The History of Gender Equality in
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The Role of Gender Equality in North Korea"The Role of Women
North Korea Table of Contents In the Chosn 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. 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. The social status and roles of women were radically changed after 1945. On July 30, 1946, authorities north of the thirtyeighth parallel passed a Sex Equality Law. The 1972 constitution asserted that "women hold equal social status and rights with men." 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. In contemporary North Korea, 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 chuch'e and Kim Il Sungism), and eight hours to rest and sleep. Women who have three or more children apparently are permitted to work only six hours a day and still receive a full, eight-hour-a-day salary. The media showcases role models. The official newspaper P'yongyang 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 P'yongyang 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 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. 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." Source: http://countrystudies.us/north-korea/35.htm |
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/10517906/The-women-behind-the-throne-in-North-Koreas-empire-of-horror.html
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (L), accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-Ju (R), visiting a wading pool at the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang Photo: AFP
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (L), accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-Ju (R), visiting a wading pool at the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang Photo: AFP
The Most Important Woman in North Korea |
From what I found, The Most important women in North Korea seem to be Kim Jong-Un's wife, and his Sister: Kim Yo Jong.
"Kim Jong Un Appoints Sister as Head of North Korea’s Propaganda Department" "He sees her as the best person to promote the "Greatest Dynasty"Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, has been put in charge of North Korea’s Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD). As the vice director of the country’s propaganda arm, she will be in charge of developing her brother’s cult of personality. “Kim Yo Jong is assisting in consolidating Kim Jong Un’s power,” said a source to Daily NK. “As vice director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, Kim Yo Jong is actually in power and leading idolization projects related to Kim Jong Un.” She has replaced Kim Ki Nam, 89, who has run PAD since the 1990s and served the Kim dynasty since the 1960s. According to the source, his age and ‘sub-par’ work played a part in his demotion to the newly created and largely ceremonial ‘advisory’ post within the department. Kim sees his sister as the best person to promote the “Greatest Dynasty” said the source. “It is said that Kim Jong Un has the utmost trust and confidence in his sister.” There is little information on Kim Yo Jong, who is the youngest of seven siblings and is thought to be either 27 or 28." Source: http://time.com/3970838/kim-jong-un-sister-north-korea/ |
What Is Life Really Like in North Korea? One Woman’s Story |
One young woman shares her experience of what it was like to be a woman in North Korea:
"As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee believed that her country was the best on the planet. She believed that Americans were evil, South Koreans were starving to death and North Koreans were better off than everybody else. Every North Korean believes this. She discusses this at length in her new novel, “The Girl With Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story,” and spoke with The Daily Signal about her experiences as well. As Lee explains, propagandized since birth, the people of North Korea know nothing of what life is like outside their own borders. The brutal dictatorships of Kim Jong-un and his predecessors Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung have socially engineered a system void of any freedoms whatsoever, and have positioned themselves as the sole source of information in the country. “Three generations of Kim regime leadership brutally repressed the people, to the point where the North Korean people don’t even realize that there is something beyond North Korea,” said Olivia Enos, research associate in the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation. “And it’s not getting better.” There is a complete lack of freedom of thought and belief in the North Korea Lee grew up in: no freedom of the press, no freedom of movement and no freedom of speech. Nights are pitch-black due to power outages or lack of electricity, neighbors and friends are encouraged to spy on one another and becoming pregnant by a Chinese man is punishable by death. Life gets infinitely worse for anyone who speaks out against the regime in any way. These perceived traitors can be tortured, thrown into secret prison camps called kwanliso or publicly executed. Their families are also punished. “Guilt by association in North Korea means that if you commit a crime, not only will you be punished, but also three generations of your family will be punished. Your parents, your grandparents, your grandchildren,” explained Phil Robertson, Asia Deputy Director at Human Rights Watch." Source: http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/28/escaped-refugee-hyeonseo-lee-reveals-what-life-is-like-in-north-korea/ |