Women in the DPRK

The development of a society is unthinkable separated from the role of women as there is no world without women.

The editor-in-chief of Social Education, a magazine of Belarus, wrote in Women in the Democratic Korea, a book he published in 2017: 

I wrote this book to introduce the policy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on women. The reason is that the DPRK has put the issue of women in the state policy and achieved great successes in this regard.

In the DPRK women are said to be in charge of turning one of the two wheels of the revolution.

In the country women participate free from restriction in the state administration including elections to power organs and have the right to elect and to be elected irrespective of their occupation, property status and education. 

Many of them including labour innovators are elected to the Supreme People’s Assembly and other levels of power organs and have their say in discussions on state affairs. 

Special importance is given to talented women and women officials; the ratio of women who hold important positions in various fields and units including state economic institutions and establishments of science, education, public health and culture is increasing remarkably.

There are many examples of the state and social benefits for women.

The Pyongyang Maternity Hospital is a comprehensive medical service base for women, which provides them free of charge with all the medical assistance necessary for delivery and the treatment of their diseases. 

When they go back home with their healthy babies, they are pleased to have been cured of the diseases which they themselves are not aware they have. 

The state gives gold rings or silver daggers to triplets and their parents as gifts.

The Breast Tumor Institute of the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital inaugurated ten years ago specializes in treatment of women’s diseases including breast cancer with its cutting-edge equipment and expensive medicines. Its treatment is also free.

The DPRK provides women with the right to work and special treatment.

Those with several children work for less hours for the same pay as others and are provided with relevant monthly allowances and dwelling houses preferentially. Women are never allowed to do labour-consuming and unhealthy jobs.

Women are granted maternity leave in addition to regular holidays and provided with relevant allowances before and after delivery. Even the title of Hero is awarded to the woman who has many children. 

As there are nurseries, kindergartens, children’s hospitals and other necessary facilities, women have little inconvenience in their work. Children are brought up at the state expense and this is regarded as something natural and normal.

Under public attention, children grow up at nurseries and kindergartens built in all the towns, rural communities, factories and villages.

If you visit the country, you will see lively images of women and facilities for them wherever you go, and this will give you a better understanding of the policy of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and the state for the sake of women.

The director of a medical research institute of Myanmar wrote in his note of impression as follows: The Western propaganda on the DPRK is fraught with contradictions and falsities; my visit to the country corrected my understanding of it; the DPRK I saw was the country free of terrorist attack and unstable elements like violence against women.