Thousands of South Korean women have abandoned men by shunning sex and marriage

Article here. Excerpt:

'South Korea's fertility rate – the average number of babies born to each woman – is just 0.8, provoking profound fears for its future, since this is far below the 2.1 level needed to ensure population stability without immigration.

The nation has become the most striking example of the global decline in birth rates, a decline that has left two-thirds of people living in countries with fertility rates below this critical level. There is concern that half of South Korea's rapidly ageing population will be pensioners within three decades, making its population the oldest in human history.

But it is South Korea where the problem is greatest. Many of the concerns facing its women are familiar to us in Britain, such as soaring housing costs, workplace sexism and the trade-off between a career and motherhood.

'It is really hard to survive as a woman here,' she said. 'Our movement is not about rejecting men – I don't want to spend my limited time alive hating men – but against a patriarchal system. It's about cherishing women. And it is ok not to have a man.'

4B is shorthand for four Korean words that start with bi – meaning 'no': bihon (rejection of marriage), biyeonae (no dating), bisekseu (abstaining from sex) and bichulsan (refusal of childbirth). Many other women declare themselves 'bihon', denoting their choice to remain single forever.

One legacy, however, is that feminism has become a highly-charged label – with a majority of young men bitterly opposed to the concept, since they believe they are the victims of discrimination.

Conservative politicians have won support from young men by campaigning on aggressively anti-feminist platforms, blaming them for the low fertility rate, while young women vote overwhelmingly for more liberal parties.

'Women believe they are way short of where they should be and most men tend to view women as fear-mongering, thinking they are blaming other people for their problems and not viewing reality objectively,' said Oh Chan-ho.

Several male students, however, accused women of 'playing the victim' and demanding more rights than men. 'They push it too far and want to be above us,' said one. 'Feminists hate men,' said 20-year-old Chan, bluntly.'