If Park Geun-Hye is elected South Korea's first-ever woman president on Wednesday, she will lead a country that is ranked below the likes of Suriname and the United Arab Emirates in gender equality.
South Korea's journey from war-torn poverty to Asia's fourth-largest economy has done little to break the male stranglehold on political and commercial power in what in many ways remains a very conservative nation.
Women occupy a mere 15 per cent of seats in parliament and, in the private sector, only 12 per cent of managerial positions at 1,500 major firms. They also earn nearly 40 per cent less than men -- the biggest pay gap among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development group of nations.
Against this bleak backdrop, Park and her supporters claim her elevation to the presidential Blue House would pave the way for greater rights for women in general.
"Everyone keeps talking about change and reform... but electing the country's first female president will be the biggest change and political reform we ever achieve," Park told a group of women leaders.
Read more at Channel News Asia, published 17 December 2012.
If Park Geun-Hye is elected South Korea's first-ever woman president on Wednesday, she will lead a country that is ranked below the likes of Suriname and the United Arab Emirates in gender equality.
South Korea's journey from war-torn poverty to Asia's fourth-largest economy has done little to break the male stranglehold on political and commercial power in what in many ways remains a very conservative nation.
Women occupy a mere 15 per cent of seats in parliament and, in the private sector, only 12 per cent of managerial positions at 1,500 major firms. They also earn nearly 40 per cent less than men -- the biggest pay gap among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development group of nations.
Against this bleak backdrop, Park and her supporters claim her elevation to the presidential Blue House would pave the way for greater rights for women in general.
"Everyone keeps talking about change and reform... but electing the country's first female president will be the biggest change and political reform we ever achieve," Park told a group of women leaders.
Read more at Channel News Asia, published 17 December 2012.