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Korea was once regarded as an "island of females." This characterization of Korea was probably due to the matrilineal character of Korean society in the past. People used to draw their family lineage from their mother's side. During the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) women exercised more power and freedom. Women had rights to property and enjoyed higher social status.
However the matrilineal character of Korean society declined with the rise of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). Confucian ethics was promoted by the royal class and it became the ruling ideology of the period. Since Confucianism teaches a hierarchy between men and women, the social position of Korean women gradually declined.
Korean women were expected to be obedient and docile. They had to work from dawn to dusk and take care of all the household activities. Housework in Korea is an extremely laborious job. This is evident in that Korean food although tasty and good for health is traditionally served in dozens of big and small utensils as side dishes or banchan. Preparing so many food items and cleaning so many utensils was indeed a back breaking activity.
When Hangul was invented as a writing script by the great Korean King Sejong in 1446, it was considered by some scholars of the period as eonmun or the women's script because it was so easy to learn. The sophisticated Chinese characters were still meant for the use by men of the noble class or yangban. But women like Shin Saimdang (1504-51), Heo Nanseolheon (1563-89) and Empress Myeongseong (1851-95) broke the myth that women were inferior to men.
During the period of brutal Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) thousands of Korean women came out of their households and protested against the colonial regime by participating in the March 1st Movement. Several young Korean girls like Yu Gwan-sun (1902-20) became martyrs for the freedom of their motherland. Also thousands of Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial forces before and during World War II.
With the modern period there was some improvement in the conditions of women. The social reform movements and the egalitarian Western ideas had deep impact on raising the social status of Korean women. They got better access to education and gained equality of opportunity.
During the decades of rapid economic development, Korean women worked along with their male counterparts in the labor-intensive manufacturing industries and contributed to the national development. Hundreds of Korean women nurses went to Germany to work and sent remittances to Korea.
When the 1997 Asian financial crisis struck Korea, the women workers were worst hit as thousands of them were thrown out of their jobs. The women in Korea donated their gold jewellery to save the economy from the financial crisis. These Korean women showed their patriotism and nationalistic feelings.
But despite all these contributions, Korean women have not been able to break the glass ceiling. There are few women in top positions in Korea. On the other hand, the rise of consumerism and materialism in Korean society is forcing women to spend much money on beauty enhancing products and cosmetic surgery. This huge expenditure is totally useless.
There is also no national day in Korea to celebrate the contributions of Korean women. Therefore, there is a need to mark a day in the year to honor Korean women and give recognition to their sacrifices. Perhaps the first woman President of Korea, Park Geun-hye will take some initiative in this regard.
The author is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. His e-mail address is rkdhawan13@hotmail.com.
