Research on North Korean Women in South Korea:

Finding a Way to Co-existence

Abstract

This article reviews the 40-year history of research on North Korean women in South Korea. I divided my research into three periods: the Cold War, the 1990s after democratization, and the 2000s, and examined the contents and characteristics of research in each period.

(1)The first study on North Korean women during the Cold War was conducted by Lee Tae-young in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, studies were conducted by second-generation women who had studied in the United States.

(2)With the democratization of South Korea in the late 1980s and the end of the Cold War, research has advanced. Interest in North Korean women increased, and research began. The Korean Womenʼs Institute at Ewha Womans University played an important role in establishing womenʼs studies in South Korea, but also took the initiative in studying North Korean women. The research in this period focused on clarifying common points and differences between women in the north and south.

(3)As the Kim Dae-jung administration (1998) adopted a conciliatory policy toward North Korea, womenʼs research became more active. Access to data has become easier and research methods have become more diverse. Through interviews with North Korean defectors, which have increased rapidly since then, researchers have been able to get closer to the reality of North Korean society. Research through movies was also conducted. In the 2010s, interest in daily life in the North increased. Some studies focused on gender in the economic structure formed after the economic crisis of the 1990s, changes in womenʼs dual roles in family and society, and the values of the young generation under Kim Jong-Un.

Recent studies on North Korean women have moved beyond research as part of research on North Korea into a new phase of gender analysis of North Korean society.