Since Korea was liberated from Japan in 1945, the introduction of Western laws and systems and the dissemination of the concepts of freedom and equality have weakened the patriarchal system that was central to Confucian ideology. The Constitution stipulated gender equality. The adultery law, which used to be unfavorable to women, was revised and abolished. There have been many changes in the law to redress women’s rights, such as removing sexist elements concerning the inheritance of family members in civil law, and the abolition of the hoju system, which historically dictated the head of the household as male. The slow process of promoting women’s rights began with the emergence of women’s organizations. These organizations were interested in women’s issues, in fighting against authoritarian regimes alongside the democratization movement, and in overhauling the legal system to deal with women’s issues at a national level.
More recently, the paradigm of women’s policies is shifting toward gender equality. The title of the Women’s Development Act was revised to the Framework Act on Gender Equality. Under the keynote that gender equality is key for a sustainable future, the government is expanding projects and support for the expansion of gender mainstreaming and discussions around work-life balance, aiming to realize gender equality in all areas of politics, economy, society, and culture.
A few years ago, prosecutor Seo Ji-hyeon’s courageous decision to speak out about sexual abuse among lawyers in the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office sparked the beginning of the #MeToo movement in South Korean society. Sexual harassment issues are still rampant in various sectors, including sport, culture, and the arts, as well as in families, schools, and workplaces. These issues have been emphasized via women’s voices, while digital sexual violence and hidden camera crime have also come under the spotlight. Unfortunately, these discussions are usually met with defensive accusations against women for the damage caused by reporting sexual violence, rather than with conversations around how to respond to these problems on a structural level. It is difficult for things to improve without a change in consciousness across members of society. However, South Korean society is going through a positive change in people’s awareness thanks to increasing numbers of charges, prosecutions, criminal investigations, and trials concerning gendered violence and harassment.
On a final, personal note, while working for policy research institutions like Gwangju Foundation for Women and Family, I have struggled with the ways in which South Korean society encounters the fundamental problems it has, often intentionally, overlooked. Policy research institutes aim to advance discussions to solve societal problems, while remaining impartial, eventually contributing to policy making. To this end, they should provide data and design political frameworks. The research process should be transparent and the results accessible to the public. Researchers must therefore think about their objectives from the perspective of law and policy, with a view of the entire context, as well as with attention to people’s lives. Ideally, they should have a positive, hopeful outlook to make the world better.
The original plan of the Gwangju Foundation for Women and Family was to shed light on the trajectory of the lives of Gwangju women from ancient times through to the Joseon dynasty. In the end, there were not enough historical materials to explain the full history of women in Gwangju, in order to reveal the particularities of women’s lives during the pre-modern period. Nevertheless, I realized that the best thing I could do, for now and for the future, was to record what I could about women in this period, for only what has been recorded becomes history. As someone born and raised in Gwangju, I have an attachment to the places in which I and my community are rooted. I continue to be interested in the traces of this city and its unknown or untold stories—the history, culture, and atmosphere of Gwangju, and the lives of its women.
*This essay is an edited version of “Gwangju Women’s History I: Pre-modern period,” a 2019 report by the Gwangju Foundation for Women and Family.