KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

The effective utilization of female human resources that account for half of the total population is required for enhancing national competitiveness. The fact that nations with the culture of promoting gender equality are characterized by higher levels of national competitiveness shows a strong correlation between the National Competitiveness Index and the Gender-related Development Index.

To effectively utilize male and female human resources, they should be given equal opportunities to fully display their potential. Moreover, the principle of hard work leading to success must be thoroughly observed in society as a whole. A fair and reliable social system is able to further improve national productivity and competitiveness. The Korean government has also recognized the importance of women as human resources and facilitated affirmative action to further boost women's empowerment.

This paper is designed to analyze progress in affirmative action that has been implemented since 2006 and to identify ways to enhance the effectiveness thereof, focusing on public sector. It also analyzed how affirmative action should be used to promote women's empowerment. As a result of the study, the following five measures to promote affirmative action were presented: 1) reinforce and revise the Act on the Operation of Public Sector; 2) introduce the employment target for women managers in public sector; 3) reformulate standards for employing women and redefine related organizations; 4) unify criteria for full-time workers in official statistics collection and reflect affirmative action in assessing the management of public sector to improve the effectiveness thereof; and 5) reinforce infrastructure by setting up women's affairs management divisions, gathering data and strengthening PR activities in the public sector.