Today ,the 8th of March , is International Women’s Day or more correctly International Working Women’s Day . People's Korea is actually a public holiday and is marked by meetings , concerts and different events. The DPRK takes it very seriously indeed . There are buildings named after March 8th in the DPRK such as the March 8th Hotel in Sariwon .
Article 77 of the ‘Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ‘ states that ‘Women are accorded equal social status and rights with men.
The State shall afford special protection to mothers and children by providing maternity leave, reduced working hours for mothers with several children, a wide network of maternity hospitals, creches and kindergartens, and other measures.
The State shall provide all conditions for women to play their full roles in society.’
On the 30th of July 1946 the Provisional People’s Committee of north Korea passed the Law on Sexual Equality which for the first time in history gave women equal rights with men , liberating women from centuries of double and triple oppression by feudalism .
In 2010 the Law of the DPRK on Protection of Women’s Rights was adopted .
The founder and eternal leader of People's Korea, President KIM IL SUNG always paid deep attention to the women's question and the liberation of women pointing out in 1971 that "If a society is to run normally women who account one half of the population must play their role satisfactorily if we are to revolutionize and working classize the whole of society we must also revolutionize and working classize women . Just as a wagon cannot run smoothly if only one of its wheels functions, so a society cannot develop on a sound basis when only men fulfill their duties .Only when women are revolutionized and actively participate in the revolution and construction can the whole of society be revolutionised and working classized"
Marshal KIM JONG UN himself said “At present the Party and people put great trust in and have high expectations of the women's union. When the women's union grows in strength and when its members and other women turn out vigorously, our revolutionary cause will advance with greater vitality."
However despite the epochal progress made in liberating women in People’s Korea some reactionaries as well as the fake Left , liberals and trendies constantly attack the DPRK over the women’s question alleging ‘traditionalism ‘ , ‘social conservatism ‘ ‘confucianism’ and the like .
In fact women have been truly liberated in People’s Korea under the banner of Juche-based , socialist , proletarian women’s liberation rather than by bourgeois feminism .
The DPRK is one of the few Asian countries to have statues of a female leader namely the anti-Japanese revolutionary war heroine Madame KIM JONG SUK .
Today in the DPRK female cadres and officials such as comrade
Kim Yo Jong , comrade Hyon Song Wol , comrade Choi Son Hui and comrade Ri Sol Ju ,play a leading role.
Women hold many responsible positions . 17.6 percent of deputies to the Supreme People’s Assembly are women . There are many women who are professors , doctors or managers of farms and factories . Many women are labour heroines and innovators
The DPRK not only legally guarantees the rights of women but also takes practical measures to ensure them . In People’s Korea childcare is free of charge and there is a big network of nurseries and creches including workplace creches and 24/7 nurseries . In the UK average nursery fees are £131 per week ! . In People’s Korea the amount of maternity leave increased from 77 days in the 1970s to 150 days in the 1980s and a few years ago was increased to over 200 days which can be supplemented by regular and additional holidays . Women who have more than 3 children can work for 6 hours but get paid for an 8 hour day , something that is totally unheard in a capitalist society .
In People’s Korea women are able to enjoy living in a safe and wholesome environment . Prostitution was made illegal by the 1946 Law on Sexual Equality . Pornography, the sex industry and hyper-sexualisation which degrades women (and men ) is unknown and unheard in People’s Korea .It is safe for women to walk the streets any time of day in the DPRK . No DPRK woman ever faces being propositioned on the street or hearing shouts of ‘Cor Blimey darling , get your clothes off ‘ from men . There is a civilized and clean ethos in the DPRK . Women are respected , indeed they are regarded as the flowers of society .
Thus the slanders about People’s Korea concerning the women’s question are completely untrue .
We urge progressive women who support independence to defend People’s Korea . We also appeal to women supporters of People’s Korea to join UK KFA and defend People’s Korea with no ifs or buts !
Dr Dermot Hudson
Chairman UK Korean Friendship Association
Chairman British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
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