Women in North Korea

After the liberation from Japan in 1945, North Korea underwent several significant reforms which totally changed the social and family systems. Women were forced into prostitution for the Japanese troops. Because of the harsh conditions like trenches, it resulted in the death of many of the women. Their past leader, Kim Il-Sung, has eliminated their patriarchal social systems through new reformative laws, such as the Law on Sex Equality, the Labor Law, and the Law on Nationalization of Essential Industries. The reforms implemented by Kim Il-Sung provided women’s rights at work, rights of inheriting and sharing of properties, and rights of free marriage and divorce. North Korea also outlawed polygamy and the practice of having concubines. The government legalized a women’s ownership of land. Land was distributed equally regardless of gender among peasants. Today, women in North Korea participate in a variety of labor forces, and there is a considerable number of women who are in high positions. Also, there are many facilities for women including Women’s sanatoria, rest homes, and maternity hospitals. However, the ratio of women to men in high wage jobs is still considerably lower than that of low wage jobs. In addition, most of women in the high positions in the society are either relatives or wives of top leaders. Irrespective of the reforms attempting to weaken patriarchal social structures, the political atmosphere is an example of the same patriarchal structure that the reforms intended to dissolve. This demonstrates the degree to which neo-confucian ideals still permeate and affect social and political policies. While most other Asian states have attempted to distance their contemporary society from neo-confucian ideals, North Korea has, to a large degree, embraced them. In accordance with such norms, the North Korean system has remained largely divided and unequal.

Before the Socialist Revolution

In the Joseon Dynasty, women were expected to give birth to and rear male heirs to assure the continuation of the family line. Women had few opportunities to participate in the social, economic, or political life of society. There were a few exceptions to limitations imposed on women's roles. For example, female shamans were called on to cure illnesses by driving away evil spirits, to pray for rain during droughts, or to perform divination and fortune-telling.

Before the Yi Dynasty and Neo-Confucianism was introduced, women comparatively had more rights and freedom. Being the opposite gender women were still looked differently, however women were still treated the same as men. The Shilla period gave three different queens the throne, thus allowing women to rightfully be heads of households. The Koryo period gave everyone the right to have equal property inheritance and remarriage of women was acceptable.

However as Korea entered the Yi Dynasty, Confucian ideology, was strongly adhered to by society and immensely affected the roles of men and women. From the young age of seven, males and females were separated and restricted to designated areas of the house: the outer part (sarangcha) for the males and the inner part (ancha) for the women. By Confucian standards, "a virtuous woman obeyed men throughout her life: in youth, she obeyed her father; when married, she obeyed her husband; if her husband died, she was subject to her son."

Few women received any formal education in traditional Korean society. After the opening of Korea to foreign contact in the late nineteenth century, however, Christian missionaries established girls' schools, thus allowing young Korean females to obtain a modern education.

Since 1910, Korean women were being exploited and were the victims to incessant insult because of maltreatment, insult and illiteracy.

Although certain time periods show that women held low statuses in society, other periods prove that this wasn't always the case. Women during the Shilla period held higher positions and statuses (although not equal to those of men) in society and had many legal rights including the right to be considered the head of a household. Furthermore, during the Koryo period, remarriage of women as well as equal property inheritance between men and women was completely undisputed.

More recently, North Korean women were under Japanese rule. Sexism was not new to North Korea under Japanese imperialism. Women who closely associated themselves with Japanese males were in danger of being executed or were excuted in some cases, but the same didn’t apply to Korean men. Apparently, the North Korean government hasn’t been shown to recognize the times when Soviet Red army practiced sexual violence and the Korean people didn’t treat the women equally even though the Japanese were condemned for their sexism. Ultimately, it means that no one has had to take responsibility or blame for those actions.

After Division of Korea

The social status and roles of women were radically changed after 1945. Firstly, after the Korean War, the population ratio between the two Korea's was drastically different because of the "intense bombing". The bombing took a major toll on North Korea leaving "no more targets left to hit, which did not even happen in Vietnam". Secondly, "the DPRK lost 12-15 percent of its population during the war...Just over half the Koreans dead were men". The DPRK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, was used "to combat the legacy of [the] colonial past." Because of these two factors, it affected the position of women in the DPRK. The importance on population growth was crucial to the development of North Korea. Women were " encouraged a high birth rate, partly by making contraception and abortion difficult to obtain". A woman not having children or having no desire to want children was like a taboo and not socially acceptable.

Women's roles were just as important as the men's. The 1972 constitution asserted that "women hold equal social status and rights with men." The fact that the women held the same roles in society and in the economy can be seen when "Women workers had increased rapidly, with "equal pay [for equal work] and special treatment"". In addition, although the large scale use of women is inefficient when it comes to road building and other construction projects, the role of women becoming more significant to society and them being more than simple housewives can be seen. The 1990 constitution stipulates that the state creates various conditions for the advancement of women in society. In principle, North Korea strongly supports sexual equality and established different policies regarding women's emancipation. Furthermore, then-president Kim Il Sung acknowledged the equal participation and patriotism exhibited by female guerrilla army members, during the revolution. Just as the male members would receive, the women were also appointed specific and equally important tasks that would compliment their strengths and extract any positive qualities that could benefit their army, exemplifying more and more reason to be treated equal to men. These policies shaped around three basic goals:

1. Liberation from the Patriarchal Family and Social Systems

North Korean leaders and the Provisional People's Committee began to initiate social reform by enforcing changes within family and land policies. Some of these included the Law on Land Reform and the Labor Law. However, by far, the most progressive change came with the Law on Sex Equality on July 30, 1946 which was purposefully aimed for women to participate fully in cultural, social, and political life. Women's rights to work were also defined by the North Korean Labor Law. Furthermore, in 1946, the Democratic Women's Union of North Korea was established to unite the women's movement under the Korean Worker's Party (KWP). This continued a sweeping change on traditional patriarchal systems, transforming the family system from a lineage-book and clan system to a nuclear family system. Although laws declared equality for both the men and women of the country, there was much opposition against this foreign concept.

2. Liberation through Social Labor

The North Korean Government started to initiate women of North Korea to be more economically independent. The government wanted North Korean women to start engaging in social labor outside of the home. Kim Il Sung stated, 'The women . . . can achieve complete emancipation only if they strive with no less devotion and awareness than men to solve the problems arising on the productive fronts of the factories and countryside'. Women were under the idea that if they helped build a socialist Korea than they would have essentially achieved their emancipation. The government started to allow woman more freedom and liberty to work outside the home by making housekeeping into a social industry. Children were put under public care so that woman were more freely able to maintain a public life. The government made sure that women were able to create a public life for themselves by providing women with benefits which included maternity leave with pay, maternity hospitals, free nurseries and kindergartens, and reduced working hours for mothers of large families. The government made sure that working mothers were treated fairly and were able to work without much financial burden. North Korea started to create nurseries, kindergartens, laundries, and an efficient food industry such as takeout services which not only allowed woman to place their kids in public care but it also allowed them to maintain jobs in these outlets. Women in the workforce began to grow exponentially through these small reforms and North Korea started to see more female professionals and technicians.

3. The Creation of a Socialist Woman

One of the goals of the North Korea’s women’s policy was for women to be socialist women. There for there was a revolution, “the cultural revolution was meant to dispose of remnants of the traditional ideas and political culture of Confucianism, replacing them with a new socialist culture” . For this reason North Korea went under a change for their education system. There was a full eleven year program in which Juche , being self-reliant, was emphasized. Both men and women were required to take this course, yet not only students but all the working people, without exception, were enrolled. North Korea entirely was given a revolutionary slogan, “Let the entire Part, the entire people and the entire army study!” The role of women was to educate themselves to be Communist in order for them to raise children. So that the mothers will have a positive influence even in the household and the children were raised with good Communist ideas. Unions were built to support women in this education of ideology, “Mother Kang Ban Suk Study Groups” was a nation-wide union.

The communist revolution initiated its procedures with reference of the Marxist theory. North Korea believed they could obtain sexual equality through economic liberation and women's participation in economic production. For instance, Kim II Sung said: "The Women... can achieve complete emancipation only if they strive with no less devotion and awareness than men to solve the problems arising on the productive fronts of the factories and countryside" The purpose was to transfer women's duties outside the family into productive labor for the state. Thus, theoretically, women can obtain different social positions through nontraditional roles such as paid labor. North Korean women experienced vast changes after the socialist revolution. In essence, the position and social status of women in North Korea has improved compared to the pre-revolutionary days.

Following the division of Korea, the North Korean leaders were committed to changing traditional family, economic, and social systems and instituted new legal and social arrangements which promoted equal rights for both men and women. Political opportunities were given to women, especially in the lower echelons of the power regime. Regardless, "North Korean women can hardly be said to have achieved socioeconomic status equal to men's." While economic strides were made to improve the status of women, it is clear that North Korean women did not have the equal power of property in comparison to North Korean men. Women are given occupations with a lower pay wage, allowing the men to become the main source of income for the North Korean family. By having men be paid more than women, it achieved a family structure that depends on men. Men would be considered as the primary earner and women were earning money by the side. As such, women who marry high-income earners have followed a trend of quitting their jobs and a majority of married women work at their homes. As result, there is clear declination of women workforce and the women mostly become very dependent on their husbands. This trend is seen clearly throughout the history of Korea, and it has deep roots in the Confucius ideals. It is also very hard to see many women in any position of power in North Korea. Women do hold one-third of the representative positions in the lower echelons of power, however, the lower echelons are not considered to hold much power over major decisions. "As one examines the more powerful organizations such as the Central Committee (CC) and the Politbureau (Political Committee) of the KWP Congress and the Administrative Council (the Cabinet), it becomes apparent that very few women have held positions of power." Since women barely have any position in the higher positions of power, they are not well represented and do not hold any real power over the government. Although women position may have changed in the society since the Choson era, the deeply en-rooted Confucius culture is still very visible in contemporary North Korean society.

Problems

The North Korean leaders had gathered together to reform woman's rights. They were committed to giving more social and economic power to the women. However, although they are willing to "give" them more rights, there is still a huge gap of power between the men and women of North Korea. Kyung Ae Park mentions that in short, women show major advances in obtaining part of the 'power of property,' yet the 'power of position' and the 'power of force' have been monopolized by men". There is no doubt that the North Korean leaders believe that women play a vital role in sustaining North Korea. However, Kim Il Sung considers it evil for women to gather together and focus on their roles. The North Korean leaders ironically believe that women in North Korea should gain more economic and political power in order to contribute to their nation. However, once women feel that they deserve or take initiative to take this power, it is considered "feminist" and disobedient to their nation as a whole. She goes on to argue that "any attempt to organize the masses around women's issue is seen as selfish and divisive" There has been a drastic improvement of Korean women from traditional Korea to modern Korea. However, there is still a discrepancy where men and women are not equal.

Statistics

Data from 1980 indicates that women occupied 56% of the labor force in the agricultural sector, 45% in the industrial sector, 20% in mining, 30% in forestry, 15% in heavy industry and 70% in light industry. The heavy emphasis on light industry aims to raise poor living standards and combat the widespread shortage of food and consumer goods. In 1989, North Korea declared the "year of light industries" and shifted more women from heavy industry to light industry. Women accounted for 80% of the school teachers, but very low in the university scene. For example, In Kim Il Sung University, women composed 10% of the faculty and 25-30% of the students. Among professionals and technicians, women accounted for only 14.6% in 1963, yet in 1989 more than 37 percent were women. The number of female professionals and technicians increased 10.6 times between 1963 and 1989 while that of males increased only 2.5 times.

Chollima (Flying Horse) Movement

Chollima movement was a mass mobilization campaign and North Korean government initiated Chollima movement to build socialist in the late 1950s. Chollima movement, which focused on women’s policy, socialized North Korean women’s housework thorough the help nurseries, kindergartens, laundries, and an efficient food industry. One member of the Women’s Union said the socialization of housework in North Korea as “Children are brought up at state expense. If there is pressing and ironing [to be done] it goes to the laundries. The foodstuffs industry has been developed, so food can be bought at any time. So what is there left to do in the family?” Chollima mass mobilization campaign increased the number of female labor. Female labor grew with the rate of over 19 percent between 1956 and 1964, which led to 49 percent of the total labor force. Also between 1963 and 1989, the number of female professionals and technicians grew 10.6 times when male professionals grew only 2.5 times. With the goal to continue raising positive statistics, women were being encouraged more and more to work towards achieving equal, if not greater, status as men had. Kim Il Sung promoted this idea, as well as numerous others that opened eyes and minds to ways for more women to achieve more that has yet to be done by large numbers, if at all any, of females. The main belief guiding the movement is that women can achieve independence as they excel educationally. A struggle for women to become financially independent was promoted by facilitating the ideological idea of juche not to mention that women have had greater participation in political assemblies like the Supreme People’s Assembly. This may be a result of the Women’s Union emphasis on to play a large role in the lives of women as far as training them to think like communists. Since the time when Kim Il Sung announced the need for more female participation in the economy was necessary for the socialist society, North Koreans witnessed an increase in the number of women who have received doctorate degrees over the years.

The Laws Promoting Social Change on North Korean Women

The Provisional People’s Committee promulgated various laws promoting social change, such as the Law on Land Reforms, the Law on Sex Equality, the Labor Law and the Law on the Nationalization of Essential Industries."

The most progressive change in the traditional position of women was the Law on Sex Equality, announced on July 30, 1946. This law emphasized equal rights in all spheres, free marriage and divorce, and equal rights to inherit property and to share property in case of divorce. It ended arranged marriages, polygamy, concubinage, the buying and selling of women, prostitution, and the professional entertainer system."

The North Korean Labor Law defined women’s rights at work. Articles 14 through 17 stipulated the rights of mothers and pregnant women, including seventy-seven days of maternity leave with full pay, paid baby-feeding breaks during work, a prohibition against overtime or night work for pregnant or nursing women, and the transfer of pregnant women to easier work with equal pay."

In addition, the Law on Nationalization of Essential Industries weakened the economic power of a patriarch by eliminating of private property."

Unlike in South Korea where women struggled to abolish the family feudal system, the Democratic Women's Union of North Korea replaced family registry system based on male lineage (family feudal system)with a new citizen registry system. Therefore giving more power to the women in purchasing and owning land.

Due to these changes in society the family structure drastically changed from the traditional systems; clans eventually disappeared, the family lineage-book system was completely destroyed, and a nuclear family system began to emerge. Thus making women in society more equal to men.

Although there are new laws created to make women more equal to men, it is highly arguable that women in North Korea are completely equal to men in society. Opportunities for women have been greatly expanded, however with certain aspects they are still not equal to men in society. There is evidence that the male gets paid higher than females in North Korea. Thus, The wage difference reflects the unequal representation of women in various occupational structures, which indicates a sexual division of labor.

Contemporary Era

In contemporary North Korea, women are important for three reasons:

1. increasing production of material goods and services
2. reproduction in order to increase the population
3. ensuring that there is a long-serving and largely celibate army

To fulfill these expectations, women are expected to fully participate in the labor force outside the home. Apart from its ideological commitment to the equality of the sexes, the government views women's employment as essential because of the country's labor shortage. No able-bodied person is spared from the struggle to increase production and compete with the more populous southern half of the peninsula. According to one South Korean source, women in North Korea are supposed to devote eight hours a day to work, eight hours to study (presumably, the study of Juche and Kim Il Sungism), and eight hours to rest and sleep. Women who have three or more children are permitted to work only six hours a day and still receive a full, eight-hour-a-day salary.

Media influence

The media showcases role models. The official newspaper Pyongyang Times, in an August 1991 article, described the career of Kim Hwa Suk, a woman who had graduated from compulsory education (senior middle school), decided to work in the fields as a regular farmer in a cooperative located in the Pyongyang suburbs, and gradually rose to positions of responsibility as her talents and dedication became known. After serving as leader of a youth workteam, she attended a university. After graduating, she became chairperson of her cooperative's management board. Kim was also chosen as a deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly.

Despite such examples, however, it appears that women are not fully emancipated. Sons are still preferred over daughters. Women do most if not all of the housework, including preparing a morning and evening meal, in addition to working outside the home; much of the responsibility of childrearing is in the hands of t'agaso (nurseries) and the school system. The majority of women work in light industry, where they are paid less than their male counterparts in heavy industry. In office situations, they are likely to be engaged in secretarial and other low-echelon jobs. Wome were relieved of some of their domestic duties in order to shift their focus off their jobs. The food industry was developed to the point where women could just buy and pick up food for their families. Therefore, one of their main tasks became educating their children about communism based on their experiences.

Different sex roles, moreover, are probably confirmed by the practice of separating boys and girls at both the elementary and higher middle-school levels. Some aspects of school curricula for boys and girls also are apparently different, with greater emphasis on physical education for boys and on home economics for girls. In the four-year university system, however, women majoring in medicine, biology, and foreign languages and literature seem especially numerous.

Education

In North Korea, in which the ideology have been taken priority over all, a learning of thought education have been regarded as a means of socialization. This ideological education turns the North Koreans into passive beings who have to obey the dictation without condition. The educational learning system of North Korea aims to make a woman who can successfully carry out multiple roles in the society. In this respect, the main contents of educational learning system of the North Korean women is loyalty to the leader, socialistic morality, revolutionary optimism, women's traditional role, and class struggle, etc.

The First Girls Schools

During the 19th century, Christian missionaries encouraged the improvement of education and status for women. With the influence of Silhak, Tonghak, and Western thought, a priority interest focused on human rights and equality. Thereby in 1886, Ewha Haktang (Ewha School) was established as the first modern women's school. And in response to the Chanyang-hoe (Chanyang Association) and their emphasis on education for women, in 1908, the government established the first public girls' school called Hansong Girls' High School.

Mothers of the Great Leaders

Kang Ban Sok is the mother of the great leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung. Kang was a leader of various revolutionary and independent movements. She is greatly honored and memorialized by North Koreans and her birthdays are commemorated in various media. Kang Ban Sok was a great help to her husband, Kim Hyong Jik, and her son, Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Suk, the wife of Kim Il Sung and the mother of Kim Jong Il, is another woman who is honored in North Korean. If Kang Ban Sok was a leader of revolutionary movements, Kim Jong Suk was a fighter of revolutionary movements. She is considered to be a greatly honored leader of women's liberation. The gun that she used to fight with is displayed at "Hoeryong Revolutionary Site" in Hoeryong, the hometown of Kim Jong Suk, to honor and memorialize the great revolutionary contribution of Kim. Many songs, poems, and such about these two women are represented throughout North Korea. Also, slogans like "Learn from Mother Kang Ban Sok" and "Learn from Comrade Kim Jong Suk" are used to express these two women's existence of greatness.

References

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(Data as of 1993.)