North Korean women’s human rights

As examined in this book, North Korea is at an interesting crossroads where ‘old’ and ‘new’ meet. Kim Jong Un has inherited a legacy of totalitarianism, built on a pseudo-religious and familial imagery with a clear hierarchy, along with a failed economy and widespread human rights violations. There have been some signs and suggestions that the DPRK is experiencing cultural shifts, especially in gender relations, mainly due to the development of a market economy and women’s newly obtained role as breadwinners. This advancement has strengthened the status of women and their bargaining power in the household (Kang, 2008; Haggard and Noland, 2012; Schwekendiek and Mercier, 2016). In addition, there are indications that young women have begun to express their identity and freedom by using fashion and make-up, which is regarded as a form of resistance that challenges the oppressive system (Saucedo, 2020). Given that almost every sphere of life is controlled, wearing jeans when women are required to wear skirts can be an act of ‘rebellion’. Reflecting this development, Radio Free Asia (RFA) (2020) reports that Kim Jong Un’s war on the growing impact of South Korean pop culture is a result of the ‘illegal’ infiltration into the DPRK of the latter’s dramas, movies and pop music, which are reportedly watched by 70 per cent of the 25 million North Korean population. According to the RFA article, the DPRK government has taken a strict approach to the cultural influence of the South through video lectures that contain a warning of more severe legal punishment for speaking or writing in the South Korean style, in combination with ideological education projects, to prohibit the further percolation of South Korean culture.

As illuminated by this recent development, the DPRK has not undergone profound changes, despite the high expectations of transformation and modernization under the reign of Kim Jong Un. While some women have made small gains in power and freedom at home, the deeply entrenched patriarchal culture and structures have not been dismantled (Jung and Dalton, 2006; Hosaniak, 2013). Women continue to play the role of main carer in the household on top of their economic responsibilities, with implications of even greater workloads (Park, 2011; Cho et al, 2020).