In the past the Korean women led a life of all kinds of humiliation and mal-treatment, being forced by feudal ethical morality.
Being bound by a feudal ethnic morality like "Three Principles for Women to obey men through their life, the young, an adult, and the old" and "the Seven Valid Causes for Divorce", women could neither be allowed to take part in social activities at all, nor go out on their own business as they were obedient to their fathers when young, to husbands when married, to their sons when old.
The Korean women, overpowered with feudal relations like in the Middle Ages for ages were forced to lead a miserable life exploited and oppressed in double and thrice ways under the Japanese colonial rule after the Japanese occupation over Korea.
Inequality between men and women got worse than any other countries while women had no right of all the branches of social life such as in politics, economy, culture and so on.
In the period of the Japanese colonial rule the Korean women never took part in the political life with no freedom and right in politics, and even worse in economy.
Though the Korean women workers were forced to work 12 or 16 hours a day, they were paid to the minimum, a half of a Japanese worker. They were absolutely subordinated, contemplated and ill-treated by the Japanese imperialists.
What was worse, the Japanese colonialists kidnapped 200,000 Korean girls and women to make them their comfort women on fighting fields brutally.
In truth, the Korean women were treated as slaves.
Those caused them to have a desire to free from colonial subjugation and maltreatment, feudal oppression and humiliation.
President
On May 5, Juche25(1936), President
"7. To abolish the caste system which divides the ryangban (aristocracy) and the common people, and other inequalities, ensuring equality based on humanity irrespective of sex, nationality or religion and improving the social position of women and respect for their persons;" ("
After liberation President
With the historical proclamation of the Law of Land Reform the Korean women were distributed their own land from the state, the same as men, free of charge.
What was more, not only women in Korea was liberated from colonial life of work but their labor rewards were guaranteed by the Labor Law, free from sex inequality.
Even though advantageous social and economic conditions for women were provided, sex inequality still found themselves in some aspects of their life. These were main points which caused women not to take part in public life.
The problem to make women free from personal subordination was solved by the proclamation and execution of the Law on Sex Equality.
On July 30, Juche35(1946), President
The historical announcement of sexual equality proclamation-that was a sensational event to make oppressed and humiliated women dignified masters of society and country.
By this proclamation, the Korean women were forever liberated from the subjugation and inequality handed down for ages and could have the same right as men in all spheres of not only political, economic and cultural life but family life as well.
First of all, our women could have the same political freedom and right as men by the proclamation of sexual equality law.
The priority in guaranteeing women for sexual equality is to provide them with equality in socio-political life.
Item 1 and 2 of the Law on Sex Equality guaranteed that the Korean women became dignified masters of society, the same as man, so that it became a lawful guarantee that their social position was greatly changed.
By the proclamation our women could vote to candidates for local organs to the supreme one in election with the same rights as men to elect and to be elected and take part in state affairs in the same positions as men. In other words, our women could take a power in their hands and take an active part in the governmental affairs for people and themselves.
Especially by constituting that sex inequality in political life, a decisive branch in social life, should be abolished and equality should be executed, the women's political position became legally guaranteed and the basic problem of strengthening the women' position and role in other factors of social life was solved.
Secondly, by the sexual equality proclamation women could have equal rights with men in economy and culture.
Item 3 of the law constituted that women could have equal rights for labor and education with men.
With this the women's position of becoming masters of land and factories was lawfully guaranteed and they could inherit their estate in the same way as men.
Women's right for labor, the right for the same wage as men and social insurance already provided by the Labor Law were reassured and lawfully guaranteed, so that women could work to their hearts' content for the sake of the country's development and themselves in the workshops available to their hobby and ability, being given equal rights with men.
Furthermore, by the proclamation of sexual equality law, women could contribute to the social development as they did socio-cultural activities, to the full, like educational one with the same rights as men.
In the past, our women were not free to come in and out of their own houses due to the feudal morality and could not go to school as they had no right of learning, so they could not foster their independent ideological consciousness and creative ability.
The Korean women had been treated like animals in abnormal condition because of no independent idea and short of creative ability.
By the announcement of sexual equality law, our women could foster their independent ideological consciousness and creative ability by thoroughly arming themselves with the Party idea and learning scientific and technological knowledge on different fields.
These were the most revolutionary and popular policies to free women from the colonial life of work and no right of learning, provide them with the same social position as men in economic life and make them creators and exercisers of science and culture.
Thirdly, by the sexual equality proclamation, our women were forever liberated from all kinds of personal subjugation such as family system and could have the equal rights with men in family life.
The social emancipation of women and the actual executives of sex equality in all branches of social life need to give women equality in family life as well.
A family is an essential life unit in society. In the past, no right of women in family life gave them great sufferings together with no social right.
Therefore, all colonial and medieval traditions, which had infringed human rights of our women for a long time, were thoroughly abolished.
From then on, they could enjoy the same rights as men both in social and family life and a firm guarantee was laid to respect the personalities and human rights of women.
Thus, the sex equality law constituted everything arising in the realization of women's great cause of emancipation, so that a firm lawful guarantee for the solution of women's problem has been laid and a turning point was made in realizing the great cause of women's social emancipation.
The fundamental change of the life of the Korean women – that was a great result made by boundless efforts of President
A broad phase of making a new life opened up to women, who had been forced to lead a miserable life of no right in humiliated, maltreated and contemplated conditions under the Japanese colonial policies and feudal tradition for ages.
