ABSTRACT
Strongly influenced by socialism, the new North Korean state is committed to women's emancipation and gender equality. But in reality the leaders have regarded women's interests as instrumental for revolution and the maintenance of their power. Rather than being the outcome of women's collective struggle, women's policy and law have been initiated by the state. This chapter reviews the North Korean regime's law and policy since the founding of the regime in 1948, and then explores the gaps between rhetoric and reality through an analysis of official discourses that relate to women versus actual practices and systems. This chapter shows that while women are defined as equal, the North Korean system defines all aspects of social and political life in terms of their relationship to the regime's leaders.
