Hong Sook-ja (; born June 25, 1933) is a South Korean activist, politician, and writer. She was appointed South Korea's first female

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and later became the first female presidential candidate to enter the electoral foray, having done so in South Korea's first democratic elections in 1987.

Early life

Hong was born on June 25, 1933 in

Keijō , or Gyeongseong (), was an administrative district of Korea under Japanese rule that corresponds to the present Seoul, the capital of South Korea. History When the Empire of Japan annexed the Korean Empire, it made Seoul the colonial capita ...

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

. After her birth, Hong's mother was put under increasing pressure from family members to give birth to a son, which included offers to find her husband a concubine. Hong's younger brother was eventually born, but Hong recalls this as influencing her understanding of male and female inequality. She graduated at Dongguk University in 1955 and at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1958, having studied political science and international affairs. She then worked for the South Korean foreign ministry and became vice consul of the Korean Consulate in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1965. She was professor at Dongguk University since 1979. From 1986 to 1988 she was president of the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...

Run as presidential candidate

On 11 November 1987, the Social Democratic Party held their 13th presidential election nomination provisional convention and elected Hong as their presidential candidate.社民黨 대통령 후보 洪淑子씨 선출
《동아일보》, 1987년 11월 11일 She was thus listed as the first female presidential candidate in the Republic of Korea's Constitution. On the day of her selection as the Social Democratic Party candidate, Hong gave a speech, saying that, "female presidents will create political miracles." She also promised to support direct elections but promote the cabinet system. Hong also said that she would encourage female ministers and promote bold policies for women's liberation. However, Hong was side-lined by the other male candidates, receiving little media attention.社民洪淑子 후보 사퇴
《동아일보》, 1987년 12월 5일 She bowed out of the presidential race on 5 December, explaining that she had never intended to become the Korean president. She was aware that the Social Democratic Party was not big and influential enough to make her president of South Korea, and she also acknowledged that it would not be possible for her to be elected president insofar as Korea was still a male-dominated society. Hong threw her support behind candidate

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (, ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, Kim spent almost 30 ye ...

, speaking at a rally, "the foremost task we are facing now is to terminate the military dictatorship. To that end, I decided to support the leading candidate, disregarding my ideological differences with him." However, Kim Young-sam lost to the general

Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (, ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the cur ...

, hand-picked heir of former military president

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean politician, army general and military dictator who served as the fifth president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Prior to his accession to the presidency, he was the cou ...

Selected works

*Hong Sook-ja, ''Toward the High Place'' (), (Seoul: Yeobaek Media, 2006). .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Sook-ja Living people 1933 births Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Dongguk University alumni Ewha Womans University alumni 20th-century South Korean women politicians 20th-century South Korean politicians People from Seoul South Korean feminists South Korean women diplomats South Korean writers Sook-ja International Council of Women people