Head of House (Hoju) System Abolished; Childbirth & Child Care Emerge as Key Issues amid Low Fertility & Ageing of Population
Rep. HAN Myeong-Sook, 61, a second-term member of the National Assembly and of the Uri Party, was appointed Prime Minister in April, 2006. Han was the first Korean woman to hold the position in the nation's constitutional history.
"Her appointment has changed the political paradigm of Korea, which had been regarded as the most obsolete," said the women's community, expecting her to exercise leadership of integration and unity.
Ratio of female winners in May 31 local elections quadruples - Ratio grows ten times higher than in 1991
The number of women who won in local elections on May 31 reached 529, which is four times greater than that of 2002, and about ten times higher than that of 1991 when the first local elections were conducted. The ratio is closer to the 14% ratio of successful female candidates in the 17th-term National Assembly election.
Spouse Contribution Recognized - Spouse to Get Half of Properties upon Divorce or Inheritance.
Widows or widowers will be allowed to inherit half of the properties left by their dead spouses under any conditions, and they are entitled to half of the assets, which couples create over their marriage life. Allotment of their properties, which used to be possible only with a divorce, is possible even during their marriage, while any property registered in the name of any part of a couple will not be disposable without consent of the other.
The Ministry of Justice(MOJ) announced a bill to revise the civil law on July 2 of last year, focusing on drastically securing property rights for women.