Land Where Women’s Equality is Real-on the Occasion of March 8th International Women’s Day -special article by Dr Dermot Hudson

International Women’s Day or more correctly, International Working Women’s Day,  on March 8th, is celebrated in many countries across the globe. However, in many countries, it is a meaningless celebration or seen as fairly irrelevant by ordinary working-class women. In Western countries despite much talk over the years about women’s liberation and equality legalisation the position of women remains poor. Working-class women suffer from double and triple oppression. The gender pay gap still remains. Childcare costs in capitalist countries are very high for example in Britain the cost of a nursery per child can be as much as £14,000 per year. Women are also hit by the cost of living crisis which puts an intolerable burden on them. In capitalist countries pornography which degrades women is rampant and pervasive. Prostitution, sexual slavery and human trafficking are also common.

However, there is one country where March 8th International Women’s Day has true meaning, where women’s equality is real and not just talk   That country is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK) or People’s Korea. In People’s Korea, March 8th is a public holiday. Also, some institutions and enterprises such as the March 8th Hotel in Sariwon bear the name March 8th.

    March 8th in the DPRK is celebrated not just through meetings and events but by dances and games. Also, women are presented with flowers and cards by their husbands. The  DPRK has always seen the importance of women in society recognising that women are half of the population. As the great leader President KIM IL SUNG  said “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".

Right from the early days, People’s Korea took measures to do away with the oppression of women. 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. Later gender equality was enshrined in the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK and other legalisation protecting the rights of women was passed. Measures have been taken to realise women’s equality in practice such as the provision of free childcare including 24/7 nurseries.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 of in a capitalist society !.

  Many women in People’s Korea hold responsible positions such as deputy to the Supreme People’s Assembly and many women are directors of factories or hospitals. The foreign minister of the DPRK, comrade Choe Son Hui is a woman.

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 ) are unknown and unheard of 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 being lewdly catcalled. There is a civilized and clean ethos in the DPRK. Women are respected, indeed they are regarded as the flowers of society.

So every March 8th in the DPRK is celebrated with real meaning thanks to the Juche-based policy of real women’s liberation.

Dr Dermot Hudson

Official Delegate KFA for the UK

Chairman Korean Friendship Association UK .

Chairman of British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea .

President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK

Chairman British Solidarity Committee for Peace and Reunification on the Korean peninsula.

Hon Secretary general International Central Committee for Songun Study.