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Especially after the economic crisis of the 1990s, a wide gap existed between legally
stipulated equality and rights and the daily lives of women who were confronted with
multiple forms of discrimination and violence exerted by the state and men.
Contrary to the ‘festival of efficacious rights’ directed by the state on the legal stage,
the backstage that is everyday life is rather characterized by irregularities. This
mismatch between the legally staged appearance and reality is best represented in the
field of civil and political rights. Although the ratio of women amongst delegates to the
North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly seems to formally indicate a high political
participation of women, their participation in the party, the cabinet, and the military,
i.e. in the bodies that in reality exercise power, is insignificant. Women’s entry into
public affairs is not only strongly limited through the ranking of ‘birth status’, but often
women’s status is also determined according to their parents’ lineage and the social
position of their married spouse (Mun Gyeongsun, 2009, 2-7). Thus, a life which is
dependent on or subordinated to male-centred power is imposed upon women.
2) The unequal provision of opportunities and cross-generational
transmission of class: Being born into a predetermined occupation
Even though the classificatory policies of North Korea which discriminate on grounds
of birth origin also control the societal participation of the basic masses, it is the
people attributed to the ‘impure masses’ who suffer directly from the classification
policies. Individuals categorized as the ‘impure masses’ are discriminated against with
regard to employment, education, housing, medical care, etc., which means in all areas
of social life. Overall, these persons are engaged in difficult and harmful labour, and
they are singled out and managed as targets for isolated accommodation through
forced resettlements and as objects of authoritarian rule, as isolated objects whose
movements are watched at all times, as objects in need of persuasion and ‘refinement’
towards conformity with the system through concentrated refinement education, etc.
With regard to the field of education, there is a strong indication that education has
been utilized as a means to reproduce the ruling class despite North Korea’s claims of