Members of women’s rights groups carry flags as they arrive at a rally calling for greater gender equality in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Saturday, to mark International Women’s Day. Newsis
Korea marked this year’s International Women’s Day with rallies, awards and renewed political pledges over the weekend, underscoring both the gains women have made and the persistent gender gaps in the country.
Korean Women’s Association United hosted the 41st Korean Women’s Rally in central Seoul on Saturday, turning the Gwanghwamun area into a purple-hued sea of celebration and protest ahead of International Women's Day on Sunday.
This year’s Women’s Movement of the Year award symbolically went to all women who advocated for gender-equal democracy during the rallies calling for the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, with organizers rolling out a red carpet for participants to pose with bouquets and mock trophies.
Women of all ages attended in the event’s dress code of purple, long been used globally as a suffragette color symbolizing justice and dignity. It also became the trademark hue of Korea’s feminist movement in recent years, from annual women’s marches to #MeToo protests.
Participants hold banners reading "Complete the revolution of light" during a gender equality rally in central Seoul, Saturday, the day before International Women’s Day. Yonhap
Participants chanted, “Complete the revolution of light!” and “Gender equality is the completion of democracy!” The first referred to the main slogan of the impeachment rallies, which also featured calls for antidiscrimination and equal rights, while the latter reflected the backlash against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which had moved to abolish the gender ministry and scale back gender equality policies.
More than 50 booths were set up by civic groups, including Korea Women’s Hot-Line, Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center and Rainbow Action Against Sexual-Minority Discrimination, offering counseling, petitions and campaign materials.
Reading out the March 8 Women’s Declaration, participants urged the National Assembly to enact a comprehensive antidiscrimination law, guarantee dignity and rights for gender violence survivors, secure real equality in labor and reproductive rights, and push for constitutional revision and greater political representation for women.
Choi Mal-ja, last year’s Women’s Movement of the Year award recipient, took the podium as a speaker. Choi was convicted of inflicting serious injury in 1964 after biting the tongue of a man who tried to rape her, only to be found not guilty in a retrial last September when prosecutors finally acknowledged her act as a self-defense.
Source: Korea Times News
