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Equal Rights & Opportunities
Aug / 2010

In recent years, women's social participation has become active in Korean society and the social recognition of women's rights and roles have changed.

In traditional Korean society, women were largely confined to the home. From a young age, women were required to learn the Confucian virtues of subordination and endurance to prepare for their future roles as wife and mother, while being denied any opportunity to participate in activities outside the home. Their role was limited to the management of the large extended family and the producing of a male heir so that the family line might continue unbroken. And the discrimination between the sexes in favor of the male-based, as it was, on feudal Confucianism-dominated all aspects of women's lives. As a result, women had to live subordinated to men.

At the end of 18th century, the emergence of Practical Science introduced the issue of equal human rights and, in a limited way, provided positive views on the women's social participation. And the introduction of Western Learning became a prime motivating factor in stressing the equality of humanity and in treating women as human beings. At the end of 19th century, the opening of Korea to the outside world accelerated women's social participation.

Under the influence of the introduction of Practical Science and modern civilization from the Western World into the country, the necessity of education became intensified and educational opportunities increased, which raised women's consciousness about the discrimination they experienced under Korean patriarchal society.

Women's social participation became active in Korean society and the social recognition of women's rights and roles have changed. The developmental changes have been due to the enlargement of women's roles based on social change, the elevation of the level of education, and familial change, but most of all change has been due to the strong demands by women seeking development for themselves.

A series of successful economic development plans have also helped Korea achieve remarkable economic growth and social transformation. Women have had increasingly greater opportunities to take part in economic activities. Korean women today are actively engaged in a wide variety of fields including education, medicine, science, engineering, scholarship, arts, literature and sports. There are female lawmakers, business executives and university presidents. Though only a handful in number, some women have proved their excellent abilities and leadership as cabinet ministers.

Also, development and changes in the economy and society in the last thirty years have resulted in significant changes in the lifestyles of women. Some of these are: a longer life expectancy for women, a drop in the birth rate, an improved standard of education, more nuclear families, changes in family life resulting from a raised consciousness, less of a burden from household responsibilities due to the availability of electrical appliances, etc. All these factors combined have brought about a steady increase in the number of women engaging in various social activities and the number of those wishing to do so.

In spite of the above-mentioned advances and changes, the unemployment rate of women in higher academic careers still remains high. Most women workers are still engaged in low-wage jobs where they are subject to employment or wage discrimination. Although the participation of married women in economic activities is continuously increasing, the supply of public childcare facilities for children of low-income women workers falls short of the sharply growing demand. These problems have continued to increase despite the Government's implementation of economic and social development plans. Improvement of women-related laws and social systems have failed to yield substantial results or to enhance the position of women. Gender equality in Korea is still receiving low marks. Research on the Effective Establishment of Gender Mainstreaming System, a report released recently by Korean Women Development Institute (KWDI), an affiliate of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF), revealed that the index of gender equality in Korea as of 2008 was 0.594. In this analysis, 0 represents complete gender inequality, while 1 represents complete gender equality.

This report represents the first time researchers have attempted to measure the gender equality by adopting the Gender Equality Index developed by the civic organization Social Watch. MOGEF also said, this research measured the gender equality index in eight fields including health, culture and information, education and vocational training, economic activity, safety, family affairs, welfare and decision making.¡±

The gender equality index shows that there has been only a minute improvement, by 0.01, since 2005 when the number stood at 0.584. Specifically, the decision-making figure was 0.116, the lowest of the index.

Furthermore, Korea was ranked at the 61st in the 'Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) rank in 2009' surveyed and announced by UNDP for 109 countries.

Ascending by 7 ranks from the 68th last year, this is the highest rank in recent 3 years and the total mark 0.55 is highest since 2004. Such ascension may be contributed to the increase of respective women ratio in member of assembly from 13.7% to 14.0% and public officers from 8.0% to 9.0% last year.

However, the ratio of woman in the legislation, company executives and or managers which are classified as women administrative job is merely 9.0%, which is below by one third of 27.9% which is the average of all the ranked countries.

While a further improvement is in order, the increasing presence of women and the changes in Korean society have brought the government to the realization that it must develop new policies for women. In this section, we take a look at the developmental changes since the fifties.

In the 1950s after liberation in 1945
Until the creation of the Korea in 1948, sexual discrimination against women, which was due to the acceptance of Confucian social rules dominated all aspects of women's lives.
The Constitution of the Korea, promulgated in 1948, guaranteed respect for the dignity of individuals and equality between men and women as a guiding principle under the initiative of democratic legislative measures. Based on this principle, various legislative reforms have been implemented and the status of women in Korea has undergone enormous changes. Accordingly, discriminationn against women in political, economic, social, cultural, and other fields has lessened.

Women, who had been up to this moment for hundreds of years of history confined to the extended family, began to realize their own rights and some women leaders worked to construct various organizations. New women's groups were formed and previously existing ones were reorganized and invigorated to contribute to a variety of fields such as politics, social affairs, religion, education, and social service.

In 1946 the Women's Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs was opened as the first governmental office to deal with the growing needs and problems of women.

The Constitution of the Korea, established in 1948, following the liberation, declared gender equality and the equal right of women to vote. It stated that men and women are equal and that women are equally entitled to receive education, to be able to work, and to participate in the society. These seminal constitutional changes marked women's entry into equal participation with men in many aspects of their life in a newly developing society.

A woman was elected in a by-election to the first National Assembly. And in 1951 another woman successfully passed the national judicial examination and became the first woman lawyer.

The Korean War (1950-1953) proved how strong and self-reliant women could be under the most adverse conditions. Many women had to support their families and themselves while their husbands or sons were away fighting the communists. Many even lost husbands and sons in the war. As a result of their war experiences women realized the importance of the development of their capabilities not only to be able to survive but also to prosper economically. They also cared for war orphans, widows, and wounded soldiers and made truly remarkable contributions to the reconstruction of Korea after the tragic war. Following the signing of the ceasefire the government returned to Seoul in 1953, women's social participation expanded remarkably in scope and nature.

The new government began to formulate specific women's policies such as for supporting war widows and for the prevention of prostitutes.

The Labor Standard Act was enacted in 1953, which guarantees basic equality between men and women in employment and special protection for women during pregnancy and maternity.

The National Council of Women was organized in 1959 and implemented the core role in women's activities.

Toward the industrial society in the 1960s
In the 1960s Korean society was faced with a period of great change from an agricultural society to an industrial society with national policies stressing economic growth. The industrialization process was initiated by export-oriented manufacturing industries. These labor-intensive industries flourished exploiting low wage labor of young and unmarried women.

In 1963 there were 2,835,000 economically active women among a total female population of 7,670,000 aged 15 years and older and the percentage was 37.0 percent.
The changes in household types toward nuclear families and the decline in the birth rate resulting from family planning urged by the government had a profound effect on women's lives.

Since the inauguration of the compulsory education system in 1953, the educational opportunities for women have greatly expanded, which was then accompanied by an increase in female enrollment at the elementary, secondary and higher levels of education.
In 1962 The Prevention of Prostitution Act was enacted and the first revision of the Family Law was passed.

The 1970s
Although women actively participated in economic activities as part of the driving force to keep up economic growth, the employment conditions and wage levels for women were considerably inferior to those for men.

The International Women's Year of 1975 and the subsequent United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985) brought about significant advancement for Korean women. During the International Year of Women in 1975, the year of Women in Korea was proclaimed thus linking the women's movement in Korea to the world women's movement. Korean women's organizations dispatched representatives to various international conferences held in connection with the UN Decade for Women to solidify cooperative relations and to exchange information with foreign counterpart organizations. The adoption of the Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, with its worldwide impact on further improving and enhancing of the status of women, has greatly changed public attitude in Korea towards sexual equality and the concept of women's advancement.

Starting with Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 1977, women's studies has been introduced into various universities. This has provided the theoretical basis for helping to solve women's problems and has contributed to raising women's consciousness.

Aiming at improving women's status, the activities of women's groups covered diverse fields such as the improvement of labor conditions for female workers, the extension of women's social education, the opposing campaign on Kisaeng-sightseeing or prostitute-sightseeing.

The 1980s
With joint efforts for the advancement of women by women's organizations and the government, three National Machineries dealing with women's affairs were established in the 1980s: the Korean Women's Development Institute (KWDI) in 1983, to make a comprehensive study of women's issues and link its findings with actual policies, the National Committee on Women's Policies in 1983, with representatives of the concerned government ministries, and the Ministry of Political Affairs (2), in 1988. The Ministry of Political Affairs (2), which had been in charge of formulating and implementing women's policies, was dissolved and the Special Committee on Women's Affairs directly under the office of the President was newly formed in February 1998.

In 1985, the National Committee on Women's Policies adopted the "Master Plan for Women's Development" and the "Guidelines for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women" as government policies.

The central administrative system dealing with women's affairs is composed of the Ministry of Political Affairs (2) and the Women's Welfare Division of the Family Welfare Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The Women's Welfare Division sets up general plans for women's welfare, administers women's guidance and educational programs, and supervises shelters for disadvantaged women. Fifteen Bureaus of Family Welfare headed by women were established in fifteen major cities and provinces in 1988. These Bureaus work for women's welfare in their respective areas and are closed tied with the central Women's Welfare Division.

The Korean Constitution was amended in 1987, introducing a new clause on the duty of the State to promote women's welfare and equality. The Equal Employment Opportunity Law drafted by the then government in 1987, went into effect in 1988. A section on equal pay for equal labor was inserted into the law in 1989. With a view to safeguard the security and welfare of single-mother households, the government enacted the Mother-Child Welfare Law in 1989.

A drastically revised Family Law was also passed in 1989. This revision was a direct result of the struggle by women's organizations which had fought to remove the discriminatory patriarchal elements in the earlier Law passed in 1958.

Feminism had begun to advance in the artistic fields of literature, painting, drama, movies, and dancing in the 1980s. Women artists described the objective reality of women's oppression and featured the realities from a variety of feminist perspectives.

The 1990s
In 1994, as the erstwhile result of having become a formal member of the United Nations in 1991, Korea was elected as a member state of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which is expected to open a new phase in dealing with women's issues on an international level.

Regarding legal rights, the Infant Care Act was promulgated in 1991 for the promotion of home welfare by bringing up infants and pre-schoolers whose guardians have difficulty protecting them; and the Act Relating to Punishment of Sexual Violence and Protection of Victims was enacted in 1993. The Prevention of Prostitution Act was revised in 1995.

In 1991, according to a regulation concerning the commission and regulation of administrative authority, the authority to coordinate the tasks of the KWDI was transferred from the Ministry of Health and Welfare to the Ministry of Political Affairs (2), which resulted in rearranging the administrative systems way of dealing with women's policies. In the same year, 274 Family Welfare Divisions, under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, with women heads in towns, counties and wards were also founded to deal with women's welfare issues. With the introduction of local government, the increase of women's political participation is expected.

The Special Committee on Women at the National Assembly was established as a permanent body in 1994, which could serve as a channel to support the enactment and revision of the laws relating to women.

The Seventh Five Year Economic and Social Development Plan includes a new women's development plan for the period 1992-1996 with special emphasis on education, employment, cultural and social activities, welfare and international cooperation.

The Ministry of Labor also prepared "The Basic Plan to Promote Working Women's Welfare" (1994-1997) which aims to contribute to improving the status of working women and their welfare by implementing a policy of equal opportunity, expanding maternity protection, and developing human resources through women's work capabilities.

The first decade of the 21st century
Among others, the Ministry of Gender Equality was established in January 2001 as the national machinery responsible for planning and integrating all policies for women set forth by the respective government bodies. Since its creation, the Ministry has exerted sincere efforts to create jobs for women, abolish discriminatory practices and promote projects to empower women inorder to establish gender equality in families, the workplace and society in general. The Ministry has also been working to strengthen gender mainstreaming policies to ensure gender equality in the establishment and pursuit of major national policies.

Efforts for gender mainstreaming have focused on introduction of gender impact assessments and gender responsive budgeting. Gender impact assessments were first introduced in 2004 to 10 pilot projects managed by 9 government bodies. Since then, more government bodies have opted to have their projects undergo such assessments and in 2009 the number reached 1908 projects in 298 government .

Gender equality is taken into consideration in the process of establishing new policies since statistical data can only be approved when it takes account of gender in pursuant to the Statistical Data Act. Also, gender budgeting has begun in 2010 subsequent to the enactment of the National Finance Act in 2006.

This year, gender responsive budgeting is being applied to 195 projects, amounting to a total of 7.3144 trillion Korean won within the Budget bill.

Gaining momentum from the abolishment of Hoju or family head system in 2007, the Ministry has identified 385 discriminatory statutes, rules and ordinances. Based on the self-assessment, Korea has doubled its efforts to revise them with a view to ensuring a further strengthened legal and institutional foundation for gender equality.

Korea also reorganized the Ministry of Gender Equality into the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family recently, to implement women's policies to the general public in a more comprehensive manner. The launch of the new ministry will allow the government to integrate the policies for women, families and youth, opening the doors to explore a new era in which men and women are partners in the family and in society.

Korea has also made great progress in dealing with violence against women and the human rights of women. Prostitution, sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women are treated as an infringement upon the human rights of women. These violations are dealt with through an integrated support system and wider prevention efforts with a view to realizing a violence free society with full gender equality.

Through the legislation of various Acts, violence and sexual violence are clearly stated as social crimes that most definitely call for active intervention by the government.

Korea has implemented rules against sexual harassment through the 'Framework Act on Women's Development' and the 'Act on Gender Equality in Employment and Work-Family Balance', and has strengthened regulations against the sexual abuse of minors through the amendment (in 2000) of the 'Child Welfare Act'. In accordance with such legislative efforts, in 2001, the 1366 emergency call center was established to take calls from women in need of protection of their human rights. Since 2008, Korea has also been implementing a 'Comprehensive Plan for the Protection of Children and Women.'

In the area of prostitution, the government has established the 'Act on the Prevention of Prostitution and Protection of Victims Thereof' (2004) and the 'Comprehensive Action Plan against Prostitution', implementation of which is overseen by the 'Task Force to Review the Implementation of the Prostitution Prevention Action Plan' comprised of 15 government bodies including the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Gender Equality and the National Police Agency.

Realizing that the patriarchal nature of traditional Korean society has hampered the participation of women in society, the governement has been implementing various specified legal and institutional meaures to rectify this situation.

In politics, the Civil Worker Electoral Act has been amended so that , for the general elections and local council elections, political parties are required to include women in 50 percent or more of their nominations for the proportional seats. As a result, the ratio of women parliamentarians rose considerably from 5.9 percent in the 16th (2000-2004) National Assembly to 13.7 percent in the 18th (2008-2012) National Assembly. Targets have also been set for participation by women in government committees, and to raise the proportion of women in managerial positions of Grade 4 (director level) and higher within the central government bodies.

Additionally, Korea has implemented such active measures as quotas for the employment of women, for gender equality in employment, for women professors, women school principals and vice-principals, and for women scientists inorder to correct the imbalance in the workforce structure, particularly in fields where women have traditionally been underrepresented.

The government has recognized that the efficient utilization of women in the workforce is hindered by the departure of women from the labor market following childbirth and due to child-rearing responsibilities. It has therefore been focusing efforts on establishing labor policies conducive to fully utilizing the potential of women in the workforce, and creating a social environment when women can work without barriers.

For this reason, the government established 'Basic Plan to Promote Economic Activities of Career-interrupted Women' through the deliberation of 'Women's Policy Coordination Meeting' on December 31st, 2009.

The first Basic Plan is comprehensive and long-term plan to influx career-interrupted women to the labor market. This is the plan firstly prepared based on 'The Act on the Promotion of the Economic Activities of Career-break Women, etc.' which was enacted in 2008.

The Plan reflects new policy demands to influx career-interrupted women who have been away from the labor market for a long time. The policy demands such as offering take-care service, effusion of short-time jobs for compatibility of work and family, and spreading of corporate culture that place emphasis on job and family are embodied in 4 policy fields, 13 major tasks, and 60 detailed implementation tasks.

Firstly, the employment supporting function for career-interrupted women is going to be specialized and systemized. New Occupation Center for Women ran by MOGE and the Ministry of Labor will be increased by 100 centers by 2012 and the employment-related resource information that contain a number of beneficial information including job-training and job-finding agencies and take-care service organizations will be published.

For those women who want to be employed but in the career break status due to childcare or care for their family, take-care service will be offered to job seeking women or trainees from 2011. Employment encouragement allowance will be supported to those women who enter small and medium enterprises which suffer from lack of laborers (from 2011).

In order to boost employment among low-income group most of which are women, a comprehensive employment package business will be prepared. The link between employment and welfare support such as establishing and operating of training program proper for handicapped or marriage-immigrant women will also be institutionalized.

Secondly, an infrastructure to link take-care and employment will be constructed. Social corporations that offer take-care service would be drastically increased. The take-care service will be standardized and employee's qualification system will be promoted from 2010.

Moreover, to enhance the quality of the take-care service, 'The Minimum Standard Quality in Social Service' will be developed in 2010. Visiting take-care Service for working women will be extended (97 Healthy Family Support Centers in 2009 ? 232 Centers by 2014) and the number of extended service hours childcare facilities will be increased (goal: 8,000 persons in 2014).

Public childcare facilities will be increased each year and the large-small enterprise linked childcare facilities will be enlarged at workplace around industrial complexes.

Thirdly, flexitime system such as short-time work for harmony of work and life will be expanded. Short-time jobs will be promoted in public sector in 2010 in order to initiate job-family compatible short-time jobs in private sector. Part of the additional cost will be provided to the companies that hire short-time workers, and the social insurance programs will be reformed to promote short-time jobs.

To diffuse flexitime jobs (purple job), in case short-time working system is adopted during the childcare period of the employee, part of the cost for parental leave salary will be provided from 2010. Also, appropriate jobs and leading models for flexitime job for the private company as well as central and local governments will be developed and promoted.

Fourthly, to build up social ground to eliminate women's career interruption, the government will spread impartial family culture, enlarge support for childcare and household affairs like 'Neighbor Love Carer' in regional basis, conduct periodical research concerning career-interrupted women about their numbers, interruption period, and so on, and execute statistical investigation on career-interrupted women from 2011.

The Basic Plan was established after coordination among the Ministry of Gender Equality, the Ministry of Labor, and related central administrative agency, and contains the policies that will be carried out for next 5 years under the government's direct control.

The major target of the policy is 2,618 thousand women who want to get employment among the women who left the labor market due to marriage, childbirth or other take-care labors at home. The policy aims at 'realizing sustainable society through efficient utilization of women workforce' and sets a goal to reach 60% in the rate of women's economic participation by 2014.

In the next section we will take a look at all the major laws that are in place for bringing about gender equality.