Political feminism in South Korea

By David Tizzard

Last Sunday (March 8th) was International Women's Day. I took the time on Twitter to share a story not widely known among the English language students of Korea: That of Kwon In-suk.

Kwon was the victim of sexual violence at Bucheon police station in 1986. A report in the LA Times from that year described how the Chun Doo-hwan government had confirmed that she was “forced to remove her jacket and T-shirt and was beaten in the breasts three or four times”.

Kwon's crime had been to use a fake ID card so as to enter the factories as a student activist in an effort to dedicate herself to the labour movement in South Korea.

Thousands of students (known as “undongkwon”) are believed to have done the same: abandoning their privilege and studies so as to help those who were suffering under extreme working conditions. Jeon Tae-il's self-immolation over a decade earlier had still to bring about any notable changes in the plight of the downtrodden.

Rather than remain silent in the face of such violence, Kwon decided to stand-up and demand that her voice be heard. In doing so she became the first woman to bring charges of sexual assault against the Korean government.

Rather than any chance of a fair trial, however, she was decried a communist and imprisoned. The government declared that the “undongkwon” were known to exploit sex and their sexuality as a strategy to undermine the state and its authority.

The victim was labelled the offender.

The broader “minjung” movement in South Korea was multi-faceted but it signaled the arrival of the citizens declaring their autonomy and position as historically subjective actors. They were ultimately able to change the narrative of the nation through their actions and ideas.

Of all the citizens, it was the female factory workers who were seen as “the oppressed of the oppressed”: Those at the very bottom of the pile and with the least amount of protection.

Kwon's desire to help them and her subsequent bravery in standing up to the government has had a profound effect on the future of Korean politics.

Her testimony made it known that she and many others like her believed that the issues of violence and sexual assault against women were just as important as issues of reunification and democracy. She fought to change the patriarchal and military atmosphere that had permeated the country for nearly three decades of authoritarian rule. As a result the Korean Women's Association United (Yo-song Dan-chae Yonhap) was founded.

And last Sunday marked another important day in the country's democratic development for it heralded the arrival of South Korea' first-ever feminist party: The Women's Party (“Yosong-oui Dang”).

Their mission is to transform South Korea's entire political and cultural landscape through the realization of a democracy between the sexes and the abolition of all male-centered policies that produce economic and cultural inequalities.

A lot of their stated focus is on the legal ramifications of statutory rape, the country's worrying spy-cam epidemic, digital sex crimes, the import and use of sex dolls, and the closing of gender wage gap (the OECD's highest in 2018).

The global average for female representation in national parliaments is roughly 25%. Despite recording its best showing to date in 2016 with 51 female lawmakers, South Korea's stood at 17%.

The Global Gender Gap Index results of 2020 place South Korea 108 out of a total of 153 countries. No doubt it has done a sterling job in its battle against the Covid-19 situation ― many are now hoping it can do the same in other fields where it is demonstrably falling very far behind.

Much of the domestic and international press last week focused on the announcements of a North Korean defector and environmentalist party, respectively. The former in particular drawing much of the headlines as for many, in the South at least, the “minjok” seems to take precedent over the “minjung”.

There might be up to 60 political parties in the upcoming April election ― a huge rise from the 26 that registered in 2016. This can be attributed to the government's decision to fastrack a bill through parliament last December which lowered the voting age to 18 and reduced the use of the 'first-past-the-post' system to allow (in theory) greater representation of minority parties in the country's National Assembly.

But the newly-formed Women's Party is not particularly enamored with the current administration. The founding members have criticized President Moon Jae-in's government for going “completely silent” on a variety of issues despite claiming to be the country's first-ever “feminist President”.

Nevertheless, the Women's Party is confident that it can win a large number of voters to its side and gain seats in the National Assembly where it will then be able to affect the laws of the land.

Much of that depends on voter turnout and interest, however.

While it is very unlikely that the Women's Party will come to power in April, it is worth remembering the story of Kwon In-suk. She completed her PhD in the United States and now works as a Professor at Myoungji University and writes as a feminist scholar.

Things happen and things change when people stand up and have truth on their side. They don't often happen overnight, and they sometimes bring with them a great deal of mental and physical anguish, but there still shines a light.

David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University and lectures in politics and history and Hanyang University. He presents economic and cultural issues on "Business Now" on TBS eFM (101.3FM) live every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.