June 24, 2009,  at the Mission Valley Library, VOW Supporters Dr. Jean Renshaw and Dr. Rosemary Straley presented information on their visits to South and North Korea respectively, to a large audience.

Dr. Straley commented on the starkness of the capital city of Pyongyang and the lack of citizens in the streets.  She was attended by a guide who permitted Dr. Straley to visit and meet with North Koreans, therefore was not as restricted as she had expected to be.  The leader, Kim Jong-il is revered in many exhibitions presented by the people (below, this entire photo is made up of people). The "Dear Leader's" photo, and his father's, are posted everywhere.  

Dr. Renshaw who is the author of Kimono in the Boardroom: The Invisible Evolution of Japanese Women Managers and Korean Women in Management: Shamans, Moneylenders and Company Presidents presented the hypothesis that South Korean women now occupy many corporate and policy-making roles which are serving to elevate the roles of women in Korean society.