Since joining the OECD in 1996, South Korea has held an unenviable distinction – the highest gender pay gap among member countries – without interruption. Recent figures from the OECD show that South Korean women earn 31.2 percent less than their male counterparts, nearly three times the OECD average of 11.6 percent. Despite decades of economic development and modernization, the labor market remains rigid and structurally unequal, especially for women.
This gap is not due to complacency or cultural resignation. Korean women have long fought against discriminatory practices and social norms that push them to pause their careers to raise children, lock them out of senior positions, and undervalue their contributions. These struggles are increasingly visible in politics – especially as the country heads into its 2025 presidential election on June 3.
Yet, the political response has been lackluster at best. When asked in May about his gender-related policy pledges, Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung responded, “Why do you keep dividing men and women? They are all Koreans.” This dismissal ignores the reality of structural inequality and gender-based violence. Though proposals like the “Gender-Equal Employment Disclosure System” and “Stronger Criminal Penalties for Dating Violence and a New Victim Protection Order System” have been mentioned, the word “women” is conspicuously absent from the framing and intent.
Other candidates offer little hope. Conservative contender Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party and Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party have either remained silent or, in the latter’s case, actively advocated for dismantling the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family – an unfulfilled promise made by former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who had also expressed support for the ministry’s abolition.
Studies show that greater female representation in political leadership correlates with stronger advocacy for women’s rights and family-oriented policies. In Northern European countries like Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Finland – where women hold at least 45 percent of parliamentary seats – such progress is evident. In stark contrast, women occupy less than 20 percent of parliamentary seats in South Korea.
The gender divide in South Korean politics is stark. According to an April 2025 survey, support for the Democratic Party stands at 44 percent among women and 40 percent among men, while 36 percent of men and 31 percent of women support the People Power Party. This polarization is most pronounced among younger voters. In the 2022 presidential election, 59 percent of men aged 18–29 voted for Yoon, the conservative candidate, compared to just 34 percent of women in the same age group. This growing gender-based political divergence reveals a deeply fractured electorate.
Even institutional metrics show regression. The National Gender Equality Index declined from 66.2 in 2022 to 65.4 in 2023, as reported by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. More worryingly, perceptions of gender roles have hardened. In the 2023 Family Survey by the same ministry, the share of respondents who agreed that “men should be primarily responsible for the family’s financial support” rose from 22.4 percent to 33.6 percent. More Koreans also agreed with statements like “housework should primarily be done by women” (up from 12.7 percent to 26.4 percent) and “women should be the main caregivers of children and elderly family members” (12.3 percent to 21.5 percent).
South Korea can no longer afford to treat gender inequality as a peripheral concern. The structural disparities in pay and the persistent underrepresentation of women in politics are deeply interlinked. Younger generations – especially young women – are acutely aware of these inequalities and increasingly unwilling to accept them as the status quo. Issues of gender and social roles are not “women’s issues”; they shape economic productivity, national prosperity, social cohesion, political polarization, and ultimately, democratic legitimacy. The continued marginalization of women and lack of inclusive representation in decision-making spaces pose a growing threat to the health of Korean democracy. These inequalities hinder women’s full and equal participation in public life.
Democracies are strongest when they are inclusive – when every voice is heard and reflected in leadership. Unless South Korea’s political leaders commit to measurable reforms – such as increasing funding for gender-equal employment programs, caregiving policy, enforcing transparency in workplace pay structures, and setting gender quotas for political representation – they risk not only maintaining the status quo but actively eroding the democratic ideals of equality and representation. One can only hope that in the lead-up to the 2025 election, candidates will offer not silence or slogans, but serious, systemic solutions.