The women-only spots had been instated in 2009 after a spate of violent crimes in basement car parks. But city officials say such spaces aren't necessary anymore and will be converted to family parking spots.

South Korea may have emerged as a cultural and technological powerhouse, but in its rapid transformation into one of the richest countries in the world, women have been left trailing. They are paid on average a third less than men, giving South Korea the worst gender pay gap of any rich country in the world.

Data obtained by the BBC from South Korea's National Police Agency shows that since the stalking law came into force last year, 7,152 stalking arrests have been made, but with only 5% of the suspects detained.

"You'd be hard pressed to find a woman working in the industry today who's never been a victim of sexual harassment or abuse," says Yasmin Lajoie, a 29-year-old music manager. Frustrated by the abuse that she had seen and experienced in the industry, she started collecting others' stories of sexual misconduct. "I expected stories of sexual harassment… but what I've actually received are stories of rape happening on company property, men insisting on oral sex from young women, men seriously assaulting women, raping them in apartments owned by major music companies."