals ― from the "Mad Cow" protests of 2008 to the Candlelit Movement in 2016.
These are not the ingredients for a flourishing democracy. I know because I'm seeing the same factors undermine American democracy.
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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