A/HRC/43/58 26. Women also continued to be underrepresented in the main bodies of the Korean Workers’ Party. As of March 2018, the Chairman and 11 Vice-Chairmen of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea were all men, as were the majority of its members. Kim Yo Jong, younger sister of Chairman Kim Jong Un, was the only female member of its powerful Political Bureau. Kim Yo Jong has been playing an important and visible role in peace negotiations. She accompanied Kim Jong Un to the summit between the leaders of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States held in Singapore on 12 June 2018 and the subsequent summit held in Hanoi on 27 and 28 February 2019. She was the lead delegate of her country at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, in 2018. In June 2019, Kim Yo Jong delivered a condolence letter from Kim Jong Un on the death of Lee Hee-ho, former First Lady of the Republic of Korea, to high officials of the Republic of Korea at the border between the two countries. In April 2018, prior to the summits with the Republic of Korea and with the United States, respectively, Kim Jong Un gave his wife, Ri Sol Ju, the official title of “respected First Lady”. She met with the First Lady of the Republic of Korea during the summit between their two countries and participated in hosting the visit of the President of China and his wife in June 2019. Arts and music 27. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has a tradition of State-supported arts, music, dance and performances. It appears to use art troupes to promote its juche ideology domestically and to demonstrate high standards in artistic areas internationally. At the Olympic Winter Games, held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, in 2018, for instance, the Government deployed a large troupe of performers, many of whom were women, and a large number of female cheerleaders. Another artistic performance group was reportedly sent to Beijing when Chairman Kim Jong Un visited the city in January 2019 as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. Performances are also used to earn foreign currency – groups of women often sing and dance in restaurants abroad at which food from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is served in order to attract customers. C. Rights to education, work, health, water and sanitation Right to education 28. The right to education in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is equally guaranteed for boys and girls by laws and policies. Completion rates for the 12 years of compulsory education was nearly universal (99.9 per cent) in 2017. 32 Even though education is free, schools collect materials such as scrap steel, paper and animal fur from students, which puts additional pressure on parents and in some cases prevents poorer students from attending school. In 2018, the enrolment rate of women in higher education was 18.18 per cent, while it was 35.45 per cent for men, indicating that it is more difficult for women to gain access to higher education.33 The Government reported to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2014 that only 9.9 per cent of women had gained access to university-level education.34 While social status and economic ability are reportedly the main determining factors for admission to universities, gender plays a significant role both in admission and in the selection of courses. Gender stereotypes are reflected in national regulations and policies, including the Standards of Job Assignment, which prescribes that 100 per cent of nurses and telephone operators must be women. 35 The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has 32 33 34 35 10 The 2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with technical support from UNICEF. Ibid. CEDAW/C/PRK/2-4, para. 102. Ibid., para. 45.