Changes in Women’s Policies of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Images of Women as Reflected in Popular Music

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S/N Korean Humanities Vol.8 No.1 pp.41-58 ISSN : 2384-0668(Print)
ISSN : 2384-0692(Online)

Kim Chinmi
Korea University of Japan


Received July 21, 2021; Revised version received December 30, 2021; Accepted February 10, 2022

Abstract

This article historically identifies the significant women’s policies implemented by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) from the inception of its regime to the early 2000s, and introduces popular songs that reflect the characteristics of the policies of each era. After the reorganization of the equal rights laws and system, DPRK’s policies for women developed into a basic axis of socializing women’s household labor and parenting, and socio-politicizing such aspects in the last phase. In the nascent days of the state, numerous women were found to be active as the agents of socialist reform, and in the 1960s and the 1970s, female laborers could transform themselves into reformers while playing roles equal to those of men under maternity protection policies. However, although beginning from the 1990s, when the economic crisis erupted, women have played the role as the actual heads of households and saw changes in the division of gender roles, popular music has embodied as virtues the sacrifices of women who have internalized the patriarchal order. Historically, DPRK has valued the nuclear family, emphasizing the “Socialist Great Family” (sahoejuŭi taegajŏng) along with the Juche ideology to maintain the DPRK-style socialism. In consequence, the roles of the state and of women as well as family relationships has become defined more than ever according to gender norms.


Key Words : socialist policies for women, popular music, labor reformer, family policies, gender norms

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