Lee Gil-ya, president of Gacheon University and chairwoman of the Gacheon Medical Foundation, is one of Korea’s greatest women achievers. In celebration of her 80th birthday, she recently published her autobiography in English.

“Mother let everyone down. She gave birth to a girl and the guests quietly left the house … I can imagine how morose the family atmosphere was after my birth and how sorry my mother was before her husband and in-laws.

“‘Why are you staying in bed as if you’ve done something special?’ Grandmother shouted at mother as she lay in her room. So, only hours after delivering me, mother had to get up and go into the kitchen. ‘Your womb seems to have room only for girls,’ Grandmother complained.”

Dr. Lee described the plights of her mother who produced two girls before becoming unable to have more babies after a miscarriage. She went on to tell the depressing stories she heard from her mother about what happened in the family after her birth in a village in Okku, North Jeolla Province.

“Chadori, a niece, put a long piece of dried seaweed into a bowl of water to make a soup for my mother. ‘What are you doing?’ Grandmother asked Chadori. ‘I’m making soup,’ she answered. ‘Miyeokguk? She doesn’t deserve such treatment.’ Grandmother pulled the seaweed out of the bowl and threw it outside.”

Born without family blessing, the bright young Gil-ya became a top honor student in high school and advanced to Seoul National University College of Medicine. Her autobiography, “My Dream, My Challenge,” revealed numerous obstacles she had to overcome while she established an empire of medical, educational and philanthropic operations in Seoul and Incheon.

Twenty years after the birth of Lee Gil-ya, Park Geun-hye was born in the southeastern city of Daegu between ROK Army Col. Park Chung-hee and Yook Young-soo. Life was tough as the Korean War was raging across the frontline, but the officer’s wife should have eaten miyeokguk even if the couple must have been a little disappointed to have a girl as their first child.

The war and the subsequent industrialization transformed Korean society and the tradition of male preference rooted in the Confucian patriarchal norms has slowly receded. Particularly from about the end of the past century, the nation witnessed many abrupt social changes that included a phenomenal surge of women in power and their social roles. Korean women are no longer the dominated, suffering at home and workplaces, and we now have a woman in the highest office of the government. But the gender relations in Korea are still complex and complicated.

Men felt sorry whenever they confronted statistical data informing them of the modest places their female counterparts occupied in professional society, compared with other OECD nations, the usual reference samples. Now, they have to brace themselves for the women professionals making inroads into the previously exclusively male positions in corporate boards, bureaucracy and the legal community, etc.

Korean males are often surprised when they hear news reports of the reputation Korean women have earned in global society in recent years with respect to their lifestyle and social and domestic powers. First, the large number of “hagwon” institutes across the country reveals the strong enthusiasm of Korean mothers about the education of their children and the ubiquitous eateries (one for every 114 people) indicate the degree of freedom Korean women have from the chores of cooking at home.

It may be a different subject, but when we look at upscale restaurants in downtown areas during lunchtime, we find 90 percent of tables occupied by women customers. Then it is reported that Korean women are the world’s most lavish users of foundation cosmetics, which may explain the distinction given to them for having the softest skin in East Asia. The fact that Korea has so many cosmetic surgery clinics is certainly related with the above phenomenon, although its implication on the women’s social status needs to be more carefully analyzed.

The divorce rate has continued to rise in Korea to be one of the world’s highest and analysts tend to attribute it to the independence of Korean women. The high preference of caesarean section for childbirth ― 148,044 cases in 2011 against 224,659 natural deliveries, rising above the OECD average ― could also indicate that Korean women have become very self-assertive in their homes.

The ever-dynamic Korean society has much proof of a country in constant transition. Women have approached half of the number of successful examinees in government licensing of medical doctors, CPAs and legal professionals. Military academies of the three armed services are accepting women cadets in increasing numbers year after year and combat duties are given to them. Primary school classes are almost exclusively taught by women teachers across the nation.

Korea is one of the world’s three nations that have a government department in charge of women’s affairs. The two others are New Zealand and Afghanistan. India has the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The birth of the Ministry of Women in 2001 following the enactment of the Law on Gender Equality two years earlier was a significant step to look after the weaker sex but it had to change its name four times over the next 10 years due to jurisdiction contests with other ministries.

What is certain about the next administration is that there will be no debate on the fate of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and its responsibilities unlike five years ago when it was almost abolished. The new head of state will be able to find hidden problems with the eyes of a woman and give the ministry new tasks.

Our problems are more cultural than systemic. Most men still believe that women are not only different but inferior. Yet, domestic violence and the glass ceiling in offices can be taken care of by laws. The relative shortage of toilet stalls for female users at public restrooms is also being addressed by local authorities. The real problem lies in the fact that women cleaners are allowed ― forced ― to work inside the gentlemen’s section while men are never assigned to cover both partitions. We confront other absurdities in gender relations every day and five years may not enough for the woman president to tackle all of them one by one.

By Kim Myong-sik

Kim Myong-sik is a former editorial writer for The Korea Herald. He served as head of the Korean Overseas Information Service. ― Ed.