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A press conference was held by women groups to call for a
revision of the Government Organization Act facilitating the
transfer of childcare administration to the Ministry of Gender
Equality.
All the women groups in Korea, including the Korea Women's
Association United (6 branches, 27 member groups), the Korea
National Council of Women and the Women's Political Alliance,
gathered on May 26 in the Zelcova Cafe in Seoul. The women
announced through a press conference, "Our nation's welfare
paradigm premises a gender-based division of labor that delegates
the labor of care-giving to women. We call for a repositioning
of childcare through a fundamental paradigm shift and above
all a re-evaluation of 'care-giving' labor."
The women groups holding the press conference called on the
government to come up with a comprehensive vision on the development
of childcare administration, and asked for the views of field
workers, experts and women groups to be reflected in relevant
decision-making processes. The women groups moved on to deliver
their opinions to the National Assembly's Government Administration
and Local Autonomy Committee and Health and Welfare Committee.
<reported by Dong Kim Sung-hye dong@womennews.co.kr>
- Bill for the abolishment of the hoju system submitted
to the National Assembly
9:50 in the morning of May 27, in room 601, the Department
of Bill Registration of the National Assembly. It was something
she did on a regular basis, but this time, New Millennium
Democratic Party (NMDP) member Lee Mi-kyung's hand shook a
little as she handed in the revision bill. Fellow legislator
Kim Hee-sun also expelled a long-held gush of breath as she
held the bill together with Lee. As for representative Lee
Oh Kyung-sook of KWAU and director Kwak Bae-hee of the Family
Law Office who were standing next to the two legislators,
their brows pulled together ever so slightly. The day the
bill for the revision of the Civil Code to abolish the hoju
system was submitted to the National Assembly, women of Korea
shouted thus: History is in the Making!
 Ēš
'Hoju Abolishment 272' launched in front of the National Assembly
building on April 27. An attention-grabbing placard with the
names of 272 social leaders and citizens - to match the 272
members of the National Assembly - forming the words 'NO HOJU.'
<photograph by Min Won-ki >
NMDP member Lee Mi-kyung, together with fellow legislators
Heo Woon-na and Kim Hee-seon, as well as women activists who
have persistently led the movement for hoju abolishment such
as KWAU representative Lee Oh Kyung-sook, submitted to the
National Assembly a Civil Code revision bill aimed primarily
at abolishing the hoju system. The bill was officially accepted
at the National Assembly at around 10 a.m., proposed by congresswoman
Lee and seconded by 52 fellow legislators.
Lee and other women who had been pushing for the bill held
a press conference in the VIP restaurant right before the
submission of the bill, where they did not hide their elation,
calling the day 'a truly historical day." Lee declared,
"With the submission of the bill, we have taken the first
step towards a family system that will realize individual
human dignity and gender equality. We're grateful to all the
women and women leaders whose efforts have made this day possible."
A deeply-moved Kim Hee-sun said, "Unlike hearsay, the
hoju system is not a Korean tradition but the remnants of
Japanese colonial rule. Let's all remember this day as a historical
day when we put an end to the evil practice of the head of
a family wielding absolute control over all family affairs."
Director Kwak Bae-hee spoke for all the women groups when
she said, "With the submission of the bill today, the
labor of the hoju abolishment campaign has finally born fruit.
I hope this will pave the way for the creation of a new family
system."
The group, led by Lee, concluded the short press conference
and headed straight for the Department of Bill Registration
on the sixth floor. They were closely trailed by the press,
aides and women activists eager to witness and record the
historical moment. As soon as the group entered the room,
the National Assembly employees gave them a warm welcome and
promptly accepted the bill.
The moment the bill passed hands, all those looking on began
to clap in unison. The applause lasted for minutes on end.
And then someone shouted, "Good work, everyone!"
The self-comforting applause resounded throughout the National
Assembly building for a long while.
<reported by Bae Young-hwan ddarijoa@womennews.co.kr>
The KWAU Hoju Abolishment Campaign HQ has started a declaration
relay for the abolishment of the hoju system. The relay began
with the 'Declaration for Hoju Abolishment by the Legal Circle'
on May 28, and will move on to a similar declaration by the
arts circle, and further on to a declaration by 10 thousand
men on June 18. The declaration relay is aimed at ensuring
that the Civil Code revision bill for the abolishment of the
hoju system, submitted by lawmaker Lee Mi-kyung on May 27,
is passed within the year by the 16th National Assembly.
<reported by Kim Sun-hee sonagi@womennews.co.kr>
- "Women must participate in the Remaking of the People's
State"
 Nationalism,
globalization, peace and women. These are the four issues
that professor Chung Hyun-baek weaved together into one book
entitled The Nation and Feminism (published by Dangdae). The Women's News interviewed her in her office. She is one busy
woman these days, working as a co-representative of the KWAU
and co-chair of the Women's Alliance Committee of the Women's
Academy. She is also leaving for the US early June with representatives
from NGOs and the ruling and opposition parties as part of
the 'Korean Peninsula People's Association for Peace' for
the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.
"It's hard for a scholar to be involved in the movement.
University professors are always fighting against time, and
having to allocate a lot of my time to civic groups and the
movement sometimes puts me in a difficult spot. But being
an activist helps me maintain a sense of humility regarding
issues over which I could easily have become narrow-minded
or arrogant as a scholar. In the past, my thoughts were somewhat
abstract and I studied only what interested me, but these
days I keep asking myself if what I'm studying is practical
and necessary, so I don't think being an activist is a minus
for me."
Authored by a scholar with a long-standing interest in learning
rooted in activism, The Nation and Feminism is filled with
observations made in the field, such as 'Globalization and
the Feminist Movement,' 'Women's Reunification Movement in
Korea,' and 'Challenges for the Korean Women's Movement in
the 21st Century.'
Why are 'nation' and 'women' - two themes that have yet to
find a workable point of contact - the recurring question
throughout the book? "Nationalism is a strong force in
Korea, and it's true that it has worked as a mechanism in
strengthening the patriarchal system. But I thought that we
shouldn't just accept the western capitalist feminism's view
of nationalism. Some say nationalism and feminism must be
separated from each other, while others say that is wrong.
Disagreeing with both views, I focused on the practical view
that since the concept of 'nation' is a country in itself
and a realistic force that moves society whether we like it
or not, women should criticize it on one hand while actively
leveraging it on the other."
Chung also explains that women should maintain a critical
view on the accelerating world capitalism while at the same
time embracing national issues. She also points out that since
women exist in state units, rather than trying to ignore this
reality, they should participate in the remaking of the people's
state.
Reflection on the methodology of writing women's history is
another aspect that adds weight to Chung's book. "Women's
history isn't just about what kind of clothes women wore,
what we ate, what religion we practiced or what kind of education
we received. For women's empowerment, you need a theoretical
approach that shifts the paradigm on how we view history,
without which women's history will continue to remain just
a small portion of general history."
As a professor of Western Women's History, Chung's main interest
these days is on women's economic activities, that is, the
role of women in economic history. Through their labor in
the fields and their labor to support the livelihoods of their
families, women have long been actual breadwinners. Based
on this recognition, Chung suggests that we question if men
were really the subjects in the public arena. In the street
warfare during the French Revolution, and in the riots for
bread that preceded and followed the revolution, women were
already subjects, and their role was a huge force that made
history. Chung claims that creating a framework to contain
such discoveries the new way of writing women's history.
<Reported by Lim In-sook isim123@womennews.co.kr>
 Ēļ
Women have gathered to launch all-out preparations for next
year's General Election. From left: Representative Cho Hyun-oak
of the Democratic Alliance for Women's Political Empowerment,
Director Kim Kum-rae of the Women's Bureau, Grand National
Party, Representative Lee Oh Kyung-sook of the KWAU, President
Lee Chun-ho of the Women Voters' League, President Choi Hyun-sook
of the Women's Committee, Democratic Labor Party, Executive
member Oh Jeong-rye of the People's Party for Reform, Professor
Kim Min-jeong of the University of Seoul, Executive member
Go Eun Gwang-soon of the Women Politicians' Bodyguard HQ,
Director Yoo Seung-hee of the Women's Bureau, New Millennium
Democratic Party. <photograph by Min Won-ki>
'Long-awaited rain falls on the flying dust of Korean politics.'
Women have launched an alliance in preparation for next year's
general election. Their search for hidden talent is also in
full swing. Watch out for the women's 'resistance' that will
splash into the 2004 General Election for the 17th National
Assembly!
Nine women representing women groups and the political and
academic circles, including President Lee Chun-ho of the Women
Voters' League, Representative Lee Oh Kyung-sook of the KWAU
and Kim Kum-rae of the Women's Bureau of the Grand National
Party, gathered in Jeong-dong on May 23. They were the panelists
for a special symposium entitled 'Political Reform and the
17th General Election, What should Women Do?' organized by
The Women's News.
The panelists agreed to launch a women's alliance in preparation
for next year's general election and to make full use of the
women's quota by amassing a host of promising women candidates.
The panelists also agreed to hold another symposium on June
11 to 'rally' women groups and women lawmakers who were unable
to attend the first symposium, and to expand the scope of
the alliance as much as possible.
The women also unanimously declared that it was not enough
for parties to stipulate the women's quota of 30% in regional
constituencies and 50% in proportional representation in their
non-legally-binding party platform and regulations; the women's
quota must be written into the law, such as the Political
Party Act. To enforce this, the suggestion is that the Election
Management Committee could refuse to accept candidate registrations
from parties that do not adhere to the women's quota, or public
funds allocated to such parties could be drastically cut down.
<reported by Bae Young-hwan ddarijoa@womennews.co.kr>
(The Women's News http://www.womennews.co.kr)
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