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PAGE4
MARCH1,2001
NATIONAL
http://maincc.hufs.ac.kr/~theargus
DeepinsidetheproblemsofHojusystem
ShotonSpot
NoReasontoKeepObsoleteLeftover
Arepresentativeis
I.Whoisthefamily-head?
entered in her father’s family register
conductingahunger
L
ee is only a 3-year-old boy. He is the
(Article 781 of Civil Law). Once she
struggleinthe
head of family instead of his mother
marries, her name is incorporated in her
pseudojailon
who has a substantial responsibility for the
husband’s family resister (Article 826 of
February21st.
familyandhisgrandmotherwhoistheoldest
Civil Law). If the woman had her ex-
in the family. This inconsistent situation is
husband’s child and had his or her name
caused by the succession order of the Hoju
entered on her new husband’s family
(family-head) system in Korea. When the
register,sheshouldobtainherex-husband’s
KimMi-ji/TheArgus
family-head passes away, the legal right is
approvaltodoso(Article784ofCivilLaw).
giventotheson,thegrandson,anunmarried
By contrast with a woman’s situation, the
About10representativesofHanchongnyonheldahungerstruggleforabolishingthe
daughter,orfinallythewifeorhismotherin
man has the right to accept his extramarital
NationalSecurityLaw(NSL)infrontoftheMyungdongCathedral.Thegoalofthis
thatorder.
sonintohisfamilyregisteronlywithhiswill
eventistoabolishthevicelawthatismoreabsurdafterthe6.15JointDeclaration.
Based on patriarchal ideology, the Hoju
(Article 782 of Civil Law). As a result, the
Gettingupat7,theyusuallybegantheirdailystrugglewithdiscussingonthecurrent
system has planted a bias firmly into the
law keeps men in a superior position to
affairs.Meanwhile,theparticipantsconductedthedemonstrationinthepseudojail,the
public that males are superior to females.
womenfromthebloodsocietytothewhole
sit-downstrikeandthepropagandaactivity.At5,theprison-uniformedmemberswith
The Constitution in a democratic society
society.
being rope-tied marched along the Myungdong street. “Many human right activists
shouldupholdpersonaldignityandequality
III.Nottradition,buttrashofJapan
alreadyhadstronglyurgedtheabolishingNSLthroughthehungerstruggleinthegreat
of the sexes. The system, however, running
anguish.Wegotincentivesfromtheactivistsandhaveparticipatedthehungerstruggle
counter to the Constitution still exists as
Some conservatives claim that the Hoju
withthem,”assertedarepresentative,LeeYun-jae(I-97).
legislationinKorea.
system is worth keeping as a tradition that
willprotecttheKoreanfamilycustoms.But
II.Man-centeredinstitution
Hankyoreh21
the Hoju system is not a deep-rooted own
AccordingtoChapter4intheCivilLaw,
tradition for the family. The term “Hoju” is
theHojusystemregulatesthefamily-headas
originated from Japan when the Japanese
his business had gone bankrupt. During the
register. And I am listed as an orphan,”
the central person in a family. All family
were trying to enlist soldiers and collect
escape, he passed away and my son cannot
deploredPinlatethirties.
Theprison-uniformed
members are under the maintenance of
taxesefficientlyinKoreaduringthecolonial
help succeeding to his family. The woman
membersare
familyheadwhohasalegalrightandowesa
period. Ironically, Korean society still
who he had married went back to her
V.Onepeople,oneregister
marchingonthe
duty for the family. The census register in
adheres to the Hoju system even though
parents.AndIwasinvolvedintheregisterof
IntheUnitedStates,FranceandGermany,
Myungdongstreet on
Korea is a system that records family
Japanese abolished it in 1947 after finding
my ex-husband’s family as a biological
people have their own registers that include
February21st.
members under the family-head. Some
problemsinthesystem.
mother of my son, the family-head. By the
thefamilyandthepersonaldata.Certainly,it
emphasizethattheHojusystemismerelya
It is required to recognize that the Hoju
way,thematteristhatmysonshouldburden
doesn’tmeanbreakingupthefamily.Japan,
gimcrackaftertheamendmentoftheFamily
system has no regard for realistic family
hisstrangefather’sdebtthroughouthislife,”
one of the countries of the northeast Asian
Law in 1991. The man-centered article,
situations. A woman called K(33) pointed
saidKinmid-thirties.
culturearea,isalsounderdiscussiontobring
KimMi-ji/TheArgus
however, stating the order in succession to
out the contradiction of this. “I married my
“The Hoju system forces the children of
in this system. Introduction of this system
thefamily-headandtheentryinthefather’s
husband 5 years ago. Unfortunately, my
divorcees to remain on the father’s register
may be the alternative plan to replace the
family register still remains as same as
husbandandmyfather-in-lawwerekilledin
andtofollowafterhisfamilyname.Somy
Hojusystem.
before.
a car accident. Under the Civil Law, the
daughter seemed deeply hurt by the village
Abolishingthe Hojusystemis,ofcourse,
THEEYESOFTHEARGUS
Under Article 984 of the Civil Law, the
husband’s younger brother became my
folks’ gossip and her friends making a joke
not an easy matter. However, many people
eldest son has the right of succession after
family-head gaining the headship of the
onherlastname,”pouredGinmid-thirties.
withprogressiveideasareconducting“anti-
the death of the father. If there is no son, a
family. Though he lives far away from me
Thisinstitutionaldiscriminationturnsinto
Hoju system” as part of gender equality
grandson succeeds, and the next is an
andIamingoodfinancialcondition,heisas
the traditional discrimination. The Hoju
movements.Itissincerelyrequiredtograsp
ScrapNat’lSecurityLaw
unmarried daughter or granddaughter. Only
myfamily-headasusual.”
system incites the people to have a deep-
therealisticsituationbehindtheHojusystem
afterdeathorabsenceofthegranddaughter,
seated notion of preferring a son to a
and to discard this obsolete leftover. This
IV.Victimsunderthesystem
doesthewifeoftheformerfamilyheadhave
daughter.Thiscomesfromtheprejudicethat
would be a shortcut to recover personal
the legal right at last. An adult female, in
As shown in the case above, there is no
a man must succeed the generation of the
dignity and equality between men and
I
nter-Korean relations had paved the unprecedented way in 55 years of national
otherwords,hardlyeverbecomesthefamily
logicalbasistosupportthecontentionofthe
family.
women firmly guaranteed in the
separationforreunificationsincetheJunesummitbetweenPresidentKimDae-jung
head. Thus, the Hoju system is not
old-fashioned. Korean society is recently
“My mom was expelled out of the her
Constitution.
andNorthKoreanleaderKimJong-il.AcloserrelationshipbetweenthetwoKoreashas
correspondingtothespiritoffilialpietyand
faced with serious problems due to this
husband’shome,becauseshecouldn’thave
changedthepublic’sprejudicetowardNorthKoreaduringthepastseveralmonthsand
respect.
undemocraticsystem.
a boy. If a woman had a right to be the
made it possible to expect the possibility of peaceful reunification. At present, North
Moreover,awomancannothaveherown
“I divorced when my son was two. I had
family-head, she might live with my father
ByKimMi-ji
Korean leader Kim’s reciprocal visit to Seoul as he publicly stated is predictable and
family register before or after marriage.
brought up my child by myself and my ex-
andme.Mymomstilllivesalone.Andeven
ReporterofNationalSection
thereappearstobeincreasingconcernsaboutthepoliciesandmethodsforreunification
Every unmarried woman has her name
husbandremarriedanotherwoman.Oneday,
though I have my parents, I don’t have the
inmanypartsofoursociety.
One of the most controversial issues among them is the revision of the National
Security Law (NSL). The NSL aimed at alleviating its application against pro-North
TransparencyinMediaBringingMoreControversy
KoreanactivistsandthosewhosympathizewithNorthKorea’sideologyremainsstuck
in a time warp, while South Korea has changed dramatically since 1948. The NSL,
enacted in 1948, has long been denounced because past authoritarian governments
M
abusedittooppresspro-democracyactivists,students,scholarsandoppositionleaders.
onth-long battle over where to draw
involved in systematic campaign to tame
proof that the new press reform is a press
conflict between the ruling administration
Internationalrightsgroups,includingAmnestyInternationalandHumanRightsWatch,
the margin on the “press reform”
news media firms. The Sisa Journal article
censorship.
and the press firms. Ever since the ruling
havecontinuouslyrequestedthattheSouthKoreangovernmenttoabolishthelaw.
neverseemstoend.Thecivicorganizations
saidthatithadacquiredthreereportswritten
The report classified most of the
party decided audits be done on the press,
Now, with the reconciliatory mood prevailing in inter-Korean relations, the ruling
andsomeoftheprogressivepressesinKorea
by strategists from the ruling party. These
newspapers in the nation into anti-
editorials in major papers started to talk
campstatedpubliclythatitwouldrevisetheNSL.Despitesuchapledge,thebilltabling
supportedtaxinvestigationandauditonthe
reportsoutlinedPresidentKimDae-jungand
government, pro-government and neutral. It
about “political intentions”. The second
NSL revision hit a snag because of the slow pace of political parties in reaching a
media when President Kim Dae-jung
MDP’s plan to direct the press firms in
alsostatedwaystoinducenewsmediafrom
conflict erupted between the two parties,
consensusonthetimeandextentoftherevision.Sotensionsarerisingovertheissue
announced such idea. Meanwhile, some of
Korea. The contents of the reports had
writing displeasing stories on the current
opposedandtheruling.
betweenyoungreformistlawmakersfromtheMillenniumDemocraticParty(MDP)and
the renowned vernacular papers with big
enough ground for the opponents in press
party. Some of the ways indicated that tax
The civic groups and press firms at
theGrandNationalParty(GNP)andtheirpartyleadershipastheformercallsforcross
numbers of subscribers opposed it strongly.
reform to accuse the ruling party that the
and accounts investigation on each firm
loggerheads would be the third conflict to
voting, which would allow them to vote across party lines in accordance with their
They retorted that the audit is only another
reform was actually prepared carefully by
would be the starters for a press reform.
handle.People’sCoalitionforMediaReform
personalpoliticalconviction.Youngandreform-mindedlawmakersoftherivalparties
way for the ruling Millenium Democratic
thismedia-controlreport.
Becausethereportisclaimedtobeoutlined
(PCMR), a civic group leading the
arejointlypushingaheadwitharevisionofthecontroversialNSLthroughanalliance
Party (MDP) to control the press which is
AlthoughtheMDPrefutedthevalidityof
bytheconcernedfromrulingparty,GNPcan
movement in the reform declared war
with the progressive civic groups. But, despite efforts to form an alliance, leaders of
supposedtobelikethatofasacredprecinct.
the reports denying that the reports were
vehemently raise its voice criticizing press-
against all governmental organization that
both the ruling and opposition parties are showing signs that an issue like the NSL
ItwasFebruary13,whentheweeklynews
writtenbytheirpeopleorthatPresidentKim
control.
have been violating the law and it was
might not be easy to resolve. And they also said that younger generation lawmakers
magazine, Sisa Journal published the article
had seen it, the opposition Grand National
Concerning the reform in press agencies,
reasonabletopursuesuchreform.
haveneveractedindependentlyoncepartyeldersdecidedonanygivenissue.Although
in problem firing up more conflicts. The
Party(GNP)joinedintheargumentwiththe
there developed dissension among several
theprocesstorevisetheNSLisunlikelytoproceedsmoothly,sinceconservativegroups
article talked about MDP having been
press firms that the report was a “decisive”
organizations. First one can be called for a
are vehemently opposed to the easing of the law, we should be sanguine about the
alliance,thefirstofitskindinKorea’spoliticalhistory.
IandWe
Butweinsistthatthebillmustberealized,notapartialrevisionofclausesthatmay
violatehumanrights,butawholesaleabolitionofit.
TheNSLisananachronisticlegacyoftheColdWar,anditshouldbeabolishedas
MediatorLinkingHumanHearttoPracticalDeed
quicklyaspossible.Itnotonlygoesagainstthespiritof6.15JointDeclarattionbutalso
would be a self-contradiction if the government continues to view the North as an
enemyundertheNSLArticleNo.2atatimewhentheleadersofbothsidesaretalking
“
T
aboutharmonyandcooperation.Thelawrendersalleventscelebratingthesuccessof
he more there are civic
prejudice,” said Kim Hyun-a (34), the
mediatorlinkingthepeoplewhocanafford
internationalorganizationsforhumanrights
the inter-Korean summit null, including the public’s favorable comments on North
organizations, the more the
representativeofthenonprofitgroup.
andarewillingtohelptotheneedypeople.
suchasAmnestyInternational.Wewilltry
Korea and North Korean-related corporate marketing strategy - in spite of the
society is healthy, I think. “I and We” is
Founded in 1998, “I and We” has
The group has been operated as the three
tobewiththeBurmese,”emphasizedKim.
government’ssunshinepolicy’whichencouragesuchcontacts.
one of the NGO alliances which shares a
launchedsomedetailedcampaignsthatthe
sections;domestic,VietnamandBurma.
Actually,thegroupsetupthejointactivity
Evenifconservativegroupsarevehementlyopposedtotheeasingofthelawbecause
common view on wide grass-roots
professionalorganizationseasilypassover.
Members of the domestic section and
withtheKoreanbranchofNationalLeague
oflikeningittoaguardpostprotectingtheSouthKoreanConstitution,mostclausesof
campaigns. I organized the civic group to
Amongthevariousgrass-rootscampaigns,
volunteers hold a field-trip once a month
forDemocracy(NLD).
theNSL,likeprotectionofstatesecretsandSedition,canbecoveredbycriminallaws
play a role in making a society that could
thegroupmainlyfocusesoncaringforthe
withthemigrantworkers,thedisabledand
Thegroupalsoprovidesvolunteerswith
sotheNSLisredundantinmanyrespects.
protect human dignity and diverse culture
underprivileged in Korea and abroad.
the orphans who treated as the isolated in
opportunitytolearnlanguageslikeEnglish,
On the contrary, the prosecution of people just because they praise another state or
to overcome the discrimination and the
According to Kim, “I and We” is a
Korean society. In accordance with Kim,
Japanese and Vietnamese and the various
ideologymightviolatetheConstitutionalrights-freedomofexpressionandideology.
many volunteers who participate in the
cultures.Initsownefforts,thecivicgroup
And the wording is so vague that the law is still being abused by the authorities to
field-tripcouldacknowledgethedifference
is run by more than 90 members and two
persecuteinnocentpeopleforviewsandactivitiesdeemedleft-wingorpro-communist.
among the people and experience the
full-timeworkers.Inspiteofitssmallscale,
Students, political activists, trade unionists, publishers, religious figures - even web
communitytolivewith.
“I and We” keeps on working for the
suffers are among the hundreds arrested just last year, mostly on vaguely-defined
The group brought up the massacre of
people in the shadow. “We are always
chargesof‘praising’and‘benefiting’NorthKorea.
Vietnamese civilians for the first time.
ready to cooperate with the weak slowly,
WeconsideritproperthatthewholesaleabolishmentoftheNSLwouldbebetterthan
Through the field-trip, from Saigon to
cheerfullyandsteadily,”Kimstressed.
therevisionofitinprinciple.But,itisalittledifficultatpresentbecauseit’sscrapping
HanoiwithmigrantworkersfromVietnam,
canmakeusfeelupsetpsychologicallyanditwillrequireconsensusfromallpartiesto
theyheardaboutthehiddentruthofhistory.
Address:101-12 Gye-dong, Chongno-
resolvetheissue.Nevertheless,itisacrucialtimeforSeoultoreadyitslegalsystemfor
Recently, “I and We” concentrates its
gu,Seoul,Korea
national reunification, an initiative that would hopefully persuade the North to do
efforts on supporting the democratic
Tel:02)747-3194
likewise.ThedraconianlawwhichtooktheplaceoftheConstitutionabnormallysince
revolution of Burma(an old name of “the
E-mail:webmaster@nawauri.or.kr
1948shouldbreatheitslastsooursocietycanbefreefromthedreadofNorthKorea.
UnionofMyanmar”).
Homepage:www.nawauri.or.kr
The wholesale abolishment of the NSL will be a steppingstone toward ensuring
“Underthedictatorialregime,therightof
peacefulcoexistenceandreunification.
Burmesehasbeeninfringedonfordecades.
“I and We” has watched and supported
movements in Burma. Two decades ago,
Koreans had struggled against the
ByKimMi-ji
BySeongKuk-hwan
authoritarianstatepowerandthenwegota
ReporterofNationalSection
EditorialConsultant
IandWe
great encouragement from several

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