South Korea: Women-only university students oppose adding male students, other campuses join stir

Seoul

Protests by South Korean female students against admitting male students into a women-only university have now spread to some other institutions, prompting an anti-feminist backlash and political row.

In early November, the administration of the all-women Dongduk Women's University in Seoul announced plans that would potentially make it a co-ed institution. The plan was to start adding male students to two departments.

Watch: South Korea deep fake crimes scandal, protesting women call for strict action

The students went into protest on November 11, occupying the main building and accusing the varsity of not taking their views on the move.

The female students have been boycotting classes, with hundreds of them rallying in protest, prompting police action.

Amid all this ruckus, a man was arrested and two others were investigated for sneaking into the campus grounds.

"Although the university isn’t a perfect haven, we have felt free inside the university campus, and getting rid of a safe space where women can freely express their opinions goes against the founding purposes of the university," NextShark website quoted Lee Song Yi, co-chair of Dongduk’s emergency committee, as saying.

According to the university, the protest caused damages worth up to 5.44 billion won, or $3.9 million, said the report.

According to a report on the website universityworldnews.com, student councils from five of the seven women’s universities in South Korea held solidarity protests against co-education.

A similar protest is taking place in Sungshin Women's University in Seoul over its plan to admit international male students into a new department, as mentioned in its admission guidelines for 2025. The document said applications for the international school were 'open to all genders.' 

Also read: Korea's 4B movement attracts American women after Trump wins. What is it?

The female students are citing violence against women on campuses, as well as in the larger South Korean society, which is considered traditionally male-dominated. 

Writing for the Korea Herald, Choi Jeong-yoon said, "The debate over the schools' potential transition to coeducation has revealed broader issues facing women’s universities in South Korea, caught between the challenges of a demographic crisis and persistent gender bias."

And that bias was out on display already.

South Korean politician Lee Jun-seok from the Reform Party condemned the protests.

Jun-seok equated the protests to that of a disability group, claiming they are rooted in "radical feminism."

Also read: 'Female-dominant society behind male suicides', says South Korean Councillor

Man on Solidarity, an anti-feminist men's rights group, has said that it will hold a counterprotest in front of the university, with its leader Bae In-gyu calling the female students 'rioters'.

The Guardian noted in a report that the women’s universities were set up in the 20th century as a way of higher education for women in a patriarchal society.

It noted that when it comes to gender parity, South Korea is in the 94th position out of 146 countries as per the World Economic Forum.

There is only 20 per cent women's representation in parliament. Only 7.3 per cent of executives in the country’s 500 largest companies are women, the Guardian report noted.

(With inputs from agencies)