VP Harris meets S. Korean women leaders to discuss gender equality

U.S. Vice-President, Kamala Harris met with South Korean women leaders from various walks of life in Seoul on Thursday.

The meeting was to discuss gender equality, a key focus of the Joe Biden administration’s domestic and foreign policies.

Hours after flying here from Japan, Harris held a “groundbreaking women roundtable’’ at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador in Central Seoul.

At the residence, she displayed her excitement at the stories of Korean women having achieved parity with male rivals in their respective fields.

The participants included figure skating champion Kim Yuna, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung and Baik Hyun-wook, head of the Korean Medical Women’s Association.

However, gender equality has been a policy priority for the Biden administration as seen in its release in last year of the country’s first-ever national strategy to achieve gender equality, which includes ambitious goals for women not only in the U.S. but also abroad.

Later in the day, Harris plans to travel to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.

Her trip there comes amid a rise in tensions caused by two rounds of North Korean missile launched earlier this week.