British Ambassador Corrin Crooks decided not to attend the Global Korea Forum on September 3, the Korea Times reported Tuesday, the reason was the fear of the lack of gender diversity among the invited speakers. All 19 of the speakers, including Crooks, were men, according to a previously published list of speakers for the Forum organised by the Unification Ministry.
Colin Crooks, Korean media
The Global Korea Forum has been held annually since 2010 to provide a platform to discuss academic issues such as international security and Korean reunification policy, the Seoul News reported Tuesday, the organizers of the event will invite domestic and foreign experts on the Korean peninsula and some diplomatic missions in South Korea to participate.
The British Embassy in Seoul gave no details of Crooks’s refusal to attend, Yonhap reported Tuesday, but it said“The embassy supports the values of gender equality and believes the event is likely to be more successful when participants share different views”. The unification ministry later said it respected Crooks’s decision, adding that the composition of the invited speakers was not intentional. “We tried to reach out to diverse experts, regardless of gender or nationality, but for a number of reasons female experts could not participate, so the team was inevitably led by male experts,” the official said
In the more detailed information disclosed by the South Korean newspaper joongang Ilbo on the 29th that“Female experts can not participate,” “Academic conferences, university lectures, overseas travel and other personal reasons” are the reasons why female experts“Can not accept the invitation of the Global Korea Forum”.
In fact, it’s not the first time the forum has been mired in gender controversy in recent days. NK News reported last week that the all-male group is often criticized in South Korea and other countries, the list of speakers of the forum was immediately met with strong opposition from scholars and journalists. “Despite the presence of several people I like and respect, I still want to know how someone could arrange such a list,” a professor at Busan National University wrote on the social media platform. A user whose profile was labeled“Seoul-based freelance journalist” also asked: “Can’t you find a female expert?”
According to various media reports, as the public opinion ferments, the event organizers added two men and a female spokesman, a professor from the Korean Yonsei University. However, a reporter from Global Times checked the official website of the Forum on the evening of the 29th and found that the list of speakers was updated again. Currently, there are 26 guest speakers, including 7 women. In addition, the Ministry of Unification said in an interview with the media that an equal proportion of female and male experts would be invited to a seminar scheduled for November.