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| German Ambassador to Korea Stephen Auer, fourth from left, with other ambassadors and award recipients of a female mentorship program, at his residence in Seoul on March 7. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo |
Envoys underscore gender parity
By Yi Whan-woo
Gender inequality persists worldwide, making international cooperation more important since the United Nations began to observe International Women's Day every March 8 from 1975 to better address women's rights.
In Seoul last week, ambassadors from Germany, France and the United States demonstrated how they can better cooperate with their host country in line with the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals.
The U.N. seeks to end all forms of discrimination, violence and harmful practices against women and girls everywhere by 2030.
The three ambassadors — Stephen Auer of Germany, Fabien Penone of France and Harry Harris of the U.S. — were among the many who celebrated International Women's Day this year, and their programs varied, too. But the programs all had the same goal of encouraging women's leadership as well as empowering women and girls.
Ambassador Auer hosted an award ceremony at his residence on March 7 to honor outstanding members from a mentorship program run by Women in Korea (WIR), a female leadership group at the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI).
At the National Assembly on March 8, Ambassador Penone joined the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition titled "Infinites Plurielles."
It will run through March 24, featuring portrait images of 26 scientists and academic researchers from France and Korea, all taken by French photographer Marie-Helene Le Ny. The French Embassy in Korea and the National Assembly organized the exhibition.
Also on March 8, Ambassador Harris used rooms during a reception at his residence to introduce the activities of Women in Science Engineering and Technology (WISET) and "Sports.Connected!"
Both WISET and "Sports.Connected!" are non-profit organizations, with the former helping to attract and retain talented women in the scientific workforce and the latter encouraging equal access to sports for girls in schools.
"Women's rights, the right to be treated equally, are fundamental rights that are given by birth. No one should be required to ask for it to be granted," Auer said at the award ceremony.
He noted Germany's remarkable progress in women's rights, such as having female Germany chancellor Angela Merkel and the government's policy of requiring the boards of listed companies to have at least 30 percent women members.
Auer said universal equality was still yet to be achieved in politics and business in Germany as well as other countries.
In the case of Korea, he referred to its gender wage gap. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) website, Korea's gender wage gap is 34.6 percent, well above the OECD average of 13.8 percent and the highest in the OECD.
"There is much we need to change," Auer said, adding that he was happy to see "admirable and successful" women as guests at the reception.
Guests included Minister of Gender Equality and Family Jin Sun-Mee, KGCCI President and CEO Barbara Zollmann, Bayer Korea President and CEO Ingrid Drechsel, CJ CheilJedang Executive Vice President Min Hee-kyung and Kyobo Life Insurance Senior Executive Vice President Huh Kum-joo. The latter four received awards for their excellent mentorship of manager-level members at KGCCI.
Ambassadors to Korea — including Penone, Harris, Thomas Lehmann of Denmark, Michael Reiterer of the European Union, Philip Turner of New Zealand and Frode Solberg of Norway — also attended.
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| French Ambassador to Korea Fabien Penone, left, and Rep. Chung Sye-kyun, right, a ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and head of Korea-France Parliamentary Friendship Group, with other participants during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition on French and Korean female scientists at the National Assembly on March 8. / Embassy of France |
At the National Assembly, Ambassador Penone noted that the female contribution to science was underestimated and that recognizing it would result in a "fair return of exceptional work" from female scientists.
"This is what the French photographer Helene Le Ny intends to do by putting a face and speech to fascinating women, whose contribution is not highlighted enough in the public space," he said.
He noted that promoting women's role in natural science, social science, humanities and other academic areas will be critical, considering French President Emmanuel Macron's emphasis on joint research and development projects during President Moon Jae-in's 2018 visit to Paris.
Gender equality has been "the great cause" of Macron's mandate. The Macron government is especially promoting the idea as a priority for a G7 summit to be held in Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France from Aug. 25 to 27.
"The exhibition we are inaugurating today carries therefore a simple and forward-looking message: our societies will not be able to meet the scientific challenges and opportunities of the 21st century fully if we are not able to value the women who invest in science and research," he said.
Among guests at the opening ceremony were two ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers — Chung Sye-kyun and Jun Hye-sook — and Rep. Sung Il-jong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
Chung and Sung are head and deputy head of the Korea-France Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Jun is chairwoman of the Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee.
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| U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris with female guests during a reception at his residence in Seoul on March 8 to celebrate International Women's Day. / U.S. Embassy |
Citing Ivanka Trump, Ambassador Harris said during the March 8 reception that women were the most underdeveloped resource in the developing world, and there was still work to be done.
He made three suggestions to help women have equal representation in society — to have rights laws and enforcing these rights, to recognize and replicate the work key organizations were doing to champion women's empowerment and for each woman "pave the way for the next generation."
For the first suggestion, he referred to the Women's Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment (WEEE) Act that took effect in January.
"We look forward to working with the Republic of Korea on this and other initiatives to empower women all over the world," Harris said.
The WEEE Act is aimed at providing support for women-led ventures in developing countries to help them overcome gender-related barriers to economic growth, such as gender-based violence and limited access to education and health care.
In relation to his second suggestion, Harris said he expected the activities of WISET and "Sports.Connected!" to be helpful, while encouraging female guests, including government officials and business leaders, to realize the third and last suggestion: "The future rights and opportunities of your sons and daughters will be determined by your decisions to be agents-of-change in your own way today."
His guests included Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hee-kyung and Science and Technology adviser to President Moon Lee Kong-joo.
