Abstract
Economic globalization and democratization are two major forces of Korea’s (referring to
the Republic of Korea) social transformation in past decades, and have opened new
strategic sites for women’s political participation. As yet, women’s political
representation in formal institutions of government remains extremely marginal
unmatched by South Korea’s hyper economic growth whereas women’s non-elective
roles became visible. This paper examines how South Korea’s economic globalization
and democratization have affected women’s political participation, and investigates
emerging new issues for both political actions and for scholarship. Several points are
made in the paper. First, industrialization of South Korea within the global economy
framework facilitated women to engage in labor activism thus creating strategic sites for
political opportunities for women. Second, women’s labor activism as well as street
politics organized by women’s organizations were significant in South Korea’s transi-tion
to democracy and need to be properly recognized by researchers of democratization
studies. Third, the institution-building approaches of South Korea’s democratization
brought positive changes to many women-specific issues reflective of women’s interests
that were not considered as important political issues in the past (e.g., sexual harassment,
women’s human rights, childcare, etc.) by policy-makers in the government and the
public as well. Furthermore, these reforms proceeded within a more collaborative
working environment between government and women’s organizations. Fourth, despite
institutional progress concerning women, chronic problems still persist. The limited
effectiveness of South Korea’s institutional reforms on women’s political participation
may be explained by gender based political culture, together with the status quo of South
Korea’s male-centered power structure as well as institutional constraints.
Convention