All posts tagged: Feminism

#MeToo in South Korean Politics: An Update.

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Cover photo by 불편한용기 via Sisa Journal In 2018, I talked to Arte’s “Tous les Internets (French) | Alle Internetze” (German) about the current state of affairs in South Korea: The spycam crimes, social hierarchy, Soranet, and much more. (You can read about that more in detail here). In 2018, Ahn Hee-Jung, then governor of South Chungcheong Province and presidential hopeful, was accused, eventually found guilty, and sentenced to 3 years and 6 months for rape and sexual harassment (BBC Korean). The similarities between Ahn and Park are uncanny: Both governors and presidential hopefuls endorsed by their “progressive” party. Both seen as supporters of women’s rights. Both ousted for their hypocrisy from their secretaries, who had been sexually harassed and/or raped while they put on their façade and championed women’s rights outside. Ahn, now a convicted rapist, made the news again this week when it surfaced that President Moon Jae-In sent flower to Ahn’s late mother’s funeral – the flowers bearing Moon’s title as President (The Hankyoreh). The accusations made by Kim Ji-Eun, his then …

“My Body My Choice” – My Story of Reproductive Privilege

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Tomorrow I’m getting the second IUD (Intra-Uterine Device) of my life. Something going into my uterus is as personal as it gets, but as a researcher who should be starting a PhD on Sexual Health and the Internet in South Korea (one of the cases being the IUD) next year, it is, as we say: “The Personal Is Political”. With under 20mg of levonorgestrel, the Kyleena (and the Skyla/Jaydess) emits 1/10 the amount of hormones than do oral contraceptives. They’re cost-effective (130€ in NL and FR), and once they’re installed, they last five years – bringing their monthly cost to a mere 0.5€. For many women, they come with fewer side-effects than does the Pill. It is particularly effective for young and sexually active women because of its low failure rate and because of the convenience it offers. IUDs are offered fully free of cost to women under 21 years of age in NL and FR. *  *  * In France and in the Netherlands, I am free to choose a contraceptive method. I am …

Owner of Soranet, South Korea’s Biggest Porn Hub, Taken into Custody After Three Years on the Run

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The Prosecutor’s Office states: “The [site’s] administrators illegally earned profits totalling tens of billions of KRW (approx. millions of USD/EUR) over the past thirteen years” An owner of Soranet, a man identified as Mr. Hong, was taken into custody on June 18th, 2018. He is one of four owners, two couples identified as the Hong family and the Song family. The owners are accused of not only distributing pornography, but also engaging in its production. They have been on the run, living in New Zealand and Australia, since the South Korean police launched an official investigation back in 2015. They’ve also appealed and lost the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s decision to confiscate their passports and to stop them from re-applying for one. The remaining three owners will be served subpoenas for investigation. The illegal website, which ran from 2003 to 2016, is known for brokering underage prostitution and drug trafficking, violence against women including genital mutilation and conspiracy in gang rape, defamation, and extortion (Read more about my account of Soranet’s activities here). The site …

Anti-Spycam Rally Shakes Up Seoul (by dotface)

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On June 9th, 30,000 women gathered in the university district of Hyehwa to protest against the biased investigation practices of the South Korean police. The rally’s roots go back to May 2018, when a male nude model’s picture was illegally circulated on a single website. Within a few days, the woman who uploaded the picture was arrested. This incident is in stark contrast to the thousands of spycam videos and upskirt pictures (“molka”) of women which are taken by men and circulated through hundreds of social media and web channels, and which are chronically dismissed by the police as “beyond our scope of investigation”. The protesters are seen chanting slogans and carrying pickets such as “No Dick, a Criminal” and “A Dick, Not a Criminal”, “The South Korean Government Is a Co-Conspirator In Raising Sex Criminals” and “My Everyday Life Is Not Your Porn”.

[News] South Korean women rise up: An interview with Nayoung Kim

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Nayoung Kim is a feminist academic and attorney whom I’ve had the privilege to meet and discuss feminist issues with. An unapologetic feminist, Nayoung has worked towards ending sexual and physical violence against women for nearly a decade. In this interview, you can find all the key issues South Korean feminists face today, from restricted reproductive rights (abortion being illegal), digital sex crimes (including revenge porn), the backlash against feminism in South Korea, and much more. “In every sector of South Korean society, women are assigned second-class citizenship and deprived of equal opportunity. South Korea has the highest gender pay gap among OECD countries, with women earning 63 per cent of what men earn in 2017. Only 56.2 per cent of women are employed. Women are grossly underrepresented in positions of power, holding only 17 per cent of seats in the National Assembly and 10.5 per cent of management positions in the private sector.” “In 2016, a study of 1,050 men revealed that 50.7 per cent had paid a woman for sex. This is a conservative estimate. K-Pop is …

[Documentary] Feminism Reboot (2018)

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For this documentary on the feminist momentum, Korea Exposé has gathered several key actors in South Korean feminism, including: Famerz Femidangdang Femimonsters Feminism book cafe “Doing” Flaming Feminist Action Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center Shootingfemi Lee Min-Kyeong, author of Reclaim the Language and Reclaim the Heritage Im So-Eun Lee Eun-Saem Park Seihoi Director: Do Youjin Story and narration: Kang Haeryun Cinematography: Choi Jieun & Do Youjin Motion Graphics: Lee Subin  

ARTE – Tous les internets – En Corée du Sud, les femmes à l’avant garde de #MeToo

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Alternative title: Sind die Südkoreanerinnen der #MeToo-Bewegung einen Schritt voraus? / Les sud-coréennes sont-elles à l’avant-garde de #MeToo?   I had the honour to speak and share my research with Ann-Marie Kornek, a journalist specialising in technology and social issues at ARTE. Covering topics such as molka (spycams used for illegal porn), Soranet (the porn hub which hosted a number of illegal activities including illegal porn), and power harassment/rape (involving 2017 presidential candidate Ahn Hee-Jung and internationally acclaimed filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk), the episode explains what has been happening in Korea in the past three years, and what has changed (and is still changing). Kudos to the team at ARTE for their research, and for going through the graphic images of molka videos. I particularly appreciate how Korean names and words are written and spoken accurately (I’ve heard my share of Kim Young-Ooon and Zamzoong). Link to video ARTE: https://info.arte.tv/fr/en-coree-du-sud-les-femmes-lavant-garde-de-metoo  Youtube: https://youtu.be/0LyicbDm6Qg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/touslesinternets/videos/1796628110643850/?t=251 Twitter: https://twitter.com/lesinternets/status/992076098346381313

#MeToo in Korea: Professor Resigns Following Student Protest (SBS News)

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Featured image and video clip by SBS News About 2,800 students at Ewha Woman’s University occupied their campus this Thursday (29 March) chanting pop singer Younha’s hit song “Comet” (혜성), casting light with their cellphones, and waving purple balloons. The following day (30 March), one of the a professor had resigned. A week ago, the #MeToo movement took to universities across South Korea. Accusations quickly surfaced against two professors at the College of Music and at the College of Art (one specialising in orchestral music and the other in sculpture), for having harassed not one but several students. Ewha students organised a taskforce which led to the mass protest on Thursday. Students also carried on the tradition initiated at the Gangnam Murder – using Post-Its to voice their anger. Post-Its in the video are seen to state phrases such as “You’re not a professor, you’re a sex criminal” “Don’t cast dirt on our music. Stop making music” “Out with sex criminals” “I don’t want to learn anything from you” “Go! To jail!” “Let this crime …

“For Vagina’s Sake” (2018)

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“For Vagina’s Sake” is a documentary where women of all ages from South Korea and beyond gather to discuss what it means to menstruate, how to menstruate well, and why it has been taboo to discuss an everyday event. The film also shows the ingenious ways women have dealt with menstruation and menstruation products. Kim Boram, a first-time director, wanted to find the answers to a simple question: “Why do we use different menstrual products?”. Throughout her two-year shooting period, Kim learns how different women use different products: the sanitary pad reigns supreme in South Korea, while a Dutch woman has never used a pad but instead has used tampons since her first bleeding, one woman has not had her period for years thanks to an IUD, and others discover the menstrual cup. Women of different ages talk about how they dealt with or currently deal with their own periods. Older generations of women in South Korea tell youngsters how they used to deal with cloth pads: soaking the in their own urine, which also …

Millennial South Korean Feminist Movements – Press List

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“They say it’s a shame to be living in this strange country” “But we who fight are not ashamed of anything” (Picture from Womenlink) Here is a list of material covering millennial South Korean feminist movements. As a researcher, I am trying to compile a comprehensive list of academic literature, verified news articles and noteworthy opinion writing, and art projects on this topic. Please let me know if you feel something else should be added to this list at iamemilysingh@gmail.com 1. On Movements (Megalia, Womad, and others) Haengdonghaneun Megalia (Megalia in Action) 행동하는 메갈리아  (Anonymous, 6 Sept 2015 – 4 Dec  2015) http://timetree.zum.com/123516 Korean Feminism Reins In the Collective Power of the Internet  (Emily Singh, 8 Jan 2016) https://realkoreans.com/2016/01/08/korean-feminism-reins-in-the-collective-power-of-the-internet/ Megalia: South Korean Feminism Marshals the Power of the Internet (Emily Singh at Korea Exposé, 29 July 2016) https://koreaexpose.com/megalia-south-korean-feminism-marshals-the-power-of-the-internet/ “Megalia” seonghyang ttara womadeu, ladism deungeuro bunhwa (Megalia Splits into Groups Such As Womad And Ladism) – Retrieved from archive.fo ‘메갈리아’ 성향 따라 워마드·레디즘 등으로 분화 (Kim Seo-yeong at Kyunghyang Daily, 8 July 2016) https://archive.fo/20160724175513/http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201607082152005&code=940100#selection-1613.0-1613.27 In Defense …