Women to blame for rising male suicides: South Korean politician
Last Updated on July 12, 2024 9:27 am
A politician has blamed women for the rise in male suicides in South Korea. He made dangerous and unsubstantiated comments linking male suicides with women’s ‘authoritative’ role in society. Seoul City Councilor Kim Ki Dak has come under a lot of criticism for this incident.
He said the increase in women’s participation in the workforce over the past few years has made it difficult for men to find jobs and girls for marriage. He said South Korea had recently started to change to a more female-dominated country and this, he said, might be “partially responsible for the increase in male suicide attempts”.
Among the wealthiest countries in the world, South Korea has the highest suicide rate. But the country’s record on gender equality is also poor. However, Councilor Kim’s comments are being criticized across the country and are the latest addition to the list of such comments by male politicians.
Kim, a South Korean Democratic Party politician, made such comments while reviewing a report on data related to suicide attempts on a bridge along the Han River in Seoul.
The report was published on the official website of the city council. It shows that the number of suicide attempts in the river was 430 in 2018. In 2023 this number stands at 2 thousand 35 people. And among these tryers, the rate of men increased from 67 percent to 77 percent.
Suicide prevention experts have expressed concern over Kim’s report. Song Han, a professor of mental health at Seoul Yonsei University, pointed out that making such claims without sufficient evidence is very dangerous and foolish.
He said, globally, male suicide rate is higher than female. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for under-50s in many countries, including the UK. Prof. Song said, the causes of men’s suicide attempts should be scientifically researched.
He said it was unfortunate that the councilor had framed it as a gender conflict. There is a substantial difference in the number of men and women in full-time work in South Korea. Women are disproportionately working in temporary or part-time jobs. The difference in salary is also decreasing. However, women still receive an average of 29 percent less money.
The anti-feminist movement has gained some momentum in recent times. Some frustrated women say efforts to improve women’s quality of life have suffered rather a bit. Councilor Kim’s report concluded that in order to break out of the female-dominated trend, people need to raise awareness of gender equality so that both men and women can have equal opportunities.
South Koreans are strongly criticizing the council’s report on social media. They termed it as unsubstantiated and discriminatory. One commented that whether they live in a parallel world or not.
The Justice Party called it an easy attempt to place the blame on women who are struggling to break free from gender discrimination in Korean society. They advised the councilor to withdraw his comments and instead focus on how to overcome the problem.
But Councilor Kim says it was not his intention to criticize the women-dominated society and he did not give his personal opinion thinking about the consequences. Still, his comments are seen as a series of unscientific and sometimes outlandish propositions about the most hotly debated issues in South Korean society. These issues include mental health, gender violence and the world’s lowest birth rate.
Last month, another Seoul councilor published a series of reports on the authority’s website. There women are encouraged to do gymnastics and pelvic floor exercises to increase birth rate. At the same time, a government think tank has suggested starting school for girls earlier than for boys so that classmates are attractive to each other and ready for marriage in the meantime.
Yuri Kim, director of the Korean Women’s Trade Union, said such comments show how strange South Korean society is. She complains that politicians and policy makers do not want to understand the problems faced by women. They prefer to make sacrificial vessels for women.
Blaming women for coming into the workforce will only perpetuate inequality in society, she said. Women now make up 20 percent of South Korea’s parliament and 29 percent of local councilors. The Seoul City Council says it has no process to verify what politicians publish on its official website. According to them, the contents are solely their responsibility and they will bear the consequences in the next election.