Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
Revisiting 'jokbo' in a changing Korea
Koh He-ryung, formerly of the National Institute of Korean History and past chairwoman of The Roots Society, speaks at the forum “Korea’s Jokbo, Women’s Jokbo: Not just Grandfathers, but Grandmothers too" hosted by The Korea Times at Seoul Global Center in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Park Han-sol
In her speech at “Korea’s Jokbo, Women’s Jokbo: Not just Grandfathers, but Grandmothers too,” Koh He-ryung — formerly of the National Institute of Korean History and past chairwoman of The Roots Society — traced the evolution of “jokbo,” Korea’s traditional genealogical records, within the peninsula’s long history.
As early as the ancient kingdoms, she noted, people asserted their identity by naming their lineage. The form of jokbo we recognize today, however, emerged during the early years of the 1392-1910 Joseon period. The oldest surviving example, compiled in 1476, belongs to the Andong Gwon clan.
Women’s place within these records shifted over time. In early Joseon, while Confucianism was adopted as the state ideology, maternal and paternal relatives were still documented with roughly similar weight. Yet even then, signs of a male-centered framework were visible: Women were identified not by their own names, but by the names of their husbands.
By the mid-Joseon period, as neo-Confucian patriarchy took firmer hold, the imbalance grew starker. Married women were regarded as “outsiders” to their natal families, and sons were listed before daughters, regardless of birth order. Only in the 20th century did practices begin to diverge from family to family.
Although jokbo no longer function as a marker of hereditary status, they remain a vital historical and anthropological archive. In contemporary Korea, the abolition of the “hoju” (male head of household) system, alongside women’s broader participation in public life, reshaped the social landscape. Genealogical traditions, Koh concluded, must evolve in step with these changes, ensuring that women and men stand on equal footing within the family history.