Monday, September 01, 2008

North Korea/South Korea: Differences in the sexes

“[North Korean] women who participated in a study say they like South Korean men, whom they find considerate compared to their northern counterparts,” former North Korean refugee Oh Se-Hyek, 31, of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, was quoted as saying.

North Korean men say they are often appalled by [South Korean] women who speak out and act according to their own will. “South Korean women are not very womanlike. North Korean women are calm and keep things to themselves in a graceful way. But women here like to speak their mind and act like men,” said one male respondent.

North Korean women said they welcome the additional freedom in the South but find that some men are less serious about relationships. “Male students I meet here are mostly considerate. Men in the North try to make women feel inferior,” one said.

Another said South Korean men are “not as committed to relationships as they are open to sex. The difference is that North Korean men take responsibility for what they do.”

[Excerpt of an article in The Peninsula (Qatar)]

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