Busy as he was building the Party, the state and the army after Korea's liberation from Japanese military rule, President
President
"The women account for one half of our population, and they can push forward one wheel of the revolution. They have wisdom and strength. If they actively turn out in building a new country, they can perform a great thing."
While spending busy time for nation building, the President visited the then Women's Emancipation Union on October 25 1945.
The conference room of the union was filled with many women officials in Pyongyang who had gathered to hear a lecture to be given by the President on the then internal and international situations and the tasks of women.
Sitting at a small desk, he looked affectionately at all of the women, saying it was very good that the Korean women now wanted to know about the internal and international situations and what they should do for nation building. Then he explained in detail the internal and international situations and gave precious instructions on the role of women in nation-building.
The task of the women in the building of a new Korea was very important and the women who accounted for half of the population played a role equal to one wheel of a wagon in the work of nation-building, he said, adding that if the wagon was to run smoothly, its two wheels must rotate normally and that hence, if the nation-building was to meet with success, the women must play a big role side by side with the men.
He went on to say: Some women hesitate to take part in nation-building at present, saying, "What good can we women do? If we women push ourselves forward, nothing will come of it." Moreover, some women sneer behind the backs of other women who are engaged in social work. This is not an attitude worthy of the women of liberated Korea.
Only by participating in the work of nation-building can all women extricate themselves from their old positions, he said, calling on all women to unite and rise dynamically for the building of a new Korea.
Indeed, the precious instructions given by the President that day were important guidelines that made it possible to usher in a new era in which the Korean women, who had dreadfully suffered from humiliation and insult in the past, could change their destiny by themselves as the masters of the country and society.
