| NEWS HERLIVERY의 여성 뉴스를 전 세계 독자들과 함께 나누고자 59호 TOPIC EDITION부터 영문 번역본을 추가 발행합니다. 번역은 구글의 도움을 받았으며, 부분적 오류가 있을 수 있음을 양해 바랍니다. - 편집자 주 |
EDITOR’S LETTER
Hello. This is editor Won So, returning to NEWS HERLIVERY for the second time in May. This issue is a TOPIC EDITION that introduces articles related to the women’s agenda. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed women’s human rights issues in Korea. Human rights issues such as anti-discrimination law legislation and the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family became the subject of deliberation.
Among Korea’s top 30 companies, only 3.2% of female internal directors were female. The proportion of female outside directors has increased significantly. This can be interpreted as a result of the company passing on the task of ‘strengthening gender diversity on the board of directors’ to outside directors. Under the Labor Standards Act, which does not apply to workplaces with fewer than five employees, middle-aged women, who are the core of the workforce in workplaces with fewer than five employees, are being marginalized. AI announcers introduced in Jeju Island and Sangju City are being criticized for embodying the distorted gender stereotypes of reality that require women to have outstanding looks rather than skills. During the May 18 Democratization Movement, victims of sexual violence by martial law forces gathered together and held a meeting. This is the first time in 44 years that the victims have met.
While stalking methods are evolving, punishment laws are not keeping up. The victims’ families are publicizing the victims' faces and names and demanding that measures be taken to prevent other victims from coming forward. A woman in her 20s became a vegetative state after being brutally assaulted by her male classmate while traveling. The first trial court sentenced him to six years in prison, and both the prosecution and the defendant appealed. A man in his 20s who sent threatening messages on social media to the victim of the ‘Busan roundhouse kick murder attempt’ case was handed over to trial. This is a charge of violating the law on the punishment of pornography, threats, and stalking crimes using communication media.
The police have launched an investigation after an adjunct professor at Inha University sexually harassed a student. The perpetrator was the victim’s mentor, senior in the video filming and editing industry, and in fact her employer. Circumstances were revealed that a current police officer participated in the destruction of criminal evidence to help JMS President Jeong Myeong-seok, who was put on trial for repeated sexual assault of female believers. Last year, a teenage female student jumped from the roof of a high-rise building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, revealing the true condition of DC Inside's Depression Gallery. Now, over a year later, we have looked at the current status of the Depression Gallery, where nothing has changed.
Every time we publish TOPIC EDITION, we feel despair and anger at the thought that we are still far from a safe society for women. However, I take heart because there are women who resolutely move forward even in the face of discrimination and violence. I hope that our readers do not lose courage. Thank you.
- Best Wishes, Editor Won So
UN verifies Korean women's human rights... Issues such as the abolition of the Anti-Discrimination Act and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
By Younghyuk Yoo, Women News, 24.05.15
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which examines the level of women's human rights and rights around the world and looks for areas for improvement, reviewed women's human rights issues in Korea. Private and government delegations attending the meeting presented different arguments on women's human rights issues.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which will be held from the 13th to the 31st, is scheduled to review the status of women's human rights in Korea, Montenegro, Singapore, Estonia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Brazil, and Rwanda. Korea deliberated on the 14th (local time).
The United Nations said concerns had been raised about the South Korean government's failure to take steps to implement the committee's recommendations, the definition of rape, and the discrimination experienced by female North Korean defectors.
A variety of human rights issues were subject to deliberation, including anti-discrimination law legislation, comfort women victims' issues, and the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
Korean private organizations such as the Korean Federation of Women's Organizations, Women's Line, and Rainbow Action participated.
According to the UN, civilian representatives said they were concerned that the new president, who takes office in May 2022, had not taken steps to implement the commission's recommendations and that gender policies had rolled back.
He added that South Korea attempted to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, arguing that there is no structural discrimination and therefore there is no need for the ministry.
Mandatory ‘gender diversity’ on the board of directors… In groups in their 30s, the number of female outside directors has increased slightly.
By Jaeyeon Lee, Hankyoreh, 24.05.08
It was found that the proportion of female internal directors at major domestic corporate groups has remained stagnant for about two years. It appears that the legal mandate for board gender diversity has not had a significant impact on the industry's practice of appointing internal directors.
According to an announcement by Leaders Index, a business analysis research institute, on the 8th, out of 787 internal directors of Korea's top 30 groups, 25 (3.2%) were women. Compared to the end of 2021, when 13 out of 738 (1.8%) were women, the proportion of women only increased by 1.4 percentage points. This is the result of analyzing the results of this year's general shareholders' meeting of 298 affiliates of the top 30 groups in fair assets among the business groups subject to disclosure designated in May of last year. Affiliates that did not disclose business reports were excluded from the analysis.
The ‘stagnation’ phenomenon in the number of female internal directors was also noticeable when looking at each group. Among the top 30 groups, the number of affiliates that publish business reports without a single female executive director decreased slightly from 22 at the end of 2021 to 20 recently. It was revealed that POSCO Group and other companies have maintained ‘0 female internal directors’ for several years.
On the other hand, the proportion of female outside directors increased significantly. At the end of 2021, 86 out of 789 outside directors (10.9%) were women, but recently, 174 out of 850 (20.5%) were found to be women. It increased from 1 in 10 to 1 in 5.
This can be interpreted as the result of the company passing on the task of ‘strengthening gender diversity on the board of directors’ to outside directors. The revised Capital Markets Act, which came into effect in August 2022, stipulates that listed companies with total assets of 2 trillion won or more cannot have all board members of a specific gender. The purpose is to ensure gender representation in corporate decision-making bodies. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of internal directors who regularly work at the company are still male.
‘Middle-aged female workers’ trapped in the shackles of ‘workplaces with fewer than 5 employees’
By Hae-ram Jo, Jihwan Kim, Chae-yeon Park, Kyunghyang Shinmun, 24.05.02
The Labor Standards Act has barriers to entry. Although it is a law for workers, most of the provisions of the law do not apply to the numerous workers who work in workplaces with ‘less than 5’ full-time employees. Suyoung Lee (57), who had worked almost her entire life since her senior year of high school, was one of those people who was blocked by that wall.
For Mr. Lee, who spent most of his working life at a workplace with fewer than five employees, the Labor Standards Act was a different world. He grew up in a single-parent family, and got a job at a small village Geumgo (now Saemaeul Geumgo) at the age of 18 to help make ends meet. One day, Mr. Lee, who worked alone with a desk in the corner of the township office, was fired after one year of employment for expressing his opinion. “I don’t even remember what I said at that time, but the chairman cut me off by saying, ‘Do whatever you tell me to do.’” (syncopation)
However, Mr. Lee, who worked in workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, was pushed out even from the Labor Standards Act that Jeon Tae-il called for. The Labor Standards Act basically excludes workplaces with fewer than five employees, and only some provisions (writing of employment contracts, weekly vacation pay, retirement benefits, etc.) are applied as exceptions through enforcement ordinance. Major provisions, such as the ‘maximum 52 hours per week’ working hours limit, overtime, holiday and night work allowances, annual leave, paid time off on public holidays, prohibition of unfair dismissal, and prohibition of workplace harassment, do not apply to workplaces with fewer than five employees.
Mr. Lee’s situation is not a ‘special case.’ About 2.5 million people. One in six to seven wage earners works in a workplace with fewer than five employees.
Specifically, where and how do they work? The Kyunghyang Shinmun, together with the Strategic Coordination Headquarters of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, analyzed raw data from Statistics Korea's National Business Survey and the August Supplementary Survey to the Economically Active Population Survey. This is to more accurately estimate the current status of workplaces with less than five employees, which vary depending on the statistics, at the most recent time. The most recent data available for analysis is from the National Business Survey in 2021 and the Economically Active Population Survey in 2023.
Based on the national business survey, the number of wage workers in businesses with less than 5 employees in 2021 is 2,527,846, or 13.4% of all wage workers. This figure excludes one self-employed person and one business owner from the total employment scale of businesses with less than five employees. The scale could increase further if ‘disguised freelancers’ who are not counted as wage workers are included.
Middle-aged women like Lee are the core of the workforce at businesses with less than five employees. Based on the Economically Active Population Survey, 53.3% of workers at businesses with less than five employees in 2023 will be women. The average age of workers at workplaces with less than 5 employees is 52.0 years old, which is the highest among workplace size classifications (5-9 employees, 10-29 employees, 30-99 employees, 100-299 employees, and 300 or more employees). The average age of male workers in businesses with less than five employees was 50.6 years old, and the average age of female workers was 53.0 years old.
Announcer: Should the AI also be a ‘slender woman in her 20s’? The question asked by ‘Jaina’
By Bora Nam, Hankook Ilbo, 24.05.07
#. Jeju Provincial Office introduced the artificial intelligence (AI) announcer ‘Jaina’ in March. She has the appearance of a slender woman in her 20s with her long hair falling down to her chest, and she always wears tight skirts. The same goes for ‘Suni’, an AI announcer released by Sangju City, Gyeongsangbuk-do last month. She is said to be an announcer who personifies the mascot 'Suni', which is inspired by dried persimmons, a specialty of Sangju. The characteristic feature of the round mascot is that she is a slender woman in her 20s with no makeup.
The two announcers look exactly like the 'human announcers' you often see on TV. However, should even AI announcers reflect the distorted gender stereotypes of reality that require women to have better looks rather than skills? (syncopation)
Jaina created a lot of buzz after being released. This is because she was the first announcer introduced by the local government. There were many concerns that AI would begin to take away people's jobs. This is because the Jeju Provincial Government 'hired' Jaina by paying a monthly fee of 600,000 won to an AI development and operation company instead of hiring her as an announcer to save costs.
But Jaina also leaves another question. She questions why, even though science and technology can imagine and implement more things, we always follow the gender stereotypes of reality, and whether it is appropriate for a young woman in her 20s to deliver news and sing songs as needed.
10 victims of May 18 sexual violence gathered together after 44 years... Recording wounds that “couldn’t be forgotten or talked about”
By Ayoung Lim, Kyunghyang Shinmun, 24.05.02
During the May 18 Democratization Movement, 10 victims of sexual violence by martial law troops met for the first time. It has been 44 years since 1980. Some of the victims asked the May 18 Democratization Movement Fact-finding Investigation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) to meet each other first. In response, the committee held a meeting attended by victims on the 28th of last month.
In 2018, Kim Seon-ok, who gained courage after seeing Prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun's ‘MeToo’, testified about the damage she suffered during the May 18 Democratization Movement through her public interview. Mr. Kim revealed that he was captured and tortured by the Martial Law Command's joint investigation team, and that he was sexually assaulted by the investigator before his release. His testimony led to the launch of the 'May 18 Joint Investigation Team on Sexual Violence by Martial Law Forces and Other Sexual Violence' jointly formed by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the Ministry of National Defense that year. . After five months of investigation, the investigation team acknowledged that there had been sexual violence by martial law troops, but due to limitations in legal authority and a short investigation period, it was unable to confirm the comprehensive picture of the damage.
In 2020, the committee expanded its legal authority and began an ex officio investigation based on the ‘Special Act for Investigating the Truth about the May 18 Democratization Movement.’ As a result, out of 52 cases of alleged harm such as forcible molestation, rape, and sexual torture committed by some martial law forces during the protests, arrests, detentions, and investigations that lasted from May 18, 1980 to January of the following year, there were 52 cases in which the victims died or refused investigation. In addition to the case, 19 cases were investigated, and a decision was made to 'find out the truth' about 16 of them in December last year. This is the first time that a national agency with legal authority to investigate has identified the comprehensive damage caused by sexual violence cases in the past. (syncopation)
On this day, all participants sat in a circle. The intention was to share the pain equally with everyone. Lee Da-gam, a counseling expert, conducted the meeting. “In the Jeolla-do language, ‘Atta, you worked hard,’ means you worked hard. Thanks for your efforts. How cruel I was to myself. Let's put our hand on our chest. There are people who attempted suicide, and there are also people who survived because they could not die. Let’s put our hand on the beating heart. “He said it felt like he wasn’t alive even though he was alive, and he didn’t know how much he wanted to scream.”
First, as the counseling expert Lee Da-gam guided her into the ‘butterfly hug’ posture of wrapping her arms around her body, whimpering sounds were heard here and there. “Some people said they didn’t want to see our faces because they were embarrassed, some people asked what good it was like to come together, some people said they were so lonely and thought they were the only ones who suffered this damage, and some people wanted to be together. “He said he wanted ‘the king’s ears to be donkey ears.’”
In front of the victims was a flower ‘peony’ placed on a green circle-shaped cloth and a small sculpture ‘goddess statue’. The flower language of the peony that blooms in May is ‘the affection is so deep that you can’t leave it.’ Committee member Lee said, “The goddess statue expressed that the integrity within us cannot be damaged, no matter what damage, and the peony was prepared because I hoped that by the end of the day, our affection would deepen and we would have a desire to meet again.”
The committee found that the 7th Airborne Brigade, which was first deployed on May 18, 1980, carried out an operation under the battalion commander's instructions to “take off women's clothes.” After this order, the first case of women being forced to take off their clothes occurred. It was revealed that during the operation to suppress protests in the city, some martial law soldiers raped people in vehicles in residential areas or while traveling in military trucks. Sexual violence occurred even during the outskirt blockade phase. It was revealed that some martial law forces dragged women to the outskirts of the city and raped them, and that forcible molestation and rape occurred even at the stage of arrest, such as in convoy vehicles or commercial units. There was also sexual torture during the detention and investigation of women who participated in the May 18 Movement.
“If only three people had testified, no one would have believed it. We were able to uncover the truth because you all testified together. Among the 52 people, there were many who refused, and there were many who passed away, were in mental hospitals, and were unable to testify due to Alzheimer's. “You who testified are the main characters and living witnesses.” (Counseling Specialist Dagam Lee)
‘Does it end only when I die’… Techniques are evolving, but stalking punishment laws remain the same
By Seungju Bae, JTBC News, 24.05.03
JTBC focuses on reporting on the issue of stalking damage. Lee Min-kyung, 24, and Lee Hyo-jeong, 19, suffered from stalking and eventually lost their lives. The reason we are revealing the faces and names of the victims is at the request of their families. Proper measures are needed to prevent the same victims from recurring. (syncopation)
[Family of the late Lee Min-kyung: Just watched from the side while hanging for 20 seconds... ]
Last January, 24-year-old Lee Min-kyung died after falling from the 9th floor of a building in Busan.
Her ex-boyfriend, who had been knocking on her front door 17 hours a day and messaging her over 350 times, was by her side.
After finding out her password, I entered Min-kyung’s house.
[Late Lee Min-kyung's bereaved family: She fell, took her beer can and her slippers, and came out leisurely, then called 119 to report her… ]
The same thing happened to the ex-boyfriend who hit 19-year-old Lee Hyo-jeong last month.
[Late Hyo-jeong Lee/Last April 1: He unilaterally broke into my house through my password and beat me while I was sleeping.]
It is not just these two who are able to escape stalking only after death.
As SNS becomes more common, anyone can access personal information if they want to.
It's also easy to track your phone's location and share information.
“My daughter became a vegetable overnight”… ‘Alumni trip’ became a nightmare
By Hyeji Kim, Hankook Ilbo, 24.05.11
Ms. A's mother, who rushed to the hospital after receiving the call that her daughter was hospitalized, was heartbroken. Her daughter, who was fine when she went on a trip with her friends, suddenly became critically ill. However, even when her mother asked Ms. A what happened in Busan, she refused to open her mouth. She just kept repeating that “she drank and she fell alone.” Ms. A's mother, who was suspicious of her daughter's behavior, called two of her classmates who were traveling with her. As she continued to be unable to make phone calls, she said, ‘○○ (daughter)’s condition is serious. Do you want to hear complaints later when ○○ is no longer in this world? He left a message saying, “I can guess the situation, so please don’t try to hide it and contact me.”
After hearing the truth from her friends, Ms. A's mother lost her courage. Ms. A's health deteriorated day by day, and on the 13th of the same month, she lost consciousness and became a vegetative state. It had only been six days since she had been assaulted.
Ms. A's mother reported her to the police on suspicion of seriously injuring Mr. B. Her prosecutors handed over Mr. B to trial without detention on July 19 last year. According to the prosecution's investigation, on the day of the incident, Ms. A was drunk and sleeping at her dorm when she woke up to the sound of her female classmate and Mr. B swearing at her. Following her argument, Mr. B used profanity at her and pushed Ms. A on the head, and when Ms. A resisted, the level of her assault against Mr. B escalated. A female classmate next to her tried to stop her, but Mr. B did not stop assaulting her, saying, “If you don’t want to die, stay still.” According to the court, it was revealed that Mr. B had a history of being punished for a similar crime six months before he committed the crime against Ms. A In July 2022, she was ordered to pay a fine of 1 million won for assaulting a friend of her ex-girlfriend (who was 17 at the time).
On the 2nd, the 1st Criminal Division of the Gunsan Branch of the Jeonju District Court (Director Jeong Seong-min) sentenced Mr. B to six years in prison, saying, “It is reasonable to assume that the victim could have been expected to suffer serious injuries due to the defendant’s crime.” Throughout the trial, Mr. B argued, “It is true that she assaulted her, but she did not expect that she would be seriously injured,” but the court did not accept it. Chief Judge Jeong pointed out, “There was a significant physical gap between the defendant and the victim, and (at the time of the crime) there was such a strong force that it was difficult for two adult women to fight back.” It was found that Ms. A had a slender build of 44 kg, while Mr. B was 178 cm tall and had a sturdy physique.
Man in his 20s who threatened victim of ‘attempted murder by turning kick’ on social media goes to trial
By Gayoon Kim, Hankyoreh, 24.05.08
A man in his 20s was handed over to trial for sending a social networking service (SNS) message to the victim of the ‘Busan roundhouse kick murder attempt’ and sending several severe profanities and threats.
On the 8th, the Seoul Western District Prosecutor's Office's Crimes Against Women and Children Investigation Department (Director Jeong Hyeon-seung) charged Mr. B, a man in his 20s, who sent a threatening message to Ms. A. It was announced that he was indicted without detention on charges of violating the law on the punishment of threats and stalking crimes.
As a result of the prosecution's investigation, from August 11 to October 4 last year, Mr. B continuously and repeatedly sent threatening messages of sexual shame and disgust to the victim, Ms. A, 10 times through S&S. The prosecution determined that Mr. B committed a ‘secondary offense’ that caused anxiety and fear in the victim.
Previously, victim A filed a complaint with the Busanjin Police Station in Busan in August last year. Every time Ms. A This is due to receiving several threatening messages containing severe profanity.
“I am a victim of sexual assault by an adjunct professor at Inha University”... The reason I stood on campus carrying a 20kg bag
By Yuna Choi, Hankyoreh, 24.05.13
“I was forcibly molested. The perpetrator is not my boss, but he is like a boss. (…) What if word gets out in the industry and my livelihood is cut off?”
On January 23, Ji-eun (pseudonym, in her 20s) called the ‘women’s emergency number 1366’ with a trembling voice. In the early morning of this day, while attending college, he was forcibly molested by Mr. She was drunk and Mr. A touched Ji-eun's body while she was asleep in her studio.
Mr. A, who runs a video production company, has been teaching students at Inha University until the end of April. Mr. Ji-eun, who took Mr. I was making a living by assisting with video filming and editing that Mr.
If I report Mr. A to the police, will I be able to work in this industry in the future? The sight before my eyes was distant. However, the damage from sexual violence could not be ignored. Just as he did three years ago, he thought of juniors who would admire and follow Mr. A, who stood on the university podium. Mr. A, who was an adjunct professor at Inha University, often took his students to the filming site, saying it would give them a chance to see the scene. “Just as I was buried in a dream and looked up to the perpetrator three years ago, I couldn’t bear it because I was worried that my juniors would follow the perpetrator without thinking and have the same experience as me.”
‘Jung Myung-seok’s sex crime’ police officer helped destroy evidence? Seoul Metropolitan Government begins audit
By Gumin Son, MBC News, 24.05.03
JMS President Myeongseok Jeong was put on trial on charges of repeatedly sexually assaulting female believers.
When Mr. Jeong was investigated in 2022, a response team was activated within JMS.
Circumstances were revealed that a current police officer was involved and participated in the destruction of criminal evidence. (syncopation)
The official statement included, "JMS believer and current police officer 'Joo Su-ho' also attended the video conference," and "Mr. Joo provided step-by-step guidance on the differences in security levels between KakaoTalk and Telegram and how to deal with mobile phone forensics."
It is said that a current police officer named ‘Joo Su-ho’ helped destroy evidence. (syncopation)
As a result of MBC's coverage, it was confirmed that Mr. Joo is currently working at the Seocho Police Station in Seoul.
When he asked Mr. Joo if he had participated in the destruction of evidence, he countered that he had only shared information that was commonly found on the Internet.
He also said that he had no knowledge of the JMS internal documents in which he appeared, that his pseudonym, Joo Su-ho, was arbitrarily created by his family who were JMS believers, and that he was not a believer.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has begun an audit of the officer in question.
At that time, the users left ‘Depression Gallery’… ‘Sexual exploitation of minors’ remains the same
On April 16 last year, a teenage female student jumped from the roof of a high-rise building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Before taking her life, he turned on a live broadcast on social networking service (SNS) and said this. “You need to quit your job and live well.” ‘Wool Gallery’ was an abbreviation for the ‘Depression Gallery’ bulletin board on DC Inside, Korea’s largest online community.
After the incident, the world was turned upside down. Suspicions have been raised that various crimes, such as assisted suicide, sexual exploitation, and drug use, occur among those who met through the Depression Gallery. It was even more shocking that the victims were mainly teenagers. The police formed a separate task force (TF) to investigate incidents that occurred on this site. The Korea Communications Standards Commission also received a police request and began considering ‘temporary blocking’ of bulletin boards.
A year has passed since then. The Depression Gallery bulletin board is currently operating normally. The Kyunghyang Shinmun re-contacted the users of the Depression Gallery whom it covered a year ago and tracked them ‘after the incident.’ They said they left the Depression Gallery, were unable to leave, or left and then returned. They say, “Nothing has changed.” (syncopation)
Some people feel a kind of ‘withdrawal phenomenon’ and return to the Depression Gallery. Mr. C (23), who had quit the Depression Gallery for a while, said he started accessing it again a month ago. This was because she suffered from anxiety and nervousness as her parents were on the verge of divorce. Mr. C said, “Anonymity is guaranteed and others do not feel rejected even if you talk about depressing things,” and “It is a place you can’t help but think of when you are having a hard time.”
He said that there was no change in the Depression Gallery, which he visited for the first time in a year, except for a ‘generational change.’ “Do you know what’s fascinating? I can't see any of the names of previous users, but complete strangers are coming and doing the same thing. People who appear to be adult men ask minors to meet or have sex. The only thing that has changed is that the time it takes for a post to be deleted after being reported is slightly faster.”
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