South Korea's Iron Butterflies
From CNN Correspondent Sohn Jie-Ae
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SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Say good-by to the image of the submissive Korean female.
A growing number of South Korean women are putting on boxing gloves, and liking it. Sohn Jie-ae reports.
It's fun, says 18-year-old Kim Soo-min. Plus, she says, boxing helps her lose weight and relieve stress.
Kim says many of her friends are thinking of taking their turn in the ring.
"These days we have all sorts of women, from students to housewives coming in for lessons," says boxing coach, Chung Yong-Wha.
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While the image of the boxing female may be relatively new in South Korea, through the younger generation and the mass media, it has become quite a big hit.
For generations Korean women have been depicted as the weaker sex, and limited in their choice of jobs and even leisure activities.
No more.
A growing number of young Korean women want jobs as policewomen, bodyguards and even soldiers.
For Korean women of today, their role models include people like South Korea's first female pilot, the country's first justice minister, as well as the current world female featherweight boxing champion, Lee In-Young, which may account for the growing popularity of the sport among Korean women.
But TV dramas also fuel this trend.
A hugely popular mini series tells the Cinderella story of a young Korean girl who endures pains and tribulations to become a boxing champion.
What you might call the new-age fairytale for the Korean girl of today.
