Young-Im Lee

This chapter analyzes the first female presidents of South Korea and Taiwan, Park Geun-hye and Tsai Ing-wen, focusing on each one’s biographical background, term as party chairperson, presidential bid, and election results. While acknowledging that candidates’ gender is not the most decisive factor for the voters, this analysis shows that gender was relevant to how each woman received her party’s nomination and framed her campaign. Neither Park nor Tsai identifies herself as a feminist even though they were both trailblazers in the male-dominated field of politics. Both candidates still used the “positive” gender stereotypes about women to curry support when their parties were suffering from declining popularity. For better or worse, the fact that they were women opened up a window of opportunity for them to rise through the ranks in their party when there seemed to be no viable alternatives. They earned credibility and legitimacy by successfully turning things around as their respective party’s chair. The fact that both were subject to misogynistic comments and that their campaigns even attempted to use the “first woman” frame to appeal to voters shows that their gender was not invisible.

Lee offers an overview of women’s numerical and substantive political representation in South Korea. Since women’s suffrage in 1948 and electing the first female legislator the following year, the share of women in the National Assembly has grown steadily and slowly. This chapter briefly examines how women gained suffrage before outlining the trend in numerical representation of women at the national level. After discussing the reasons for the adoption and effects of the gender quota and comparing the political and biographical background of the elected legislators, the chapter assesses the impact of women’s presence in the national legislature by examining all the women-friendly bill sponsorship activities between 2000 and 2016.