Creating a women-friendly Seoul

"It's convenient," said 46-year-old Lee Kae-sung as she squeezed out of her car parked between pink lines. "Men actually give up these spots if I don't have a place to park."

Lee said she believes women remain at a disadvantage in Korean society and need such support.

South Korea has come a long way in recognizing equal rights for women. The country's Confucian beliefs had previously kept women mostly at home, restricting their roles at work. Female employees were obliged to serve coffee to their superiors and to visitors in addition to their regular work.

After the democratization wave in the 1980s, women started taking an active role in society, and laws banning discrimination against women, especially at work, came into place. Ironically, things may have been easier for women back then when there was more emphasis on being independent and work schedules were less intense.

“Competition has become fiercer at work, requiring a military-like loyalty to the company, and working hours are much longer,” said anthropology professor Cho Hae Joang of Yonsei University.

She said women today appear to be less aggressive about demanding their rights, calling the current situation a "slump" for women.

“The atmosphere in society these days is to leave the existing gender roles intact and simply say women need to be protected,” Cho said.

The existence of the Ministry of Gender Equality, called the Ministry for Women in Korean, reflects the continued need to support women in the job market and elsewhere.

Roughly 54 percent of South Korean women take part in the workforce, compared to 69 percent of American women, according to 2007 statistics from the ministry.

Still, some believe the money could still be better spent.

“I know high heels can get stuck between cracks, but I still think that kind of money should go to people who really need it,” said Lee Oun-hee, a homemaker. Lee had walked out of a public restroom in a subway station with a "Seou'’s Best Toilet" plaque hanging at the entrance.

Facilities are nice to have, but backward-thinking men need to be educated, Lee said.

Another user of the restroom, 26-year-old Choun Soo-young, thought differently.

"Of course women are still discriminated against. You would think women don't run coffee errands and things like that at work anymore. In reality, it's not true," the office employee said.

Choun said regardless of the price tag, the project is worth it. Her logic was simple. People's perceptions about women are not going to change overnight, so the government should at least do what it can.

"I think it's so much better to invest in something that helps us in a practical way," she said.

Read more about the status of women around the world:

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