Women in North Korea

Women In North Korea

The founder of North Korea, 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. The state confiscated all privately owned land, eliminating property discrimination. 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, although these are only available to the elite. 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.