The thesis presents the idea of the "New Woman", which emerged in Korea at the beginning of the 20th century, and Na Hyeseok and her ideas about the New Woman. Na Hyeseok first encountered the New Woman in Japan, where the idea came from the West at the turn of the 20th century. Na Hyeseok, together with other educated women who had studied in Japan, brought the idea to Korea in the early 1920s. At this time, colonized Korea was entering a period of 'cultural rule', which meant that various media were once again allowed, although still heavily censored. The idea of the New Woman was thus able to spread quickly among the public and soon became one of the main themes of the newly educated intellectuals. Thus, Na Hyeseok and her ideas and perceptions of the New Woman came into the limelight. The New Woman in Korea was primarily concerned with equality and women's liberation and advocated new feminist ideas that were coming to the Korean peninsula during this period through translations of foreign works. The main ones were the ideas of women's education, the idea of "free relationship and love" (jayu-yeonae 자유연애) and the rejection of the theory of chastity (jeongjo-ron 정조론). These ideas were very radical for the Korean society of the time and for many too "Westernized" and lacking in national consciousness. This, coupled with the fact that many of the New Woman's main spokespersons were involved in love and other affairs, were two of the main reasons why the ideas did not spread among Korean women and consequently did not catch on in the early 1930s. Today, both Na Hyeseok and the New Woman are presented as the first feminist figures in modern Korean history and the first fighters for equal rights for women in Korea.
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