The article investigates the genealogies of “wise mother and good wife,” arguably the most influential gender ideology in modern Korea. Approaching it as a product of transcultural encounters in turn of the twentieth-century Korea, the article examines the ways in which Korea’s Confucian-prescribed gender norms were refashioned and reconstituted under the influence of the ideology of domesticity promoted by American Protestant women missionaries and the Meiji gender ideology of ryōsai kenbo, which transpired through Japanese colonial policies in Korea. I argue that the modern construct of “wise mother and good wife” ideology was the latest form of patriarchal gender arrangements designed to meet new challenges in the modern era. I further argue that this modern ideal of womanhood was both oppressive and liberating in the sense that it continued hierarchical gender practices of the past, and yet it also enabled women to carve out new space for power and authority within the circumscribed conditions.

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This article considers contemporary South Korean student activism characterized by complicated ideological formulations, highly developed organizing tactics and connections with other social powers. The activism is located within an ideological framework of Marxism-Leninism and is actively engaged in the struggles against imperialism and Fascism, as well as a movement for the reunification of South and North Korea. The recent growth of student organizations to the national level, contributes to the effective functioning of these groups both on and off campus. Despite its national influence, student activism is being criticized by the public and by students themselves because of the underlying revolutionary ideologies and several episodes of violence. In this context, it will be necessary to observe how students will respond to public criticism and to the changing national and world environment.

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