Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin

Bradley K. Martin has covered Korea since 1977. He has made seven trips to North Korea which is more than most reporters can boast. His novel, Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader, was published in 2006 and offers in-depth portraits of two leaders: Kim Il-sung ("The Great Leader" for 45 years) and Kim Jong-il ("The Dear Leader" for 17 years). Kim Jong-un took office in 2011 and so is not included. The novel is very thorough and paints what feels like a complete picture of how North Korea became what it is today.

Martin talks about everything but I'm going to focus on his discussions about women. Looking at the book as a whole, it has comparatively little to say specifically about women, but I think the point is everyone has it bad because both genders are treated equally poorly.

Il-sung sired children with many mistresses and concubines before and after he became "The Great Leader." But he only recognized children by Jong-suk and Song-ae. He provided women with the same employment opportunities as men and state-run child care so women did not get maternity leave. He worked (and his predecessors continue to work) the North Korean people very hard and ensure the young are only influenced by the state and therefore completely indoctrinated. So while this seems like a breakthrough in gender equality, really these people just work in abysmal conditions for little pay and don't get to spend quality time with their family.

Martin also talks about North Korea's sex workers. To me, they sound more like Geisha than Prostitutes. They go to school and learn massage, dance, striptease, and how to care for their skin and light exercises to stay fit. Kim Jong-il organized the female companions into three corps: entertainers (i.e. actresses, singers) who might have slept with Il-sung or Jong-il, sex workers, and menial workers in the mansions. Women who bore children of Il-sung that weren't Jong-suk or Song-ae were set-up with their own households and, in some cases, married to other men.

The women chosen for that line of work don't have a choice and it is more comfortable when compared to the average North Korean woman. For these women, there is no sex education. Prior to 1984, if women got pregnant by accident they would take rat poison to kill themselves. In 1984, to stop the women from killing themselves, Jong-il allowed abortions (note: he didn't start sex education). And then there is the known practice where women sell themselves to foreigners because they cannot get enough money legitimately.

Life in North Korea for the average person is hard if the family has someone who voiced dissent and/or defected. The problem is with so many people realizing how bad things are there are fewer North Koreans without something considered bad in the family background. These folks are denied good jobs and, in some cases, banished to desolate countryside. It's no wonder so many, even with the indoctrination, decide (or feel they are forced to) to defect.

If you are interested in the how and why North Korea is the way it is, you should read this book. I read it while also reading Breakers, Dragonbound, and Consider Phlebus. Visit Macmillan's page for Bradley K. Martin for more information about the author and how to purchase his book.