EASC Newsletter

Feature Interview

This year EASC welcomes two leaders of Korean non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Soyeun Kim and Yuseok Chung, for a year of research and study on the Bloomington campus. Ms. Kim and Ms. Chung are participants in the inaugural year of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation NGO Fellows Program, which provides Korean NGO personnel a year-long sabbatical at one of five universities (IU, Columbia, George Washington, Stanford, and British Columbia). Each fellow is pursuing research in her own area of interest—Ms. Kim, who previously worked for the Civil Movement for Environmental Justice, is focusing on citizens’ participation in public policy conflict, and Ms. Chung, who previously worked for the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, is focusing on legal mobilization strategies in the movement against violence against women.

What is your educational background?
Chung : I went to Ewha Womans University, and my major was special education.
Kim : I majored in French literature at the Catholic University of Korea, but I didn’t study at all during the time at university. My full-scale academic training began in 2003 when I entered the Graduate School of NGO Studies at Kyung Hee University. While there, I studied theories related to citizen activity, such as civil society history , social capital, global governance, democratic theories, and NGO leadership.

What led you to work for a nonprofit organization?
Chung: In 1992, when I went to university, there was a crucial incident related to sexual violence. I took part in a student group that joined the movement demanding a specialized law against sexual violence. This experience led me to work for an organization for women’s rights.
Kim : The year 1987, when I entered university, is a special year in the history of Korea. Citizen-led resistance to the military dictatorship broke out explosively, and I joined in the democratization activity as a member of the student activity council . After the pro-democracy movement of 1987, although democracy was established in Korea, the socialist student movement groups did not change, and our society also did not change deeply. I believe that the new system must be reinforced by the support and understanding of the people. With this background, I joined a new social movement group in 1992 and have served as a citizen activist at CCEJ (Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice) and CMEJ (Citizens’ Movement for Environmental Justice) for fifteen years.

Why did you want to be a part of the POSCO Fellows program?
Chung: For the past twenty years or more, the women’s rights movement in Korea has undergone significant development, but its human resources and infrastructure have been insufficient. I thought the POSCO program could provide an opportunity to learn more about the organization of movements and to gain experience that would help foster a better human rights movement.
Kim: I think that it is important for citizen activists to have a time of self-reflection because they are always close to the idea of power. I want to take this time to gain some objectivity on the citizen activist movement. My research topic is “Public Policy Conflict and the Participation of Citizens.” I’d like to deal with how citizen activist groups should respond to conflict between government and citizens. I am aware that the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute (ICRI) at IU has researched this topic, and I’d like to study their findings. Lastly, I hope to visit civil organizations in the United States in order to assess the education of citizens and governance activity between NGOs and the government.

How have you been spending your time at IU? What other people and organizations have you been working with?
Chung: I was able to participate in special events such as the Take Back the Night march and the Day for Speaking Out as well as audit classes related to feminism and legal issues last semester. I have been able to meet sexual victims and experts who enthusiastically shared their experiences and thoughts. I was deeply impressed by them. During a trip to the west coast, the POSCO fellows at all five universities got to meet with several organizations like the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Korean-Americans United for Peace and with Korean-American activists who are dealing with sexual violence issues in migrant society.
Kim: Settling down in Bloomington took more time than I had expected, but I have now begun work on my research topic. In April, all the POSCO fellows will gather for a conference titled “ Korea NGOs’ Activities and Perspectives: Peace, Human Rights and Civic Participation” in Washington, DC.

POSCO FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS MEETING
Yuseok Chung and Soyeun Kim - back row, fifth and sixth from the left, respectively