WOMEN ON COINS AND ON PREFERENCE LISTS

Hello and welcome to yet another edition of Press Perspective.

It's Wednesday August 13th here in Seoul.

I'm Min Sunhee.

It's that time of the week during which we touch upon a number of diverse social stories related to South Korea that made international headlines.

For this I have Kelly Kasulis Cho with The Washington Post.

Kelly welcome back.

It's been over a month since we last had the pleasure of your presence here.

I also have writer Colin Marshall with us.

Colin it's good to have you here.

Colin, a Korean-American disability rights activist has been depicted on a U.S. quarter dollar released this year as part of the American Women quarters program.

First, do tell us a bit about this program, and then, do touch upon the significance of the inclusion of the Korean-American activist.

And Kelly, what more can you tell us about Stacey Park Milbern and her contribution to the American society?

Moving forward, Kelly, this next topic is something we touched upon in one of our previous shows, but we're revisiting it given its relevance to changing social values here.

A poll by Gallup International shows more Koreans would choose to have a daughter over a son if they were to pick a gender.

First, do briefly walk us through this latest poll, and how do you explain this particular finding?

Colin, as I mentioned earlier, we touched upon the growing preference for daughters a while back in light of an article by The Economist.

That being said, do you suppose the growing preference for daughters may lead to unexpected social ramifications?

Kelly, the New York Times last week published an article highlighting yet again the gender debate here in South Korea.

First, what was the article about, and second, what's your takeaway?

And Colin, here now is the tough question.

Do you believe there is indeed a difference in the treatment of women by men here in Korea as compared to their counterparts in the West?

Also, how do you explain the heated gender debate here in Korea?

Meanwhile Kelly, Reuters points out the South Korean military has shrunk in size amid the fall in male population.

Do tell us more about this reality and its implications.

Colin, concerns over defense posture have reignited the debate over conscripting women.

How feasible is the plan of expanding the presence of female troops?

All right.