[EDITORIAL] The real problem

There has been much brouhaha in the local media over a question posed to Strategy and Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun during a press conference at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents` Club Monday.

A Seoul correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, noting that March 8 was International Women`s Day, asked Yoon if he thought that Korea`s low percentage of women in the workplace and the high gap in pay between men and women is "because men in South Korea like to go to room salons after work and that is a discouragement for women in the workplace," or if he thought that "companies decide not to hire women because the men like to go out to room salons, hostess bars and places like that after work."

Yoon replied by saying that recently there have been significant changes and progress made with regards to women entering the workforce and increasing economic activity in Korea. As an example, he noted that half the number of prosecutors that have recently graduated from the Judicial Training and Research Institute are women. Yoon also added that Korean women have a very strong control over household finances and concluded that there are a lot of changes taking place with regard to women`s engagement and entry into the workforce.



In the second part of his question, the reporter asked, "Do you have a policy at the ministry regarding people from companies taking your employees to room salons?" Yoon replied, "This is a matter that is strictly dealt upon, so if there are any questionable activities taking place, of course there are reasonable sanctions that that employee will be subjected to."

The report of the correspondent`s question brought about a knee-jerk reaction from many media outlets which took issue with the fact that a foreign reporter had raised the issue of room salons in front of a minister. They even suggested that the reporter had asked an "inappropriate question" that had nothing to do with the ministry. What do room salons have to do with women`s economic participation, they asked.

Perhaps men are unaware, but for the vast majority of working women here navigating around Korea`s after-work socializing activities is a major source of stress and seen as an impediment in their career.

In touting the advances made by a few exceptional women in the public service sector, Yoon neglects the fact that Korea ranked 113th place among 134 countries in gender equality in economic participation and opportunity in the World Economic Forum`s 2009 Global Gender Gap Report. In the wage equality for similar work category, Korea ranked 109th place. These are the facts that Yoon should have been aware of before relating a joke about how "we should actually have male quota in what we do in hiring people" because of "very strong women entering the workforce."

For at least half the population, the foreign correspondent`s question was a legitimate one. It is Yoon`s answer on women`s economic participation that should be subjected to scrutiny.

As for the fact that the reporter used an expletive against a spokesperson after the press conference, enough has been said. He has apologized and the ministry says it will stop sending him press releases.