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Viewing cable 06SEOUL2392, YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY:" THE RISING STATUS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06SEOUL2392 2006-07-18 08:09 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Seoul
VZCZCXYZ0026
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #2392/01 1990809
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180809Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9142
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0958
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1033
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC 1521
RUALSFJ/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR
RHMFIUU/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RHMFIUU/COMUSKOREA SCJS SEOUL KOR
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP//
UNCLAS SEOUL 002392 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS HHS FOR OIRH 
TREASURY FOR IA/ISA/TRAN AND BUCKLEY 
PASS USTR FOR AUGEROT AND KI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI ECON PGOV PREL KS
SUBJECT: "YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY:" THE RISING STATUS 
OF KOREAN WOMEN 
 
REF: A. 05 SEOUL 1058 
 
     B. 05 SEOUL 3215 
     C. 05 SEOUL 3368 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  (U) Korean women are better educated then ever before and 
are working in greater numbers outside the home, joining 
management, becoming professionals, and entering politics. 
The entry of women into the public arena suggests that the 
ROK is slowly breaking away from its Confucian male-centered 
culture.  Persistent gender discrimination, such as 
chauvinistic views on "men's work" and "women's work," 
however, have offset some of these gains.  The ROKG is 
currently working on policies to address gender inequality 
and to better balance families and careers.  Though deeply 
entrenched sexist attitudes will not likely disappear easily 
or completely, women have made many inroads across numerous 
categories and will likely continue to see their status rise. 
 END SUMMARY. 
 
MORE WOMEN EDUCATED AND WORKING 
------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) Women in Korea are enjoying historically high levels 
of education.  According to the National Statistical Office 
(NSO), of the 1.3 million 18- to 21-year-old women, a record 
675,000 were enrolled college in 2004 -- almost 51 percent, 
compared to 15 percent in 1985.  Korean women are graduating 
at the top of their classes in record numbers and passing the 
tough civil service exams.  Last July, the Civil Service 
Commission reported that women outperformed men for the first 
time on the foreign service exam.  Out of 1,191 applicants, 
ten of the 19 successful testers were women.  The highest 
score went to a woman.  Similar results were seen in the 
tests for senior civil and judicial officers.  Even at 
secondary levels of education, girls are finding success.  A 
2005 Ministry of Education report stated that girls 
outperformed or were on a par with boys on the five basic 
subjects tested, including math and science, on the National 
Academic Achievement Test administered to sixth- ninth- and 
tenth-graders. 
 
3.  (U) In addition, women are increasingly working outside 
the home. The NSO released new numbers showing that almost 50 
percent (49.8 percent), or 9.9 million, women were in the 
workforce in May.  This new record is part of the steady rise 
of working women since the NSO first began tallying female 
economic activity in 1963: 41.5 percent in 1973, 47.0 percent 
in 1990, and 48.8 percent in 2000.  The surge of middle-aged 
women in the work force has driven up the overall numbers of 
working women.  In May, 2.7 million women 50 and older were 
working, and double income families represented 30 percent of 
Korean households.  Women in politics and management 
increased nearly 90 percent in the last five years, and women 
represented 46.3 percent of the nation's total doctors, 
teachers, lawyers, scientists and journalists in 2005.  Women 
employers in the ROK reached 353,000 at the end of September 
2005, up eight percent from the previous year, comprising 
20.7 percent of all business owners in the country. 
 
WOMEN AND POLITICAL POWER 
------------------------- 
 
4.  (U) In addition to educational and economic gains, Korean 
women have been making their mark in the political arena. 
Today the National Assembly has 30 female lawmakers, the 
highest number in ROK history, and more women are taking 
executive positions in government.  The increase of female 
political power is best seen through three of Korea's most 
celebrated women politicians: Han Myung-sook, Kang Kum-sill, 
and Park Geun-hye. 
 
5.  (U) Han made history when she became the ROK's first 
female Prime Minister in April.  A noted activist during the 
ROK democracy movement in the 1970s and 1980s, Han had set 
previous records by becoming the first female Minister of 
Gender Equality in 2001 and later Minister of Environment in 
2003.  Twice elected to the National Assembly (2000, 2004), 
she is known as the "godmother" of Korea's feminist movement 
and maintains strong ties to the progressive NGO community. 
 
6.  (U) Kang, a former human rights attorney, developed 
overnight name recognition when she became the first female 
Justice Minister in 2003.  She is respected for her 
determination to create a truly independent judicial system 
and to root out corruption during her 17-month tenure as 
Minister.  She won the hearts of the Korean public through 
her logical, outspoken remarks and for her reform image.  The 
ruling Uri Party tapped Kang to run for Seoul mayor in the 
May 31 local elections and dubbed her the "Joan of Arc" of 
the Uri, as party officials pinned their hopes on Kang to 
help raise the party's dwindling popularity.  Though she lost 
the race, rival Grand National Party (GNP) viewed her entry 
as a serious threat because of her immense public appeal. 
 
7.  (U) The most well known female politician in Korea is 
Sisa Monthly's "Woman of the Year" and the Monthly JoongAng's 
"Most Influential Woman in Korea," Park Geun-hye.  Park was 
elected the GNP's Chairwoman in 2004 and is credited with 
having reversed the GNP's downward spiral in the weeks before 
the April 2004 general elections.  She surprised skeptics 
with her leadership and charisma and ensured the party's 
emergence as a viable opposition, securing 121 of the 299 
National Assembly seats.  She first joined the GNP in 1995 
and won a seat in the 15th National Assembly in the 1998 
by-election.  She was re-elected by a wide margin in 2000 and 
2004.  She stepped down as Chairwoman of the party in June, 
which many believe signals her ambitions for the party's 
nomination for the 2007 Presidential Elections.  The former 
GNP Chairwoman is a strong contender and, because of her 
enormous popularity, stands a real possibility of becoming 
Korea's first female president. 
 
PARADIGM SHIFTS AMONG WOMEN 
--------------------------- 
 
8.  (U) The psychological changes Korean women have undergone 
are most evident in Korea's young women whose outlook on life 
is markedly different from their predecessors.  Donduk 
University's 2005 nationwide survey on childbirth, revealed 
that 24.4 percent of women in their 20s and 30s viewed 
raising children as optional. The percentage was higher among 
double-income couples, highly educated people, and 
high-income earners.  Other polls show as many as 50 percent 
of women preferred to stay single, compared to 35 percent of 
men.  Marrying shortly after high school or going to college 
to meet a spouse, as previous generations had done, is 
increasingly considered anachronistic.  Korea's young women 
foresee a career after graduation, then marriage, followed by 
children if time and money allow. 
 
9.  (U) These changes in attitude have resulted in high 
employment among women in their twenties.  The end of 2005 
saw almost 2.2 million young women employed, outpacing their 
male counterparts (1.9 million).  In the first quarter of 
2006, young women continued to outpace men, 2.3 million 
compared to 2.1 million.  Recruiting companies such as Job 
Korea have found that young women are more aggressive then 
men in their studies and job search.  They are better in 
languages and in job interviews, which has benefited them as 
the interview is steadily becoming more important than 
grades.  Women are also more willing to adapt to today's 
tight job market -- more willing to relocate, work for 
smaller companies, and, if necessary, lower their own 
expectations. 
 
KOREA BEHIND WORLD STANDARDS IN GENDER EQUALITY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
10.  (U) Although Korean women are enjoying new levels of 
education, income, and influence, gender equality in Korea 
continues to fall short by international standards.  In 2005, 
the World Economic Forum (WEF) published "Women's 
Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap," which assessed 
the gender gap by measuring the extent to which women in 58 
countries -- all 30 OECD countries and 28 emerging markets -- 
have achieved equality with men in five critical areas: 
economic participation, economic opportunity, political 
empowerment, educational attainment, and health and 
well-being.  Sweden took top honors; the ROK was ranked 54. 
Only four countries -- Jordan (55), Saudi Arabia (56), 
Pakistan (57), and Egypt (58) -- fared worse in gender 
equality.  By comparison, the U.S. was 17, China 33, and 
Japan 38. 
 
11.  (U) In the WEF rankings, the ROK came in 55th out of 58 
in "economic opportunity," which spotlights the institutional 
discrimination Korean women face.  A 2005 Korea Labor 
Institute (KLI) research found that women in their 50s are 
most discriminated against in the job market.  Personnel 
managers and CEOs from 1,000 ROK companies revealed that 
between two equally competent applicants, older, married 
women only had a 33.7 percent chance of getting hired. 
Married women in general stood a 36.9 percent chance, and 
women overall had a 37.1 percent chance.  Companies view 
women as investment "losses" because some 60 percent of 
Korean women end up leaving the workforce after giving birth 
due to poor childcare support, thus putting women at a hiring 
disadvantage.  Prospective employers frequently ask single 
women when they plan to marry and if they will continue to 
work after marriage. 
 
12.  (U) Attitudes on "men's work" and "women's work" 
persist, as demonstrated by the division of household duties. 
 A 2005 NSO report found Korean women spend on average 237 
minutes on housework per day.  Korean men spend 32 minutes. 
By comparison, American women and men spent 192 and 110 
minutes, respectively, on housework. 
 
13.  (U) Chang Jiyeun of the Korea Labor Institute (KLI) 
explained to poloff that Korean women had made significant 
gains over the years.  However, that did not mean women had 
attained parity with men.  Men's economic participation rate 
was 75 percent, compared to 50 percent for women.  Moreover, 
many women, especially older women, entered the job market to 
offset rising living costs or to supplement their husbands' 
low retirement income, not to pursue careers.  As a result, 
they were concentrated in low-skilled and low-wage jobs, 
creating an income gap between men and women.  Double-income 
families in Korea earn only KRW 720,000 (USD 757) a month 
more on average than single-income families.  Chang further 
pointed out that while the National Assembly had more women 
representatives than ever before, the 30 women only make up 
13 percent of the 299 parliamentarians, short the world 
average of 15.7 percent of female lawmakers.  In some 
countries, such as Mozambique and Argentina, women comprise 
30 percent of parliament.  Even in the education arena, Chang 
noted that 80 percent of Korean men go to college compared to 
51 percent of Korean women. 
 
OLD HABITS ARE HARD TO BREAK: VIOLENCE AND CHAUVINISM 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
14.  (U) Meanwhile, domestic violence continues to plague 
Korean society, although official statistics and anecdotal 
evidence suggest a decline in frequency.  According to a 2005 
report released by the Ministry of Gender Equality, one in 
six married women has suffered domestic violence.  The 
survey, conducted by Gallup Korea, showed that 21.7 percent 
of husbands with a male authoritarian view of marriage used 
physical violence against their wives, more than double that 
of husbands who said they viewed their wives as equals (9.9 
percent).  Forty-two percent of the 6,156 respondents (3,701 
men, 3,085 women) have suffered mental and verbal abuse and 
another seven percent sexual assault.  Almost half (44.3 
percent) of the respondents said reporting to the police 
would not be helpful. 
 
15.  (U) Traditionally, Koreans have considered domestic 
violence a private matter.  Old Korean proverbs, such as 
"samjongjido," which instructs a woman to obey her father 
until marriage, husband until his death, and sons until her 
own death, have kept women largely silent on the issue. 
Other folkloric expressions such as "women and dried pollack 
should be beaten every three days," reflect a deep-rooted 
psychological acceptance of male dominance of women through 
violence in Korean culture.  Though gender equality is 
promoted today, many in the older generation, both men and 
women, hold onto such "traditions."  This existential 
worldview is one reason the hojuje -- Korea's family registry 
system that only recognized men as legal heads of households 
-- took 50 years to abolish (REF A). 
 
16.  (U) Other sexist views toward women persist, as 
highlighted by the case of a senior Korean politician, Rep. 
Choi Yeon-hee.  Choi, a three-term legislator is accused of 
sexual harassment for fondling a female reporter's breasts in 
February during a drinking session.  Choi initially excused 
himself by saying that he thought he had grabbed the 
restaurant owner; later he apologized and claimed to be 
drunk.  Other male legislatures came to Choi's defense 
explaining that Choi is a "well-mannered" man.  Even 
opposition lawmakers like Rep. Hahn Kwang-won (Uri) explained 
on his web site that it was "natural that everyone who sees a 
beautiful flower is tempted to enjoy its smell and touch it." 
 
 
17.  (U) Outraged women legislators led the fight to censure 
Choi and demanded that he leave the Assembly.  The measure 
passed 149 to 84 in April.  However, Choi refused to step 
down, stating he would let the courts determine his fate. 
The reporter filed a lawsuit against the legislator, and the 
case went to court June 15 where Choi blamed alcohol for his 
behavior.  Public opinion against Choi remains negative.  His 
next court appearance is scheduled for July.  Although some 
skeptics believe that Rep. Choi will "get away" with his 
sexual assault, the National Assembly's censure of Choi 
indicates the increasing level of influence women now hold in 
Korean politics and society and, more importantly, spotlights 
the changing attitudes toward gender relations and workplace 
behavior. 
 
LOW BIRTH RATE: A BLESSING IN DISGUISE FOR WOMEN 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
18.  (U) The ROK has one of the world's lowest total 
fertility rates (TFR).  According to a preliminary 2005 NSO 
report, the 2004 record low of 1.16 children per childbearing 
woman (age 15 to 49) dropped to a new low of 1.08.  One of 
the reasons women have consistently said they preferred not 
to have children was because of the discrimination they face 
in the job market if they wish to maintain both a career and 
family (REF B, C).  As a result of the low birth rate, the 
ROK's core labor force of 25- to 49-year-olds is expected to 
decrease by 200,000 every year starting in 2008.  Ironically, 
the growing need for labor could impel greater gender 
equality in the employment market as the nation will have to 
turn to women to supplement the shortage of workers, 
according to Chang of KLI. 
 
19.  (U) For example, Assistant Director Kim Soon-rim of the 
Ministry of Labor's Equal Employment Bureau explained how the 
Affirmative Employment Improvement Measure incentivizes 
public corporations and large private companies to improve 
their hiring practices and maintain a certain ratio of women 
in management.  Companies with strong records of female 
employment would receive benefits such as tax breaks and 
financial support for its human resource departments. 
Women-friendly companies would also have an advantage when 
bidding for government contracts.  Plans are also underway to 
double the number of state-run childcare centers to 2,700 by 
2010, so that women are less compelled to choose between 
children or careers.  Additionally, state-run unemployment 
insurance will cover 90 days of maternity leave for small and 
medium companies that only provide 30 days to further support 
women in the workplace. 
 
CONCLUSION: KOREA ON THE (SLOW) PATH TOWARD GENDER EQUALITY 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
20.  (U) Older women, with more economic power, are less 
tolerant of unhappy marriages, leading to an increase in 
"twilight" divorces -- marriages that end after 20 or more 
years.  Most Koreans support female employment and more 
Koreans place greater emphasis on quality family time over 
long hours at the office and late night drinking sessions 
with the boss and co-workers.  These changes bode well for 
gender equality.  Although deeply embedded sexist "norms" in 
Korean culture are not likely to disappear quickly, easily, 
or completely, Korean women appear poised to continue to make 
gains toward social, economic, and political equality with 
their male counterparts. 
VERSHBOW