Female vice speaker

When Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea becomes first speaker of the 21st National Assembly, he will likely be flanked by the nation’s first female deputy speaker.

Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the same party is the sole candidate for the deputy speaker post — afforded to parties with minimum 20 seats to qualify as negotiating bloc. It will be a first time in the Assembly’s 73-year history.

Korea has had female leaders at the top, including a president and former Rep. Na Kyung-won, who was the floor leader for the predecessor to the United Future Party. But there has not been a female vice speaker, nor a speaker. When approved at the first plenary session of the new Assembly in early June, Kim will begin that symbolic and significant post.

She has shown that she grasps the historic task. In declaring her bid, the pharmacist-turned-lawmaker said, “My entry to the National Assembly speaker’s office will shatter a glass ceiling in male-dominated politics.”

Previous female legislators had failed to do this. Kim should consider the elements that have taken her to the “first” status — the need for equitable representation for diverse constituents.

The increasing portion of female legislators facilitates the fostering of such an environment.

In the 21st National Assembly that will be inaugurated on May 30, 57 are female lawmakers, or about 19 percent in the 300-seat Assembly. This is an improvement over the 17 percent of female legislators in the 20th National Assembly. However, it is less “noticeable” when we compare it to the 28 percent of female legislators in other OECD nations in 2017.

Kim’s three decades or more of background in civic movement, including Womenlink and the Korea Women’s Association United, raise anticipation for her performance to improve women’s rights and gender equality. That traction and her previous terms should have prepared her for this opportunity to turn symbolism into substance in the new Assembly.