0:00 Why are men today becoming less and less willing to take the initiative to pursue women? If you ask this question in China, you'll get several different answers, but in the center of the universe, South Korea, men will give you just one sentence. I don't want to go to jail. The Korean National Police Agency announced a public safety regulation stating that a man cannot show romantic interest in a woman more than three times. And the definition of showing interest is extremely broad. Even inviting someone to eat or meet up already counts. If he tries more than three times, it can legally be considered harassment. That is why South Korea's gender conflict is considered one of the most extreme in the world. And some even more radical feminist organizations have shouted the slogan, eliminate all Korean men, and they
0:47 started acting accordingly. When these women discovered they were pregnant with a boy, they chose not to carry the pregnancy to term, using this non-confrontational method to fight against Korean men. If Japanese men win this war simply by adopting a zen-like attitude and giving up on the fight, then how are Korean men dealing with this battle? Hold the like button for 3 seconds. Today, we're going to talk about how feminism in South Korea spun out of control and became so extreme. In fact, in the beginning, the development of feminism in Japan and Korea followed the same pattern. Between 1960 and 1990, South Korea's economy soared, and that growth brought urbanization, fashion, progressiveness, and free love. This new mindset completely captivated the younger generation. And at first, Korean
1:34 women had a simple desire to be independent women of a new era, cutting ties with old traditions. It was a good idea. A lot of people supported it, both men and women. There is nothing wrong with wanting to liberate your mind. But then came the problem. When the economy crashes and the conflict between men and women worsens, what happens? South Korea went through the exact same thing Japan did. The 1997 Asian financial crisis left 1.3 million Koreans unemployed, and everyone was forced into extreme hyper competition. As we saw before, women simply cannot outperform men in an environment of brutal, relentless competition. So, in 1999, in an attempt to increase their competitiveness in the job market, Korean feminists filed a
2:20 lawsuit against military veterans, demanding the removal of the 5% hiring bonus given to men who completed mandatory service. They claimed it violated the constitution and discriminated against women. But everyone in Korea knows that almost every healthy man serves for 2 years. That bonus is welld deserved. At this point, people began to realize the Korean feminist movement was starting to go off course. But up to this point, the conflict was still limited to the job market, nothing catastrophic, except that the seemingly impossible demand, removing the military bonus, was approved in the year 2000. Then in 2001, when China entered the WTO and its economy began skyrocketing, Korea's key industries came under pressure, further worsening the Korean job market. And
3:07 with the 2008 financial crisis, unemployment became devastating. Internal competition became unbearable. Just like in Japan, Korean women lost badly in the professional field. But unlike Japanese women, Korean women are far more aggressive when it comes to verbal combat. So, in 2009, an all-out confrontation between both sides exploded. At the time, there was a TV show called The Chat of Beauties. This show ignited the fury of Korean men. One of the guests said, "Any man under 1.8 m (5' 11 in) is a loser." That sentence hit with the force of a Sievo assassination, a spark that triggered a firestorm. Male groups then decided to launch a complete retaliation against
3:53 feminist groups. Starting in 2009, both sides began public protests, tearing apart any remaining facade of civility. That's when Korea's gender conflict became openly visible. But up until then, everything was still happening offline with limited reach. What truly poured gasoline on the fire was the internet. From that point on, the gender war changed battlefield from offline to online. Extreme feminist groups like Mealier began to emerge. Their logo is that hand gesture. You know which one. Better not comment too much to avoid losing the Korean market. In the beginning, it was still something relatively normal, fighting against harassment and workplace discrimination. But as the conflict escalated, Megalia became increasingly radical. They began
4:40 promoting the selective abortion of male babies, and some actually did it. After all, their slogan had already been declared, "Eliminate all Korean men." To what extent did this go? They rode trains holding knives pointed at men. They took threatening photos of fathers and male relatives and posted them online. Even national heroes became targets simply because they were men. Their pictures were edited into offensive memes. When it comes to conflict between men and women, Korea takes the trophy. This level of extremism surpasses even many Western countries. And that tiny bit of gender conflict happening in China. Korea doesn't even consider that conflict. But the main point is who created Korea's current situation. The ones responsible
5:27 are the Chables, Korea's family-owned conglomerates. The pressure Korean youth face, both men and women, comes from the economic structure. The real enemy of young people isn't the opposite sex. It's the system of powerful business groups. But radical feminism ended up completely shifting away from that target. They redirected their hatred toward ordinary men who are just as normal as they are. And what was the result? Feminists had to confront the counteroffensive of Korean masculinist groups. How did Korean men defeat radical feminism? The answer? They used magic against magic. The feminists said, "You men discriminate against women in the job market. You don't open space. You don't let women enter companies." But when they saw a company with fewer
6:13 women than men, they said, "Look at this. Men are such losers." So masculinists decided to lay it all out. If we're going to be insulted anyway, we might as well ensure men get more benefits. You say, "I discriminate against women, then now I'll really discriminate." The feminists said, "Korean men are disgusting. Always sending messages to women. That's harassment." And that's where the three attempts rule was born. The men responded, "All right, then I won't message anymore." Feminists, Korean men aren't considerate at all in relationships. Men are okay, then let's break up. There are many examples like this. The masculinists began to adopt the logic of
6:59 radical feminism completely, turning everything back on them. Feminists said, "On TV shows, you can't make jokes about women. That's discrimination. Men replied, "All right, then you can't make jokes about men either. Otherwise, that's discrimination against men." At first, feminists saw men complying with everything and thought they had completely won. But over time, they noticed something felt wrong. For example, in variety shows, what was fun precisely because of the playful banter suddenly became stiff, dull, and uninteresting. Women began to feel bored. But the men had already stopped watching. And in the job market, men openly admitted, "Yes, we are discriminating. We'll compete to the
7:45 maximum." And women's difficulty in finding jobs increased again. The three attempts rule also became one of the major causes of Korea's population decline. In the radical feminist narrative, excellent women complained they received too many messages. Lower income women just wished men were a bit more attentive. And this rule made Korean men stop investing any effort in pursuing someone. Today, many already approached directly, asking, "Want to make a baby together?" If the woman says no, they move on to the next. If you ask why, they answer, "I'm respecting women." And since Korean men only want young and beautiful women, everyone's goals became the same. This strategy of using feminism against itself ended up
8:30 creating internal splits among women. Many women realized this and began opposing the rule. They said, "Three times is too little. You can't feel any romance. You can't see if the guy actually cares." But the masculinists countered, "You're being selfish, only thinking about yourselves. Have you considered the suffering of women who get harassed?" And then a curious situation occurred. Grassroots feminists wanted to revoke the rule they themselves had proposed. Elite radical feminists wanted to keep it. And the masculinists said, "We support not harassing women. We respect women." Additionally, feminists said, "Marriage is oppression for women." Men, okay, then I won't marry. Child birth
9:18 oppresses women. Men. All right, then I'll date without marrying and have no children. Marriage oppresses women. And men, perfect. I completely support that. They fought radical feminism with radical feminist logic. In the end, feminists realized that in the job market, they couldn't outperform men. In other issues, they also couldn't beat the male strategy and Korean men simply copied Japanese men. No marriage, no dating, no children. Everyone lives their own life. The punches thrown by feminists started hitting the air. In the end, all rights must pass the test of productivity. When the feminist movement cannot secure rights through rhetoric alone, it means the game of
10:04 radical feminism in Korea is reaching its end. Of course, the war between masculinists and feminists also involves Korean politics. So, it's better not to go too deep into that. The truth is that after so many years of ideological war, verbal attacks, absurd regulations, and radical movements, South Korea ended up showing us a very simple and at the same time very uncomfortable picture of what happens when the pursuit of equality stops being about equality and turns into a fight for advantage. It's almost poetic if it weren't so tragic. Because deep down when Korean men decided to use magic against magic, they weren't trying to destroy radical feminism. They were just tired. Tired of being treated as
10:50 villains for simply existing. Tired of trying to please people who had already condemned them in advance. Tired of living under rules that turn even the smallest gesture into a potential crime. Their response was simply to stop. Stop romanticizing. Stop chasing. Stop getting involved. And when one side of the equation steps out, the entire structure collapses on its own. And the most curious or ironic part is that this dynamic is far from being exclusive to Korea. If you look closely, the West is following an eerily similar script. There the narrative also started with a legitimate demand for rights, respect, and opportunities. And little by little, it shifted into a culture of hostility, moral competition, and a cold war between genders. There too we see women
11:36 accusing men of structural oppression while simultaneously demanding exclusive privileges. And we see men responding with a silent, increasingly widespread retreat, emotional, economic, and even familial. The phenomenon is global. Men are leaving the game. And what's striking is that both in Asia and in the West, the logic driving this chaos is exactly the same. Equality became currency. a flag each side raises when convenient and throws away when it isn't. Neither men nor women want to fall behind. What they really want is to win. And that's why every new rule, every new slogan, every new fight for rights feels less like a path toward balance and more like a strategy for unilateral advantage. When one side realizes it can use the narrative to
12:22 move two steps forward, it does. When the other realizes it can protect itself by withdrawing entirely, it withdraws. And in this endless tug of war, no one gets anywhere. The result, a war where no one wins. A society where everyone loses. And in the end, an entire generation that looks at love, marriage, and even basic coexistence with a kind of distrust that has never existed before. If in Japan the motto became I don't want to fight, in Korea it became I don't want to go to jail and in the west it's turning into it's not worth it. Three different languages for the same universal feeling. Exhaustion. The saddest or most ironic part is that the solution was never complicated. It was always simple. Respect, dialogue, shared
13:10 responsibility. But that of course doesn't generate clicks, political flags or trending topics. Conflict does. War does. the us versus them narrative even more. And maybe that's the real lesson of this whole story. When equality becomes a weapon, it stops being equality and becomes [music] just another form of power. In the end, whether we're looking at Seoul, Tokyo, New York, or Sao Paulo, the dynamic is always the same. One side accuses, the other retaliates, one side radicalizes, the other [music] withdraws. And the conversation, which should unite, becomes a trench. And while we fight for rights, we forget that none of them matter if no one wants to share life with anyone anymore. Share your thoughts about this [music] dilemma
13:56 in the comments. If you enjoyed the video, leave a like and subscribe to the channel for more videos like this. See you in the next video.
