EDITOR’S LETTER
Hello. The second NEWS HERLIVERY in June, when the hot weather has begun, introduces articles related to the women's agenda as a TOPIC EDITION. My name is Editor So Won. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has recommended that the Korean government appoint a Minister of Gender Equality and Family without further delay. Her ministerial position has remained vacant for four months since former Minister Kim Hyun-sook's resignation was accepted in February. Seoul City became the first in the country to develop and introduce technology to detect sexual exploitation of children and adolescents through artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring. 24-hour automatic tracking and monitoring is now possible.
An incident occurred in which a graduate of Seoul National University, known as ‘Seoul National University’s version of N Room’, committed digital sex crimes such as creating and distributing sexually exploitative material against dozens of women. Won Eun-ji, an activist from the anti-digital sexual violence group ‘Pursuit Team Flame’, which cooperated with the police and contributed to the arrest of the criminal, raised an issue with the naming of ‘Seoul National University’s version of Room N’. Ms. A, a woman in her 20s who was a victim of the ‘Jinju Convenience Store Assault’ incident, raised the issue of the reality that victims are restricted from viewing records such as the perpetrator’s reflections. In 2004, a sister who was a victim of sexual violence in Miryang sent a message calling for attention to sexual crime victims and the eradication of secondary perpetrators. This is the first time since the incident occurred that they have issued a public message. The petition for public consent to the National Assembly regarding the dating violence incident that occurred in Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do exceeded 50,000. If the petition receives more than 50,000 signatures, it can be referred to the relevant committee of the National Assembly and submitted to the plenary session.
Strategy & Research (SNR), a policy and legislative data analysis company, conducted a public opinion survey to determine which areas of legislation citizens are most interested in. While women in their 2030s had a high demand for ‘crime prevention and strengthening of punishment,’ men in their 2030s viewed support for youth and support for childbirth and childcare as important. Some public health centers, including Gangseo Public Health Center in Seoul, are running out of ‘pregnant women’s badges.’ This is because related projects have been excluded from government support since last year. It was found that married women are three times more likely to engage in simple labor jobs such as packaging, transportation, and cleaning than single women. An expert analysis found that job quality decreases when a career break occurs.
We learned about ‘women-friendly funds’ that are doing well and recording high returns around the world. Huang Xueqin, an activist who led the #MeToo movement in China, was sentenced to five years in prison for subverting state power. There is growing criticism that the Chinese authorities have used allegations of subversion of state power as a tool of oppression. A bill has been introduced in Brazil's lower house of parliament that would equate abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy with murder. Major Brazilian women's rights groups and citizens staged street protests in the center of downtown Sao Paulo.
While preparing this issue, my heart was heavy as I heard the news of a number of accidents that pose a threat to the survival and safety of women. As NEWS HERLIVERY is a curation letter, rather than reporting on individual events in detail, we will select and deliver articles with closer attention to the social trends related to the events. I hope that incidents like this do not discourage women. Thank you.
- Best Wishes, Editor So Won
UN advises Yoon administration to “appoint Minister of Gender Equality and Family without delay”
Oh Sejin, Hankyoreh, 24.06.04
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has recommended that the Korean government appoint a Minister of Gender Equality and Family without further delay. After accepting the resignation of then Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyun-sook in February, President Yoon Seok-yeol has not appointed her successor.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women issued a final opinion (recommendation) including these contents as a result of deliberation of the 9th National Report of the Republic of Korea on the 3rd (local time). In particular, he said, “We are concerned about the failure to appoint the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, the sharp decrease in the budget of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the regressive policies toward women,” and recommended that “the Minister of Gender Equality and Family be appointed without further delay.” Referring to the amendment to the Government Organization Act proposed by the People Power Party in 2022, he also said, “Delete the provision on abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.” The amendment to the Government Organization Act passed by the National Assembly in February last year does not include the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family due to opposition from the opposition party.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women called for a “significant increase in the human, technical, and financial resources of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family,” and stated that capacity building of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family employees was needed “to effectively coordinate gender mainstreaming efforts across all government ministries.” ‘Gender mainstreaming’ means reflecting the gender equality perspective in law enactment, policy planning, and budget allocation. The purpose is to support the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to better function as a ministry that oversees national gender equality policy.
Find child sexual exploitation material in 90 seconds...Seoul city introduces 24-hour AI surveillance
Lee Se-ah, Women News, 24.05.23
Seoul City is the first city in the country to develop and introduce technology to detect sexual exploitation of children and adolescents through artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring, and will begin automatic tracking and monitoring 24 hours a day.
On the 23rd, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it would introduce a system that can determine the gender and age of children and adolescents who are not easily distinguished from adults using AI deep learning-based facial recognition technology. Even if ‘faces’ do not appear in the video, it is possible to detect whether the video is a victim of children or adolescents. It recognizes not only surrounding objects such as books, school uniforms, and dolls, but also text in images and language commonly used by teenagers to ultimately determine whether or not the video is a victim.
Search efficiency has also been greatly improved. It only takes 90 seconds from entering a keyword to detecting a video. Accuracy also increased by more than 300%.
As before, it takes about 2 hours for a person to search and find keywords such as ‘deepfake’ (abbreviation for deepfake). This is because AI can automatically generate keywords such as ‘Duppe’ and ‘Dwipe’, new words related to ‘Dippe’, and find many more damaging videos. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that by using AI technology, it can achieve twice the number of manual monitoring cases last year (approximately 300,000), and that accuracy and speed will further improve as AI learning data is accumulated.
‘Seoul National University’s version of Room N’… Graduate produced and distributed pornographic material of alumni and acquaintances
Kim Jeong-jin⸳Hong Jun-suck, Yonhap News, 24.05.21
Two Seoul National University graduates were caught committing digital sex crimes, including creating and distributing pornographic material against dozens of women, including university alumni.
They created and distributed pornographic material composed of photos of 61 women, including 12 alumni of Seoul National University, through the online messenger Telegram. It was found that they committed this crime not for profit, but simply to satisfy their sexual desires.
According to the Cyber Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 20th, Mr. Park (40) and Mr. Kang (31), both men who graduated from Seoul National University, were arrested and transferred on charges of editing and distributing false videos under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act on the 11th of last month and the 16th of this month, respectively.
Three men who shared and re-distributed pornographic material they created on Telegram and produced and distributed false videos to their acquaintances were also handed over to the prosecution this month.
According to the police, Mr. Park is suspected of producing and distributing pornographic material by combining the graduation photos or SNS photos of 48 women, including university alumni, with nude photos from July 2021 until early last month when he was arrested by the police.
How was ‘Seoul National University’s Nth room’ caught? There was a hidden credit for luring him with 'wife's underwear'
Kim Su-ho, Seoul Economic Daily, 24.05.24
Key suspects in a digital sex crime case reminiscent of the 'N Room' incident at Seoul National University were arrested. In the past, the police were unable to catch the crimes of those led by graduates of Seoul National University despite investigating them four times. It is known that the activist group ‘Tracer Team Flame’, which publicized the N Room incident in 2019, played a large role in the belated capture of the criminals.
◆Police, “Due to the highly anonymous nature of Telegram, it is difficult to identify the culprit.” = The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested Park and Kang, men in their 30s, on charges of producing and distributing pornographic material using dozens of photos of 12 Seoul National University alumni and others through the online messenger Telegram. It was announced on the 21st that he was arrested and transferred on the 11th of last month and the 16th of this month, respectively.
Three men who shared and re-distributed pornographic material made by Mr. Park and others on Telegram and produced and distributed false videos to their acquaintances were also handed over to the prosecution this month.
According to the police, Mr. Park is accused of producing and distributing pornographic material by combining the graduation photos or SNS photos of 48 women, including university alumni, with nude photos from July 2021 until early April this year when he was arrested by the police (false video material under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act) editing, distribution, etc.). There are also charges of possessing or distributing sexually exploitative material targeting children and adolescents (distribution or possession of sexually exploitative material of children and adolescents under the Youth Sexual Protection Act, etc.). (syncopation)
Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation team, which began a reinvestigation under the direction of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency in December last year, is said to have met Ms. Won, a member of the tracking group Flame, in the process of chasing the person who synthesized and distributed obscene photos on Telegram. After cooperating with Ms. Won, the police were able to arrest the criminal.
Ms. Won, who had been tracking the ‘Nth Room Incident’ targeting minors in 2019, once again infiltrated ‘Seoul National University Nth Room’ to catch the culprit. In order to communicate with Mr. Park, Won infiltrated Telegram by disguising himself as a '30-year-old man married to his beautiful Seoul National University graduate wife.' Ms. Won said, “We built a relationship of trust through continuous conversation (in a one-on-one Telegram chat room) from July 2022 to April of this year.”
Mr. Park was obsessed with Ms. Won's virtual wife, and she reportedly even asked, “Would you mind if I raped her wife?” He not only asked for photos of Won’s ‘imaginary wife’s’ panties, but also asked for actual underwear. Accordingly, Ms. Won lured Mr. Park by promising to "give her the real thing," and the police were able to arrest Mr. Park when she showed up at the place where she hid her underwear.
“Seoul National University’s version of the N room incident? The media shouldn’t call it that.”
Yoo Ji-young, OhmyNews, 24.05.22
"The core of the crimes that occurred in Room N is the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and adolescents. The Act on the Protection of Children and Adolescents from Sex was also revised in the wake of Room N, and when the media reported that it was 'Seoul National University's version of Room N,' the public would say, 'Like Room N.' “It seems serious,” and they pass it over. However, this time, there is a big difference in that the perpetrator can use the KakaoTalk profile picture as a tool to commit the crime if he or she wants to, and it is a crime in which either a woman or a man can become a victim.
Won Eun-ji, an activist for the anti-digital sexual violence group 'Flame Pursuit' and editor of the media platform Spotted Cow, recently commented on the media's flood of articles regarding the Telegram deepfake sex crime case involving a Seoul National University graduate, naming it 'Seoul National University's version of Nth Room'. He criticized it like this:
She said, "(The two cases) are crimes that cannot be compared. When a major incident related to digital sex crimes occurs, it is called the N Room incident, and the media should call it properly." The N Room incident was a crime of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents through Telegram from 2018 to early 2020, and Jo Joo-bin, well-known as the main offender of 'Dr. Room', was sentenced to a total of 42 years and 4 months. (syncopation)
The Cyber Investigation Department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 21st that it had handed over two graduates of Seoul National University and three accomplices to the prosecution on charges of producing deepfake videos for acquaintances and distributing them on Telegram. Editor Won had been communicating with the man who was the main culprit on Telegram for the past two and a half years and played a decisive role in arresting him.
She said, “In the case of this case, anyone with a KakaoTalk profile photo or SNS profile photo can become a crime victim, and even if you want to prepare, it is not a situation where you can prepare, so I think the seriousness of this aspect should be clearly revealed and reported.” “I want you to know that this is a harm that can be experienced even if you are not a Seoul National University student, and that it is a crime that can be easily committed even if you are not a Seoul National University student,” she emphasized.
Victims of ‘turning kicks’ and ‘convenience store assaults’ are angry, “Why can’t I see the perpetrator’s reflection?”
Park Sang-hyuk, Pressian, 24.06.03
The victim of the so-called 'Jinju Convenience Store Assault' incident, who was assaulted by a man she did not know before for being a 'feminist because he has short hair', came forward to condemn the court's decision to not allow her to view and copy the trial records. Victims have no choice but to file a civil lawsuit to check trial records within the current law, but in this case, there is a high possibility of retaliatory crime because the perpetrator's identity is known, so there is an urgent need to revise related laws.
A, a woman in her 20s who was a victim of the 'Jinju convenience store assault' incident, said in a phone call with <Pressian> on the 3rd, "On the 24th, I applied to the 1st Criminal Division of the Changwon District Court to view and copy the trial record, the perpetrator's reflection, and the final opinion statement. “Although some records, such as the trial record on the 31st, were permitted to be viewed, most of the documents written by the perpetrator, such as the reflection statement and final opinion statement, could not be viewed,” he said.
Ms. A expressed that among the documents that the court was not allowed to view, the most difficult thing to understand was that she could not view the offender's written reflection. Mr. B, a man in his 20s who was the perpetrator of the previous assault incident, has submitted a total of seven remorse statements to the court so far.
Ms. A pointed out, "I was curious about the intention of the perpetrator who submitted multiple reflection statements to the court without even a single apology to me, the victim, and wanted to view the reflection statements, but the court refused to allow it without giving a reason." did.
The court also denied Ms. A's request to view the report from the Ministry of Justice's National Legal Hospital, which stated that Ms. B was presumed to be 'mentally and physically weak' at the time of her crime. The reason for disapproval was also not disclosed.
Attorney Kyeong-ha Lee, who represented Mr. “It is a situation where there is a disruption,” he explained.
Miryang victim sister: "I hope this incident burns for a moment and doesn't go out anytime soon."
Yoo Ji-young, OhmyNews, 24.06.13
“I hope this incident doesn’t flare up for a moment and then die out. I hope it doesn’t just flash for a moment and end up hurting the victim. I hope that there will never be another victim who suffers secondary abuse from the police and prosecutors again. Wrong. “I hope there will never be secondary victims due to information and unknown people being incorrectly disclosed.” -From a message sent by a sister who was a victim of sexual violence in Miryang (syncopation)
On the morning of the 13th, the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center held a press conference at the Sexual Violence Counseling Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul regarding the 2004 Miryang sexual violence incident that recently resurfaced. The victim's sister did not attend in person, but sent a message in advance.
The sisters said, "I thought it would just last for a while, like it always did when it appeared in movies or TV shows since 20 years ago, but I didn't expect so many people to be interested. Looking at the comments, I saw that they didn't forget about us and that so many citizens joined in. “Thank you so much for your anger, anger, and concern,” he said. (syncopation)
At a press conference, the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center appealed for the Miryang sexual violence case to be looked at with a focus on the victims, saying, "The victim's 'right to peace in everyday life' is a right to survival that takes precedence over the 'citizen's right to know.'
Kim Ok-soo, former director of Ulsan Lifeline's Domestic and Sexual Violence Counseling Center, who was the victim's first counselor in 2004, said, "At that time, the victim's sisters and guardians complained more about the damage caused by media reports than the damage caused by sexual violence. The police later learned about it through counseling. “The level of secondary damage that occurred during the investigation was so serious that we could not help but be shocked,” she pointed out.
‘Geoje dating violence, increase sentence and improve investigation’ petition signed by more than 50,000 people
Lim Sung-bin, JoongAng Ilbo, 24.06.18
The petition for public consent to the National Assembly regarding the dating violence incident that occurred in Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do exceeded 50,000. If the petition receives more than 50,000 signatures, it can be referred to the relevant committee of the National Assembly and submitted to the plenary session.
The National Assembly announced on the 18th that the ‘petition regarding the request to improve the system related to social violence’ received the consent of 50,000 people as of 1:41 p.m. and was referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Public Administration and Security Committee. The petition has received 54,096 signatures as of 6:50 p.m.
The petitioner is the mother of Lee Hyo-jeong, the victim of the incident. Ms. Lee died while being hospitalized for subdural hemorrhage after being punched for an hour by her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Kim (19), who broke into her home in Gohyeon-dong, Geoje-si last April.
The petitioner argued, “The responsibility of the Geoje police for releasing the perpetrator 11 times must be clearly revealed, and the investigation manual for social violence must be comprehensively improved.” She pointed out, “I reported the perpetrator 11 times, but each time the police treated it as a two-way assault and released him,” adding, “Even though the police could have taken measures to protect the victim by treating Mr. Kim’s crime as a stalking crime, they did nothing.”
“Women in 2030 place more emphasis on ‘crime punishment and 4-day work week’ policy than childbirth support”
KBS News, 24.06.13
We asked which policies the 22nd National Assembly was interested in and supported, and analyzed the policy importance based on the results. SNR expresses 'policy importance' as the product of the response rate of being "interested" in a policy area (interest) and the response rate of "supporting" the policy (support).
In terms of policy importance by sector, crime prevention and strengthening punishment were the highest at 51%. Support for childbirth and childcare came in at 49%, strengthening the old-age security system at 40%, balanced regional development at 39%, and climate crisis and future energy at 37%. (syncopation)
For women in their 2030s, the importance of the 'crime prevention and punishment strengthening' policy, which includes strengthening the crime prevention system, enacting special laws, responding to crimes such as stalking and domestic violence, and protecting victims, was significantly higher than other age groups at 60%. This was followed by the introduction of a four-day work week, support for youth, and support for childbirth and childcare in order of importance.
Measures to “have a baby” are pouring in… We can't even make a 'pregnant woman badge' because we don't have the budget.
Lee So-eun, Money Today, 24.06.18
#Ms. A, who lives in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, recently became pregnant and visited the public health center to register as a pregnant woman. This is to receive the ‘Pregnant Women Badge’, which was most needed by Ms. A, who was suffering from early morning sickness. If you have a badge, you can receive consideration when using public transportation. However, after completing her pregnancy registration, Ms. A received an unexpected answer. “Badges are out of stock due to poor supply and demand.” The person in charge smiled sheepishly, saying, “I don’t know when the stock will arrive, so there is no guarantee.”
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local public health centers on the 18th, 'Pregnant Women's Badges' are sold out at some public health centers, including Gangseo Public Health Center in Seoul.
The pregnant woman badge is a badge provided to pregnant women by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It is difficult for pregnant women in the early stages of pregnancy, when their stomachs are not visible, to be considered on public transportation such as subways because they are not visible on the outside. However, if you wear a pregnant badge on your bag, you can be considered more easily, so it is called an 'essential item for pregnant women'. If you registered as a pregnant woman, you could get it issued at subway stations, public health centers, etc., but since last year, it has been unified into public health centers. (syncopation)
While the government is pouring in measures every day due to the low birth rate, it seems difficult to avoid criticism as welfare policies for pregnant women appear to have loopholes. There are a lot of complaints among pregnant women, saying, "How much does one badge without any function cost? We can't even make enough."
Despite the historically low birth rate of 0.72, the reason for the shortage of 'pregnant women's badges' was found to be because they had been excluded from the government subsidy project since last year. In the meantime, the government has been carrying out the maternal and child health handbook (maternity handbook) provided when registering pregnant women as a government subsidy project, using a portion of the related budget to produce badges for pregnant women.
Single women have simple labor jobs at 5%, but married women have 17%... a 'triple' increase.
Kim Min-jeong, Women News, 24.06.03
It was found that married women were three times more likely to engage in simple labor jobs such as packaging, transportation, and cleaning than single women. An expert analysis showed that job quality decreases when a career break occurs. (syncopation)
Low-quality jobs were mainly concentrated among married women rather than single women. The number of married women in simple labor positions was 1.239 million, accounting for 16.6% of all married women employed (7.483 million). This is more than three times the proportion of unmarried women working as simple laborers (4.9%). On the other hand, the proportion of married men working as simple laborers was 11.1%, which was lower than that of unmarried men (12.5%).
When looking at women's simple labor jobs by employment status, single women mainly worked as temporary or daily workers (60.8%), and the proportion of non-wage workers was very low (0.6%). Married women also worked as temporary or daily workers (54.9%), but compared to single women, the proportion of non-wage workers such as unpaid family workers (4.3%) and self-employed people without employees (2.3%) was higher.
‘Generating profits’ by investing in women-friendly projects, women-friendly funds emerge around the world
Kim Min-jeong, Women News, 24.06.05
There are funds that return 26% in 6 months and 19% in 1 year. However, these funds invest in companies with high gender diversity or take shareholder action to increase gender diversity after investment. It is a ‘women-friendly fund’, a fund that increases gender equality and generates profits. (syncopation)
These funds have something in common. The idea is to invest in companies that have a high percentage of women among corporate executives, that is, gender diversity, or that have a female CEO.
Canada's BMO Women Leadership Fund invests in companies where the CEO is a woman or the proportion of women on the board of directors is more than 25%.
The U.S. SHE ETF is designed to represent the performance of companies committed to promoting and maintaining high levels of gender diversity across various levels of their organizations, including their boards of directors, executives, senior management, and workforce.
“Overthrowing the system by spreading rumors”… China charges activist who led ‘MeToo’ with ‘subversion of state’
Kim Seo-young, Kyunghyang Shinmun, 24.06.17
An activist who led the ‘MeToo’ (I, too, sue) movement in China was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of subverting state power. There is criticism that the Chinese authorities have used allegations of subversion of state power as a tool of oppression.
According to Reuters and the Washington Post on the 14th, China's Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced Huang Xueqin (35), who participated in the MeToo movement, to five years in prison on charges of subverting state power. Reuters reported this, citing Huang Xueqin's supporters and a copy of the trial verdict. Labor activist Wang Jianbing, 40, who was detained with her, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Huang Xueqin is said to be planning to appeal. A spokesperson for Free Xueqin & Jianbing, a group that has been campaigning for the release of the two men, told Reuters, “The sentences are longer than expected,” adding, “We do not believe such heavy sentences should be imposed, and they are completely unnecessary.” “We support Huang Xueqin’s will to appeal.”
Huang Xueqin is a journalist who played a key role in starting the MeToo movement in China in 2018. She worked as a reporter for Guangzhou's state-run media and came forward to reveal her experience of sexual harassment at work. She conducted a survey of female journalists and found that more than 80% of her 255 respondents had experienced sexual harassment.
Brazilian women protest against murder even if pregnancy is terminated due to sexual assault
Shin Da-in, Women News, 24.06.16
Thousands of women took to the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is because a bill to amend the law equating abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy with murder has been submitted to the Brazilian House of Representatives. If this amendment is passed, victims of sexual assault during abortion in Brazil could receive a higher sentence than rapists. (syncopation)
Protesters held up picket signs with phrases such as “Girls are not mothers” and “Rapists are not fathers,” demanding that the National Assembly repeal amendments to the criminal law and other amendments.
Local human rights groups explained that most of those who attempt abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy are victims of child sexual assault who discover their pregnancy later.
They pointed out that if classified as abortion and murder, the sentence would increase to 6 to 20 years and could result in a higher sentence than that of a rapist.
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