When Choi Myoung Wha graduated from Korea University in 1988, many of

When Choi Myoung Wha graduated from Korea University in 1988, many of the nation’s biggest companies didn’t hire women in their annual recruitment drives. Armed with a degree in French literature, Choi landed a job at Samsung Group through a special program thanks to her language skills.

Today, South Korea’s first female president Park Geun Hye is pushing for more female managers in public service and calling for more measures to help working mothers. Women are hired fresh out of college by South Korea’s family-controlled conglomerates, though they still earn less than men on average. Job conditions continue to improve for women, says Choi, who heads Hyundai Motor Co. (005380)’s strategic marketing group.

South Korea didn’t pass a law guaranteeing equal employment rights until April 1988, the same year that Choi graduated from university. The country had just elected its first president, and the capital Seoul was preparing to host the Olympic Games that were regarded as a ‘coming out party’ for the country’s newly-industrialized and democratized economy.

Choi points to developments since that she says have skewed the employment environment in women’s favor, including a ban since 1999 to give preferential points to men applying for jobs in the civil service because they have to serve in the military. Women are exempt from conscription in South Korea.

Are you surprised? We’re not!

Source bloomberg