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- 2002 a year of elevating women's status, especially in opening
new horizons for women's political participation
The eventful year of 2002 has come to an end. The presidential
election, the death of two schoolgirls at the wheels of an armored
vehicle driven by the US army, and of course the World Cup, were
some of the much talked-about topics in 2002. Among the flood of
incidents and events reported in 2002, what caught the attention
of Korean women? The Women's News picked ten news stories that had
the greatest bearing on women's lives in 2002. In retrospect, 2002
was a year that brought many achievements to women. The problem
is that the women's rights felt by each individual was not that
promising in 2002. Thus the task that lies ahead in 2003 is to realize
the full potential of promises made to women. <editor>
[Top Ten Women's News in 2002]
[1] Presidential candidate
TV debate organized by women elevates the status of women groups
[2] The death of two schoolgirls sparks nationwide
campaign for the revision of the SOFA
[3] Appointment of first woman Prime Minister Chang
Sang vetoed by legislators
[4] The first inter-Korean Women's Reunification
Rally since national division
[5] Korea's birth rate of 1.3 the world's lowest
[6] Birth of the Committee on Women's Affairs as
a National Assembly Standing Committee
[7] Anti-Prostitution Act proposed at the National
Assembly
[8] Passionate response of women the biggest contributor
to a successful World Cup
[9] 'Cyber Mentoring' campaign initiated by the
Ministry of Gender Equality opens a new chapter in the women's movement
[10] VAT-exemption on sanitary napkins becomes
a public issue
The most important issue for women groups in 2002 was the expansion
of women's participation in politics. Women groups launched the
Women's Alliance for the Presidential Election (the Alliance) and
achieved the tangible result of organizing their own TV debate to
invite presidential candidates to talk about their women policies.
This was truly a shining achievement in the history of Korean politics.
The Alliance, made up of more than a hundred women groups, attracted
considerable public attention with its activities such as its campaign
exhorting women voters to base their choices on careful scrutiny
of each candidate's women-related pledges. The biggest achievement
by far was the debate on women's policies attended by the presidential
candidates and organized by 78 women groups. Through this discussion,
televised nationwide, the organizers succeeded in putting on the
social agenda major issues that women have been pushing for, such
as abolishing the hoju system, institutionalizing childcare, and
establishing women's quotas in political offices. The TV debate
was evaluated to have been particularly effective in getting the
presidential candidates to earnestly study women's issues and form
their positions. Says an officer with a women group, "Women's
voting turnout has been low in the past not because women were uninterested
in politics but because politicians were uninterested in the lives
of women. The presidential candidate TV debate can be considered
a success based on the sole fact that it provided women with the
opportunity to participate actively in politics."
Hyosun and Miseon, two schoolgirls in their early teens, were hit
and killed by a US army armored vehicle, but the US Army refused
to acknowledge its responsibility, giving the servicemen responsible
the 'not guilty' verdict. The incident was saved from the danger
of becoming just another case reconfirming the inequality of the
SOFA, developing into a massive candlelight march in a little over
a month, thanks to the suggestion of such a demonstration on a media
website by an ordinary Internet user. At first the demonstrations
were just part of the series of events organized to commemorate
the deaths of the two schoolgirls tragically killed by the US Army
vehicle, but they soon became the driving force of a campaign calling
for the revision of the unequal SOFA. And the campaign has gone
on to become a peace movement calling for an end to a war where
people of the same nationality have each other at gunpoint on the
Korean peninsula. Some politicians claim that certain forces are
deliberately encouraging anti-American sentiments, but the candlelight
marchers will not stop until they see tangible results, such as
jurisdiction over US Army crimes being transferred to Korean authorities,
the SOFA being completely revised, and the US publicly apologizing
for the killing.
Chang Sang, former president of Ewha Women's University, became the
first woman to be nominated for Prime Minister in the history of the
Korean Republic, but her appointment was unfortunately vetoed when
she did not pass the public hearing held to consider her appointment.
Woman groups heartily welcomed her nomination, even issuing statements
to that effect, but only bitter disappointment awaited them in the
end. Assessments of why Chang failed to get appointed vary greatly.
The male-dominated political and media authorities claim that Chang's
failure was a matter of course, since she did not meet moral standards
as can be seen through her son's American citizenship and records
of her real estate speculation and falsification of academic qualifications.
On the other hand, women groups insist that Chang was the victim of
a witch hunt targeted at only high-ranking women public servants.
The fact that the very legislators and mass media that were so harsh
on Chang were overly considerate towards the next nominee Kim Seok
Soo shows that the women groups' claims are far from groundless. Says
an officer with a women group, "Women public servants have always
felt that they are shortchanged when it comes to personnel decisions,
and Chang's being denied appointment has heightened their sense of
deprivation."
Women representing various sectors of North and South Korean society
came together for the first time in 57 years since the national
division. It was at the North-South Korea Reunification Rally held
on August 16. It was a short meeting that lasted a little over an
hour, but the participants agreed that women should become actively
involved in the reunification movement and confirmed their mutual
sisterly love as women of the same nationality. The women's meeting,
which took place on the third day of the Reunification Rally, was
attended by 6 representatives from the North led by National Reunification
Democracy Front Chair Yeo Won Gu and 20-odd representatives from
the South led by the Liberation Day Joint Festivities Women's Chair
Lee Hyun Sook. The Rally is considered to have provided a valuable
opportunity for North and South Korean women, hitherto left out
in the reunification movement, to confirm their oneness and search
for ways they can contribute to realizing peace on the Korean peninsula
through the reunification process. The women participants also agreed
to meet again on Mt. Kumkang from October 16 to 17 for the 'North-South
Korea Women's Reunification Rally' and to join forces in the reunification
movement to realize the June 15 Joint Declaration adopted during
the inter-Korean Summit.
The National Statistical Office announced in August that the average
number of children that Korean women in their productive years gave
birth to was 1.3. This record - compared to the US's 2.1 and France's
1.9 - is low enough to make the Korean government's birth control
policies of the past quite meaningless. Women groups interpret this
poor record to be the negative outcome of the burden of birth and
childcare being concentrated on women. In a reality where there
is no one to take care of their children and no place they can confidently
entrust their children with, women's response was a firm resolve
not to have children at all. The unfairness of having to take care
of her child by herself and the fear of being unable to go back
to work after the child is grown has made today's average Korean
woman steer clear of pregnancy. To women who have to feel guilty
about taking the legal three-month paid maternity leave, a two-year
childcare leave is just a faraway dream. Even the three-month maternity
leave is a luxury for the casually employed workers who form the
majority of the female workforce. All this is a reflection of the
backward state of the childcare system in Korea.
The birth of the Committee on Women's Affairs as a National Assembly
Standing Committee in April is another big accomplishment for women
groups in 2002. The Special Committee on Women's Affairs that was
first established in 1994 in the National Assembly did not have
any practical authority such as rights to recommend or pass bills,
rights of audit and inspection, and rights to preview budgets and
accounts. Also, even after the inauguration of the Ministry of Gender
Equality, inspection of the Ministry was undertaken by the National
Policy or House Steering Committee because there was no standing
committee in the National Assembly dedicated to women's affairs.
With the birth of the Committee on Women's Affairs however, it has
become possible to recommend or pass bills, carry out audit and
inspections, preview budgets and accounts concerning women's affairs.
2002's audit of the Ministry of Gender Equality focused on such
issues as the hoju system, women's employment and sexual violence.
Legislators on the Women's Committee chided the Ministry for being
too inactive in pushing for the abolishment of the hoju system,
and even called for the abolishment of the system of giving extra
credit to public servant candidates for military service. It is
a sad state of affairs if issues that are taken for granted in advanced
countries are still major controversies in Korea, but the birth
of the Committee on Women's Affairs has at least paved the way for
public representation of issues championed by women groups.
The bill for the prevention and punishment of mediating prostitution
proposed in July was withdrawn and replaced by two bills in September.
Taking into account the fact that the majority of victims of prostitution
are women, it was agreed that the Ministry of Gender Equality should
be in charge of policies to protect victims and prevent prostitution,
so that policies can be made from women's point of view. It was
also agreed that in order to heighten effectiveness, the Ministry
of Justice should be in charge of criminal punishment of those found
guilty of employing sex workers. It was through such consensus that
the original bill was divided into two separate bills. The Anti-Prostitution
Bill pending at the National Assembly stipulates that it is the
government's duty to offer special protection for foreign sex workers
and to prevent international prostitution. The bill also introduces
the term 'person who has been prostituted' to replace existing terms
such as 'hostess' or 'prostitute.' This is a reflection of the viewpoint
that the person who has been prostituted is a victim who needs government
support and protection. If the bill is passed, the deportation of
foreign sex workers can be postponed during relevant investigations
and court proceedings, and they are offered the same welfare services
as Korean nationals during their stay. However, the Women's Emancipation
Alliance points out that "the bill still has problems, such
as punishing the victims of prostitution as criminals and not specifying
foreign women who qualify for protection." Claims the Alliance,
"An Anti-Prostitution bill that does not stipulate punishment
of victims must be proposed and passed as soon as possible."
The World Cup undoubtedly got rid of the prejudice that football
is a men's passion. Wherever there was a cheering crowd rooting
for the Korean team during the World Cup, you could see women wearing
the Red Devil T-shirt and waving the Korean national flag and screaming
for all they were worth.
How to interpret the passionate response shown by women during the
World Cup games? Women groups say that the World Cup was an opportunity
for women, oppressed and marginalized as the weaker sex, to join
hands with the rest of society in public and relieve their stress.
In other words, the square in front of City Hall that was filled
with tens of thousands of cheerers was not simply a place for cheering
but a place of liberation where oppressed women could "let
it all out." Some go as far as to say that it was the women
who played the most important role in concluding the World Cup on
such a successful note. That there were hardly any casualties despite
the stomping and madly cheering crowd that shook Seoul is all thanks
to the influence of women who brought their families and children
to cheer on the streets. Instead of the male chauvinist style of
cheering that employs pretty cheerleaders, women football fans have
created a new culture of entire families clapping and cheering together.
The 'cyber mentoring' campaign - bringing together seniors (mentors)
and juniors (mentees) in cyber space to share their experiences
and wisdom - continues to gain popularity. Since the online counseling
program pioneered by the Ministry of Gender Equality in June through
the public website 'Women-Net,' many other organizations have joined
the campaign, coming up with similar programs such as the 'e-Good
Friends' by the Making Good Friends Campaign, the 'Cyber-Mom' campaign
by Naeil Women's Center, and the Next Generation Foundation by Daum
Communications. The expansion of cyber mentoring has dissolved the
prejudice that women lack mentors, and has provided a foundation
for women to share their wisdom and courage online. In particular,
this campaign is credited for having opened a new chapter in the
women's movement by introducing the Internet - a tool whose power
was proven beyond doubt during the presidential election campaign
- into the women's movement. Women who have participated in the
campaign say that "the mentoring has been a great help because
participants receive one-on-one counseling regarding career choices
and working life." They recommend that "publicity be strengthened
so that women who are still unaware of this program can benefit
from cyber mentoring." With the cyber mentoring program being
so well-received, the Ministry of Gender Equality is planning to
increase the number of mentor-mentee pairs from the current 105
to 200 in 2003. The Ministry is also planning to diversify its program
to include group mentoring that groups together one mentor with
several mentees, and peer mentoring that groups together colleagues
or women with similar occupations.
Women have long protested that the price of sanitary napkins is
far too high. The number of sanitary napkins used by an average
woman in her lifetime adds up to some 11 thousand, costing a total
of 3.3 million Won (about US$2,750). Womenlink Korea, the women
group that first made the exemption of VAT on sanitary napkins a
public issue, claims, "Sanitary napkins are products necessary
for social reproduction, and should therefore be exempt from VAT
for the sake of maternity protection." Womenlink Korea adds,
"Considering that social changes have led to the increase of
manufactured goods exempt from VAT, sanitary napkins should also
fall into this category since it is also a daily necessity for women."
Women have expressed their full support for this campaign, saying
that "levying VAT on sanitary napkins is going too far, as
if menstruation is some crime." The campaign got off the ground
in October when 22 legislators including the Democratic Party's
Chung Bum Gu proposed a Tax Benefit Restriction Bill that includes
women's sanitary napkins (menstrual pads) in the list of VAT-exempt
products.
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