Women's rights in North Korea

In recent history, major events of the 20th century, such as the Division of Korea and later the 1990s North Korean famine have played an important role in shaping sex relations.

In the 19th century, it was Christian missionaries who established girls' schools, thus allowing young Korean females to obtain a modern education.

For example, female shamans were called on to cure illnesses by driving away evil spirits, to pray for rain during droughts, or to perform divination and fortune-telling.

An example is the strong son preference, and the burden put on women to do most housework, and the different sex roles confirmed by the practice of separating boys and girls at both the elementary and higher middle-school levels.

After the war, women were enrolled in the socialist economy in large numbers, and played a major role in the rebuilding of the country.

It is common for those living in poverty to turn to prostitution and drug use, and even those who manage to escape the country through China risk being sexually abused or trafficked.

[5] In Hamhung in 2008, a number of high-ranking party officials were accused of patronizing a tea house that also sold sex, and for protecting it against police interference.

In Hyesan in 2009, the manager of a state-run inn frequently patronized by central party officials was arrested for pimping women and girls, some in their mid-teens.

By 2010, prostitution in Chongjin had been organized by “couple managers” who matched customers, often soldiers, with sex workers, often female university students, and sometimes women who had become dependent on drugs.

Today, the Daily NK reports that prostitution is increasingly run by well-connected businessmen and protected by the officials they're connected with.