The debate over abolishing the Gender Ministry has been reignited in this year’s presidential campaign in the pledges of top candidates.

Last week, Lee Jun-seok, candidate for the minor conservative New Reform Party, revived his earlier pledge from the 2022 presidential election campaign to shutter the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family for good. He included the goal as part of his top policy pledges, saying the ministry’s responsibilities would be redistributed between the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Front-runner and Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung has yet to directly announce any pledges addressing the fate of the Gender Ministry. But a member of the Democratic Party’s election campaign committee recently told the press on the condition of anonymity that the party is “planning to bolster the role and functions” of the ministry. In 2022, Lee Jae-myung expressed disagreement with voices calling for the ministry’s abolishment.

People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo has treaded cautiously on the matter, telling reporters, “Women’s rights should be elevated, but this doesn’t translate into the abolishment of the Gender Ministry nor an unconditional expansion,” during his campaign stop last week in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province.

Experts said that Lee Jun-seok has revived the push for the abolishment of the Gender Ministry to lure "anti-feminist" male voters in their 20s and 30s. Lee has been labeled "anti-feminist" by several feminist activist groups here, citing past remarks including his 2021 Facebook post that said the Democratic Party had lost the mayoral by-elections that year because of its “fixation on a pro-women agenda."

"Candidate Lee Jun-seok has revived the issue of Gender Ministry abolishment again and this is an attempt to lure in the group of male supporters in their 20s with anti-feminist views," Kim Min-ha, a political commentator said via phone.

Kim said that the conservative bloc previously made efforts to lure male voters in their 20s and 30s in the 2022 presidential election by weaponizing gender conflict.

"Lee Jun-seok was at the forefront of the effort, but this time, it won't have the same dramatic effect as it did last time," he added.

Abolishing the Gender Ministry was one of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's key pledges in 2022. He took apparent steps to shutter the ministry, including leaving the position of the gender equality minister unfilled since February 2024. Momentum, however, was stymied due to the political turmoil triggered by Yoon’s Dec. 3, 2024 martial law bid and his subsequent impeachment and removal from office.

Critics have been divided over abolishing the ministry, which was established in 1988 under the Prime Minister’s Office. It was scaled up in 2010 to address broader gender equality and family issues.

Some say the ministry has failed to play a key role in mediating and resolving the country’s exacerbating gender conflict, as well as empowering women in the country of 51.7 million.

In 2023, South Korea's female employment rate was 61.4 percent, and the labor participation rate was 63.1 percent, placing the country 31st among the 38 advanced economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. These figures remain lower than the OECD average, highlighting a significant gap in women's labor market participation compared to its peers.

The ministry has also been accused of failing to come up with measures to protect and support male victims of sexual abuse.

Others say that shuttering the Gender Ministry would create significant setbacks in nationwide efforts to counter digital sex crimes, as it has been expanding its response and support program for victims.

Earlier this year, the ministry launched the National Center for Digital Sexual Crime Response, which provides round-the-clock services to help victims of digital sex crimes. Its responsibilities include deleting and blocking the distribution of illegally filmed videos online.

In 2022, the National Human Rights Commission called the amendment to the Government Organization Act, which pushed for the Gender Ministry's abolishment, an "overall regression to the country's gender equality policies." The amendment was drafted and pushed by the People Power Party in line with the Yoon administration's policy goals in 2022, but was later scrapped after failing to pass through the National Assembly due to disagreement with the majority Democratic Party.