Korea’s defense acquisition agency fails to meet legal standard for women representation

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration is falling behind legal standards for gender equality in all of its policy committees, according to agency data seen by The Korea Herald.

According to the data submitted to Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Boo Seung-chan’s office, two out of the agency’s three committees -- the committees for defense acquisition program promotion and airworthiness certificate review -- had no woman as of 2023. In the same year, the committee for defense technology security had just one woman.

Gender equality laws require that government offices and institutions avoid one gender constituting more than 60 percent of their policy committees. This measure, enacted in 2015, is intended to ensure balanced participation in the policy-making process. Although having no more than 60 percent of one gender is mandatory, there are currently no legal measures in place to enforce compliance.

For the three years spanning 2021-23, none of the six members of the agency’s defense acquisition program promotion committee, which is headed by the Minister of National Defense, were women.

The other two committees for airworthiness certificate review and defense technology security saw a decrease in women’s representation over the same period.

In 2021-22, one out of three or 33 percent of the members of the airworthiness certificate review committee were women. In 2023, the committee had no woman at all.

Similarly to the defense technology security committee, the percentage of women met the legally required minimum of 40 percent in 2021-22, with two out of five members being women. In 2023, that rate dropped to one out of five at 20 percent.

The agency’s policy advisory committee formed this year also has only two women among its 12 members, which translates to 17 percent in representation of women.

“Gender equality in all areas of our society is a principle under law, and the defense industry should not be an exception,” Boo told The Korea Herald. “The DAPA must take immediate steps to meet the legally set standards and include more women in its policy committees to achieve a balanced participation.”