Korean Feminism

1. Korean Feminism • Movement started in the late 1800s. • Worked to improve education qualitiy and extend opportunities for women. • Worked to reform the concept of “family” • During the time of Japanese imperialism, the “KeunWoong” Organization worked to get rid of traditions of women having to marry at an early age, press for the freedom of marriage and of divorce, and of maternity leave, etc. • 1960s-1970s marked an era of improved working conditions/working rights for women. • 1990s showed progress in the feminism movement as gender inequality in society was gradually banned, and as crimes violating women’s rights (such as rape, prostitution, etc) were more strictly prosecuted. 1

2. Feminism in Korea • “ChanYang” Organization: worked to supply education opportunities for women. • Key argument: “women need to be education in order to raise their children to be “AeGukJuk” [애국적: patriotic in a Korean sense]. • “ShinYeoSung” Organization: pressed women rights even harder. Demanded individual women’s rights and freedom. Became a symbol of feminism in Korea. • “KeunWoong” Organization: The final and most influential feminism group established in the 1920s. Demanded complete equality politically (as in voting rights, participation in office, etc), economically (as in equal pay), and socially (by battling prostitution). • Also fought poverty, worked to undermine pro-Japanese Korean groups during Imperialism, and worked for reconstruction after the Japanese left. 2

3. Feminism in Korea • 1980s: As it met Western feminism, much of the Korean feminism movement combined with Christianity. Christian Women Organizations began to form. Many Koreans, skeptical of change and another cultural annexation, began to link Feminism with Christianity and Western influence altogether; this created hostility. • Nonetheless, new laws began to form: the Ban on Family Violence Law (가정폭력방지법), the Ban on Gender Inequality Law (남녀차별금지법), and the Ban on Prostitution Law (성매매금지법). • Korean Feminism also reached out to the fields of politics, environment, culture, and consumerism. Their hand in the government is now large; one reason why some people suggest that they have become corrupt, seeking political power in the name of Feminism. 3

4. Feminism in Korea • After the Korean War, 1950-1953, the women's movement became mainly a movement for improving middle-class women's fights. • In the process of pursuing a rapid economic development policy, women were forced to sacrifice themselves for the sake of national developement. • In the 1970s, a struggle to reform family law combined with occasional labour strikes of female factory workers were major activities of the women's movement. • From the late 1970s, Western theories on women's issues were introduced into Korea by academics who studied overseas. However, there was concern that uncritical acceptance of Western feminism increased confusion, and negative images of feminists were represented in the mass media 4

5. Feminism in Korea • the main feminist organization was the Council of Korean Women’s Organizations (CKWO). • The CKWO was a government sanction organization of women’s groups. • As a result of the gov. involvement it tended to support patriarchal politics, rather than advance women’s rights. • Middle class women later banded together to create more effective feminist organizations. • The Christian Academy, The Women’s Association of Korean Churches, Women’s Society for Justice and Equality (WSJE) 5