Women in North Korea - After The Division

After The Division

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". North Korea was used "to combat the legacy of 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 and special treatment". In addition, the role of women becoming more significant to society and them being more than simple housewives could 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, however, in practice, North Korea remains a patriarchal, sexist society.

When North Korea was established, it began applying communist principles of sex equality. 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.

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 any 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.