Under the studio lights, Lee So-jeong looked straight at the typewriter and read the instructions for KBS's 21h news.

Lee appeared five times a week on the KBS News "News 9", after becoming the first woman to host a news program in a country with advanced economy and technology. but still heavy the idea of "respect men and disdain women".

The Korean television news has long followed a common pattern: the main lead is an older male MC, pretending to announce the important events taking place during the day, then the young woman More leads together will continue to the remaining gentle information. Many female editors choose to marry the son of a billionaire family, the owner of a large corporation in Korea, instead of continuing to pursue their career.

Lee's becoming the main host of KBS completely changed this pattern. At 43, she is even younger than the male MC leading her newsletter.

Lee said the female host in Korea is often referred to as a "portable vase". But Lee does not want to be such a "flower vase", she wants to change KBS's conservative style and attract young audiences with trendy updates, instead of like "giving lectures to viewers" like before.

The number of people who watched Lee's show, the nation's most-watched news, increased from 9.6% to 11% since she began participating in November last year.

Lee feels pressured to be a pioneer and understands that she cannot make any mistakes. "If I fail, it can make all female reporters feel disappointed. I have to do my best to give them more opportunities. Those responsibilities and burdens also put me under more pressure than the news. the radio's ", Lee shared.

After the war, South Korea rose to become the 12th largest economy in the world and a commercial and industrial power. However, traditional cultural values still have a profound influence on the country's society.

Korea's gender income inequality is the highest among developed countries, with women earning just 66% of men's income, while under the same pressure of work and parenting.

Many people also face barriers to career advancement when taking care of their children. Many qualified women even have to give up their careers.

The pressures have made more and more Korean women unwilling to marry to have children. As a result, the country's fertility rate dropped to 0.98 in 2018, too low compared to 2.1% to maintain a stable population.

This trend is no stranger to Lee, who stepped into television in 2003 and now has a 6-year-old son. "I have seen so many female journalists quit. I feel sad and upset," Lee said.

The challenge became a topic in a recent movie called "Kim Ji-young, born in 1982". Based on a feminist novel that once caused a backlash from men, the film is about a Korean woman who gets married, has to give up her job, and has difficulty taking care of her children.

Lee said she faced many difficulties when returning to work after a year of maternity leave. "I feel like I'm not doing a good job as a mother or a journalist. Then a senior sister called me in and advised me not to be too hard on myself. I hope young women try their best at work but Don't blame yourself for things that are out of control, "she said.

Korean culture began to change with the #MeToo movement in 2018 and KBS news director Kim Jong-myong decided to appoint the first major newsletter editor to catch up with the trend. of the times, the "unthinkable" in the 1980s.

Feminist activist Bae Bok-ju said Lee's role "reversed" gender norms in Korean society and was an "encouraging sign" that the country was on the right track.

"The transmission of important social and political news has long been considered the work of men while women have to stay out of the way. The fact that we have the female news anchor shows that Korea is moving forward to changing gender stereotypes that have existed for a long time, "Bae said.