KOREA FOCUS

I visited the blog of Choi Hyeon-suk, a lesbian candidate for a parliamentary seat who aims to achieve Korea`s “coming out.” “Politics for 100 percent, not 1 percent, of the people,” her blog says. Time flew as I read her diary, the tag comments and other materials. It was fun as if going on a pleasant outing. One video shows Choi standing in City Hall Plaza, filled with joy and enthusiasm, as she makes a congratulatory message on World Women`s Day March 8.

She was all over the plaza, smiling broadly as if to play down the weightiness of her agenda to politically empower minorities. Her vibrancy and energy was unexpected perhaps, considering increasing concerns over the weakening feminist movement. With the abolishment of the family headship system (hojuje) in 2005, the achievement of a long-desired goal, various people have been saying various things — that the feminist movement has notably declined, that anti-feminism has grown stronger, or that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been drastically downsized to the Ministry of Gender Equality.

These verdicts are signs of the problems confronting feminism and are hardly surprising. Anti-feminism has always been in contention with the pursuit of feminism and a reduction of the size of the feminist movement indicates that the agendas have become diversified, and that smaller autonomous movements exist at the local level, in accordance with the nature and separate goals of each. Of course, downsizing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family into the Ministry of Gender Equality is a grave matter. Many are worried that the things feminism has achieved over the years will be diminished as well or even disappear. (A case in point is the revival of the system of giving bonus points in employment and other exams to males who have completed their military service.)

Feminism aims to grasp the ways of thought and behavior of the mainstream from the perspective of the minority. Most importantly, feminism is practiced by strengthening bonds between people who are trying to spread the idea of gender equality and by maintaining dialogue with those who oppose feminism. Chantal Mouffe stressed that “the political” refers to the state of conflict between two opposing ideologies that fundamentally cannot concur. Therefore, she said that rather than trying to get rid of the gap between the two ideologies it is important to politically think about their coexistence by gaining an honest perception of the difference between them.

In this respect the recent general elections revealed some very interesting points. It is highly significant that Park Yeong-hui, a long-time campaigner for the rights of disabled women, and a migrant Philippine woman were nominated by the New Progressive Party and the Create Korea Party, respectively as their proportional representatives. I do not think of these women merely as image boosters or tactical choices. The very fact that these women can stand on the center stage of national politics shows that ways of thinking are changing in Korea and that, either consciously or unconsciously, the “alternative perspective” offered by feminism has been gaining public approval.

As Park Yeong-hui said, it is no longer possible to separate activism from politics. The smaller the minority group the more important this philosophy will be. Park has gone from a disabled woman who never even asked “why?” to a “difficult and tough disabled woman activist” while Choi Hyeon-suk has made “coming out” a major political agenda. Both stress the sense of responsibility for those who support them.

When alliances with their supporters turn into activism and then politics, this is when we can overcome the limitations of representative politics to usher in politics that is created jointly. I am truly, deeply curious as to what kind of politics Park, Choi and the Filipino woman will forge and practice for not 1 percent but 100 percent of the people.