Subscribe
E-Paper
President should keep campaign pledge to keep 30 percent share
President Moon Jae-in's reshuffle of three Cabinet members Wednesday sharply lowered the share of female ministers in his administration. The chief executive replaced Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha and SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun with male nominees. The number of female ministers fell from five to three or from 27.7 percent to 16.6 percent of the total 18. We want to believe that the partial reshuffle resulted from applying fair and objective criteria to maximize accomplishments toward the Moon administration's final year in office.
Still, it was regrettable the President failed to find the outgoing ministers' successors from among qualified women, respecting various values such as gender equality, minority rights and social diversity. It showed the nation has a long way to go before becoming an inclusive and advanced society. As a candidate, Moon vowed to keep the share of female Cabinet ministers at 30 percent. He held the promise upon inauguration by appointing five female ministers, compared with one to three female Cabinet members in previous administrations. We hope the latest fall in the proportion of female ministers is a temporary phenomenon. President Moon ought to recruit more women if and when he carries out another ministerial shakeup.
One can hardly overemphasize the importance of greater female participation in politics and women's expanded presence in officialdom. Women's advances in major countries are dazzling, indeed. For instance, Finnish people elected a 34-year-old woman, Sanna Marin, as their prime minister in 2019, the country's third and youngest female leader. Twelve out of 19 Cabinet ministers are women in the North European country. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has governed for 15 years, playing a pivotal role in the European Union.
The U.S. has also elected its first female vice president, Kamala Harris. President Joe Biden filled 12 out of 26 Cabinet portfolios with women and formed an all-women White House public communications team. Social unity has emerged as a pressing issue in Korea, too. Genuine unity comes from seeking the coexistence of diverse members of society. Maintaining female Cabinet ministers' share at 30 percent should be the first step.
