ISDP’s Korea Center co-hosted a workshop on work-life balance in the Nordics and South Korea through a gender lens with the Korea Women’s Development Institute (KWDI)

February 25, 2025: On February 19th, ISDP’s Korea Center co-hosted a workshop on work-life balance in the Nordics and South Korea through a gender lens with the Korea Women’s Development Institute (KWDI).

The one-day event comprised three panels exploring the evolution of work-life balance in the Nordics and South Korea, as well as the impact of gender norms, family duties, and societal expectations on the countries’ efforts to promote gender equality and improve work-life balance.

With Dr. Jiso Yoon (KWDI) serving as moderator and Dr. Eunji Kim (KWDI) and Dr. Caroline de la Porte (Copenhagen Business School) as presenters, the first sessions concentrated on the development of work-life balance in the Nordics and South Korea. In the second session, which was moderated by Dr. Livia Oláh of (Stockholm University) and speakers Dr. Young Sook Kim (KWDI) and Mr. Niklas Löfgren (Family Economic Policy, Swedish Social Insurance Agency) delved deeper into the subject by discussing how the government funds are allocated to family-related policies in South Korea and Sweden as a means to improve work-life balance and gender equality. The last session, which was moderated by Maj Gen. (ret.) Mats Engman (ISDP), featured a broad debate on the similarities and differences between South Korea and the Nordic countries, as well as their success stories and new policy needs to improve the work-life balance in their respective countries. 

The recording of the first two sessions of the conference will be available on ISDP’s YouTube channel soon.