the anger exploding online reflects deeper societal shifts. She traces young men’s discontent to South Korea’s embrace of neoliberalism. “Before democratisation, when military regimes ruled Korea, the government could create stable jobs,” she says. “Up to the late 80s, men with only a college education could get jobs in good companies. The economy was expanding rapidly.” But by the mid-90s those men were being laid off and “when social hierarchy changes, groups used to more powerful or privileged positions will respond with intense emotional reactions to their loss of status and respect”

Seems to me there is a whole lot of anger simmering in general, and misogyny is one way of expressing this, especially when they status of the social groups are shifting in relation to each other. For some men, losing status is an existential crisis.

The same dynamic plays out in other countries, but also includes other targets like gay, foreigners, …

Of course politics doesn’t handle unexpected consequences and long term effects well and at worst will exploit it for their own gains instead of defusing this.