The present paper delineates some of the efforts that have been in order to implement the Beijing Platform for Action and challenges we face in Korea at the moment. The impact of the Beijing Conference has been significant on both the government and non-governmental women's organisations in Korea. The achievement introduced in the first section of paper is an outcome of the synergy generated from both parties working very closely with each other. The challenges summarised in the second section of the paper will be overcome also through their joint efforts.
Achievements
Since the Beijing Conference, Korea has undertaken definitIve steps toward advancing women's status and some of them will be reported in this section.
Ten Policy Priorities for the Expansion of Women's Social Participation
The first major follow-up to the outcome of the Beijing Conference was the formulation and implementation of the Ten Policy Priorities for the Expansion of Women's Social Participation. In October 1995, the Committee for Globalisation Policy, a consultative body to the President, recommended ten medium and long-term policy priorities for women. They provided the framework for the government plan of action to facilitate the participation and advancement of women in Korean society. The goals of this special plan were:
- to reduce women's burden of domestic responsibility,
- to provide institutional support for women's employment,
- to develop women's ability to work outside the home, and
- to strengthen the social milieu that discourages gender discriminatory practices and attitudes.
Among specific policies, the expansion of childcare facilities, provision of school lunch programs, setting target percentages for women's participation in public service, the introduction of an incentive system to recruite more women at public enterprises, and the enactment of the Women's Development Act bore significance.
Women's Development Act
The Women's Development Act was enacted in 1995 in order to consolidate a legal basis for taking adequate institutional and financial measures in support of advancement of women. The purpose af the Act is to promote gender equality and increase women's participation in all aspects of political, economic, social and cultural fields by prescribing the responsibilities of the State and the local government to realise the Consitutional Principles of equality based on gender. The fundamental principle of the Act is to ensure that both women and men, on an equal basis may take part in, and share the responsibilities of realising the healthy family, protecting maternity, eliminating genderdiscrimination, and developing the ability of women. The main contents of the Act include the establishment of the Basic Women's Policy Plan, the establishment of the Women's Development Fund, and support for women's organisations, etc. The fact that the Act allows the State and local government to adopt interim affirmative actions in order to promote the participation of women in the fields where participation is quite inactive is in fact very significant.
The Master Plan for Women's Policies (1998-2002)
The Government established the Master Plan for Women's Policies (1998-2002) in order to promote the development and empowerment of women. The basis for the plan is in the Women's Development Act which mandates the State government to establish the plan every five years and the local governments to establish the annual execution program in accordance with the basic plan. The Plan is a long-term comprehensive framework to facilitate women's participation in society and promote their status. The basic goal of the Plan is to realise the ideal of the healthy family through promoting gender equality, women's social participation, and women's welfare and to consolidate a social system where men and women participate jointly in national and social development and share responsibilities.
Women's Development Fund
The basis for the establishment of the Women's Development Fund is also found in the Women's Development Act, which mandates the State to establish the fund in order to secure the financial resources for supporting the projects for fulfilling the purpose of this Act. It's main resources are the contribution by the State, contribution by individuals ans organisations, and other revenues prescribed by the Presidential Decree. The State and some of the local governments have already begun to appropriate the fund in supporting projects for advancing women's rights and interests as well as in subsidising the projects of women's organisations.
National Machineries for Women's Policies
With the resolution of the government reorganisation last year, the Ministry of Political Affairs (II) - MOPA (II) - which was in charge of women's policies, was closed down and the Presidential Commission on Women's Affairs (PCWA) was launched. Unlike MOPA (II), which operated under the auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister, the PCWA is under the direct supervision of the President. According to the provision of the Government Organisation Act, the functions of the Presidential Commission on Women's Affairs are to provide consultation to the President, implement the Women's Development Act, and implement the Presidential Decree on women's policies. The PCWA is in charge of monitoring the implementation of women's policies and programs by relevant government ministries and local self-government bodies. The PCWA is comprised of deputy ministers from six ministries as permanent members, and civilian experts as non-permanent members in order to ensure a democratic decision-making process through the cooperation between government and NGOs.
PCWA positioned Officers in Charge of Women's Policies in six government ministries including the Ministries of Justice, Labor, Health and Welfare, Education, Government Administration and Home Affairs, Agricultural and Forestry to form an organic relationship among relevant departments of government. In other ministries, a women's policy unit has been designated. In sixteen local self-government bodies, women's policy units operate to guarantee effective implementation of women's policies in their provinces. Effective on July 1st, the Act on the Prohibition of Gender Discrimination and Relief will give PCWA the semi-judiciary function of solving disputes in discriminatory cases.
Act on the Prohibition of Gender Discrimination and Relief
Act on the Prohibition of Gender Discrimination and Relief, which has been eagerly anticipated by women's circle in Korea for a long time, was passed on January 6, 1999, and comes into force from July this year. The Act mandates PCWA to take exclusive charge in investigating and rectifying gender discrimination. The PCWA will determine whether a case is a gender discrimination case, mediate in gender discrimination disputes, and recommend measures to rectify gender discrimination. According to the Act, the PCWA can advise public agencies to take measures to redress gender discrimination, such as sexual harassment, and when deemed necessary, civil servants can dispached from the government agencies. Those who interfere with the investigation without justifiable reasons or those who refuse to submit data or attend a trial will be punished according to the provisions of the Act.
Other developments
In 1997, the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Victim Protection Act was enacted, recognising that domestic violence is a serious crime and it violates human rights of women. The law holds the State and local governments responsible for creating legal and institutional mechanisms to prevent domestic violence and to protect victims of such violence. Counselling centers and custodial care facilities for victims are now being operated and expanded according to the provisions of the Act.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Act has been revised in 1998 to contain new provisions concerning sexual harassment. According to this provision, education to prevent sexual harassment at work should at work should in order to provide a safe environment for workers, and "such measures as reassignment and punishment should be taken against those who engaged in sexual harassment at work". Guidelines and relevant educational material are being developed.
In 1997, the Nationality Act was amended to remove provisions which were discriminatory towards women. Consequently, our reservation to the provisions of Article 9 on CEDAW will soon be withdrawn.
The Act for Assisting Women Entreprenuers was legislated and comes into force in June 1999, containing provisions on favourable treatment of women entreprenuers (e.g., allowing women to have priority in providing supplies to the Government, and easy access to financial resources and information).
Challenges
The challenges we face in Korea in the process of realising the vision of the Beijing Conference can be summarised into three broad problems: (1) the discrepancy between the laws/policies and the reality; (2) the impact of the economic crisis and restructuring; (3) and low level of women's participation in decision-making process. These problems were revealed in the Republic of Korea's third and fourth reports on the implementation of CEDAW, which were reviewed in the 19th Session of CEDAW in July 1998.
The Discrepancy Between the Laws/Policies and the Reality; Gender Discriminatory Practices and Attitudes
The gap between the provisions of laws/policies (de jure) and the reality (de facto) is a serious problem in promoting women's status in Korea. People's consciousness and everyday practices in general show that we still have a long way to building a gender-egalitarian society. Korea's entrenched Confucian partriarchal ideology still hinders the realisation of gender equality. The discrepancy can be attributed to several factors: the lack of publicity and information on women's issues and related policies, traditional practices and consciousness regarding gender deeply rooted in our culture, the skeptism among Korean people toward politics and government policies in general, etc. Initiatives are being undertaken to narrow the gap between de jure and de facto gender equality and to enhance people's awareness of gender equality. The celebration of "Women's Week" and the designation of the "Month of Equal Employment" are such examples. The Korean NGOs have been playing a vital role in bringing the issue of gender discrimination and women's rights to the forefront of society. Their increasing influence in Korean society will positively contribute to the narrowing the gap.
Low Level of Women's Participation in Decision-Making Processes
As of 1998, the number of women in the Korean government and politics accounted for 3.6% (11 persons) in the National Assembly, 5.9% (41 persons) in the metropolitan council, and 1.6% (56 persons) in the local council. This is in stark contrast to the world average of 11.7% for women in politics has to do with the ingrained notion of politics being reserved only for men, the high cost election practices, the electoral system failing to ensure women's representation, and the lack of effort to discover, foster and support female political candidates. Since there will be a general election next year, women's organisations are putting the issue of women's political participation on the top of their agenda.
As of December 1997, female civil servants constitute 28.7% of the total. However, women who are above the 5th rank constitutes only 2.7%. The Government has set the targets for female representation in government committees (20% for the year 1998, 23% in 1999, 30% in 2000). However, most of those committees are unable to reach the prescribed target and consequently, as of 1998, the proportion of women in government committee members is only 10.0%.
