Korean ‘tigresses’ are growling for teeth

Did you know that India's first cultural ties with Korea can be traced to an Indian princess of nearly 2,000 years ago? As per a 13th-century Korean document, it is believed that a princess from Ayodhya, Suriratna went to Korea in 48 AD in a boat after a divine vision and married King Kim-Suro. Their descendants are said to be the Kim clan, including the East Asian nation's former President and Nobel laureate Kim Dae-jung, former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil and former President Kim Young-sam.

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The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has made rapid strides in economy since it emerged from the ravages of Korean War in 1953 and in just half a century, it has transformed itself from one of the most impoverished countries into a developed country. Today, South Korea is one of the four Asian Tigers, a term used in reference to the highly free market and developed economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan that notably maintained exceptionally high growth rates (over 7 per cent a year) and unprecedented industrialisation between the 1960s and 1990s. This "Asian Miracle" is attributed to export-oriented policies and strong development policies.

India could do good to assimilate from its experience of rising from the ashes of a crippling war to become the 12th largest economy. In recent years of India's 'Look East' policy, Indo-RoK relations have become multidimensional, buoyed by significant convergence of interests. 

Today, social development of Korea is symbolised by the fact that the country has for the first time elected a woman President, Park Geun-hye. And in January this year, its Cabinet inducted another woman Kang Eun-Hee as the Minister of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF). A free-wheeling interaction by the minister with a group of women journalists from India early this month revealed common social concerns regarding gender inequality that the two countries are grappling with. Despite economic gains, gender challenges abound in Korea. This was reinforced at a separate meeting with some women journalists in Seoul. Much like in India, changing people's attitude towards gender roles is more difficult than making progressive laws. The toughest obstacles to overcome are cultural factors that are difficult to change with only government measures. Laws for equality are meaningless unless complemented by a change of thought and social acceptance.

If Korea is a tiger, its “tigresses” — the women — have not witnessed a proportional rise in their status over this period. Despite a rise in education and demands for equality, they lack teeth in matters of decision-making and political participation. The UN index on gender equality shows Korea in poor light, trailing behind even the UAE and Qatar. It has the worst gender wage gap among the industrialised countries, with female workers earning only 65 per cent of what their male counterparts make. The World Economic Forum gender index also puts countries like the Philippines, where women traditionally play greater social roles, much ahead of those with patriarchal societies, including Korea. Women lose out since child-care and work-home balance becomes a tall order in a cut-throat corporate environment. 

Seoul fares the lowest among the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations, according to the Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It is indicative of the huge gap and discrepancy in opportunities, status, attitudes between men and women. Compared to the top-ranking Nordic countries, South Korea has a fewer percentage of females in its parliament, fewer women in higher ranks of industry, and higher percentages of its society having sexist or gender-prejudice views.

An interaction of a group of Indian women journalists with South Korea's Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kang Eun-Hee and, separately, with some women journalists of Seoul before the International Women's Day (March 8) throws interesting light on the similarities between women of India and Korea, both struggling for social and political equality. The common Asian culture bonds us into a sisterhood, not discernible with our European counterparts, who generally tend to adopt an air of white superiority. 

Minister Kang maintained that the status of women in social, economic and political spheres had significantly improved over the past few decades. But she conceded that much more was needed to be done to bring them on a par with men in the spheres of occupation, education and political participation. Kang attributed the country's low ranking in the WEF report to the lack of women in senior and high-paying jobs. The focus of the MOGEF is on increasing the participation of women in politics, improving the work-family reconciliation and balance and enhancing women's economic power and participation in the decision-making process. In the present 19th National Assembly, the percentage of women members is about 16. However, all parties are recommending and making internal efforts towards having 30 per cent women in parliament.

But, there has been a remarkable change and improvement in the number of women employees in the government as well as large corporations, in higher positions. In this dramatically changed scenario, it is not easy to reconcile work and family life. A five-year survey of the family life in Korea reveals that more and more men are helping in household chores, especially among the younger generation. The women journalists, citing their own examples of work-life balance, were more forthcoming about the ground reality. They admitted that there are stereotypes surrounding the Korean women. 

The societal norm is that even if working, women alone are expected to cook, be obedient to their husband and rear children. The mothers of working women babysit grandchildren since hiring nannies and maids for house work is a costly proposition. Some even tend to voluntarily leave jobs due to family commitments since their men have been, for a long time, paid higher wages. They quoted a study that revealed that the female workers in the media industry comprised only 30 per cent of the workforce. However, their number was growing. Shopping and moving around in Seoul, shows many young women on shop floors and offices. It is said thousands of females are employed in factories making textiles, clothes, shoes and electronic components. An increase in the number of women in leadership roles can help change attitudes over time, when it would become socially acceptable for men to be equal to women. But it's a long way till the tigresses' growls are heard enough for them to get teeth.

The writer visited South Korea  recently. 

hkhetal@gmail.com