Chunghee Sarah Soh - Women in Korean Politics

First published 1993 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2021 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
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Copyright 1993 by Chunghee Sarah Soh

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Soh, Chung-Hee
[Chosen women in Korean politics]
Women in Korean politics, second edition / Chunghee Sarah Soh.
p. cm.
Originally published: The chosen women in Korean politics. New
York: Praeger, 1991.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-2041-0
1. Women legislatorsKorea (South) 2. Women in politicsKorea
(South) 3. Korea (South)Politics and government. I. Title.
JQ1727.S64 1993
328.5195'073dc20
93-5956
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-3672-1361-9 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-3672-1642-9 (pbk)

DOI: 10.4324/9780429267697

It is my pleasure and privilege to write a new preface and to acknowledge the support and assistance I received from a number of people to complete the second edition of my book, the original title of which was The Chosen Women in Korean Politics: An Anthropological Study. Since its first edition, published by Praeger, appeared in November, 1991, the book has received several reviews in various academic journals, including American Anthropologist, The Journal of AsianStudies, and Korea Journal. I was gratified by positive evaluations it received from my colleagues in the academic community. I am delighted to have Westview Press publish the second edition.

In this paperback edition a partial revision has been carried out to reflect the fast pace of social change in South Korea, particularly in the political arena, in the past several years, and to address the general reader more directly than in the first edition. The introductory and concluding chapters have been rewritten, and other relevant parts in the text, appendix, references, and index have been updated. The use of Korean words, as in the first edition, has been kept at a minimal level. The appendix of biographical notes on seven women legislators (four of whom have the same surname, Kim, without any kin relationships) and a glossary of Korean words used in the text have been retained; the latter will be useful to the nonspecialist reader with no prior knowledge of Korean culture and society.

Since the initial fieldwork in 1985 and 1986, I conducted follow-up studies in the summers of 1990 and of 1992. The details of the initial field research are described in the introductory chapter. My informants for the additional field research included three newly appointed women legislators, three reappointed ones, and two former women ministers as well as an incumbent one in the Office of the Second Minister of the State (which was created in 1988). Although I considered incorporating more material from my follow-up studies into this edition, I chose to limit the revision as indicated above, primarily because the new data would only reconfirm the main thrust of the analysis presented in the previous edition. It can be said safelybut regretfullythat there has been little substantive change in the basic patterns of women's participation in national politics since the 1960s. Nevertheless, it is outside the political structure that we note a significant development in Korean women's political activism in the last few years. A brief discussion of this important aspect of women's political activities is included in the concluding chapter of this new edition.

I want to reaffirm the gratitude I feel toward all the informants who graciously spared their time for in-depth interviewing and placed their trust in me by revealing their life histories and their private thoughts on various issues. Without their cooperation this book would not have been possible. Special thanks are due to Alan Howard, Takie Sugiyama Lebra, and Alice Dewey for their support for my work as my mentors and friends. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support for the fieldwork provided by the National Science Foundation, the East-West Center, and the Association for Asian Studies Committee on Korean Studies.