“It is only after the women are dead that they are elevated to heroic status and used by the men to mobilize mass protests.” Yu-Jin Jeong grew up during the politically oppressive 1960s to 1980s when South Korea was under US-backed military dictatorships. She was active in promoting democratic reform of South Korea’s higher education […]
“See, think, act!” Maria Chol Soon Rhie has dedicated her life to social work ever since graduating from high school in the early 1970s. She spent the next 15 years as a grassroots organizer, educator, and advocate for women’s and human rights, eventually earning a university degree in social work. Since then she has led […]
“Most women neither possess land nor have the right of joint possession. They are excluded from education and training, buying machinery, financial support. Only their husbands have these rights.” One of the founders of the Korea Women Farmers Association (KWFA), Geum-Soon Yoon has helped to place women and farmers in the forefront of her country’s […]
“We have suffered for over half a century. That is too much. We firmly believe it is now time to live together with parents, sisters, brothers, all our families, in a reunited, peaceful Korea.” Hyun-Sook Lee is the cofounder and former Executive Director of Women Making Peace, an organization established in 1997 with the goal […]
“Female-oriented peaceful movements, measures, and mind have guided me into a vision for resolving the conflict in the Korean peninsula as a mediator of peace.” Sook-Im Kim began empowering women to make a difference in Korea in the late 1970s, in what she calls the “dark ages for women’s movements”. In the face of military […]
“We have established that rape and sexual slavery during wartime are violations of women’s rights and should be punished. Because of our movement, hopefully such a thing will never happen again.” Heisoo Shin has been a leader in bringing the issues of sexual slavery and other women’s human rights abuses to the forefront of the […]