section_path: Political positions/Economic and social policy/Feminism
section_name: Feminism
paragraph_text: Feminism
  
  Some media outlets, such as the New York Times, have characterized Lee Jae-Myung as being hostile to feminism. On 8 November 2021, Lee distributed an article to participants of the National Election Commission stating, "If Lee Jae-Myung differentiates himself from the Moon Jae-in government's feminist-first policy, he can gain support from young men". On 10 November, Lee shared a post written by a supporter on DC Inside on his Facebook page, which read, "Candidate Lee Jae-Myung, please stop the 'feminism of madness' (of the Moon Jae-In government). If you promise to do so, I will vote with great pleasure".
  
  Progressive politician Sim Sang-jung criticized Lee Jae-myung as a clear " anti-feminist ". Ahn Cheol-soo, a centre-right conservative liberal, also criticized Lee Jae-myung's pledge on gender as " misogyny ".
  
  Lee Jae-Myung created a subsidy for teens to purchase period products in 2016 and advocated for allowing medical insurance to be used to cover the cost of abortion and other contraceptive procedures. In this regard, it received positive reviews from feminists. Time magazine described Lee's women policy as "progressive". He strongly opposes the "abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family " (여성가족부 폐지) supported by the right-wing conservative camp.
  
  Lee criticized Yoon Suk-Yeol's claim that structural gender inequality and misogyny do not exist in modern South Korean society and insisted on resolving structural gender discrimination. Lee has also called for a public apology for Yoon Suk-Yeol's comments that women are no longer discriminated against.
  
  During his presidential campaign in 2022, Lee Jae-myung pledged to strengthen the punishment for sex crimes and expand government support for single-person female households. He also pledged to introduce a sexist workplace report and supervision system to prevent gender discrimination in the workplace. Concerning women's health, he pledged to increase government subsidy of sanitary pads and promote free HPV vaccines to prevent cervical cancer, as well as changing the name of the "Department of Obsterics and Gynecology" to the "Department of Women's Health Medicine".