A Seoul city councillor is criticised for saying a growing "female-dominant society" may be to blame.

A politician in South Korea is being criticised for making dangerous and unsubstantiated comments after linking a rise in male suicides to the increasingly “dominant” role of women in society.

In a report, Seoul City councillor Kim Ki-duck argued women’s increased participation in the workforce over the years had made it harder for men to get jobs and to find women who wanted to marry them.

He said the country had recently “begun to change into a female-dominant society” and that this might "partly be responsible for an increase in male suicide attempts”.

South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates among the world’s rich countries but also has one of the worst records on gender equality.

  • @EkybioEnglish
    77•1 month ago

    South Koera is really bad when it comes to gender issues. There is a whole movement of women who are fed up with the sexism they face, called “4B”, rejecting males outright as a response.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/4B_movement

    Also notworthy from the article:

    At the same time, a government think tank recommended that girls start school earlier than boys, so that classmates would be more attracted to each other by the time they were ready to marry.

    If your solution to a terrible work culture and people not having families is “to make the girls younger”, you have reached right-wing levels of thinly veiled insanity.

    • Flying SquidMEnglish
      9•1 month ago

      I guess at least they’re only thinking a year younger rather than ten? I’m trying to find something not terrible about this and it’s hard.