Korea
Most of the respondents to a survey conducted by the Korea Woman Journalist Club reported having experienced gender discrimination and were of the opinion that the problem is prevalent in the Korean newspaper industry.
Many of these journalists also reported discrimination with respect to story or beat assignments, including being told that certain stories were too dangerous or otherwise inappropriate for women to cover.
Some had been denied assignments or transferred out of departments because they were pregnant or had children at home; in other cases, male managers had rejected requests by seasoned female journalists for new and more challenging jobs on the grounds that they were too old—even those in their 30s. In addition, a disproportionate number of newspaperwomen had only been assigned to work “soft” news beats, which offer limited opportunities for career advancement.
Women are held to notoriously high standards for beauty in South Korea, which the country has the most cosmetic surgeries per capita in the world. A news anchor, Lim Hyeon-ju, defined her country's stringent beauty norms for women, by deciding to ditch her contact lenses and false eyelashes and wear glasses on air instead.
Lim Hyeon-ju
Male broadcasters in South Korea often appear on-air wearing glasses, but this was the first time a female presenter for a major TV network had done so, and it caused a tremendous impact on the country.
Lim added that she "needed a little courage" to wear glasses on air at first but has since become encouraged by her thousands of messages of support that she would continue to do so. She has regularly worn glasses in her broadcasts ever since.