Culture | Feminism in South Korea

Inside the fight against misogyny and patriarchy in South Korea

In “Flowers of Fire”, Hawon Jung chronicles an urgent—and unfinished—campaign

Female workers supporting the MeToo movement wearing black attend a rally to mark the International Women's Day in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The reckoning continuesImage: AP

On a chilly morning in March 2018, women in South Korea were invited to a rally in the centre of Seoul, the capital, to share their stories of sexism. As the first speakers took to the stage, some of the #MeToo activists who had organised the event worried there would be too few participants to keep it going. They needn’t have. Woman after woman stepped up to recount experiences of discrimination, abuse or violence. The testimony lasted over 33 hours. One contributor, a mask concealing her identity but not her tears, explained: “I had to come here, to tell other women like me that they are not alone.”

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “The fire this time”

From the April 8th 2023 edition

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