Book contents
- Rights Claiming in South Korea
- Rights Claiming in South Korea
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction Rights in Action
- Part I Rights in Historical Perspective
- 1 Legal Disputes, Women’s Legal Voice, and Petitioning Rights in Late Joseon Korea
- 2 Defying Claims of Incompetence
- 3 “Equal” Second-Class Citizens
- Part II Institutional Mechanisms for Rights Claiming
- Part III Mobilizing Rights for the Marginalized
- Part IV Shaping Rights for New Citizens and Noncitizens
- Conclusion Findings and Future Directions
- Index
- References
2 - Defying Claims of Incompetence
Women’s Lawsuits over Separate Property Rights in Colonial Korea
from Part I - Rights in Historical Perspective
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2021
By
Book contents
- Rights Claiming in South Korea
- Rights Claiming in South Korea
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction Rights in Action
- Part I Rights in Historical Perspective
- 1 Legal Disputes, Women’s Legal Voice, and Petitioning Rights in Late Joseon Korea
- 2 Defying Claims of Incompetence
- 3 “Equal” Second-Class Citizens
- Part II Institutional Mechanisms for Rights Claiming
- Part III Mobilizing Rights for the Marginalized
- Part IV Shaping Rights for New Citizens and Noncitizens
- Conclusion Findings and Future Directions
- Index
- References
Summary
The legal incompetence of wives (cheo-ui muneungnyeok) and its inhibitions on women’s legal rights in Korea during the Japanese colonial rule (1910–45) were emphasized during the postcolonial period. As a result, the actual legal activities of women during the colonial period have been overlooked. This chapter examines women’s lawsuits at the High Court of Colonial Korea (Chōsen kōtō hōin) over separate property rights during the colonial period. I show that women actively struggled in the colonial legal system to have their rights over separate property acknowledged against their opponents’ claims that Korean custom categorically denied property rights to women. Surprisingly, women won many of these cases. I argue that the colonial household registration system, where the rights of household heads over family property were strengthened, inadvertently resulted in the protection of separate property rights, many of which were held by women.
Keywords
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- Information
- Rights Claiming in South Korea , pp. 43 - 62Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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