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The origin and history of the movement of feminism or women's rights in the Republic of Korea or South Korea. Women’s suffrage in South Korea was included in Article 11 of the national constitution in 1948. The constitution says "all citizens shall be equal before the law, and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic, social or cultural life on account of sex, religion or social status."〔Constitution of South Korea〕 The feminist or women’s rights movement in South Korea is quite recent compared to first wave and second wave feminism in the Western World. While drastic changes in the workplace and economy have been implemented thanks to the industrialization of the economy and globalization, there has been less change in cultural values in South Korean society. ==History== While there are women’s rights groups today in South Korea that were founded before the second World War and post 1945, most of these groups did not focus solely on women’s rights until the mid-1980s. The contemporary feminist movement in South Korea today can be traced back to the ''minjung undong'' or mass people’s movement of South Korea. As the minjung movement grew, so did the focus on women’s rights. The exploitation of women labor in factories during South Korea’s “economic miracle” gave the minjung movement a women’s issue to focus on. The core of the minjung movement was thought to be poor rural and urban women. In the 1970s, the feminist movement in Korea was influenced by women’s movement in the Western world, particularly in the United States. However, in the 1980s, the birth of radical women’s organizations began to resist American feminist influence by concentrating on broad human rights issues and reunification instead of gender equality.〔 The ''minjung undong'' movement began as a response to Japanese colonialism of South Korea and subsequently continued through 1961-1992. The movement fought for the freedom of the oppressed labor forces of Korea and was championed by students, workers, peasants, and intellectuals. At the same time, minjung feminism grew from this movement. During the years 1961-1979 or General Park Chung Hee’s regime, women factory workers in South Korea, or ''yo’ kong'', were girls from the countryside who worked in factories for electronics, textiles, garments, plastics, and food processing. They suffered from poor working conditions, such as living in dormitories where mattresses were shared between two shifts of workers and working in factories where a single floor was divided into two. They were also paid low wages and were sexually harassed. During this period, the work done by the oppressed labor forces built the foundation for South Korea’s later economic development.〔 This period gave South Korea the reputation for having “the world’s longest work week and highest rate of industrial accidents”. For the first time in South Korean history in 1972, a woman was elected as president of the democratic union movement and kept the movement going for six more years before it was finally shut down by the government. The Garment Makers Union or ''Chunggye Pibok'' Union represented 20,000 women working at Seoul’s Peace Market until it was also shut down in the 1980s by General Chun Doo Hwan.〔 By the mid-1980s, the women’s movement gained traction thanks to female involvement in the labor and student movements. The 1980s was a period of political turmoil and reform in South Korea.〔 The Institute of Women’s Research was created at Ewha University which was the first university for women in South Korea. In 1985, there was a national women’s rally with the theme “Women’s Movement in Unity with National Democratic Minjung Movement”. Then in 1986, spurred by the rape and torture of female labor organizer Kwon In Suk by the hands of police in Buchon, women rallied together to form The Korean Women’s Associations United (KWAU) which was made up of 33 different organizations (peasant, religious, environmental). KWAU’s participation in protests eventually forced General Chun Doo Hwan to step down whose successor then implemented direct presidential elections.〔 By 1987, women made up 55% of the paid workforce. The service industry had the highest percentage of women (60%) compared to manufacturing (40%) and office workers (38%). However, sex worker jobs make up 30% of women employed in the service industry.〔 The Korean Women Workers Association (KWWA) formed in 1987 in response to gender discrimination in the workforce and fights for gender equality in South Korea. It was essential in continuing the fight for women’s rights following democratic and political reform in South Korea. Even now, the KWWA fights for an 8 hour work day, higher wages, maternity protection, an end to sexual discrimination in the workplace, and an end to sexual violence against women in Korea. Chapters of the KWWA are in Seoul, Pusan, Buchon, Inchon, Changwon-Masan, and Kwangju.〔 In response to workplace discrimination, the Korean Women’s Association for Democracy and Sisterhood was founded by women office workers. These female workers fought against both the pay gap and sexist errands (such as carrying coffee and getting cigarettes for their male coworkers and superiors).〔 The ''minjung'' feminist movement was vital in bringing to light the crimes committed against women in the military. It provided support for Comfort Women survivors by establishing groups. Comfort women survivors in Korea and other countries such as the Philippines, Taiwan, and other Japanese-occupied territories banded together with the Korean Council, the Korean Sexual Violence Relief Center, and the Korean Women’s Associations United in order to submit testimony to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in 1993. Their testimony also included their demands to end violence against women committed in the military and during war.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Feminism in South Korea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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