Photo: Jeong Eun-gyeong (left) on a campaign trail for Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign. Credit: Democratic Party of Korea.
As of June 30, the Lee Jae-myung 이재명 administration has nominated heads for 17 out of 19 cabinet ministries. So far, five of them are headed by women: Jeong Eun-gyeong 정은경 at the Ministry of Health and Welfare 보건복지부, Kang Seon-u 강선우 at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family 여성가족부, Song Mi-ryeong 송미령 at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs 농림축산식품부, Lee Jin-suk 이진숙 at the Ministry of Education 교육부, and Han Seong-suk 한성숙 at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups 중소벤처기업부.
If Lee appoints at least one woman to the remaining two posts - Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport 국토교통부 and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 문화체육관광부 - the cabinet will consist of 31.6% women. Lee pledged during the campaign that he would endeavor to have at least 30% of his cabinet be women.
The Moon Jae-in 문재인 administration was the first South Korean government to set 30% women as the baseline for cabinet appointments, based on the average percentage of women cabinet members in OECD nations at the time. The Moon administration achieved its goal by appointing women to head six out of 18 cabinet ministries, doubling the previous record of three under the Kim Dae-jung 김대중 and Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 administrations. Moon also appointed the first woman chief of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs 국가보훈부, which was elevated to be a cabinet-level ministry after his term in 2023.
On the other hand, Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열 - who became president in part by pandering to toxic sexism and vowing to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality - initially appointed three women ministers out of 18, a step back from his predecessor. After significant criticism, Yoon appointed two more women to his cabinet in December 2023.
