Sung Jae-gi (; ; September 11, 1967 – July 26, 2013) was a South Korean men's rights activist. Sung was the leader of various masculinist and anti-feminist organizations, including the Association of Anti-Feminism and Male Liberation, Association for the Abolition of the Ministry of Women, and Man of Korea. Sung also ran a shelter for homeless men, male victims of violent crime, teenage runaways, and gay and transgender men. Near the end of his life Sung was reportedly up to ₩100 million in debt. On July 25, 2013 he posted on the Man of Korea website his intention to commit suicide. The next day, Sung jumped from the Mapo Bridge in Seoul. His body was found four days later.

Career

He spent his early twenties as an insurance salesman, briefly managing his own business. In 2006, he operated a night club in Daegu. During the early 2000s, Sung joined the South Korean men's rights movement and campaigned for a variety of causes. In 2006, he founded the Association of Anti-Feminism for the Liberation of Men (), and in 2007 he founded the Association for the Abolition of the Ministry of Women (). In 2013, both groups had several thousand members. Sung founded masculinist organization Man of Korea.

Positions

In 1999, Sung opposed abolishing the South Korean military's bonus-points system () and military veterans' compensation. In October 2001 the system was found unconstitutional and repealed, with Sung advocating its reconstruction. He publicly disparaged women and worked to abolish

menstrual leave Menstrual leave is a type of leave where a woman may have the option to take paid or unpaid leave from her employment if she is menstruating and is unable to go to work because of this. Throughout its history, menstrual leave has been associate ...

and other policies for working women. Opponents said that Sung's work to support the rights of men was misplaced because South Korea is a male-dominated society. On October 3, 2012, he controversially posted on his Twitter account: "You orean womenshould be ashamed of yourselves. Why are you making such a fuss about menstruating when the nation's birthrate is the lowest in the world?"Menstrual leave - an entitlement men reject
Koreatimes 2012.10.30 Sung opposed restrictions on access to internet pornography until his death, arguing that it reduced the number of sex crimes. Sung ran a shelter and job placement agency for homeless or unemployed men, including young male runaways, gay, and transgender men. During the early 2010s, he was an activist for the abolition of women-only facilities.여성전용 흡연구역?… “남성 역차별 아니냐” 시끌
동아일보 2013.04.04

Suicide

Preparation

In early July 2013, Sung's wife briefly left him. On July 25, he declared himself a victim of reverse discrimination and announced his intention to commit suicide. Sung jumped from the Mapo Bridge into the Han River, leaving a note saying that he would risk his life to raise ₩100 million (about $94,000) in donations to pay debts owed by Man of Korea. He posted on the organization's website, "Dear citizens, I plan to jump off a bridge over the Han River. I hope you give us a last chance. Please lend us 100 million won which will be used for paying back debt and seed money of our organization". Sung's announcement was met with indifference. "Ridiculous. He is begging for money and he's holding himself as a hostage", read a post on the Man of Korea homepage. Another read, "Threat fund-raiser? That's creative. Just jump off the bridge like you promised". Sung later said that he did not intend to commit suicide, but wanted to draw attention to his group; he would jump, whether or not he received the money. He posted on Twitter, "Why do you all assume that jumping off the bridge will kill me? I have complete confidence in my survival", and later said: "Please regard my actions as 'trying to be less pathetic' while asking for money". Some Man of Korea members and other supporters were concerned about the jump.

Jump

On July 26, 2013, Sung took a taxi from Yeongdeungpo to

Mapo District Mapo District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Mapo has a population of 381,330 (2015) and has a geographic area of 23.87 km2 (9.22 sq mi), and is divided into 24 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Mapo is located in ...

with Han Seung-oh, Lee Ji-hun and five other people. Although he was accompanied by two lifeguards, it had rained heavily that day and the day before. At 3:00 pm, Sung jumped from the Mapo Bridge. Rescue efforts began at about 3:20 pm, and a broad search of the Han River was conducted. Although about 30 firefighters and a helicopter searched near the Mapo Bridge, he was not found by 9 pm Friday and the search was suspended for the night. About 50 firefighters from the Yeongdeungpo Fire Station, one helicopter and three rescue boats continued the search Saturday and Sunday; six ambulances stood by.Activist missing for 3rd day
koreatimes 2013.07.28 Sung's body was found near the south end of the Seogang Bridge, connecting

Yeouido Yeouido (), also Yohido, is a river island on the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It is Seoul's main finance, media, and investment banking district. It is large and has a population of 32,674 . The island is located in the Yeongdeungpo Dis ...

to northern Seoul, on July 29. He was barefoot, and his white shirt and dark-gray pants were what he was wearing when he jumped. On August 1, Sung was cremated and his ashes buried in a crypt in the Gyongsan Park Cemetery (경산 공원 묘원) in Namchon (남천면), Gyeongsan,

North Gyeongsang North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...

. There was a reported month-long increase in copycat suicides in August 2013.

References

External links

Sung Jae-gi's Twitter account

Man of Korea Webpage/ 남성연대
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sung, Jae-gi 1967 births 2013 deaths Suicides by jumping in South Korea Suicides by drowning in South Korea Male critics of feminism Masculists People from Daegu South Korean agnostics Men's rights activists Yeungnam University alumni Antifeminism in South Korea South Korean LGBTQ rights activists