S. Korea sees decrease in female executives at state-run firms, organizations

The number of female executives at government-run organizations and companies has decreased by 10.7 percent since 2022, a report by a corporate analysis firm showed Thursday.

Leaders Index said it analyzed data from the state-run All Public Information In-One system and found that 741 executives at public companies and organizations were women in 2024. This accounts for 20.6 percent of all executives at the state-run bodies.

The female portion among higher-ups at state-run groups dropped from 830 in 2022, which had accounted for 22.9 percent of all executives. Just 8 percent of all chiefs at the government companies and organization were women, down from 9.4 percent two years ago.

Of 74 standing auditors at the public organizations, only four were women.

Public organizations and companies hired more women than before between 2022 and 2024, but at a much slower pace compared to between 2019 and 2021. In 2024, 152,362 women worked in such institutes, up 1.3 percent from 150,432 in 2022, but the number of female employees had increased by 11.1 percent from 2019 to 2021.

South Korea's female employment rate has risen significantly in past years, but reports indicate that executive positions at companies are still predominantly men. Civilian firms have lower proportions of female executives compared to the public sector, but the private sector has been gradually increasing the ratio of women in the highest positions.

Unico Search, a local headhunting firm, researched the country's top 100 companies in terms of sales and found that 463 of their executives were women in 2024. This accounts for 6.3 percent of all executives, showing an upward trend from 3.5 percent in 2019, 4.1 percent in 2020, 4.8 percent in 2021 and 5.6 percent in 2023.