Overview of Women’s History in Korea

Overview of Women’s History in Korea

In modern day Korea, women are actively involved in many career fields, such as education, law, literature, sports, medicine, and engineering. However, it wasn’t too long ago that women were confined only to the home and family. The introduction of Christianity to Korea helped elevate women’s roles through schools ran by missionaries. Some were even specifically for educating women. (Korean Overseas Information Service, 2001)

Many of the educated women began getting involved in religious work, teaching, the arts, and of course, the enlightening of other women. But it wasn’t until the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, when women began gaining constitutional rights for equal opportunities in the work force, education, and public life.

The economic growth that Korea has experienced at this time, and even today has contributed to the large amount of women going into the work force. The high amount of women in the work force, in professional jobs influenced the government to pass the “Equal Employment Act” of 1987 to prevent discrimination against females regarding hiring practices and promotion opportunities.

However, with this added freedom, many Korean women feel highly pressured because they are burdened with both earning a living and their traditional roles as housewives. Modern Korean women are facing both physical and mental exhaustion due to the demands of society and their families. Add to that, childcare is a major problem in Korea. Although laws have been passed to promote the employment of women, and facilities for childcare should be provided, the reality is that childcare is sadly lacking.

Recently, the government further suppo...

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... capitalistic industrialization established of the 1960’s on the other.” (Chung, 1997) In other words, due to Confucius beliefs, women have not experienced total freedom in their private or public lives. Yet overtime, things will improve for Korean women due to the recent legislation set up to help further strengthen their roles in the workforce, education, and hopefully, in their private lives as well.

Resources:

1. Women’s Contemporary Roles in Korea. Retrieved from the Internet on September 15,

2003. (http://www.askasia.org/Korea/r15)

2. Nugent, Sookja Chung. Korean Women’s History- An Overview. Korean Quarterly. (Fall,

1998).

3. (http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine7.html)

4. Chung, Connie. Korean Society and Women: Focusing on the Family (1997).

(http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~yisei/backissues/spring_95/yisei_95_30.html)