Gender Empowerment in South Korean Development: Lessons for Foreign Aid

Abstract

Souch Korea's rapid economic development in the 20th century had in its core women's employment in labor-intensive, export industries. This paper examines South Korea's economic development through the lens of women's employment and gender empowerment. Although women's empowerment was not part of a goal of South Korea's development, large mobilization of women in the exporting light manufacturing sector eventually led to women's empowerment. Using OECD/DAC's guidelines on gender mainstreaming and gender equality, the paper examines how the Souch Korean experience can provide an alternative to women's empowerment in developing countries. We conclude that there has to be greater sensitivity to address gender-related issues including gender-mainstreaming and gender-sensitive budgets in order to help women attain economic as well as political empowerment in development cooperation.