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| Main opposition People Power Party's candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, second from right, gestures during a campaign speech in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province on Thursday. Yonhap |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Prosecutor-turned-presidential hopeful Yoon Suk-yeol struggled to redefine his image as a respectable candidate who has no bias against feminism throughout the third and final pre-election debate that aired Wednesday night on three TV broadcast networks.
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate was put to the test when his main rival, ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Lee Jae-myung, switched gears from defending his cash-based basic income policy from Yoon's criticism of its potential burden on the national economy, to feminism as a topic to discuss among the four candidates, including Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party.
Mentioning Yoon's comment from last year in which he had suggested that feminism had caused Korea's abysmally low birthrate, Lee asked Yoon to answer if he knows what feminism is and, if so, how he would define it.
Shrugging off the question, Yoon answered broadly, saying he understood that feminism is respecting women and affording them equal treatment to men so that they can receive the same respect that men enjoy.
His remarks invited criticism from his rival as Lee reproached him for knowing little about feminism. The DPK candidate corrected Yoon, saying that feminism recognizes discrimination and inequality against women as a reality and tries to correct them. Justice Party candidate Sim said that Yoon's remarks only confirmed his limited understanding of the issue, and that his answer led her to believe that the PPP candidate had confused feminism with humanism.
Yoon has been portrayed by a number of women's rights activists as being anti-feminist.
His campaign pledge that he would abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, together with his past hardline comments on feminism, have both played their part in making some women's rights activists view him as an misogynist.
Yoon failed to erase that image during the TV debate, as he stumbled in defending himself when facing criticism from the other candidates.
Later in the debate, Yoon fired back at Lee for the latter's past work as an attorney who defended his nephew in a homicide case.
"When you served as a lawyer, you took the case in which your nephew killed his girlfriend's mother. In front of his girlfriend, he stabbed her mother 37 times with a sushi knife. Serving as his attorney, you claimed that the death of his girlfriend's mother was the result of his mental illness and dating violence," Yoon said, questioning Lee's ethics as a lawyer.
"In the past, you destroyed women's human rights. Now you are saying you are a defender of feminism. It's dreadful to imagine what will happen if you are elected as the next president. Will young people still want to get married and have babies?"
Lee responded that as an attorney he had an obligation to defend his clients, even if they are determined to be a criminal in a murder case.
The DPK candidate said that he felt sorry for the victims of the case. But he countered Yoon's criticism, noting that representing his client in the homicide case had nothing to do with feminism.
Yoon was caught in the crossfire, as Sim then took aim at him for his past remarks advocating for the diversion of government budget funds earmarked for gender reform to national defense.
"You said that if South Korea can use part of the 30-trillion-won budget for gender equality for defense, the nation will be able to successfully thwart North Korea's nuclear threat. I am wondering if you really know what you said," Sim said.
Sim went on criticizing the PPP candidate for his campaign pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. She said that Yoon was trying to gain votes from younger men by playing the misogyny card.
Yoon tried to defend his position, but Sim didn't give him an inch, deploring his ignorance on the issue of gender inequality.
