19,000 women gather in Seoul to criticize sexual discrimination

South Korean women gathered in Seoul Saturday called for a crackdown on spy cam pornography and the eradication of sexual discrimination, also directly criticizing President Moon Jae-in.

Nearly 20,000 women took part in one of the country’s biggest female-only protests, covering the one-kilometer-long four-lane roadway from Ihwa Crossroad to Hyehwa Station in Jongno District. The daytime high was around 29.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, but it felt hotter outside as there were not much clouds in the sky. Still, police said that as many as around 19,000 women attended the rally, more than the first protest (attended by about 10,000) and the second one (which had about 15,000).

Protesters, many of them wearing red shirts that signify anger, called for the arrest of male perpetrators and the appointment of females to high-ranking positions in the police. President Moon also became the subject of condemnation at the latest rally, apparently because of his comment at the Cabinet meeting Tuesday that it was not a “gender-biased investigation” to arrest a woman for secretly photographing a male colleague who posed nude for university art students. Protest organizers issued a statement, saying that “male President Moon Jae-in, who was able to win the support of women by campaigning as a feminist president, should apologize for his rash comments.”


eunji@donga.com