[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Section One - Foreword

1. Foreword.................................................................................................................Page iii

Section Two - Discussion Papers

2. The Korean Minjung Movement and the History of Minjung Mission

Rev. Sang-yoon Lee (Director, Ecumenical Relations, NCCK)........................................Page 1

3. The Political and Economic Context of the Formation of Minjung Theology

Rev. Park Jae-soon (Professor, Hanshin University and President,

Association of SSIAL Thought Studies)........................................................................Page 8

4. The History of the Mission of the Minjung Church in South Korea from 1983 to the Present

Rev. Hong Eyoul Hwang (Researcher, Center for Theological Studies of Peace

and Reunification of Korea).......................................................................................Page 16

5. The Mission Tasks of the Minjung Church

Rev. Hong Eyoul Hwang...........................................................................................Page 24

6. The New World Order and Global Capitalism

Rev. Hong Eyoul Hwang...........................................................................................Page 34

7. The Turning Point of Modern Technological Civilization and the Ethics of Interdependent Living

Rev. Park Jae-soon.................................................................................................Page 40

8. The Response of Minjung Mission to the Challenge of Globalization

Rev. Sang-yoon Lee................................................................................................Page 45

Section Three - Appendix: Case Studies From the Mission Fields of the Korean Minjung Church

9. Appendix A:  Case Study One -  Urban Industrial Mission...........................................Page 49

10. Appendix B:  Case Study Two -  Rural Mission..........................................................Page 52

11. Appendix C:  Case Study Three -  Mission to Foreign Migrant Workers.........................Page 58

12. Appendix D:  Case Study Four -  Minjung Women’s Issues..........................................Page 62

13. Appendix E:  Case Study Five -  Ministry to Women Working in the Sex Industry.............Page 67

14. Appendix F:  Case Study Six -  The Status of the Differently-abled................................Page 69

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Foreword

FOREWORD

Korean Minjung Mission and Theology

This book is an overview of Minjung mission, and theology in Korea, within the context of social change.  Korea has experienced a severe crisis in her economic sector as a result of the waves of globalization that are sweeping across the world, as a result of the neo-liberal market economic system.  And even today, although many claim that Korea has overcome this crisis, the Minjung continue to suffer, and are constantly driven to the margins of society.  While at the same time, millions of Minjung from the less developed Asian countries, enter Korea in search of work as migrant workers.  As a result of ecological destruction and environmental contamination, the life of the Minjung - who rely on their physical labor for income - is increasingly being threatened.

The continuing economic crisis and the harsh reality of the Minjung’s lives, call upon us to once again focus our attention and resources on the Minjung.  Globalization and the plight of foreign migrant workers, compel us to address the issues of: Minjung solidarity in Asia, as well as ministry to migrant workers.  The destruction of the earth’s eco-system calls upon us to critically reflect upon our culture, and our perspective of life.

With such tasks in mind, we have sought to look at the Minjung liberation movement in Korea, as well as the history of our mission and ministry with the Minjung.  We have tried to voice the experiences of the Minjung churches and their ministries, as well as to present the socio-economic context that shaped the formation of Minjung theology.  Finally, we have attempted to express an “ethic of mutual life giving” that critically reflects upon the contemporary technological culture, based on the understanding of life from an Asian - and especially a Korean - perspective.

As the perspectives and the experiences, of the contributors differ widely, it has not been possible to present a systematic and single perspective.  We hope, however, that this book will provide its readers with a better understanding of Minjung mission experiences, and Minjung theology, in Korea, as well as contributing to the development of a Minjung mission, and theology, throughout Asia.

17th January 2003

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: The Korean Minjung Movement and the History of Minjung Mission

The Korean Minjung Movement and the History of Minjung Mission

Rev. Sang Yoon Lee

Director of Ecumenical Relations, National Council of Churches Korea

I have been asked to share about the ‘Peoples’ Concept of Mission’, sponsored by the CCA-URM committee for two years.  I was involved as a one of the draft co-ordinators working in a local committee with several colleagues.

It has been discussed vividly and talked about the true meaning of Minjung movement in the past and come to close lesson after striking experiences from peoples concept of mission and have a free time to talk about the deeper meaning of prospectus in the midst of globalization in the world today.  Later part of our time to discussion we need and search out the solution about the challenging situation from the high tide of globalization for common people in every day life.  So far we need articulated ideas about the situation and more digging out the power of peoples participation as a tool of movement skill of communication once again after great up and down of peoples movement in this context of Korean common peoples pain and failure.

I have some ideas about memories in the past in Korea.  I have still got some more old copies of booklets talking about the peoples’ struggle, which was a famous material about the people activities in Korea.  The very best one is still ‘The Power of People’- Community Action in Korea- published by EACC UIM in 1973 Tokyo.  This booklet was written by Herbert D. and Margaret B. White who was in charge of the supervisor at the Institute of Urban Studies and Development of Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.  It was a very first kind of report interrelated materials from trainees and some supporting staffs working in the area in Metropolitan Seoul, Korea It has got summed up reporting papers written by trainees in English including member of SMCO.  And another one was Mr. Saul Alinsky’s community organization manual ‘Rules for Radicals’.  It was a very keen manual how to train in community in the course of Community Organization training programs that was very useful material for beginners.  ‘Student & Social Justice’ written by Dr Breidenstein from West German who was working in early ‘70s in Korea for SCM movement.  And third one is ‘Theology in Action’ mainly distributed by EACC UIM and mainly charged by Mr. Oh Jae Shik who was in charge of EACC UIM.  This booklet was a very active memories contain and talking about the genius story from Christian mission organization which is defined the Minjung movement in Korea.  It has got also real memories and witness from community organizing activities in details.

Frankly say something about in Korean Minjung movement that was not an original Christian movement before step on the stage.  It was a one of secular meaning of peoples struggling against dictatorial regime in the past.  Minjung tradition and spirit mainly came from the communist movement before liberation and one of evidence of Minjung participation from Korean Minjung movement came from national indigenous religion Tong Hak now became ‘Way of Heaven’

In the 18th century in Korea one of prophetic religious leader who was born and who was Mr. Choi Jae Woo to led his own indigenous religion, which was known as Tong Hak.  The name of Tong Hak which was an anti westernized world after western invading so they have a certain alternative way to overcome to create Tong Hak religion.  It was born in Eastern worldview compare to western religion implicated colonization.  Originally Tong Hak has been start in Southeast area of Korean peninsular later grown in Southwest area in the same Peninsular.  Tong Hak indigenous religion hold by the peasant farmers in local.  In 1876 the founder of this religion have been executed by the cause of rebellion suspected by officer.  They have scattered away after executed.  But they resurrected again after coming up Mr. Choi Shi Hyung who was very brilliant leader of organizing work of it.  They didn’t have any permission to meet the people any other places to stay together but they succeed to get more believers how to make effectively organizing people through the secret contact line.  At lastly they have a strong harvest season of believers to come to meeting asked for pardon from government.  They failed more three times after.  But it was a good opportunity how to make effective understanding for everybody in transitional time to have political turmoil.  Japanese troops came into Korea by the cause of political reasons to engagement in terms of political invasion instead of Chinese occupation.  The Way of Heaven proclaimed the message and gradually taking action in manner of mild and take part of social engagement like religious rites open and several teachers could contact through the teaching on land and river in traditional philosophy in orient.  They met together in villages and hundred meeting points every time in locally and expressed their genius face of revolutionary zeal for people and strong impact in historical changing in vision and deeds amongst rural farmer.  They set on fire in the heart of people and reorganized system in the name of nationalistic patriot slogans fought against foreign invader Japanese troops and they met annually and reorganized their people in terms of warriors of Yi dynasty.  Yi dynasty corrupted inside lost their obligation and misconduct of administration in locally.  They have strong message about the eschatological signals the end of Yi dynasty.  They joined rural riots and broke down peasant war in 1895.  This war called Gabo Peasant War expressed their revolutionary desire in manner of messianic spirit during for five years struggle.  It has got certain kind of warfare against foreign troops occupation and support the weak government of the Yi Dynasty.  They were not organized troops rather composite rural farmers wondrous people of homeless people could join so called landless people in the countryside.  It was a great ideas comes from bottom not from above this was crucial stage of modern Korean history of development through peoples participation in revolutionary manner of people how to build up the Minjung spirit against authoritarian feudalistic system.

Coincidently Japanese troops took part in Tong Hak peasant war during that riot in support Korean old regime.  This is one of our traditional legacies from the people historical roots of Minjung involvement in modern history.  The Minjung was a one partner of social transform from the bottom side of peoples’ participation.  They were not merely slaves.  They were not merely subsidies supporting system for ruling class.  They need to get social reform in equal rights and freedom.

During the 1970s and 1980s in Korea, there was a severe change in the Korean social structure which Korean society has got industrial revolution from agricultural life.  There were overcrowded migrant people shifted from the local country.  City down town became an area of urban slum dwellers, young laborers, and female prostitutes.

From the very beginning the Korean Minjung movement was initial role of mission which is the name Industrial Evangelism hold by the Christian Missionary in early 1960s.  During the past time Industrial Mission worked in industrial zone without any limit because church has got personal evangelism in very common.  There were no harmful manners to the common people from the church.  Even the church evangelist work in daily in the industrial zone looked like the French laborer-priest, and similar to the British industrial chaplain.  They have supported from the American missionaries in industrial mission how to spread the gospel without limit.  Since the industrial revolution came into Korea there were certain changes from that kind of old pattern of personal evangelism to counseling in practice.  The condition of working places have rules and manners of laborer gradually changed.  So far the condition of laborer changed how to contact the people in easily.  It became more effective talking about labor activities and industrial democracy came into it.  So the trade union was born in industrial zone supported from the Industrial Missioners and liberal oriented administrators in factory in Incheon city and Young Deung Po industrial zone.

In order to understand the situation it may be necessary to remember what the political situation in South Korea was like at this time.  South Korea in the 1960s showed all the signs of a society in the grip of early industrial capitalism of the worst type.  Seoul was overcrowded with migrant workers from countryside who had been driven off their land.  They lived in the city in indescribable programs: super highways, skyscrapers, blocks of flats, and underground railways.  Most visitors were impressed: only few observers noticed the reverse side if the rapid material progress.  One third of the housing and of the inhabitants of Seoul were not properly registered.  There were 170,000 shacks built on ground by the rivers in east Seoul.  One could hardly describe them as proper dwelling places.  Each shack had a ground area of 2 meters square and was occupied by many persons crowded together without the protection of the law.  The buildings were put up spontaneously without any kind of government permission or control.

The gap between the rich and poor grew constantly wider.  The number of people condemned to take the poorest paid jobs with no chance of bettering their position, grew ever faster, as did the number of those who were condemned to eke out a minimal living as best they could.  In 1968 the first clearing of a slum area by force took place.  A huge satellite town, Sung Nam, was built to house the poor, much too quickly and with far too little thought and planning.  There were no jobs in the area.  Transport to the faraway city was expensive.  Everyone living here had to cope with a tremendously increased cost of living and lowered income.  It was at this time that the first suicide by fire was committed: Chun Tae Il took his own life in protest against the working conditions in Pyung Hwa Market.

In 1961 Dictator-President Park Chung Hee had seized power, and from that time onwards, military security over and against the threat from the communist North Korea was steadily built up.  At the end of the 1970s South Korea had a standing army of one million strong.  In addition there were always between 36,000 and 40,000 American soldiers in the country.  The principle of national security became the main concern of Korea politics.  Everything that did not conform was regarded as a crime, with severe political, and judicial implications.  Any Korean citizen could be arrested on the mere suspicion of subversive activity in favour of North Korea, and be subjected to severe torture and heavy punishment.  There were no effective habeas corpus provisions in South Korea at the beginning of the 1970s.  The national security laws became basis for the new Yushin Constitution, promulgated in 1972 with much fuss and noisy attention to democratic principles.  It allowed the unlimited reelection of the state president and gave him the right to rule through emergency powers.  Emergency measures No 1 read: All criticism of the constitution and all discussion of constitutional reforms is forbidden’ When martial law was declared in 1972, for the first time pastors and church workers were arrested.  In August 1973 then opposition leader Kim Dae Jung was kidnapped in Japan and smuggled out with the intention to kill him at sea, but then was brought to Seoul to be tried and sentenced to death.  From this time onwards, arrests by the state security agents became part of everyday life in the country.  On 21 January 1974 the far Eastern Economic Review published an article on South Korea titled ‘Everything is illegal’.

In 1973, the name of industrial evangelism has been changed in industrial mission in advanced manner.  So evangelists became missionaries in trade unions, and practice them.  In 1971 shifted slum dwellers riots in Sung Nam city and Kwangju area.  They have starvation and hunger strike first after the issues can change from the ordinary issues to radical change.  Their demand complained about the new hut housing project that was too small for the whole family, and there were no talkable situation mainly controlled by the local officers rigidly.  So they want to demand and negotiation with government officer including secret police agency how to settle down there.  It was one of a great signal for the changing aspiration from the urban poor, and migrant farmers from local poor countryside became urban poor.  The Korean Minjung movement sprout out from the beneath limited and downtrodden people can join the healthy partner of whole society.  Each one of their need and aspiration can attain in peoples awakening and organizing power to make different atmosphere how to accumulate and settle down to the peaceful social condition and aware of their human dignity.

Mr. Chun Tae Il was a one of martyrdom in the Korean Minjung movement.  When he was fail how to organizing the trade union in factory he decided to committed suicide in open burnt.  It was striking affect for the common people in Korea.  This is one of the worst evidence of factory workers condition during that time.

So we can say this is very threshold stage in Korean Minjung movement later become a severe fighting against authoritarian system breakthrough the limit and going through the liberal world of workers life putting into the equal rights new world.

We never forget the name of Seoul Metro political Community Organization that was sponsored by the EKD Bread for the World through the NCC.  Mr. Wolfgang Schmidt and Rev. Kwan Suk Kim and Rev. Park Hyung Kyu (who is now President of the Society to Memorialize Democratization) worked together with young organizers: Rev. Kwon Ho Kyeug, Rev. Kim Dong Won, Rev. Lee Kyu Sang.  Particularly Dr. Wolfgang Schmidt one of strong partners of European supporters through ecumenical network.  Last year in 2002 he wrote one memorial book which name is ‘Memories in Dialogues’ It has been published in Korea jointly support from NCCK and CLSK.  He wanted to express ideas put together during that time, and he want to talk about the full story from Korea.  The pathway of Korean people participation in the process of the Minjung movement.  The formation of people power from UIM activities mainly supported from EKD and several church mission agencies like Christian Aid and EZE Danish Christian Aid.  It was a fully covered all kind of detail story and correct remember in the course of Asian peoples struggle including Korean community organizers activities from their report.

And another partner of the Korean Minjung movement was the Student Christian Movement (SCM) in Korea.  In the very beginning stage of Minjung fighting against dictatorial regime some other memorable leaders of SCM students who joined Minjung movement and so they went into the slum area as a service corpse and also joined social research work to finding out correct realities in Korean society from student eye.  They also went to local area like remote place from city and worked in coal mining pits.  They have got a new and fresh awakening through that kind of true experiences from the working places as student participation amongst local complains go for the open movement.  They have certain kind of special calling from common people miserable life and hopelessness situation.  Student leaders have got the same zeal of ecumenical calling from God, and the people, and mindful manner of the poor, and strong conviction of how to joining movement after graduation from college.  There were number of student joined the Minjung movement after graduation from SCM activities.  They have certain calling from the cries from people and response to them as a movement well disciplined in ecumenically and academic understanding when they have a time to be with people as demanding organizer and articulated mind of peoples movement.  And very well preparedness scholar from West Germany Korean SCM supervisor who was Mr. Breidenstein and Mr. Oh Jae Sik also took in charge of directorship for the movement the Student Social Development Corpse.  Including Dr. Ahn Jae Woong (current General Secretary of the CCA) who was in charge of student activities related to the people’s involvement.

Thus the Korean Minjung Movement has got a strong characters in traditions amongst peoples, and in 1975 some other theologians like: Dr. Ahn Byung Moo and Dr. Moon Dong Whan, and Professor Hyun Young Hak joined them.  After the 1975 National Youth & Student league for the Democracy event, many students, poets, journalists, and university professors, also joined the Minjung movement.  Everybody calls them the first generation of Korean Minjung theologians, now there is a third generation working on.

According to some other foreign researchers diagnosed them as a theological interpretation, which was originally liberation theology mainly coming from the Latin America Liberation theology and also influenced by Brazilian education teacher Dr. Ivan Illich name of Conscientization the peoples’ concept of Revolution.  The Korean Minjung movement originated from peoples participation in citizens street fighting and trade Union and slum organizing and agricultural farmer formation of peoples power of struggling against oppressive structure of government officer and law and order in society.

Particularly ‘70s and ‘80s Korean Minjung movement was one type of peoples participatory in Restoration of Democracy and Human Rights movement based on the theology of Missio Dei and developed Third World theology later.

As we know the whole aspect of the liberative theology coincide with Latin American liberation theology, Afro-American theology from the United States, and African theology, derived from the action-reflection theological interpretation.  It is a pattern of peoples struggle in the lights of human rights related in socio-economic and political analysis in order to promote the spirit of power of people.

The Korean Minjung theology reflected from the experiences of peoples participation in struggle and summed up the analysis of the social activity for the struggle against the military government and thus the way of exodus for the freedom of Minjung movement

The concept of Minjung, that is essential to Korean self-understanding, namely ‘minjung’ and ‘han’.  The Korean word ‘minjung’ has a very extensive meaning.  It is composed of two Chinese characters: ‘min’ meaning, ‘people’; and ‘jung’, meaning ‘the masses’.  Literally, therefore, Minjung means the mass of the people.  These basic meanings are expanded and enriched in the literature on Minjung theology.  Min has to do with those who do not belong to the privileged and ruling classes, but to the ruled.  Jung has to do with masses, the simple people, lower walks of society.  It is difficult to translation the entire word Minjung into English because the categories of European sociology do not apply and are not sufficient to cover the notion of Minjung.  The word was originally used to denote the people in opposition to the ruling classes.  The notion received an important dimension in the days of the Japanese occupation and particularly during the 1920s.  It grew in importance in the struggle for human rights and democracy in the days of military dictatorship in the 1970s.  Thus the notion has remained the same and the context has always been the suffering and struggle of the people in an unjust situation.

The starting point of Minjung movement is solidarity with suffering people in Korea.  The main concept of Minjung movement and mission are the context for a theological reflection in Korea, which has become known as Minjung theology.  The major theme of Minjung theology is the Minjung and their experience.  The act of liberation becomes the central focus of Minjung theology and realization of the fruits of liberation produces the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.  The Minjung Theology is a theological articulation of the political experience of the poor and oppressed in political demonstrations in jail in the interrogation centers in prison in the courts and in the hiding places of the persecuted.  In the university classroom and theological seminars theologians articulated the cries and groans of the people in their confession in Jesus Christ.  In Minjung theology has got the kerygma is the liberating event of the suffering death and resurrection.  In the process of theology of Minjung that implies liberation of Minjung from oppressive situations can be understood in Christ suffering.  The Minjung Christian movement entered into solidarity with urban poor and rural farmers to discover what it was like to be oppressed as the Minjung was oppressed.  This led to sociological cultural and theological reflection on the plight of the oppressed.  Minjung theology is reflection by Christians through their experiences in the struggle to release themselves and their whole society from suffering.  The main ideas of Minjung theology are expressed in the thinking behind Urban Industrial Mission, which was an option for the laborers.  The living experiences of the workers were as important as any academic theory systemized in theological expression.  Speaking of individual salvation without taking into account the social dimension of salvation made theology for the people of laborers are the people of God and through them God can achieve his salvation goal.  So the Minjung theology is a theology of the oppressed in the Korean political situation a theological response of the oppressed to the Korean Church and its mission.  The famous framework of Minjung theology has its historic background in what Dr Kim Yong Bock calls the social biography of the Minjung.  The people have become an object of their destiny.  Historically culturally society has not allowed the Minjung to be subjects.  Politically occupied by the Japanese they had to endure a war of division imposed upon them by the superpowers.  This division is still a wound in the soul of the people.  The theme of Minjung theology is the Minjung.  The Minjung theology would like to understand Jesus through the Minjung and not Jesus through the concept of Minjung.  The Concept of people is rooted in Minjung separated from the conceptual people in common.

To liberate the gospel from dominating culture in order to serve the Minjung of the World, we need to articulate the true meaning of Minjung confrontation in society.  We do not start from western theological heritages but from our own world of politics economics traditional religions and our native cultures.  We have been start already interpreting the Bible from our own perspective and our own world.

Thus the Christian movement entered into solidarity with urban poor and rural farmers.  Teachers, poets, theologians, pastors, priests, and common people, began to discover the real thing about oppressed people in history.  This led to perspectives of situation of suffering masses are brought out in the different definitions of the Minjung.  The Minjung are the have-nots, they are: farmers and fishermen, laborers, the unemployed, soldiers, policemen, salary men, small shopkeepers, and small producers.  Minjung generally refers the lower classes that are oppressed politically, exploited economically, alienated socially, and kept uneducated in cultural, and intellectual matters.  So Minjung is an active and relative concept.  Some people possess both the characteristics of Minjung and that of non-Minjung.  Not only the uneducated masses but also the educated can be included among the Minjung.  Minjung is the main stream of the history and the heart of society.  God is per definition seen as always being on the side of Minjung.

This is the whole aspect of Minjung movement origins and develop after struggle against dictatorship in society out side formation of peoples power of spirit from UIM movement to the student movement cover all kind of social involvement during democratization in Korea.  There were certain kind of symbolized words for the time being in Korea is democratization and human rights movement.  It was a one of origins from the peoples participation the formation of civil society empowering to get political influence upon the whole civil society activities likewise environment issues campaign still relayed URM to civil society movement into the 21st century.  They have opposed ideas talking about the Neo liberal market theory and practice and protect civil society depend on the democratic involvement and all kind of solidarity network.

Lastly the peoples’ concept of mission in Asia today still has got the same kind of campaign in the matter of human rights protection, and equal demand of women’s liberation, and human dignity, and survival rights, to have the Dalit movement, and the tribal/indigenous peoples’ life paradigm.  We need some more deeper understanding of changing circumstances and attitude of people when they touched in social issues to have a proper judgment and right decision going for the accomplish the common goal of movement in dialogue. We need to find the just way of organizing people from the bottom side, and need, and principles and interpretation in the context of peoples life web.  It is certainly related already in the process of life circle pertaining the life all livings in universe.  God may have mercy upon them in equal and giving the same opportunity in life orbit in correct manner.

Finally we want to share with the theme of ‘people’s concept of mission’ from the Korean church Minjung mission to tackle the following problems:

1.  The mission program was actively in favour of democratization, and assumed that the principle of people oriented against the anti-democratic disorder.

2.  The program came to break the limits of the question of re-unification, by continuously promoting contact with North Korea.

3.  Minjung mission takes a stand against globalization, to create alternatives in economics, justice, environmental protection, and combat poverty, in people’s expectation.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: The Political and Economic Context of the Formation of Minjung Theology

The Political and Economic Context of the Formation of Minjung Theology

Rev. Park Jae-soon

Professor, Hanshin University and President, Association of SSIAL Thought Studies

1. Introduction

Minjung theology is a unique Korean theology conceived within the reality of the Third World, and grafted from the cultural traditions of Asia.  To the extent that western theology has its roots in western culture and the political situation of the First World, minjung theology stands as a radical contrast.  The most unique feature of minjung theology is that it was developed within the unique political situation found in South Korea during the mid 1970s.  Minjung theology was created out of the lives of the suffering minjung and, therefore, is not a theology of contemplation.  It rejects theologizing as an idealistic, logical, rhetorical, and deductive practice.  Instead, minjung theology is a concrete, and inductive, theology based on, praxis.  Therefore, as a systematic and logical theology, it is imperfect, however it succeeds in vividly embodying the life and breath of the suffering minjung people.  Because of these unique features, minjung theology cannot be comprehended outside the framework of a particular political, social, and economic context of a specific age.

Since minjung theology is so intimately connected to the developments of a particular era, it is able to remain faithful to the life of the minjung.  Similarly, as the life of the minjung evolves and changes, minjung theology is challenged by the necessity of its own rebirth.  During the 1970s minjung theology - which was conceived under the captivated glare of the international community of theologians - had tremendous impact on the Korean Christian movement.  Likewise, the new wave of criticism that plagued minjung theology during the 1980s can only be explained through an analysis of the particular social developments that occurred at that time.

The purpose of this article, then, is to establish the political and economic realities of Korean society, which gave birth to minjung theology.  It will begin by exploring the basic features of minjung theology, and the criticisms waged against it during the 1980s, and then culminate with some concluding remarks concerning the prospects for minjung theology in the future.

2. The Fundamental Characteristics of Minjung Theology

Minjung theology begins with the discovery of the strength of the suffering Korean minjung as a subjective force in history.  The minjung may appear to be passive, and powerless, in the face of the immense cruelty, and violence, done to them under the power of the state, but in actuality, they live a life of great strength, beauty, and humanity, as a powerful force in history.  The most striking features of minjung theology are: its emphasis on the minjung being at the center of history, and also a belief in the enormous power of the minjung.  These beliefs are compressed into the theory of salvation of the minjung.

The theory of salvation (liberation) of the minjung, asserts that the minjung are the subjective force behind their own liberation.  This theory posits that, minjung people, being their own liberators cannot be ‘led’ to salvation.  Only the minjung themselves can develop their program of salvation.  Those who are not of the minjung class can only obtain salvation through participation, and solidarity, with the life of the minjung.

Thus, this theory purports that salvation cannot be obtained, except through the life of the suffering minjung.  According to this theory, the liberating Christ lived among the suffering minjung, and was one with them.  Since minjung theology claims that Christ is one with the minjung, it underscores the subjective power of the minjung.

Because minjung theology gives such great emphasis to the dynamic and subjective strength of the minjung, it refuses to define them as objects.  Despite constant contact with the minjung and their socio-political reality, minjung theologians reject objective definitions of the minjung; for fear that they might hamper the subjective spirit of the minjung.  Minjung theology concentrates instead on giving witness to Christ whose presence is felt among the suffering minjung, and in conveying the collective life - the sufferings and struggles - of the minjung.  Rather than awakening the minjung and mobilizing them, minjung theology stands along side minjung people, to confront together the forces of domination, and transform the anti-minjung church.  Recurring themes in minjung theology are acute criticisms of the established church, and resistance to the structures of domination.

The circumstances of the minjung were altered dramatically by the 1980 Kwangju Uprising.  Ever since then, the minjung have taken a quantum leap forward in achieving political power, and a corresponding movement of organized minjung has taken shape.  If the 1970s can be characterized as a period of impotence under the violence of the Yushin regime, then, the 1980s can be defined as a period of collective and organized struggle, to resist the forces of military dictatorship.  During the 1980s the challenges of: developing a process to effectively mobilize the minjung into an organized force, scientifically analyzing the anti-minjung forces, objectively assessing the realistic strength of the minjung, and concretizing the goals and methods of struggle, were met.

The demands of this era are precisely what attributed to the failure of minjung theology to mature during the 1980s.  Minjung theology remained static throughout the 1980s because it was unable to creatively merge these new challenges, with its existing theology.  If we are to respond to the challenges of the past, and renew our existing theology to create a theology for the future, we must begin with an understanding of the political and economic genesis of minjung theology.

3. The Political and Economic Context of the Formation of Minjung Theology

What were the political and economic realities during the early 1970s when minjung theology was conceived?  Firstly, this was a time when the Korean economy successfully achieved rapid quantitative growth.  During the period of the government’s First Five Year Economic Development Plan (1962-1966), the average annual rate of growth was 8.5%, and during the second implementation of this plan (1967-1971), the average yearly growth rate increased to 11.4%.  On the other side of this growth, however, stood the vast majority of the nation’s people whose standard of living had not improved.  In fact there are many indicators that, for waged workers, the standard of living actually decreased.  In 1969, the Engel’s Coefficient (the percentage of income spent on food stuffs - the principle of the Engel’s Coefficient states that the higher the value of the coefficient, the worse-off one is) was 40.9%, while in 1974, this coefficient rose to 44.1%.

This paradoxical reality was the result of an economic policy dependent on foreign markets, i.e. an export-oriented economy, based on cheap labor.  Given a situation where domestic capital, raw materials, and technology were all in a state of impoverishment, an economic policy based on export was bound to send the country into further dependence on foreign markets and capital.  Likewise, it was inevitable that the country would rely on the cheap labor of its national work force to coax further foreign investment.

Since the majority of machinery and raw materials had to be imported for Korean industries to survive, import rates increased sharply.  Compared to the US$2.5 billion of imports in 1966, 1969 saw imports rise to US$18.2 billion, while exports rose to a mere US$7.2 billion.  In order to compensate for this immense trade deficit, a large amount of foreign debt was accumulated.  Because the amount of foreign capital being earned by export goods was insufficient, a policy of encouraging the direct investment of foreign capital into Korean industry was instituted.  Thus, subordination to foreign (at first the US, and then gradually Japan as well) economies was an inevitable outcome.

In 1960, the percentage of South Korea’s Gross National Product (GNP) dependent on foreign trade was 2.9%, however, by 1971, this figure had gown to 43.3%.  By 1973 this figure had grown again to 67.1%, and by 1974, 72% of the nations GNP was reliant on foreign trade.  When compared to similar statistics for Japan (generally viewed as a nation heavily reliant on trade) of less than 20%, the abnormality of the South Korean economy’s reliance on foreign trade is made strikingly clear.  The result of this export-oriented economy based on foreign capital was the creation of a vicious cycle, where foreign debts could only be repaid by increasing borrowing, which led to the accumulation of even more debt.

By 1973, Japan had risen to become Koreas largest trading partner.  But when Japan expropriated Korea’s manufacturing base, and raw materials as well, Japan took the leading role in dictating the fate of Korea’s trade economy.  After thirty-five years of Japanese colonial oppression, it was natural that the Korean people would be overwhelmed by anxiety at the thought of falling under Japanese subordination once again.

Because the state of the economy demanded that Korea be able to maintain its supply of cheap labor, government and industrial leaders remained adamant in enforcing 1ong work days, and low wages.  The average wage of the Korean worker in 1973, was 1/15 that of his American counterpart, and 1/7 that of the average Japanese worker.  The general situation of Korean workers during this period was one of destitution and hunger, unthinkable working conditions, and the longest working hours in the world.

In order to build a political power base to support this kind of economic exploitation of South Korean workers, the Yushin Constitution was proclaimed in 1972, and the true colors of General Park Chung-hee’s military dictatorship were revealed.  Terrifying political violence left its trace in every sector of society.  The FKTU (Federation of Korean Trade Unions) was transformed into a ‘yellow’ union, it joined hands with the government and industrialists, and worker’s rights to survival were trampled on.  But despite such tyranny, workers were incapable of organizing in collective struggle against their oppressors.  Complete and thorough oppression of the workers by the state, and its foreign capitalist collaborators, was the dominant feature of this period.

This devastating situation for the minjung - which had been concealed from the outside world by superficial images of magnificent economic growth - was exposed by the death of a young worker by the name of Chun Tae-il, who set himself on fire in protest at the inhumane treatment of workers, on 13th November 1970.  In 1968 the Korean church officially began its Urban Industrial Mission activities, and although this style of mission had met with some success before this time, it was the tragic death of Chun Tae-il that propelled the Korean church to become more actively concerned with the socio-political life of the minjung.

The Mean church, which took root in Korean society at the end of the feudal system of the Lee Dynasty, had played an active and progressive role in society during the early years of the Twentieth Century.  But after experiencing increased oppression from the Japanese colonial rulers during the 1920s, the church began to break away from the people’s history by complying with the colonial administration’s doctrine of the separation of church and state.  After liberation from Japan, and under the protection of the US military, and Syngman Rhee’s regime, the church had degenerated into an anti-nation and anti-minjung institution.  By becoming involved in the life and the suffering of the minjung during the 1970s, the Korean church was not only able to restore its original life as a church, but also succeed in filling a 50-year void in its tradition, as a nationalist and peoples’ church.

Minjung theology developed out of this process of the Korean church’s participation in the life of the minjung.  Representative of minjung theologians during this era were clergy who lived with, and shared in the lives of the minjung (Hyun-young Hak), or who were expelled from their position as university professors for standing on the side of the minjung (Suh Nam-dong, Suh Kwang-sun), or placed in prison cells (Suh Nam-dong, Ahn Byung-mu, Moon Dong-hwan), and minjung theologians themselves became victims of the military dictatorship.

During this period, foreign capital grew to become a major oppressor of the minjung, collaborating with Korea’s chaebol (family-owned conglomerate) companies, and the power of the state, to enforce the export-oriented economy based on low wages.  Because the political consciousness of the workers was in its infant stages, workers began to clash with the military state regime, rather than engage directly in class struggle against the capitalists.

Born out of this havoc, minjung theology began to challenge the powers of oppression.  This fact is clearly evinced in the ‘Theological Statement of Korean Christians’ that was formulated in November 1974 by a group of minjung theologians.  This statement begins with three challenges directed at the state.  The first challenge questions the limits of state power and the justice of its actions.  The second inquires whether or not the basic rights granted by God to all human beings are ensured by the state.  Finally, it questions the state’s respect for the freedom of religion.  The first question is posed direct1y to the state, while the second and third questions are posed by asking if certain fundamental rights are being guaranteed by the state, and make indirect references to state power.  This theological orientation of placing central importance on the question of state power gave way to minjung theology, which came to stand for resistance against state power, and the structure of the status quo.

The reason minjung theology became known as a critical and radical theology, rather than a theology of the minjung movement, can be explained by the political and economic context of this period.  Under this shadow of tyranny, where one could do no more than bear the oppression of the state, the minjung were not presented with the space, nor the opportunity to organize as a force for struggle.  In a situation where the media was tightly controlled, minjung theology sought to proclaim the cries of the minjung, in solidarity with them.  Thus, Suh Nam-dong came to define minjung theology as: “an echo of the cries of the suffering minjung,” and Ahn Byung-mu as: “the theology which gives witness to the presence of Christ within the suffering life of the minjung.”  Thus, a1though minjung theology clearly stood on the side of the people, it was not a theology of the minjung movement.  This failure is due not only to the fact that minjung theologians were not movement activists, but also to the fact that the minjung movement of this period was still in its infantile stages of development, with the climate of violence too thick to break through.

The situation of the Korean church, and the Christian movement during this period also explain how minjung theology came to be such an acute critic of western theology.  For fifty years the Korean church had lain in slumber, protected by the Japanese colonial power, and comforted by western theological doctrine that emphasized the separation of church and state.  By the 1970s, however, a few pioneering Christians had broken away from the fortress of the church, and began to engage in mission among the suffering minjung.  They were an extremely insignificant minority within the Korean church as a whole, but as they began to feel the burning situation of the minjung, and to share in their suffering, they amassed the courage to question church doctrine and ecclesiastical authority.  In doing so, they attempted to awaken the church from its slumber.  Grounded in a theology mission, minjung theology broke away from the clutch of the institutional church, and spoke out for a church whose mission should be aligned with the life of the minjung - the setting of the minjung event.  Thus the church was transformed from a building of brick and concrete, into: the Human Rights Committee, the Thursday Evening Prayer Meeting, the Urban Industrial Mission, the Catholic Young Workers Association, and the court rooms where conscientious Christians were being tried.  This was the church theory developed by minjung theology, arising from the situation of the Korean church, and the Christian movement of the early 1970s.

However, the most distinct features of minjung theology - basic trust and belief in the power of the minjung as subjects of history - do not, oddly enough, appear to be consistent with the situation of this period.  Amendments to the labor law, passed on two separate occasions in April and December of 1963, prohibited workers from protesting against the long hours, and low wages, demanded by the governments export oriented economic policies.  In January of 1970, with the proclamation of the ‘Special Provision Concerning Trade Unions and Labor Disputes in Foreign Investment Companies’, the workers legal rights to survival were revoked.  On December 1971, ‘Special National Security Decree’ was passed and workers rights to collective bargaining and collective action were restricted.  Witnessing their impotence in being forced to unilaterally accept such repressive measures, how could anyone claim that there was any beauty in the life of the minjung?  How was it possible to advocate faith as the means by which the minjung would become the subjective force of history?

The low wages policy of the export-oriented economy also necessitated a policy of maintaining low-cost agricultural products.  This policy drove countless farmers from their land into the cities to create a new class of people known as the ‘urban poor’.  During a three and a half year period in the mid 1970s, 140,596 slum shanties were reportedly constructed.  Among them, 89,692 shanties have now been demolished, and the residents left homeless.

Even upon being forcibly evicted from their homes, residents of shantytowns could do no more than wage a few meager protests, and were generally incapable of organizing collective resistance.  Given these facts, is it not, simply an idealistic fallacy to claim that the minjung possess greatness?  A superficial analysis might concur.  Certainly, by the standards of the powerful, the minjung would be judged to be weak and feeble.  But if one delves deeper into the real life of the minjung, it is possible to comprehend that the minjung possess a passion for survival that is not easily broken, even under the most desperate conditions.  They also possess a wisdom of the beauty of life, which enables them to share their food with others even amid the most impoverished conditions.  They possess the power to overcome hardship, and enter into a new day of hope.

Within the shanties, the prison cells, and the many realities of minjung suffering, minjung theologians were able to discover that greatness did indeed exist within the minjung.  These discoveries were more than simply the subjective experiences of a few theologians.  This optimistic faith in the minjung is consistent with the Asian optimism of ancient philosophers such as Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu (365-290 BC) who advanced the idea of being one with nature.  It is an optimism based in the historical life of Asian peoples, who, for thousands of years, have been able to build relatively autonomous agricultural communities, based on the Asiatic mode of production.

This faith in the power of the minjung as makers of history is a direct discrepancy with the policy of foreign dependency that had been adopted by the state, in collusion with foreign capital.  The economic policies of subordination were a radical contradiction to minjung theology’s defense of the strength of the minjung.  It is necessary, therefore, to understand this unilateral adulation of the minjung in the context of external criticisms of the minjung, and a state regime dependent on foreign support.

Nevertheless, even if today we can ague for the beauty of the life of the minjung, and their ability to build a life of communal peace for thousands of years, the minjung living in the political and social climate of the 1970s were helpless and vulnerable.  During this period, the collective strength of the minjung amounted to no more than a declaration - it had not yet become a genuine force.  That is, the minjung merely possessed the latent capacity to become a subjective force in history, and had not yet developed into a moving force in the political and social winds of this period.

Although minjung theology reflected vividly the life of the minjung, because of its declaratory nature, it failed to remain faithful to the process of the minjung liberation through which the minjung were maturing to become the masters of history.

Since the 1980 Kwangju Uprising, the minjung movement has taken a quantum leap forward.  Within the Christian movement, KCADR along with the newly advancing movement of the minjung churches, are forces that seek to remain faithful to the minjung.  The future will not only see the political power of the minjung maturing, but will also witness political and economic changes which will prove to be advantageous to the workers.  In this tide of change, minjung theology must not only become a theology which promotes the development of a mass-based minjung movement, but must also move the Korean church to participate in the minjung movement and promote renewal of the church.

4. A Reflection on the Future Directions of Minjung Theology

Since the beginning of the1990s, progress towards the democratization of South Korean society, and the improvement of the social, and economic status of the minjung has gradually been enhanced.  Therefore, the circumstances of the minjung have changed.  There are still many extremely poor people in Korean society, but the standard of living for many ordinary laborers has improved markedly.  Meanwhile, the democratization movement has lost its strength and unity, and become disbanded.

During the late 1980s, the so-called second generation of minjung theologians were trying to bring a new perspective to minjung theology, according to the changes that had taken place in the circumstances of the minjung.  Some of them tried to promote the minjung movement, in order to create a revolution in society, according to the social analysis and strategies of Marxism. While another group of theologians tried to present church-oriented minjung theology in solidarity with the minjung church movement.  Other minjung theologians explored minjung-life theology inspired by the theology of JPIC.  Still another group of minjung theologians tried to develop a minjung theology of peace, and unification, for Korea keeping in step with the unification movement, that first became active during that era.

But the minjung theologians of the 1990s could not lead the renewal of the minjung movement, and the church, towards a radical reform of society due to the rapidly changing political, and economic situation.  In the 1997 presidential election, the opposition party - in solidarity with democratization movement - came to power by forming a coalition against the conservative government.  This development gave outsiders the impression that South Korea had made real progress towards democratization.

However, the political and economic circumstances of the minjung worsened significantly as a result of the economic crisis that swept through the South Korean economy in late 1997.  This crisis had developed because of the rapid process of globalization, and the incorporation of South Korea into the global free-market trading system, which had been on-going since the early 1960s.  The South Korean government tried to overcome the economic crisis by further adjusting the economy to the global free-market system by adopting the principles and policies of neo-liberalism.  As a result of this process, the socio-economic position of the conservative, ruling class was strengthened, while the socio-economic status of the minjung deteriorated, and an unprecedented number of people became unemployed, and homeless.  The neo-liberal economic policies that have been advanced by the South Korean government over the last five years are a form of social and economic exploitation committed by the world’s economic super-powers against minjung people.

In recent years the civil society/NGO movement has become more active, however the power of the conservative ruling class has held sway.  Regretfully, the philosophies and principles of the civil society/NGO movement, has not impacted on the spirituality and life of Korean people, and instead remained only a discourse between intellectuals and activists.  Additionally, some minjung mission activists have developed mission projects to care for homeless people, and migrant workers, with the financial support of local government bodies.  However, the majority of minjung mission activists are subject to an uncertainty of livelihood, and a lack of financing.

This change of circumstances challenges minjung theology to present a new perspective and insight for minjung mission and the minjung movement in the Twenty-first Century.  Minjung theologians must develop new methodologies for doing minjung theology.  Minjung theology was able to make a great impact on the Korean church and society, during the 1970s, by acting as a witness to the suffering, and struggles of the minjung, under the oppressive circumstances of that era.  Nowadays, however, the vivid, colorful, visual TV reports on the struggles of the minjung is much more effective and powerful, than an academic, literary, description of the same issues.  However, the minjung should not remain as an object of witness, and must emerge as a subject, transforming history and society.  Minjung theology must present a new vision of the fullness of global life, with minjung making new history, and awaken the unique spirituality and power, rooted deeply in the heart and life of the minjung.  Minjung theology must be a theology of the minjung, awakened and motivated by the spirituality of socio-cultural contexts.  As the minjung of Jesus, minjung people should be activated in a process of struggling for the liberation of the whole life of the world.

In order to achieve these aims, we must accurately perform a practical analysis and diagnosis of the socio-economic reality, and investigate not only the socio-psychological dynamics, but also the spirituality and cultural identity of the minjung.  Minjung theologians have a heavy responsibility to articulate a deep understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and present a grand vision of a global community full of peace and life.

In order to achieve the renewal of minjung mission in Asia in the Twenty-first Century, minjung theology must begin to discuss the spirituality, and the socio-cultural characteristics of the minjung, and shed more light on the principles of community, and the inter-dependence of all living things.

5. References

1. Korean Economics, Seoul, Hanool Publishers, 1983 p.11.

2. Ibid., p.12-13.  These figures are based on government statistics that tended to underestimate their calculations of the Engel's coefficient.

3. Ibid., p.37.

4. Ibid., p.38.

5. Ibid., p.68.

6. The Democratic Movement of the 1970s, Vol. I, Seoul, The National Council of Churches in Korea, Human Rights Committee, p.45.

7.Ibid., p.63-64.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: The History of the Mission of the Minjung Church in South Korea from 1983 to the Present

The History of the Mission of the Minjung Church in South Korea from 1983 to the Present

Rev. Hong Eyoul Hwang

Researcher, Center for Theological Studies of Peace and Reunification of Korea

1. Historical Background

It was Christians - especially the members of the Urban Rural Mission movement - that led the South Korean democratization movement of the 1970s.  The assassination of the dictator Park Chung-hee in 1979 offered an opportunity for the democratization of the country however; this opportunity was thwarted by General Chun Doo-hwan’s military coup in May 1980.  The quashing of the Kwangju Minjung Uprising on 27th May 1980 forced the leaders, and intellectuals, of the democratization movement, to recognize the importance of the influence of the US military in the Korean peninsula.  Their solution to overcoming the powerful influence of the US military, and US political hegemony on the Korean Peninsula, was Marxism.  Marxism had been a significant influence on the leaders of the liberation movement, under Japanese colonial oppression, during the 1930s.  The revival of Marxism’s influence on the thinking of leaders of the democratization movement is one of the main criteria for distinguishing between the nature of the movement in the 1970s, with that of the 1980s.  During the early 1980s, several thousand university students gave up their studies, to become factory laborers, in order to change the social and political system, through the organizing of trade unions.  Christian students belonged to this group, and the revival of Marxist ideology during this time was a backdrop to the formation of the minjung church.

Participants in the Urban Rural Mission (URM) movement were so oppressed by the military regime in the mid and late 1970s, that they recognized the significance of the church to the movement.  When they were accused of being pro-communist, it was the Korean church that defended them from the military regime.  Until the early 1970s, the established churches, and the URM movement, were thought of as two different organizations.  From the late 1970s onwards, most URM centers were unable to sustain themselves.  Because of this, some of the URM centers metamorphosized into churches.  This is the background to the beginning of the establishment of the minjung church.

2. Formational Period (1983-1987)

The Minjung Church (MC) was a grouping of Christian congregations, founded in the urban industrial/urban poor areas of Korean cities.  In the beginning MCs were based on Minjung Theology, and expressed this theology through participating in the democratization movement, and advocating for: the reunification of the country, the renewal of the church, and the realization of the Kingdom of God.  In practical terms this was achieved through: living in community with minjung people, working for their welfare, and making them the subjects of history - in community - during the 1980s and 1990s.  The majority of MCs belonged to three, main-line protestant denominations: the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK), the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK), and the Methodist Church of Korea (MCK).

However, minjung mission was not monopolized entirely by the minjung church during the 1980s and 1990s.  Not only did some URM centers, but also some day-care centers, and after school programs run by Roman Catholics, and Protestants contributed to minjung mission.  The ‘Sharing Houses’ run by the Korean Anglican Church made a large contribution to minjung mission through active participation in mission to urban poor communities, and by fostering the labor movement in these areas.

The Jumin Church was established in the urban-poor area of Sungnam in 1973, and the Paekma Church was established in the industrial area of Incheon in 1976.  However the number of minjung churches began to increase from 1984 onwards .  Participants in the PCK’s Urban Industrial Mission programs, trained minjung pastor candidates.  In 1983 they trained two candidates, and four in 1984 .  In 1985 those who finished the training course organized the PCK Council of Labor Mission.

The average number of members belonging to most MCs was between twenty, and forty people.  The typical style of Bible study (even sometimes worship) in most MCs at this time, followed after the model of Ernesto Cardenal’s; The Gospel in Solentiname, in that, after reading the Bible text, the congregation would openly engage in a two-way dialogue with the pastor, and amongst themselves, over the contents of the passage, and its meaning for their day-to-day lives.  After the meeting, every MC engaged in sharing a communal meal together, as a celebration of God’s grace.

The MC was a missionary church, in that it emphasized missionary activities in the local community, and also on the national scale.  The church developed several kinds of mission programs: evening classes for Korean language and history; health education and labor rights education; day-care centers, after school programs, and Sunday health care clinics for the welfare of the general community; prayer meetings, fasts, and making statements on the current social, and political issues, as well as engaging in political activities.

The minjung church movement (MCM) was a church movement dedicated to the liberation of minjung people, and realizing the Kingdom of God on earth, through participating in activities that promoted the: independence, democratization, and reunification, of the nation.  Its characteristics were: an anti-church movement (as most establishment churches were anti-minjung, anti-communist, pro-capitalist, pro-American, and pro-military regime), the unity of movement and mission , and a Christian minjung culture movement.

What was the result of the MCM?  A strange phenomenon took place.  During the weekdays many minjung people visited MCs and participated in their activities.  However, only a few people attended worship services on a Sunday.  MC pastors expected that minjung would voluntarily attend Sunday worship after coming into contact with the church’s activities, as the MC was the ‘true’ church.  It did not take long for them to find out that their optimism was unfounded.  They began to recognize the gap between their expectations, or ‘self-understanding’ of the MC, and the reality, which faced the MC at the time.

In spite of the many problems it encountered, the MC was a Christian response to the: social reality in Korea at the time, and especially the minjung movement.  Secondly, the MC developed a model for church renewal, founded on the every day reality experienced by the minjung.  Thirdly, the MC played an important role as the bulwark of the Korean labor movement, through supporting, and organizing trade unions, which was nearly impossible to do outside of the protection of the MC, during the military dictatorship era.  Lastly, through the MC many young Christians critical of the establishment churches remained as Christians and contributed to minjung mission.

3. Developmental Period (1988-1992)

The attempts of the Chun Doo-hwan regime (1980-1987) to perpetuate its power, met with vigorous protests from the people.  From 10th - 26th June 1987, approximately 4 - 5 million protesters, consisting of: minjung people, middle class intellectuals, and office workers, participated daily in nation-wide democracy protests.  What became known as the; ‘June Democratization Movement’, resulted not only in the institution of a process for the direct election of the president, but also in the recovery of civil society, which had almost been destroyed by the policies of the US military administration (1945-1948), and the military dictatorship (1961-1987).

The policies of the Roh Tae-woo regime - a semi-military regime (1988-1992) - divided the unity of the minjung and the middle class displayed during the June 1987 Democratization Movement, and ruled the country by supporting the civic movement, and suppressing the minjung movement.  From the early 1990s onwards, the civic movement became more influential than the minjung movement, and the Korean people - especially the younger generation - became de-politicized, and culture-oriented.  The minjung movement did not adapt itself to the new circumstances and struggled against the Roh regime with an inflexible attitude.  It also regarded the civic movement as a rival, rather than a partner in the democratization movement, while some leading civic groups had a hostile attitude toward the minjung movement.  By the end of the Cold War the ideological basis of the MCM had collapsed.

The characteristics of the MCM in this period were: ‘formal development’ and ‘actual stagnation’.  The former meant the birth of the ‘Association of the Minjung Church in Korea’, in 1988, which organized fifteen regional based associations, and three denominational based associations.  The latter meant that the formation of the whole subjects of the movement did not activate the movement.

During this period MC pastors understood the MC to be a faith community, rather than a political movement.  Most MCs reorganized their priorities to focus on ministry rather than politics, and from a movement-orientation to an ecclesiology-orientation .  Although many MCs tried to use ‘useful’ methods for church growth, not many MCs increased the numbers of their church membership.  Many MC pastors realized that they were not well prepared to perform all the duties that were expected of them.  Also, a majority of MC laity were new to the Christian faith, aged in their 20s and 30s.  Although MC pastors tried to focus on their ministry to minjung people, they were also asked to do many jobs in the local community, the nation, and the wider church.  Under these circumstances, the stagnation in the number of new MCs being established was inevitable .

MC pastors suffered from a ‘wrong inertia’ that meant that they were either consciously, or unconsciously dominated, by their self-understanding of the MCM from the formational period.  Under the influence of this ‘wrong inertia’, minjung pastors experienced difficulties adapting themselves to the new circumstances.  They also wrestled with the identity crisis of the MCM.  Some of them began to be more interested in the spirituality, rather than the ideology, related to their founding identity.  From the 1980s onwards they asked themselves the question of how to relate their Christian faith with Marxist ideology.  Before they were able to solve this problem, however, the end of the Cold War made this issue irrelevant.

Through participating in the Minjung Hymn Festival, the MC published 5,000 copies of a minjung hymnbook in 1990.  MC mission programs such as: day-care centers, and after school programs, paved the way for the establishment of a national social welfare system in the early 1990s.  Some members of the MC were elected as representatives in local government authorities, so that the MCM became increasingly involved in the ‘little politics’ of the local community.  Some MCs even led the civic movement in their cities.

4. Transformational Period (1993 - present)

As the Kim Young-sam ‘civilian government’ (1993-1997) began its ‘reforms’ of the social system, the sociological basis of the MCM came under threat.  Kim Young-sam’s victory in the presidential election, and the defeat of the opposition party candidate who had been supported by the democratization movement, resulted in the withering of the minjung movement.  Most minjung activists left their field of involvement, and instead participated more directly in politics, the civic movement, or the financial unions.  From 1993 onwards, the minjung movement, in general, gave up its ‘revolutionary’ character.

The ‘civilian government’, however, was an amalgam of elements of the old military dictatorship/chaebol (economic conglomerate) power elite, and conservative moderates from the democratization movement of the 1970s and 1980s, which seriously compromised its attempts at reform, and made the failure of its ‘reform from the top’ strategy inevitable.  Though its reform policies contributed to improving the: military, financial, and social systems, the government refused to make any attempt to reform the chaebol system.  The minjung movement and the civic movement tried to challenge this policy failing, without success.  The government’s failure to reform the corrupt, yet chaebol friendly, economic system, resulted in the onset of a disastrous economic crisis at the end of 1997, and the eventual IMF bail-out of the Korean economy.

Under these circumstances MC mission was regarded as unnecessary, or out of date.  MC pastors were also challenged to solve the identity crisis of the movement.  Some of them were interested in ‘spirituality’ and half of them met together for spiritual exercises in 1998.

The Korean church declared 1995 to be a year of Jubilee, in recognition of the passing of fifty years since the division of the Korean peninsula, at the conclusion of the Second World War.  As part of the events of the Jubilee year, the MC published a Declaration of Jubilee.  This declaration included an expansion of the definition of the word ‘minjung’ to include: laborers, the urban poor, farmers, the differently abled, women, prisoners of conscience, and migrant workers .

At the same time, the unitary characteristics of the MCM were dissipating due to a strengthening of centrifugal forces, and diversification of MC mission.  As the organizational centripetal points, such as: ideology, and the definition of the word ‘minjung’ were weakened, MCs began to involve themselves in different issues, such as: the treatment of migrant workers, youth ministry, the rights of the differently abled, and the status of women in society.

For example, the PROK organized a number of different mission programs, as follows:

~ Love Village - focused on youth mission, and the creation of a youth culture initiated by youths themselves, the development of their own identity through cultural activities, and training them as subjects of a democratic culture;

~ Migrant Workers’ House and the Korean-Chinese Workers’ House - focused on protecting the rights of migrant workers, providing health care, and lobbying the government to legislate an adequate migrant workers’ law;

~ Jesus Family - a group home for 3 - 5 homeless teenagers, provides troubled youth with an alternative family, and an alternative education;

~ Church of Joy - founded a community for the differently-abled, which promotes self-reliance by education, job, and medical support, but also for spiritual self-reliance by faith; and

~ Hyosung Church - became a leader of the environmental movement in the city of Ulsan.

Additionally, in 1997 the Middle Kyunggi Synod of the PROK sent Rev. Kim Hyun-su, as a “community missionary” to the Jesus Family.  Until then, the word ‘missionary’ had been used by Korean church to describe church workers working in foreign countries.

In the case of the PCK, the following mission programs were established:

~ based upon the experience gained from running the training program for minjung pastor candidates since 1983, the PCK Minjung Church Pastors’ Association established the Korean Church Diakonia Training Center in 1996, which sprouted the Asian URM - Diakonia Training Center in 2001 - an initiative of the Yong Dung Po-Urban Industrial Mission center.  The aim of this program is to share the collective experience and knowledge of the minjung church, and minjung mission movement with church activists, community leaders, and labor activists throughout Asia;

~ since 1993 the Evangelism Department of the General Assembly of the PCK has established twelve laborer-counseling centers nationwide including the Central Labor Counseling Center.  Each center was supported by a particular Presbytery of the PCK, and operated by a local minjung church, with the local minjung pastor was placed in charge of the center.  As time passed, some of these centers focused on migrant workers’ mission, others on mission for the differently-abled, while others became shelters for homeless and unemployed;

~ with the establishment of local government administrations in 1995, many of the urban-poor neighborhoods of Korean cities were redeveloped.  In response to this phenomenon, the Saerom Church built a three-story Community Center, housing a: worship place, day-care center, and an after-school program, with partial financial support from the local government.  The church also endeavored to promote the quality of mission staff, education and community facilities;

~ Saeto Church established many programs for the benefit of minjung women;

~ in 1996 a group of minjung pastors were sent to Cambodia to serve as missionaries for three years, and in 2001 one minjung pastor was sent to Rwanda for one year, to share the experience of minjung mission with Asian and African Christians;

~ the minjung church has also made a great effort to build a bridge between urban, and rural areas, through the establishment of organic farming producers’ and consumers’ co-operatives.  The Minjung church regarded minjung people, and the socially disadvantaged, such as: single parents, the differently-abled, contingent workers, ex-convicts, the unemployed, and prostitutes, as the particular segment of society that would benefit most from organic farm produce, and the of establishment of an environmentally concerned community of citizens.

Some MCs stuck to their original concerns of; democratization, reunification, and labor rights, while others were challenged by unexpected encounters with new social issues.  This diversification in MC mission resulted partly from an inner development of the MCM, and partly from the result of the MC’s unexpected encounters with “others” such as the: homeless, teenagers, migrant workers, the differently-abled, the homeless, and the unemployed.

In 1997 the Association of the MCM of the PROK changed its name to the Life Mission Solidarity.  The Minjung Church Pastors’ Association of the PCK also changed its name to, the Association of Minjung Church Mission of the PCK, in 1998.

After the economic crisis of 1997, the MCM led the way in providing social services and care for the homeless and the unemployed.  However, greater focus on the traditional areas of MC mission is still required.

Historical events such as the end of the Cold War, and the ‘reforms’ of the Kim Young-sam civilian government, helped Minjung pastors to be liberated from their ‘wrong inertia’ and misplaced optimism.  Minjung pastors now understand that the word ‘life’ is more inclusive than the word ‘minjung’, and have turned to spirituality, rather than ideology, as the foundation of their identity.  However the meaning of ‘spirituality’ and ‘life’, in the Korean context, is still yet to be identified.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: The Mission Tasks of the Minjung Church

The Mission Tasks of the Minjung Church

Rev. Hong Eyoul Hwang

Researcher, Center for Theological Studies of Peace and Reunification of Korea

1.        Reflections on the Mission of the Minjung Church

1.1        Faith and Ideology

There was an inevitable historical limitation for the Minjung church in the 1980s because it was strongly influenced by the ideologies that were current at that time.  However, to appropriately relate faith with ideology was not done until today.  To solve this problem we can borrow the definitions of faith and ideology made by Juan L. Segundo.  According to him, faith is the goal or values of life, and ideology is a practical method to implement that faith.  According to these definitions, ideology is necessary to faith, and although ideology can change according to social situations, faith remains constant under such changes .  During the 1980s the Minjung church movement was forcefully influenced by the contemporary ideologies of the time.  The Minjung church movement in the 1990s however, began to clearly confirm the priority of faith over ideology, and experimented with various ways of doing mission, in order to make minjung mission fit to the social situation.  Thanks to this process, minjung mission has become much more diversified since the mid-1990s.

1.2        The Dilemma of Identity-Involvement

Minjung pastors had wrestled with the identity crisis of the Minjung church since the late 1980s.  Moltmann said that whenever Christians were involved in a social change, they would also experience an identity crisis.  On the contrary, whenever they tried to sustain their identity they were not able to be involved in the social changes taking place.  However, he maintained that this was not a dilemma, but an inevitable relationship of tension between identity and involvement .

This relationship can be understood in relation to the hermeneutical circle of Segundo .  Minjung pastors became involved in social change, based upon their own interpretation of the Bible, and criticized the existing ideologies, including theological ones.  As a result of this process, their own understanding of the Bible changed, so that they suggested spirituality as the identity of the Minjung church, and the word ‘life’ was used as an alternative to the word ‘minjung’ for the orientation of the Minjung church movement. Minjung pastors also re-established the relationship between faith and ideology.  Then they became involved in social change again, with a different viewpoint from their original one.

1.3        A Positive Understanding of Religion

Minjung pastors had stressed the negative aspect of religion as an: “opium of the people,” rather than the positive aspect of being an important resource for social change.  They also overlooked, or ignored, the religious needs of minjung people, and emphasized only the structural evils that existed in Korean society.  If Korean religious movements in Korea emphasized the importance of politics only, then minjung people began to loose their interest in religion .  In Latin America, Liberation Theologians made similar mistakes, with the same result .

1.4        Understanding of Minjung

Minjung pastors almost totally ignored the distinctions between the minjung as a group, and the minjung as individual people.  Franz Fanon said that for liberation from colonialism to be achieved, it was necessary to change not only the social structure, but also the personal consciousness.  According to him, the inferiority complex of the colonized people was due to the dual processes of: the economic process of colonization, and their internalization of the unjust social structure.  The internalization of the inferiority complex of African people meant, that after they were forced to become slaves of the Europeans, they eventually also regarded themselves as being no better than slaves, themselves .  In these circumstances the slave may try to: “run away from his own individuality, to annihilate his own presence,”  so that: “the self is disassociated, and the patient heads for madness.”   For it is inevitable for a slave in a colonized European society to fight with, or run from the image of himself that has been given to him the colonizers, therefore, he must liberated from the unconscious hallucination of the ‘whitening’ influence of the colonizers .  The mission of the minjung church, however, was not interested enough in minjung people as individuals, so it failed to take care of this aspect of minjung identity.

Often minjung pastors did not understand that in many instances minjung people had become part of the system of Mammon in order to survive, and the pastors did not understand how hard it was for them to be freed from such a system.  Minjung pastors also overlooked the dualistic character of minjung people.  They did not even imagine that minjung people were easily divided against themselves, and that the oppressors used this tactic to rule over the minjung, by using the minjung against themselves.  Minjung pastors, however, discovered the negative aspects of minjung in the process of minjung ministry.  During the formational period of the Minjung church movement, minjung pastors did not recognize the negative aspects of minjung, not because they thought minjung were perfect, but because they thought that the minjung would change by themselves if they could be liberated from socio-economic oppression, and cultural alienation.

A female minjung pastor was finally forced to accept the negative aspects of minjung people, such as; greed, and the lack of solidarity, when she was hit by a man during the evacuation of a slum area.  As a result of this event, she realized that her view of minjung people was an: “illusion.”  She also recognized that minjung were not necessarily interested in the well-being of the community as a whole, but that many people were more interested in leaving the community for their own benefit.  Another minjung pastor pointed out some of the negative aspects of the minjung, by noting the mental deterioration of the minjung, and the internal conflicts between minjung people that were caused by the desire to earn more money in the capitalist society.  Another woman minjung pastor realized the negative aspects of the minjung through confronting the failure of organizing a local union.  Even though some workers income was comparatively low, they didn’t think that they needed to form a local union because they produced the products for a well-known company, and therefore their jobs with the small company would not be dishonored.  Therefore, they regarded their social status as being almost equal to that of the workers of the famous company.  She also pointed out that the sinfulness, arrogance, and selfishness, of the minjung resulted from the alienated consciousness, and universal sinfulness of human beings as well.  Another minjung pastor mentioned that minjung people were oppressed not only socio-economically, but also spiritually.

As mentioned above, minjung pastors accepted that the sins of minjung people were embedded in the universal sinfulness of human kind, as well as the unjust social structure.  It would appear that the pastors’ mentioning of spiritual oppression, points out the limits of conscientization theory.  In other words, a change in the consciousness of minjung people does not necessarily guarantee a change in the existence of the minjung.  Only when a change in the consciousness of the minjung is accompanied by a change in their spirituality, is it possible to change the minjung and their society.

On the one hand religion can contribute to the liberation of minjung people.  On the other hand, it can contribute to maintaining the status quo, as an ‘opium’ of the minjung.  If this duality in the possibilities of religion is combined with the duality in the possibilities of minjung people, then the reality of minjung people becomes extremely complicated.  However the participants in the minjung church who intend to struggle for social change, are only those: “people who are secure enough to ‘disestablish’ themselves from the prevailing system.”   It is a contradiction for any religion to be a mass religion, and also to be “disestablishing” itself at the same time. According to this perspective -from the beginning of its existence - minjung people could not broadly accept the Minjung church.

1.5        Community Organization and Conscientization

During the last thirty years, the two main theories pertaining to minjung mission were: the theory of Community Organization, by Saul D. Alinsky; and the theory of Conscientization, by Paulo Freire.  We will now reflect on these two important theories.

According to Saul D. Alinsky, when the people of a community meet a suggestion proposed by an organizer from outside the community, this causes a: “psychological dilemma” .  This dilemma means that people reject the suggestion, not because it is wrong, but because if they accept it, they will appear to lack the intelligence to solve their own problems.  Later on in the development of his theory, Alinsky calls this the: “psychic ‘original sin,’” meaning that: “it is a human characteristic, that someone who asks for help and receives it, reacts not only with gratitude, but with a subconscious hostility toward the one who helped him” .  Unfortunately, minjung pastors did not understand, nor recognize this reaction to their suggestions in the communities where they worked, so that sometimes the suggestions that they made were not well received by the minjung people in their community.

According to the theory of Conscientization, the relationship between conscientization and the Christian faith is obscure.  If the application of this theory is limited to the socio-political, and economic spheres, then it is complementary to the Christian faith.  If this theory is applied to fields of human activity beyond these two, then it becomes much more difficult to reconcile this theory with the Christian faith.  The obscure nature of the relationship between Conscientization theory, and its practical applications, often caused minjung pastors to mistakenly try to apply this theory in circumstances that were not compatible with building Christian faith.  This meant than in some instances minjung pastors almost replaced the importance of Christian faith in their ideology, with the importance of conscientization theory, during the formational period of the minjung church.

Juan L. Segundo also made the criticism that Conscientization Theory was an unsatisfactory theory to base the development of a mass movement around .  For instance, literacy training aims to build up the literacy skills of a community, which has easily defined and evaluated goals, and is a “low-cost project” or, “a mass process.”  By contrast, Conscientization Theory is “an indefinite process” in which nobody can claim that he or she has achieved the goal.  According to J. Comblin: “the people are not seeking a vanguard but a ‘godfather’” .  The fact that the Theory of Conscientization has been much more influential among intellectuals, rather than among the common people, is a historical irony.  This was also true of the Minjung church movement.

Though the theory of conscientization gives us a new perspective for ourselves, the society and the world, Christian faith cannot be replaced with conscientization.  Minjung pastors should have realized the significance of Christian faith in instances where the theory of conscientization was unsuccessful in bringing about a change in the minjung.  To encourage a person to gain a new perspective of their world, and their history, is one thing, but to make him or her commit to changing their world, and their history, is another.  The unique characteristics of the Christian faith depend upon making a person commit to changing their world, and their history, in spite of facing difficulties in sustaining that faith.

In other words, to organize the minjung is one thing, but to establish a faith community is another.  Even though it is important to organize the minjung, minjung mission cannot be activated without a close relationship between the minjung as a collective, and a minjung faith community.  The solid base of a minjung faith community is necessary for the enlargement of minjung organizations.  The changes that can occur in an individual person, and the change that can occur in society, are interdependent.  But Christian faith does not guarantee a Christians’ commitment to achieving change in the individual, and change in the society.  Therefore, for minjung mission to be effective it needs to rely heavily on the spirituality of the cross.

2.        Tasks of Minjung Mission

2.1        Spirituality

At the beginning of the movement, minjung pastors were mainly interested in ideology.  As time passed they became more interested in spirituality.  This was closely related to the fact that they began to realize the limitations of both: conscientization, and ideology, in relation to the changes they wished to bring about in the minjung.  In other words, they paid attention to religion as a way of life and its positive sides as well.  Especially they recognized that it was almost impossible to change the life and consciousness of minjung people, without first achieving these changes within themselves.  We can understand spirituality as a life in search of: enlightenment, or ‘the Way’.  The original role of religion for minjung pastors, was to accept changes to their own consciousness, and way of life.  Spirituality is the power of faith used to encourage the minjung: to continue the struggle their liberation, even in difficult circumstances; and to overcome many obstacles for the sake of justice and peace for all minjung people.

In contrast, the accumulation of knowledge and consciousness by the people, does not necessarily guarantee that the orientation of their actions will change, in order to achieve social change.  It is spirituality that acts as the catalyst that challenges us to live out our faith, in denial of self, and live as a force for social change.  Therefore minjung spirituality is nearer to the spirituality of eastern religions where life and doctrines are one, rather than Western spirituality.  It is one of the most important tasks of minjung mission to develop such spirituality.

How do we relate being a minjung faith community to doing minjung mission?  If the connection point is spirituality, then what is its content?  We know that the gap between ‘being’ a church (Faith and Order), and ‘doing’ as a church (Life and Work, JPIC), has not been overcome even though they joined together under the umbrella of the World Council of Churches, half a century ago.  How do we bridge the gap between these two sides?  “We find a bridge between ecclesiology and ethics in our experience of worship and the deepening of spirituality” .

The encounter between these two sides of the church can only be achieved through the renewal of liturgy, and the deepening of spirituality.  We are experiencing, however, that worship and spirituality contribute to enlarging the gap between ethics and ecclesiology by spiritualism, or activism, rather than bridging the gap: “Eucharistic koinonia has always an ethical manifestation.  If this is not the case, the koinonia is betrayed and degenerates into spiritualism.  Ethical koinonia is always grounded in the life of worship.  If this is not the case, the koinonia is imperfect and degenerates into activism and moralism” .  Finding a way to bridge the gap between ethics and ecclesiology, is one of the most important tasks of minjung mission.

2.2        Minjung

“The gap between the information ‘haves’ and the information ‘have nots’ is said to be far more serious than the gap between the poor and rich” .  As the information network is in the hands of the rich, minjung mission should seek to establish: “communication for solidarity among the people,” and enlarge its networks of solidarity locally, nationally, regionally, and globally.

The Korean minjung movement led the democratization movement during the 1980s.  But the rise of the civic movement in the late 1980s, the end of the ‘Cold War’ in Eastern Europe, and the establishment of ‘civilian government’ in the early 1990s, challenged the relevance of the minjung movement to the rest of Korean society.  From the early 1990s the influence of the civic movement became stronger than that of the minjung movement, partly because the civic movement made effective use of the mass media to promote its causes, and partly because the civilian government tried to divide the civic movement and the minjung movement, so that it ignored the suggestions of the minjung movement in the process of policy-making.  Since 1997 IMF economic crisis, the limited ability of the civic movement to achieve social change, has clearly been in evidence.  Although the civic movement itself has many merits, it is possible to achieve societal change only when the civic movement is in solidarity with the minjung movement.

The Urban Rural Mission movement has always emphasized organizing the poor for power.  However, the: “URM romanticizes local organizing by leaving the basic local community on its own once it is organized.  Leaving the local community, without creating backup measures, makes it a vulnerable target of either bigger power games, or international conflicts of interest, that inevitably emerge with success” .  One of the main tasks of minjung mission is to strengthen the minjung community, and the minjung faith community, through building solidarity with various kinds of programs of the civic movement.  One of the other important tasks of minjung mission is to establish a network among local, national, regional, and global minjung organizations.

Participants in the world mission conference of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of WCC in 1980 understood people/minjung as being the bearers of the Gospel.  In 1996 those participating in the Salvador mission conference regarded people/minjung as being the bearers of culture.  Until then, people/minjung had only been identified according to the negative issues affecting them such as: being poor, oppressed, and alienated.  From then on, the people/minjung began to be identified according to the positive characteristics they possess, as bearers of traditional cultures, and religions.

In case of the migrant workers, they carry with them: “their memories of history and the integuments of their culture.”  The seed of cultural diversity has been spread throughout the world through the misery and suffering of migrant workers.  Though they are forgotten entities in their countries of origin, and segregated from the mainstream of society, and even persecuted in their new countries, migrant workers are not only: “a bridge between two lands” and two cultures, but also “the agents of change in both their countries” and cultures .  One of the tasks of minjung mission is to reinforce the positive elements of minjung cultures and religions, in order to promote the liberation of the minjung, and to overcome the negative

forces lined up against this liberation.  Therefore: “until this struggle for social and political transformation touches their religious streams in Asia, it will not touch the heartbeat of Asian people.  Any struggle which fails to immerse itself in the stream of Asian religiosity, will, in the end, be like the seeds which; ‘fell on rocky ground.’”

2.3        Life

From the mid-1990s onwards, minjung mission in Korea became more diversified as leaders in the field of minjung mission began to ponder the following question: ‘How, or what, is the connection between the different elements of our activities: mission for minjung women, mission for the differently-abled, mission for the environment, mission for youth, and holistic-life mission?  The short answer to this question is that it is ‘life’ that comprehends all these types of mission, and gives them a new orientation.  Therefore, one of the most important tasks of minjung mission is to bring healing to minjung people, and to help them to experience the ‘fullness of life’ (John 10:10).

Another of the main tasks of minjung mission is to confront the reality of the ‘life-destroying’ forces that exist in the world, and to overcome them.  What is life?  All life on earth is interdependent on each other.  What we have to pay attention to is not only the interdependency of living beings, but also their interdependent relationship with non-living beings.  Therefore, some people have begun to rename life as; ‘universal life’, and regard earth as a; ‘life-community’.  Kim Chi-ha, a minjung poet, has clarified the definition of life-destroying forces as: ‘epistemological dualism and possessiveness’, and the subjects of the life-affirming movement - struggling against the reality of the life-destroying forces - as: ‘women and minjung’ .

One of the significant tasks of minjung mission is to create opportunities for: women, minjung people, and racial and religious minorities, to nurture God’s creation by overcoming the dualism of man and nature, subject and object, man and woman, rich and poor.

The wisdom needed to nurture and sustain the creation is not fully contained within the Christian tradition.  Therefore, another of the tasks of minjung mission is to identify those elements within both; modern, and traditional cultures, which are life-destroying, and those elements which are life-affirming, and then nurture and develop the life-affirming forces, in order to achieve the healing, and liberation, of minjung people.

What should be the basis of Christian mission, in an unjust world where the weak and the vulnerable are exploited for profit by the policies of neo-liberal global capitalism?

At the Eighth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, the General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser suggested that the increased dialogue and solidarity between churches and secular NGOs is a sign that alternative life-affirming culture is emerging.  Commenting on the two competing visions of globalization, Dr. Raiser said that, one was aiming toward world domination, while the other was aimed towards building a sustainable life community of the creation.  He also designated one of the characteristics of the current trend towards globalization as, “closeness”.  This negated the significance of an open future, the possibility of fundamental change, and the intrinsic value of special historical memories, by confirming “the end of history,” where there is no thought given to the security, and well being of the poor, and the basis of their existence.  He identified this: “closed space,” or “disappearance of history,” as symbols of death.  According to Dr. Raiser, as Christians, we believe that ‘oikoumene’ is the world created by God, as a space for the creation and sustenance of life.

Therefore, Christian mission must be governed by the economy of God, ‘oikonomia’ - where ‘oikos’ (house) is combined with ‘nomos’ (law) - over against the current economy of death.  Christian mission should always aim to take care of the victims of globalization, and to put into practice the alternative economy of God.  This task, must aim at creating ‘fullness of life for all’ (John 10: 10).  For this to be achieved: “food as the basis of life; human dignity as the gift of life; justice as the rule of life; and shalom as the goal of life”  should be the integrating factors, for various kinds of approaches to solve the problems, and issues, mentioned in the previous sections of this presentation.

It is important for Christian mission to remember the fact that: ecumenism, the ecology, and ‘oikonomia’, are closely related to each other, and that they have a common etymon (oikos/oikoumene).  In other words, Christian mission should be based on the economy of God, oikonomia, and before carrying out their mission Christian churches must become one, and unite, for the economy of God.  The missionary tasks of the church challenge the church herself, before challenging the wider world.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: The New World Order and Global Capitalism

The New World Order and Global Capitalism

Rev. Hong Eyoul Hwang

Researcher, Center for Theological Studies of Peace and Reunification of Korea

I. Changes in the Third World: Retrogression

In this rapidly changing world, minjung activists no longer speak of revolution.  Such a situation is also true of Latin America.   This change in circumstances, and philosophy, reflects the changes that have taken place in the third world in recent years.  Such changes can be better understood by making a comparison between the third world’s prospects at Bandung, and its despair in 1990.  When the leaders of the third world came together at Bandung they expressed a vision of: “friendly co-operation” that would, “help bring about the common prosperity and well being of all.  Thirty-five years later, the question for most third world countries is not how to attain common prosperity, but how to arrest their descent into a common misery.”   W. Bello suggested: “a decade of reversal” during the 1980s as the main reason for the retrogression of the third world.   Therefore, to understand the changed circumstances of the world today, it is important to understand that what happened in the 1980s was the result of “a decade of reversal” in the third world.  This does not mean that the revolutionary change was limited to the 1980s, instead it means that such a change on a global scale may have started before 1980, but these changes began to exert a stronger influence on the third world - along with some other decisive factors - during the 1980s.

II. World Order after 1945 and the ‘New World Order’ after 1990

Such a change could be clearly understood within a global context after 1945.  Winston Churchill suggested the guidelines of a world order as follows: ‘the rich countries should rule the world, and the others should serve and suffer’.   In 1948 George Kenan suggested in relation to the policy of the United States that: “if we are to maintain the ‘disparity’ between our wealth and the poverty of others we must put aside ‘idealistic slogans’ (such as democracy and the market) and keep to ‘straight power concepts’.”   Peregrine Worsthorne, the editor of the Sunday Telegraph, described the main objective of establishing a ‘new world order’ - after the end of the so called ‘Cold War’ - as: “to help build and sustain a world order stable enough to allow the advanced economies of the world to function without constant interruption and threat from the Third World.”   But the new world order can not be understood exactly, without also understanding what happened to the world economy on a global scale.

III. Global Capitalism

The most important characteristic of global capitalism is: “the transnationalization of markets” .  Before this phenomenon took place, there was the internationalization of the world market after the Second World War, by the USA’s giant corporations, which were able to: “expand on a global scale by penetrating the other national economics through private foreign investment.”  This internationalization was still: “partly regulated by national, and international political institutions.”  However, from the late 1960s and early 1970s onwards, a totally new phenomenon took place: “the economy dictated government policy.”  This was possible due to the transnationalization of the markets.   “The world capital market was able to establish itself beyond national regulation, i.e. trans-nationally” through the activities of commercial banks, insurance companies, and transnational companies.  Their one holy, global, and absolute aim was the: “accumulation of money assets” or, “earning the greatest return on investment in the shortest possible time.”  This transnationalization of the financial markets resulted in, currency speculation, and the introduction of neo-liberal monetarism.

Therefore: “de facto world government,” “in a new imperial age,”  consisted of: the Bretton Woods Institutions (the IMF, and World Bank), the WTO, and the G7, designed to serve the interests of the commercial banks, insurance companies, and transnational corporations.  The West (USA, Canada, EU and Japan) “dictates” policy to the Bretton Woods institutions, the WTO, and G7, in the economic sphere, and “manipulates” the UN-system in the political sphere, “wages war” through low/middle intensity conflicts, and arm sales, and uses: “advertising, media, science, and capital theology” ideologically.  In other words, the commercial banks, insurance companies, and transnational corporations have extraterritorial rights in the economic areas of the world.

The three main principles for, “world government” are: “deregulation of the financial markets, neo-liberal monetarism, and security strategy (mid intensity conflict strategy)” .  Its secondary, or complementary principles are: arms sales, protectionist economic policies, and patent rights .  The main opponent of the spread of global capitalism is the: “people’s hearts and minds” .  Therefore, the forces of globalization, not only use the Ideological State Apparatus, but also military power, to force the surrender of the people’s hearts and minds.

IV. Neo-liberalism and Global Capitalism

Global capitalism has been strongly supported by neo-liberalism.   The “transnationalization of markets for production, trade and especially finance” in the global capitalism was married to the “free market” ideology of neo-liberalism.  Reagan and Thatcher powerfully led the neo-liberal ideology in the 80s.  The world government worked well under ‘Reaganomics’ and ‘Thatcherism’ so that “a decade of reversal” happened to the third world.  Neo-liberalism regards the social welfare programs led by the government as inefficient and wasteful.  However, its most serious problem is “the complete emancipation of the economy from any ethics” so that “neo-liberal ideology entails a sacralization of money and wealth, an idolatry of money.”   “From the standpoint of communications,” according to Comblin, the neo-liberal and global capitalist society is “a totalitarian society in which there is only one single type of thinking and criticism vanishes.”

In a neo-liberal global capitalist society: “the world is to be run by the rich and for the rich” .  Under these circumstances democracy means nothing but for the rich, by the rich and of the rich that resulted in: “democracy in crisis.  Democracy is in crisis because politics has become empty.  Politics has fallen into disfavor, since it has accepted simply serving the economy.  Politics is becoming utter narcissism: politicians taking care of their image.”  So the politics becomes: “demagoguery: the only thing politicians want to do is please the crowd” .  This process is closely related to the mass media that will be dealt with in Section V of this article.

Military force is one of main principles of the neo-liberal global capitalism .  The US runs “a global protection racket, Mafia-style, selling ‘protection’ to other wealthy powers who will pay a ‘war premium’” as the Gulf War was an exact example.  The US was not only: “over financing its marginal military costs, but also turning an economic profit on the conflict”  from the war.

V. Victims of Neo-liberal Global Capitalism and the New World Order

The first victims are the “countries in debt, which have been exploited and disadvantaged for 500 years” .  From 1982 to 1989: “the poor countries of the third world had paid the rich countries of the first world US$236.2 billion net, development aid in reverse…According to 1992 statistics they are transferring US$50 billion net capital, to the creditor banks and nations annually.”   From 1956 to 1990: “debt payments of US$17,000 ? US$53,000 billion by the South to the countries of the North are nothing like as unrealistic as it might seem at first - and that is not even taking account of the 500 years of exploitation.”   The New World Order restructures not only society in the South but also that in the West.  The former divides into: “5% of tiny minority of winners, 15% of small groups that benefit and 80% of losers and the excluded.”  The latter divides into: “1/3 of fewer and fewer winners, 1/3 of unstable group benefiting a little, and 1/3 of losers and excluded.”   The third world is experiencing: “decomposition” rather than development .  A report of the International Labor Organization estimates that: “about 30% of the world’s labor force was unemployed in January 1994, unable to earn enough to a minimum standard of living. This ‘long-term persistent unemployment’ is a crisis of the scale of the Great Depression.”   In a New World Order the people of the third world, especially of the countries of debt are experiencing nothing but “debt slavery.”  And the result of this mechanism was akin to a, “classic mugging”  rather than a, “class war” or, “progress without people” .  This is the reason why a report of a Jesuits conference in San Salvador in 1994 concluded that: “Central America today is experiencing globalization as a more devastating pillage than what its people underwent 500 years ago with the conquest and colonization.”   Fidel Castro already mentioned this in 1986 as follows: “the price we pay as neo-colonies is much higher than the price we paid when we were colonies.”   Therefore, “the states of the ‘orderly’ hemisphere are creating the conditions for the growing chaos of the other hemisphere.”   The effect of the New World Order brings about more than the chaos of the South.  It has “transformed Chile, both culturally and politically, from a country of active participatory communities, to a land of disconnected, apolitical individuals…American working class communities are now often hopeless, demoralized, and alone.”   This is true of other people in the Third World and other working classes in the West.  All these victims are witnesses of falsity of free market ideology, and the failure of neo-liberal economic policies, which have only been successful in producing: debt slavery, the starvation and malnutrition of one billion people, the decomposition of the third world, the increase of feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness among the people, and the destruction of the earth’s ecology, which amounts to nothing but a: “catastrophic failure” and, “a death-bringing economy, if no resistance or U-turn occurs.”

Then the question now is, how to resist these forces, and make the necessary U-turn.  My suggestion is to come to a deeper understanding of the 1980 Kwangju Minjung Revolt, from the perspective of neo-liberal global capitalism, or to regard it as one of its first victims in the global context.  It was just an overture following the enormous amount of arms sales, protection of US patents, protection measures of US trade with the country, and enforced transnationalization of markets for finance in South Korea by economic tutelage of the IMF.  To understand this is the starting point for empowering laborers and envisioning hope for people in Korea.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: The Turning Point of Modern Technological Civilization and the Ethics of Interdependent Living

The Turning Point of Modern Technological Civilization and the Ethics of Interdependent Living

Rev. Park Jae-soon

Professor, Hanshin University and President, Association of SSIAL Thought Studies

1. The Crisis of the Earth’s Ecosystem and Minjung Mission

In modern times the earth’s ecosystem is being destroyed irrevocably through modern technology and industrialization, mass production and mass consumption.  Many species of living things have become extinct, and air, water, and soil, are severely polluted.  Forests - the so-called ‘lungs of our planet’ - are being destroyed irreversibly.  This destruction of the earth’s ecosystem will result, not only, in the destruction of the natural habitat, but also in the destruction of the human habitat.  Therefore, destruction of the earth’s ecosystem by human beings, will ultimately lead to the destruction of human beings themselves.

This crisis of survival for the earth’s ecosystem is also a crisis of survival for minjung people.  This is because minjung people depend heavily upon the labor of their bodies, and the shelter, and sustenance provided by the ecosystem for their survival, and therefore their survival is much more closely linked to the survival of nature, than other classes of people.  While the ruling elites profit from the destruction of the earth’s ecosystem, minjung people lose the foundation of their survival and livelihood.  In today’s modern technological civilization, minjung people, and the ecology, have become objects of exploitation, and destruction.  The destruction of the earth’s ecology is a result of the unjust, and oppressive structure of modern industrialized civilization.  Therefore, it should be the task of minjung mission, to bring to fruition the kingdom of heaven, with its principles of peace and justice for all, by liberating minjung people and the ecology, from the destructive, oppressive, and unjust social structure, of modern industrialized society.

We should diagnose the real state of modern civilization, and investigate the way to build an eco-friendly, just, and civilized society.  Human history has is marked by the occurrence of three major social revolutions - in chronological order - the: agricultural, industrial, and the information revolution.  During each of these three phases of history, human beings reorganized their society to generate efficiency of production, and the regeneration of nature, for the future sake of society.  During each phase of history, political power has become more concentrated in the hands of the elite, and the ecology has been further destroyed, while the equality and community of society has also been eroded.  The current phase in the development of modern technological civilization has released an unprecedented, and formidable power - driven by greed, and a lust for the conquest of other human beings - to drastically alter, and destroy the world’s ecology.

The earth’s ecosystem is the foundation upon which human life is built, and the matrix from which human beings were created, from which human society developed.  Not only human society, but also human thinking, and spirituality - which have always been ordered in communion, and sympathy, with the earth’s ecosystem - have become distorted, and destroyed.

Through the destruction of the ecology, an elite class of privileged people has been able to amass vast amounts of wealth and power.  However, minjung people who heavily depend on the labor of their body, and on the earth’s ecosystem for their survival, have only been further devastated, and marginalized by the exploitation of the powerful and wealthy.  Therefore, an important element of minjung mission is to integrate the needs of minjung people, and the ecology, as closely as possible, in order to protect their interests from destruction by the

wealthy and powerful class.

In order to build a human society, that is integrated sustainably with the earth’s ecosystem, minjung mission should seek to initiate a new revolution in human social organization, an ‘ecological revolution’, that will promote the production and recycling of goods, without causing destruction of the earth’s ecology.  In order to bring about this revolution we should reject the popular preference in modern society for competition, and conquest, and instead seek to restore the philosophy, and spirituality of sympathy for others and mutual respect.  Additionally, minjung mission, should always start at the place of the suffering, and also foster the principles of community living.  We should search for mission activity and strategy based on new understanding and ethics of life.

Minjung mission in Asia in the twenty-first century is going to be challenged by globalization and genetic technology.  Firstly, globalization precipitated a process of invasion of Westernization into the Orient, and brought about the exploitation of the Orient by the West.  Globalization has been a process of realization and expansion, oppression and exploitation of greedy self-interest against others and nature.  Nowadays globalization makes the few enjoy wealth, luxury and pleasure, but many starve to death, and the earth’s ecosystem be destroyed irrevocably.

Secondly through the development of medical science technology and genetic technology, the essence and composition of life and human beings could be tampered with in the future.  Unless such changes can be accomplished with the appropriate respect for the nature of life, it could result in an apocalyptic destruction of life in all its forms.  It is also probable that socially disadvantaged minjung people, could be used as guinea pigs for the abusive testing of biotechnology.  Therefore, minjung people should understand the basic nature and identity of life, and be alert to the potential abuse of biotechnology.

2. Conversion to an Eco-friendly Ethic and Lifestyle

After reflecting on the nature of modern technological civilization, I believe that a conversion to a more eco-friendly set of ethics, and eco-friendly lifestyle, is required in order to build a new spirituality for minjung mission in Asia.  The famous scientist, Fritjof Capra has often criticized Western technological civilization, and called for a paradigm shift in Western civilization.  According to him, the current paradigm of modern civilization is going to be changed radically: “A paradigm shift is occurring, through: the decline of patriarchal society, the end of the fossil fuel era, and the degeneration of sensual civilization.  The same phenomenon is appearing all over the world...we have come to a turning point as individuals, as a society, as a civilization and as an ecosystem.”

This paradigm shift in the nature of civilization has risen out of a shift in world-view.  According to Capra, the separation of mind and matter originated from the theories of Cartesian dualism of mind and matter, and the mechanical world-view.  This fragmentary perspective, based on anatomic division and analysis, was expanded and applied to the whole of society, and therefore, society became fragmented into many parts.

During the twentieth century, however, the new science of subatomic physics, and the theory of relativity, was influenced by the holistic, and organic world-view of Asian philosophy.  Recently, physicists have begun to align their world-view with the philosophies of Asian mystics, and have come: “to view this world as one system composing of elements of inseparability, interaction, and ceaseless moving.”  Therefore, contemporary physics now agrees with oriental philosophy in this organic view of the earth’s ecosystem.  According to contemporary physics and ecology, all living things are interconnected, and interdependent.

What are the basic principles of an eco-friendly lifestyle?  I think that: caring for each other, living in community, acknowledging our interdependence on other living things, and sacrificing for the benefit of others and the ecosystem, are the most important principles.  Converting to an eco-friendly lifestyle also means converting: from a patriarchal society, to a society that provides a liberated and equal life for females and males; from a life-destroying lifestyle, to a life-affirming lifestyle; from sensual and speculative thinking and behavior, to a more spiritual thinking and behavior that integrates body and spirit.

3. An Asian/Korean Understanding of Life

The ethics of interdependent living, and reverence for life that are necessary to confront the crises of: globalization, and destruction of the ecosystem, cannot simply be constructed out of the basic humanistic philosophies of respect for human beings and other life.  It is difficult for such humanistic ethics to overcome the boundaries of human self-interest.  In order to reinvigorate human life, and the earth’s ecosystem, we should strive to achieve a higher level of spirituality, by serving human beings and all other forms of life, as God would.  True respect for all forms of life does not come: "from exposed profits and interests of self.  It is a recognition of others as such, who they are."  True recognition and reverence for all forms of life, cannot be accomplished by reasoning that is polluted with greed and the prejudices of an egoistic human being.

In my opinion, it would appear to be very difficult for the western world to develop these ethics of interdependent living, and reverence for life because the main stream of western culture, and traditions of thought, have developed an understanding of life, as an expanding, mechanical organism, through the logic and practice of division and conquest, and the dialectic thinking of opposition and conflict.

So, how can this spirit and attitude of reverence for all forms of life be raised?  I would like to make three points.  First, it can be raised out of these Asian principles of theology, religious faith: that the divinity is present in all living things, and that even the smallest creatures are related directly to God.  Second, in can be raised from a greater understanding of women, who have been conceived, cared for, raised and nurtured all of human life.  Third, it can be raised by adopting the Asian/Korean understanding of life, which integrates human beings with the earth’s ecosystem, heaven, and ethical principles.

Modern technological civilization, that has been exhausting and destroying humanity and community, based on its principles of competition and conquest, should learn the wisdom of communal and interdependent living, from the philosophies of Asian/Korean people.  Two thousand five hundred years ago, the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu criticized the way of competition and conquest, and outlined the path to interdependent living.  He presented three principles: compassion, simplicity, and humility, as treasures of life in his book 'Tao-te Ching'.  He said, “courage without compassion, loose consumption without simplicity and leading people without being able to set oneself behind others are the gate to death.”

Modern industrial society, based on the principles of power, conquest, competition, the greedy pursuit of profit, mass production, and mass consumption, is a fine example of courage without being compassion, extravagant consumption, and lack of humility.  And now such societies are confronted with the crisis of death.  The principles of Lao-tzu: compassion, simplicity and humility, should be the guiding principles of minjung mission for the liberation of people from the crisis of death, and leading them towards the way of interdependent living and respect for all forms of life.

The advent of the information technology revolution, and the globalized free market economy, has led to the phenomenon of the ‘global village’ where everyone is interconnected in a global network.  Everyone is now so interconnected that it is impossible to escape those people and forces that we would describe as our enemies.  The only rational solution to this situation is to seek to reconcile with our enemies and find ways of promoting an interdependent way of life with them.  According to this relationship of interdependence, when my enemy experiences an increase of well being in their life, then I will also experience a similar increase in well being.  The Bible teaches us to love our enemies, and to pray for those who spitefully persecute us (Matthew 5: 44), and “not repay evil for evil.  Have regard for good things in the sight of all men,” (Romans 12: 17).  Such teachings are as an example of the prescription the Bible provides for developing an interdependent community lifestyle.

The Korean philosophy of life that advocates a “round fusion into one (圓融合一)” is a helpful prescription for the communal way of life.  The oriental philosophy of integrated ‘three in one’ thought: “Heaven (天 God), Earth (地) and human being into one (天地人合一)” as well as the principle and spirit of all inclusive comprehension (妙合), that aims to achieve a dynamic synthesis, are wonderful sources of the wisdom of communal, interdependent living.

The ancestors of the Korean people originally migrated from the cold climate of northwest Asia to the relatively temperate region of northeast Asia, many thousands of years ago.  They migrated eastwards, over the Ural Mountains, seeking a warmer climate.  Throughout their migratory journey, they developed a strong desire for a warmer, brighter life, in a new land.  This desire for a warmer, brighter life is expressed in the root words of the Korean language: Han = Whan = Balk (白), and Baedal (Bakdal = bright land).  Han is the most precious word of the Korean language.  ‘Han’ is the word that designates the nation of Korea, and also points to heaven (God).  It also means: ‘great one’ and ‘brightness’.  The meaning of ‘Baedal’ is ‘bright land’.  Korean minjung people have always shared a strong desire for a warm, bright life, and a spirituality that is sensitive to life.

The Korean minjung religion Donghak founded in the nineteenth century teaches its followers to respect and serve human beings, and all other living things as God.  The leaders of Donghak highly esteemed the spirituality, and vitality of women.  The second leader Choi Hae-wol said: “the earth is like the skin of my mother.”  He also taught that all life should be treated with: sincerity (誠), reverence (敬) and faith (信), and that we should respect God (天), human beings (人), and things (物).  Reverence for things means a reverence for work, and machines.

Modern society is now totally dependent on technology.  Therefore we should strive to make technology, and machines, that can be used to care for and protect the earth’s ecosystem.  In order to do this, we should understand and respect technology as being: friendly, beautiful, and good.

Activists for minjung mission in Asia should reflect on the attitudes and principles of oppression and exploitation based on thought of competition and conquest, and cultivate an eco-friendly lifestyle and culture, according to eco-friendly principles.  Therefore, we should fight against the injustice of our enemies with love, and kindness, in order to build an interdependent global community.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: The Response of Minjung Mission to the Challenge of Globalization

The Response of Minjung Mission to the Challenge of Globalization

Rev. Sang Yoon Lee

Director of Ecumenical Relations, National Council of Churches Korea

On the one hand it appears that the global spread of capitalism is success story.  On the other hand it appears that global capitalism is running into conflicts and difficulties.  There were certain conflicts between rich countries and poor countries including warfare and international trade war.  Today the issue of globalization is on the economic justice.  The general feeling of today’s globalization is that one side understanding is American hand can control in dominance influence upon the world economy.  It will have a certain evidences not only business world but also religious conflict between Christian-Muslim dialogue and for two years more in Afghan War and now soon after open the warfare attacking Iraq and North Korea nuclear threat.  The common goal of globalization is the uniformity in global and one way to go one life style and one monetary system overwhelm the world.  Another word of globalization today is American standard which is language and fast food and travel in world wide very common.  Once we have a popular feeling of globalization is Coca Cola, blue denim jeans, and McDonald’s restaurants.  But now things have been changed totally from the analog to digital world.  The so-called Internet world opened all pattern of information transformed putting into digital form and so information technology occupied in global.  There were evidence about rapid change from manufacturer to service industry arranged all by the personal computer system and even can control personal computer system invading military using the secret code and hacking in easily internet site has got the almighty power of control in information world how to use the right way is very important job for everybody we need peaceful mind and right way of using the information technology.  Now today changing manner spread out whole consciousness in human mind not depend on the label of certain kind of information but rather depend on the certain identity to accumulate in domestic market no state boundaries at all and now become a transnational one occupied all global citizen.  Ironically there were no evidence of transparency in international monetary system but every body can talk about transparency in need.  Particularly after disaster of September 11th, 2001 in New York it was one token of war of terrorism has been start from super power which is more boldly intervention at any countries global situation and it will have a very strong intentions how to control in any other areas handled by American troops and diplomacy.

This is not a war against terrorism nor is it simply an American plan for world domination.  No body believe that the real value of peoples security rather than state security.  There were only one solution dominant power of global situation.  This war is avoidable but in the final analysis by changing the global economic system and social order.  Still we can see the real fight against American dominate in global in Afghan war including near by the Pakistan border.

Now recently Venezuelan President Mr. Hugo Chavez has got the real trial whether escape from American influence or under the control of subsidies in details like Brazil.

Today world the power structure of national state was lost already in global situation only have got the opportunity the sharing spirit and resources and depend on the function of high ranked peoples of technocrat can obtain the communicate channel with global hegemonic country.

So if anybody wants to share together in alternative plan instead of globalization anti-neo liberal market system mainly dominated by American global standard.  What is the meaning of the global standard for today which is global citizens have to get in practice from languages to legal systems without consideration of indigenous culture and human value system.  This is absolutely occupied by the America control organization like IMF, WB, WTO and other transnational corporations how to share with the global market partner in manner of communication and legal justification.

Still vividly talk about the monetary transparency in practices is burning issues.  Just last month of this year global meeting held in Davos in Switzerland and Porto Alegre Brazil.  They were talking about the tyranny of global Empire American striking war.  It is real faces of global economy that there are two faces of global economy is poor and rich so called the poor getting poorer, and rich getting richer.  This is one phenomena of global economy in its real face of global life.  It is polarized fundamentally made by rich countries like U.S and European alliances.  The U.S putting up his own face global dominance they denied that they have strong wishes to make free trade across national boundaries and free capital movement and investment rights including land.  But there were still immobility imposes different wages hence transfer of surplus value and holding down land values and lower food prices and other social costs.  Again transfer of value out of places in which labor movement in blocked.  So nobody believes that the general seen of typical understanding of global statistics.  Thus the global faces of economy has got the multiform one and needless say that the true faces of global economy just fit in the same strategies of American economy.

Globalization and market capitalism are in the same boat already.  The war threat in the final analysis is driven by economic realities above ideological conflicts more than religious tension.  Democratic self-governing communities get the alternative way instead of the global capitalism.  It needs a system of international governance.  Domestic agendas of national economy fair distribution in production and fair control the alternative way of administration in people oriented policy.  Under the trends of globalization, no single issue can evade its impact.  Therefore Minjung Mission response taking action in practice not too much talking without consideration of peoples’ side of economic life and our discussion and reflection on globalization is a touchstone for the future development of contextual approach in each country.

Observing recent global situation, trend, and interaction within the mission of church particularly from Minjung Mission will depend on the competence of the church and its contextual methods responding to reflecting on and working for the following issues very carefully.  The strategy of Minjung Mission is for the global challenges.  Minjung mission seek a more to shift mission thrust boldly and make more indigenous identity compare with the nationalism and religious fundamentalism and fascism and terrorism in warfare.

The Church cannot become conceited over what has been achieved.  Today life style has been changed transitional stage in digital information technology revolution and biological experiment to the edge line of life ethical issues to come so we need to come understanding of dignity of human kind life and more important meaning handled by almighty God of being presence in mechanical understanding of environmental way of doing we conserve our energy and efforts to develop in ecological protection on every different corner of need to be in alternatives.  So the church must notice that the fact about the conserving ideas putting together in mission strategies and continuing work for justice and peace through out the world and with particular emphasis on the policy of human security more than state security in international peace keeping.

What we can we do in this situation of global trend now?  Particularly The U.S has got the strong stance in the process of globalized world economy from the high advanced technology.

We can continue to build public opinion until the end of globalized hegemonic power.  Critical understanding of the super power of America in terms of global Empire and we can invent civil disobedience in practical life every different corner of peoples need.  We can come up with million ways of combat poverty in each part of country.  And make decision collective ideas and corporate strategy should be not only to confront globalization but also to lay siege to it.  We can call back the Bandung spirit compose global network from south to south network the unity for the people those who get the condensed idea around the issues of alternative model of globalization, particularly against the super power dominance.  We can diagnose situation that the whole world of common peoples conscious to make unity and overcoming the limit of strategy depend on the concept of people in global situation.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Appendix A

Appendix A: Case Studies from the Mission Fields of the Korean Minjung Church

Case Study One - Urban Industrial Mission

The Yong Dung Po - Urban Industrial Mission’s Work with the Unemployed and Homeless

1. Introduction

The Yong Dung Po - Urban Industrial Mission (YDP-UIM) has sought to further the human rights and democratic progress of the poor working class people in Korean society from its inception in 1958.  As part of the support programs for the hundreds of unemployed street people who suffered under the difficulties of the economic crisis in 1997, the YDP-UIM has initiated the House of Hope, and the Sunshine Room Drop-in-Center.

In recent years the work of the YDP-UIM has broadened to include work with the unemployed, street people, and people in temporary employment.  The following is an example of the typical daily activities of the Sunshine Room Drop-in-Center.

2. Drop-in Center Facilities

A Drop-in Center is an interim resting place where people who are living in the streets of Seoul can come in 24 hours a day and have a secure place of rest before they move on to other areas.

The basic services provided by the Drop in Center are:

~ bathing facilities,

~ clothes washing facilities,

~ re-cycled clothing distribution center,

~ interim bedding, and

~ emergency first-aid medical treatment.

Additional services include:

~ day and night outreach counseling (counseling that goes out to the streets),

~ counseling in human rights violations (various fraud incidents),

~ legal counseling (application to the national basic subsidies security law, legal regulations

for differently abled persons, labor law regulations),

~ daily life counseling, and

~ employment counseling,

~ medical referral service.

The center is part of a local welfare network that makes use of all possible local resources.

3. Background to the Establishment of the Drop-in-Center

The support given by the government to the street people was on condition in their agreeing to enter the government shelters for an extended period.  The street people who did not want to enter the government provided shelters were thus excluded from any services and had to rely only on the religious organizations for support.

With this situation in mind the YDP-UIM has begun to operate a free medical clinic and a co-operative store that sells clothes, and basic necessities at a low prices.  However, we must admit that the services we provide are inadequate.  In order to enhance our service and level of outreach we began to operate the Salvation Army’s Drop in Center near Seoul Railway Station, and the Sunshine Care Facility near the Yeongdeungpo Railway Station.

4. The Personal Experience of One Drop-in-Center Counselor

The following story was written by a counselor who participates in the counseling services to the street people as he experienced the deaths of the people that he met in the streets.

This is a story of the street people who, having no place to go as the rest of the city hurries to their places of rest, have no choice but to find a comfortable place as possible to spend the night.  It is a story of those who have died through the night, despite the efforts to secure a peaceful night of rest for them.

Early July in Korea is when the summer heat begins to take a grip of the country.  Passing by the Yeongdeungpo Park one can easily see the people sitting beneath the shade of trees, downing hard liquor.  On the days that I was working in the park, there was a particular individual who would run from one group to another asking for a gulp of liquor.  Others knew him as Hwang.  Hwang was in his late thirties and would come to the Sunshine Care Facility when he needed clothes or a friend to talk with.  Whenever he came to Sunshine he would call out for clothes or a cup of noodles, and sometimes he would ask for a place to sleep, promising that he would be quiet.

I can’t remember a time when I saw him sober.  A while back he was arrested by the police and sent to the penitentiary for three months because he was harassing a rice roll seller in the park.  When he came to Sunshine after his three months in the penitentiary, he was white and clean, the only time that I had seen him not under the influence of alcohol.  He used to enjoy participating in the May Day labor protests, and would have a ball shouting out the slogans at the top of his voice.  Once he came into Sunshine with a red headband, singing at the top of his lungs.  He began launching into an oration of how the world needed to be turned upside down.  I can still hear his voice ringing in my ears.  Not long afterwards, I would see him as I was passing the park, and again he’d be drunk with liquor.

His face was a mess with numerous scars.  One day, he jumped into the path of an on coming train and killed himself.  Perhaps he had tired of living a life wondering the streets, forsaken by society.

The red headband that he had worn the day of his suicide still hangs on my wall.  Whenever I look at the red headband, I can clearly picture his crooked smile and his missing front teeth.

The man was only 34 years old.  Yet his belly was swollen like a pregnant woman’s because of his liver disorder, and his face was yellow, showing signs of liver cancer.

He was close to another individuals who had suffered from infantile paralysis and walked with the help of crutches.  The man would sit drinking and telling stories of his life to anyone who would listen.  Sitting there listening to his stories, it seemed as if he had come from another world.  He was not able to receive a formal education during his youth, and had worked for fifteen years in a bus company as a mechanic.  When the workers formed a union to protest the corruption of the owner and demanded that the owner address their grievances, he as let go.  From that time on he had difficulty in securing another job, and the alcohol that he had started drinking soon overtook him.  The many people who knew him would always speak positively of him.  Then in late July, he came to the center asking for medical assistance because he could no longer take the pain in his abdomen.

We took him to two hospitals.  But the Kangnam Municipal Hospital said that he only needed medication and would not admit him into their ward.  The Seoul East Municipal Hospital said that they could not admit him because he smelled of alcohol, and they could not admit anyone under the influence of alcohol by regulations.  Two days later his abdomen burst, and he died on the way to hospital.  He was 34 years old.

It seemed like everything I was doing was in vain.  I wanted to quit.  I wanted to vent my anger at the hospitals.  So I rang up the two hospitals.  All they offered were their apologies.  A man was dead, and their apologies rang hollow.  I can still see his smile.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Appendix B

Appendix B: Case Studies from the Mission Fields of the Korean Minjung Church

Case Study Two - Rural Mission

The Future Tasks and Directions of Rural Mission in South Korea

Rev. Cha Hong-do

Rural Mission Training Center

1. Introduction

In late 2001, the Korean government suddenly announced that it would change its current rice production plan from a quantity oriented one, to a quality oriented one.  The government that had once encouraged farmers not to let the land sit dormant during the early spring in order to enhance production had suddenly shifted its policies.  The farmers no longer felt that they could trust the government.  This lack of trust in government policy was compounded by the fact that those who had naively followed the government policies to date have ended up with nothing but debts and worries.  A farmer angrily commented that: “not following the directives of government policy will help you earn more money.”  This was a sentiment that echoed the thoughts of many farmers who were heavily in debt because they had followed the government’s policy directives during the 1980s.

2. The Reality of Today’s Rural Farmers

Korean farmers no longer think that it is enough to simply ‘till and farm the land’.  Rather, the farmers who can still farm their land are concerned about their future, and are unsure whether they should continue to farm their land or sell out and find other avenues of income.  It is now nearly impossible for the family oriented farmers to sustain a sufficient income for their livelihood.  The second worry that the farmers have is what to farm if they decide to farm at all.  They are unclear as to what sort of product will be economical.  The increase in imported farm products has left the farmers totally unprotected from price depreciation of certain products that may have a surplus in a given year.  A 1-2% surplus of a certain product can lead to steep losses in price for the farmers.

The third concern that the farmers have is how to market what they produce.  Because the farmers have no infrastructure to sell their products directly to the market, they have no choice but to sell their products to wholesalers at low prices.  Finally, the farmers worry about what to do if they give up farming.  For those who have been farming for their entire life, there is not much prospect of finding alternative forms of income even if they did move to the cities.

The government’s plan for rural structural development that was set up after Korea joined the WTO, despite having spent over 3 trillion Won, has had little positive impact in the lives of the farmers.  Rather, the debts of individual farmers have increased from an average of 50 million Won, to 100 million Won - making it literally impossible for the farmers to repay the debts that they have incurred.

The increase in imported farm products has also undermined the enthusiasm of the farmers.  Despite the fact that an independent self-sufficiency in the production of food is important to a nation’s economy, South Korea is able to produce only 25% of the rice it consumes annually, and for agricultural products other than rice, the level of domestic production remains at 7%.  The importation of agricultural products, not only decreases the level of self-sufficiency of the Korean agricultural sector, but also weakens the agricultural infrastructure.  After Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule, the United States provided flour to Korea in accordance with pl480.  This devastated Korean wheat farmers.  Korean agricultural organizations have attempted to revitalize the production of wheat in Korea, but the total production only amounts to 2-3% of annual consumption.  This is a wonderful example, which illustrates that once the agricultural infrastructure in a certain sector of the industry is devastated, that it can take more than 10 or 20 years to recover, as well as threatening the health of the people.

In order for agricultural products produced overseas to reach Korea it takes approximately one to two months - this time frame is based on the length of time it takes to deliver food imports from the United States.  Because United States laws allow for the use of insecticides and other forms of chemical agents on exported agricultural products, many companies continue to ‘treat’ their products even in the process of transporting them by sea.

The issue of overusing chemical agents in farming is a serious problem within Korea as well.  The success or failure of a farmer depends on when he uses chemical fertilizers and insecticides, as well as the quantity he is willing to use to ensure the production of marketable products.  Farmers no longer can think of farming without insecticides, chemical fertilizers.  The Chungju Chemical Fertilizer Factory was established in 1960, and a related insecticide factory soon followed.

Herbicides are the most dangerous agents in farming.  The main ingredient in herbicide, dioxin, was used as an ingredient in ‘Agent Orange’ which was used by the US as a defoliant, during the Vietnam War.  Just one milligram of dioxin can kill 20,000 adults.  Even the progress of modern scientific technology has not been able to develop an antidote for dioxin.  Furthermore, insecticides that are prohibited from being used in the United States, and other more developed countries, are still being used in Korea.

Many regard the primary reason for such difficulties faced by Korean farmers, as being the direct result of failed government agricultural policies.  The Korean government has thus far perceived agriculture as being simply one of the many industries rather than a primary national industry.  Not only that, but the government perceives agriculture and farming as an industry in decline, and for this reason the government has argued for a decrease in the number of farmers to 3-5% of the national population.  This basic policy of the government still continues today.

3. The Reality of Rural Mission

Rural mission in Korea has always had close ties with the farmer’s movement.  When the farmer’s movement of the 1970s and 1980s sought to address the structural issues dealing with the agricultural policies of the government, the rural mission of the Korean churches also sought to work in solidarity with the farmer’s movements to resolve the structural issues.  During the period when there were few farmer’s movement activists, the pastors in rural churches acted on behalf of the farmers, leading the way in forming district level farmer’s associations and developing national level strategies for the way forward.  During this time the churches perceived the root cause of the farmer’s problems as being a structural evil, and so believed they were engaging in ‘Missio Dei’ by struggling to undo the structural evil that was causing the grievances of the farmers.

The activists felt that a more organizational approach to the issue was necessary.  As a result the Catholic Farmer’s Association was formed in the late 1970s and many lay farmer’s associations were formed as well.  In 1985 the Methodist Farmer’s Association and the Farmer’s Association of the PCK and PROK were formed.  The PROK, Methodist, and PCK Farmer’s Associations were instrumental in organizing the demonstrations protesting against the signing of the Uruguay Round.  These three farmer’s associations held an annual rally and prayer meeting on specific agricultural and farmer’s issues in Seoul.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block countries, and developments in the democratic process of Korea, different trends in the farmer’s movements began to rise up.  More people were concerned with the church fulfilling the role of the church more adequately.  There were two reasons for this shift in thinking.  The first was because the National Coalition of Farmer’s was formed.  This national coalition was a union of the Catholic and other farmer’s union organizations.  With the formation of the national coalition the Catholic Farmer’s association changed its direction to a “Life Community” movement and the PROK’s also changed its direction to a “Justice, Life and Community” movement.

The formation of the National Coalition brought about a more distinct organization to deal with the structural issues of farmer’s.  Although the pastors in rural communities had done their share in the activities in solidarity with the farmers, it was felt by many that it was time for the church to return to her main mission priorities and let the National Coalition deal with the more organizational activities.  However, the churches had a great deal of difficulty in finding their place.  This was because they had to suddenly let of their activities that sought to deal with the structural problems of the farming community, and yet the structural problems had not been totally dealt with properly.  Although the churches needed to find new tasks for themselves, they had quite a bit of difficulty in the beginning because they were unable to do so.  The PROK Farmer’s Association, because they were unable to find new directions for their activities was substantially weakened as a result.

The second change was in that of perspectives.  Although the structural issues or policies were changed after a fashion, the quality of the lives of farmers did not improve.  Without substantial change in the personal level, things remained the same.  This was when the church began to possess a perspective of life.  The shift in perspective from structure to life brought about a change in every aspect of the movement.  The actions in solidarity with the farmer’s movement changed to a movement that encouraged farming with concern for life where all of creation is taken into consideration as a co-existing and mutually life-giving environment.  Farmer’s cooperative communities were also formed and there was a move to seek the inner self, the spiritual aspect of life rather than simply focusing attention on the outward   aspects.  Of course there are many who claim that the structural issues have not been resolved at all.  However, this sort of new trend is symbolic of the change in the times that we presently live in, and this trend will continue to broaden and deepen as time goes by.

With the passage of time, the churches in the rural communities have re-affirmed that this is the direction that they must take in the future.

4. The Ideological Direction of Rural Mission

The perspective of life first gives us a single world-view.  Until now we have been accustomed to a dualistic world-view that tended to separate one from the other.  Nature and humankind, secular and holy, black and white, light and darkness, good and evil, male and female, you and I, etc.  The traditional oriental philosophy of “The two are not separate, but one” places emphasis on the importance of the two not being separate.  This philosophical emphasis of the two not being separate is what lies behind the thought of “The land and the body are not separate.”

Although it is impossible to divide humankind from nature, as humankind is an integral part of nature, the dualistic world view that sought to divide the two has led to a human centered perspective that has condoned all actions for the sake of pursuing human happiness and comfort, in the end bringing about the ecological crisis that we see before us today.  The ozone layer is being depleted and the trend of global warming is accelerating.  Forests are being destroyed because of acid rain.

Although we have been able to develop, progress and grow in the pursuit of human happiness and comfort, it is still difficult for us to answer positively to the question, “Are we happy now?”  Although we have attained comfort, we have lost many more important things as a result.

We, who have lost much more important things because of our pursuit of comfort, can only concur that this came about as a result of our dualistic world-view.

Another danger of this dualistic world-view lies in the division of us and them, considering one side to be correct and the other to be in the wrong.  In order for us to make a proper and better world, we must rid ourselves of our prejudices.  Our prejudices lead to conflict and contest.  In this respect, capitalism and socialism are the twins born of our dualistic world-view.

The problem we face is that our criteria of what is right or wrong is subjective in nature.  It differs from generation to generation, from region to region, and from individual to individual.  Right and wrong are merely differences in criteria.

Secondly, the perspective of life allows us to have a world-view of mutuality.  The world that God first created was a world that did not have any expendable categories, nothing to get rid of.  It was a world where everything co-existed in mutual harmony.  But with the entrance of human conceptions of right and wrong (Genesis Chapter 3), human society and history has been engulfed in the competition to rid themselves of what they perceived to be wrong.  Christianity, in order to rid the evil of the world under the banner of loving each other engaged in the Crusades.

There is no human society that does not contain any element of evil.  There can be no darkness without light, and there is not light without darkness.  The same principle applies for right and wrong.  ‘Evil is the absence of good’ (St. Augustine).

Humankind has been struggling to realize a society that is not attainable.  We need a shift in paradigm.  We should not try to rid ourselves of the bad and evil that we cannot do away with, but rather learn to live a life of mutual co-existence.  Already, elements of evil and good reside within us (Romans 7: 15-25).  Despite this, a healthy individual is one who can harmonize the two.  In the same sense, our bodies contain both good and bad viruses.  The reason we are healthy is because there is harmony.  When this harmony breaks, then disease takes over.

A world without judgment, much like the world God firs created, is a world of mutual co-existence.  This is the basis for life promoting farming (organic farming).  Life promoting farming does not try to rid all the insects with pesticides, but seeks ways of mutual co-existence.

Thirdly, this perspective helps us to realize that the value of life is equal.  The grass that grows next to the road is just as valuable as the rice plant that gives us rice for nourishment.  The value of life does not lie in utility.  It rests in existence itself.  Grass cannot exist without the earth in which it grows.  Nor can it exist without the heavens, the wind and rain, and air.  In other words, the entire cosmos lies behind the existence of the grass by the side of the road.  The same is true for the rice plant.  The rice plant contains elements of the entire cosmos within it.  Then, how can we speak about a difference in value?  The same is true of human beings.  There is merely a difference in roles, but there is no difference in the value and worth of individuals.

This is the new direction for rural mission, and it is the principle behind life promoting mission and community.

5. The future tasks of Rural Mission

More than anything else, the churches in the rural communities must be the starting points of a movement for life.  In a world where life is being destroyed, where life suffers and groans, the churches in the rural communities must possess a clear perspective of her tasks as the starting point for a life movement that promotes life for all of creation (Romans 8: 22).

In this respect, the churches in the rural communities should work to strengthen the necessary infrastructure for enhancing production, as well as leading the community in which they find themselves to form themselves into a life promoting community that engages in organic forms of farming, reclaiming a spirituality of the land.  The earth receives all that is given it.  Whether it is human refuse or leftover food from our table, the earth has a way of making them become useful for farming.  This is what is implied by a spirituality of the land.

Secondly, the church must practice a spirit of frugality and poverty.  In a world of materialism, the churches in the rural communities must show that humankind does not live by material possessions and wealth alone (Matthew 4: 3-4).

In order for the world to be sustainable, we must all take a step toward a life of frugality and poverty.  The church must believe and affirm the Biblical teaching of “blessed are the poor,” (Luke 6: 20).  The problem lies in the fact that the churches themselves do not believe this.  This causes them to become prisoners of materialism, becoming corrupt and teaching that materialistic wealth is a greater blessing.

The world seeks something more than a denial of material possessions from the church.  The churches in the rural communities must live out their faith in the Word of God without exaggeration or reduction, showing the world that the poor are also equally blessed by God.  The church must reclaim the spirituality of poverty and strive to present this principle as an alternative consciousness to the world.

6. Conclusion

We live in a world that is inundated with words.  We live in a world awash with words of all sorts.  But what is more important is action.  Living in solidarity with the farmers, and tilling the land, this is the source of a new strength.  The churches in the rural communities must work to reclaim this strength in their lives.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Appendix C

Appendix C: Case Studies from the Mission Fields of the Korean Minjung Church

Case Study Three - Mission to Foreign Migrant Workers

The Ministry Activities and Future Direction of Shalom House’s Foreign Migrant Worker’s Ministry

Rev. Lee Jung-ho (Director, Shalom House Migrant Workers Center)

1. Introduction

The reason why the issue of the foreign migrant workers has become a social problem is because of the difference in wealth and development amongst countries.  The degree of difference has intensified after the liberation of global capital through the process of globalization headed by the WTO.

The problems related with the global capitalistic market system is no longer an issue that is limited to the more developed countries or the lesser developed countries.  In Korea, which is called one of the developing countries of the world, the issue of the foreign migrant workers has come to the forefront of social issues, and is having immense impact on the labor market, and society in general.

Korean society, in particular, is faced with the dual problem of not having a systematic and organized method of dealing with the foreign migrant workers, compounded by the fact that many of them are in the country illegally.  The fact that Korean society is a very closed society that harbors strong preconceptions of people of other races has led the foreign migrant workers to live in the margins of society and outside the umbrella of protection.

The Shalom House for Foreign Migrant Workers has worked to uplift the human rights of the foreign migrant workers and to minister to their needs regardless of race or class in accordance with the principles of Missio Dei.  We have also sought to address the structural contradictions and bring about changes to the existing system.

2. The Nayangju Area and the Characteristics of the Sungsaeng Industrial Complex

At present there are approximately 370,000 foreign migrant workers in Korea.  Of this number nearly 60 to 70 percent (or 280,000) do not have legal status, and are residing in Korea illegally.  Most of these undocumented workers came to Korea through a visitor’s visa or as part of the Industrial Trainees Program.  They currently work in the so-called ‘3D’ (difficult, dangerous, and dirty) jobs and small family operated factories.  A large number live in and around Seoul in the surrounding industrial complexes.  About 5,000 workers live in the Namyangju area and there are 1,500 foreign migrant workers from 15 different countries living within a 500 meter radius of each other in the Sungsaeng Industrial Complex.

The Sungsaeng Industrial Complex was formed in the 1960s through a grant of land by an Anglican missionary.  The land was given to persons suffering from leprosy, and they formed a community where raising pigs and chicken were the main source of income.  Beginning in the 1980s many furniture factories began to establish themselves in the complex, and the landowners leased their land to the factories.  It was into this context that the foreign migrant workers came in as a new class in society.

3. A Brief History of Shalom House

The Namyangju Church of the Korean Anglican Church began in 1960 to minister to the leprosy patients who had formed a community in the Namyangju area.  With the improvement in the living standards of the people during the 1980s, and with the new influx of foreign migrant workers into the area the Shalom House was started to support the ministry to the foreign migrant workers.

A brief overview of our history is as follows:

April 1991 - Father Lee Jae-jung commences the celebration of Catholic Mass for Filipino workers

May 1992 - Mass celebrating Asia Sunday, and the commencement of a counseling service for migrant workers

Nov. 1993 - The foreign migrant worker’s support center begins operation

May 1994 - Research in to the situation faced by the foreign migrant workers

April 1995 - Further research in to the situation faced by foreign migrant workers, and the establishment of the shelter

1996 - Commencement of an annual sports festival, and summer camp for migrant workers

1997 - Arrival of extra full-time staff and clergy to work with the Filipino community

1998 - Unemployment support, computer education, and family visitation programs begin

1999 - Commencement of a: Korean language school, free medical checkups, national special events, and a medical co-operative, for migrant workers

2000 - Father Lee Jung-jae is selected to join the ‘Coalition for the Rights of Foreign Migrant Workers’, participation in protests and activities lobbying the government to improve the human rights of migrant workers in Korea

2001 - Participation in demonstrations demanding better standards for the treatment of foreign migrant workers, Shalom House benefit evening is held, and national communities are formed

2002 - Campaign for reparations to be paid to workers who have been killed in the workplace, and changes in government policy, hold various fundraising activities, and organize training courses in various migrant communities

4.        The Structure and Activities of Shalom House

The basic direction of Shalom House activities are as follows:

1) activities to ensure the labor rights of foreign migrant workers, and work to address human rights violations of foreign migrant workers

2) activities to build-up legal, and policy frameworks, for the protection of the human rights of migrant workers in Korea

3) activities to enlighten and educate Korean’s, to help them overcome their prejudices against migrants

4) activities to build the consciousness of migrant workers of the problems and issues that affect them, and forming networks to support among them - supporting the formation of national communities

5) developing educational programs that will assist migrant workers to improve their circumstances when they return to their countries of origin.

The structure and programs that we have in place are as follows:

a) Counseling Program:

This activity seeks to deal aggressively with the problems of late or no payment for work, industrial accidents, verbal and physical violence in the workplace and basic violations of labor rights and human rights of migrant workers.

b) Medical Support Program:

This is divided into two areas.  The first is the ‘Foreign Migrant Worker’s Medical Cooperative’.  This includes enlisting members and working to ensure proper medical care is provided.  The second is the operation of an in-house free medical checkup center so that the workers can receive regular checkups and deal with minor illnesses before they worsen.  This center is supported by the medical students of Yonsei University.

c) Forming and Managing Communities:

We encourage the formation of national communities so that the workers will have a sense of ownership in dealing with their problems and issues.  We also support them in organizing national celebrations and special events.  We also provide continuous educational programs to enlighten the workers in the value of their work, and also to equip them with critical factors for perceiving their situations.  At present we have nine communities from seven different countries.

d) Educational Programs:

We presently operate a Korean language school and computer classes regularly.  This has helped the workers to have a sense of self-development that better equips them for their return to their countries.

e) Special Events:

Special events, other than the regular programs, that include a Summer Camp, city tour during long weekends, festivals celebrating national holidays of different countries, community cleaning day with local society, and others have helped to introduce the foreign migrant workers to Korean culture, as well as helping them to overcome their cultural differences.

f) Resolution of Accidents:

Many foreign migrant workers are victims of accidents, fire, violence and abuse not only by Koreans, but amongst themselves.  When such incidents occur, Shalom House gets involved in resolving the issues, and also in providing preventive training and education for the workers.

g) Spiritual Training:

At present, Shalom House operates under the principle that none of the activities will be used for evangelistic outreach.  However, we work with the expectation that through our programs and activities the light of Christ will shine in the lives of the workers.  We celebrate Mass for the Christian workers and look after their spiritual welfare.

5. Outline of Shalom House Activities During the First Three Months of 2002

January:

~ publication of the Amhaartz Newsletter

~ meeting with Senator Lee Jae-jung to discuss the government’s migrant worker policies

~ a worker from Bangladesh is diagnosed with leprosy and hospitalized

~ Father David from the Anglican Church of Australia visits Shalom House

~ celebration of Bangladesh Language Day (250 participants)

February:

~ community leaders meeting

~ organize the funeral of Choi Boon-nam, a Chinese-Korean who died because of a fire, and arrange the reparation payments to the family

~ Seoul City Tour celebrating Lunar New Years Day (380 participants)

~ cultural event to celebrate Lunar New Years Day (360 participants)

~ Assembly of the Coalition for the Rights of Foreign Migrant Workers.

~ Father Lee Jung-ho is elected as co-representative

March:

~ support plans developed for workers in the Janghyun and Onam areas

~ deal with assault incident involving workers from Nepal

~ Filipino worker dies, reach agreement with the Korean perpetrator to make reparation payments to the worker’s family

~ spring outing to Everland amusement park (1,280 participants)

~ community cleaning day activity (400 participants)

6. Future Directions

The concern for society of the Namyangju Church that began with the work and ministry with the persons suffering from leprosy has now widened to include the foreign migrant workers through the ministry of Shalom House.  The ministry growth of the church is significant in that the recipients of support and assistance have now become the agents of support and assistance to a newly marginalized group of our society, the foreign migrant workers.

The work of Shalom House has also contributed to enhancing the awareness of the factory owners toward the situation of the foreign migrant workers, and this has led to dramatic decreases in unpaid wages, industrial accidents, and violence in the work place, enhancing the general level of basic human rights.

The transition from a social movement that contested with the people of the local community to that which involves an incorporates their participation in enhancing the social situation has helped to secure local resources for the ministry, as well as bringing new challenges to Shalom House.  The challenge lies in harnessing the voluntary resources of the Namyangju area, as well as continuing to provide support and assistance to the persons still affected by leprosy, and also providing enhanced services and support to the foreign migrant workers.

In order to better meet this challenge, Shalom House and the Namyangju Church are preparing to build a comprehensive welfare center in the hopes that such a center will help to more efficiently address the issues that we face in our local context.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Appendix D

Appendix D: Case Studies from the Mission Fields of the Korean Minjung Church

Case Study Four - Minjung Women’s Issues

The Korean Association of Christian Women for Women Minjung:

Working in solidarity with impoverished women

Ms. Park Rho-sook

Vice-President, Korean Association of Christian Women for Women Minjung

1. How a Woman Washing Dishes Became an Activist

Korea has a long history of invasion from the stronger countries that ring her borders.  Each time a stronger foreign power invaded Korea, the Korean people (Minjung) resisted and fought against the invading forces.

The active engagement of Christians confessing their faith in Jesus Christ during the struggle for democracy contributed dramatically to democratic change and progress.  However, we are not able to deny the fact that Christian women are on the margins of society, even in organizations that have historically been actively involved in the struggle for democracy.  Christian women who were active in various Christian organizations first came together in the mid 1980s during an end of the year celebration.  It was during this first meeting that they began to consider together the issue of: “being active participants and contributors to the movement, but still being subject to gender roles defined by tradition that relegate women to simply washing the dishes after meetings.”

After two years of preparation, the Korean Association of Christian Women for Women Minjung (KACWWM) was formally inaugurated in July of 1987.  The founders of the organization stated their purpose as follows:

“The Korea Association of Christian Women for Women Minjung is a progressive and interdenominational Christian women’s organization that seeks to work for church renewal and social transformation.  The KACWWM is an organization of Christian women united in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, seeking to live together with the Minjung, and striving for the liberation of women, and socially marginalized groups, as well as striving to build an alternative Christian culture.”

The Christian women who gathered to form the KACWWM began to make their impact felt in society.  They participated in the lives of the urban women Minjung who were torn both physically and mentally, much like the traveler - in the parable of the Good Samaritan - who had been beaten and left to die by the side of the road.  They lived in solidarity with the women workers who were forced to work long hours for meager wages under the coercive policies of a government that stressed the export of consumer goods as the only way for national prosperity.

The work of the KACWWM in fighting for the rights of women laborers who had been unfairly let go from their jobs, the opening and staffing of a counseling center for women suffering under the psychological strain of gender discrimination in the work place, its work in providing a suitable place for children living in cramped housing facilities to study, and the re-reading of the Bible - the interpretation of which had, for nearly two thousand years been dominated by the chauvinist lens of men - were all activities and reservoirs of support that worked to awaken and empower women.

The KACWWM, however, was not only involved in the fight for women’s rights, but also stood alongside the student movement, which challenged the authoritarian government, and cried out for democracy.  The KACWWM also stood in solidarity with the farmers, as they struggled to make their voices heard with regard to the opening of agricultural markets - a move by the government that threatened their very livelihood, by drastically reducing their income earning ability.

During the 1980s, the members of the KACWWM were vibrant with energy, as they struggled in solidarity with other organizations, to bring an end to the authoritarian government.

2. Do You Have Any Idea What I’ve Been Through?

During the sixteen years that the KACWWM has strived to engage in a ministry of fostering life with Jesus, Women, and Minjung, the political, and social circumstances of South Korean women have changed, and much of the membership has changed as well.  The young and vibrant women who had enough energy to overturn the world, have now become middle-aged. The authoritarian government, which was the source of much discontent, has become a democratic one.  The members who had advocated a strong fighting spirit in the struggle against injustice have now moved on to other areas of specialized ministry, offering their services to: women’s shelters, youth group homes, children’s counseling shelters, and centers serving the needs of foreign migrant workers.  These areas of involvement are as diverse as the number of members that make up the KACWWM.

Most members of the KACWWM used to live in poverty, much like the women that they supported through their work.  However, despite the passage of time, the women Minjung who are still trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty, and the number of women who are newly joining the ranks of the impoverished women continue to rise.

The Korean government constantly forecasts large increases in the level of economic growth, yet 73.3% of women laborers are employed in the part time sector, and are paid only 70% of the wages paid to men for doing the same amount of work.  This injustice is compounded by the fact that those employed in the part time sector of the labor market, only receive about 60% to 70% of the pay rate, compared with those employed full time, therefore, we can easily conclude that the impoverishment of women is not merely a statistical figure, but a harsh reality.  The fact that women were the first to lose their jobs during the process of structural adjustment and the down sizing of companies is well known to all in the labor movements and society in general.  This is why poverty is mostly affecting the lower income women households, those who work the longest hours for the least pay.  Although the government had set up a ‘rehabilitation support program’ to train the poor with new skills, and help them to open up their own businesses, many of the these businesses have failed for a variety of reasons, and as a result many people have lost hope of breaking through the barrier of poverty.

For example, a woman in her late thirties worked for ten years with her husband to raise her two children.  Despite nearly a decade of hard work and saving money, they were still unable to buy their own home.  The family had no choice but to move to Ansan (a satellite city of Seoul) where there was relatively affordable housing, that didn’t overburden their family’s limited income.  This woman had worked in factories since high school and married her husband whom she had met in the factory where she worked.  This woman had done all that she could with the resources that she had to provide a better life for her family, but in the end she was not able to break out of the cycle of poverty.  In her desperation she cried out: “Do you have any idea of what I’ve been through in my life!”

3. The Beauty of Women’s Dignity

The KACWWM is engaged in an education program to empower women to live a healthy life: socially, economically, and psychologically.  The education and training program of the KACWWM attracted nearly 1,500 participants in 2001 with programs such as:

~ Introspection for Successful Relationships of Lower Income Women

~ Self-Acceptance Training for Lower Income Women Without Work

~ Preparatory Class for Prospective Middle School Students from the Households of Lower

Income Women Without Work

~Thematic Field Trip with Nature

~ Self-Development Training for Elementary and Middle School Students from the Households

of Lower Income Women in Less Developed Areas

As these education and training programs progressed, we learned anew of the difficulties and challenges that face the women Minjung who struggle to sustain their livelihoods.

The ‘Self-Acceptance Training Program for Lower Income Households Headed by Women Without Work’ was held in Doksan-dong, an urban area in Seoul well known as a place where many of the factory workers lived.  During the first night’s program there was a time for the women to express their feelings toward their mothers who had raised them.  During this time, many of the women wept openly as they told their stories.  I can still vividly remember the faces of the women that night.  These women were living in a world without any social safety net, with no one to hold their outstretched hands, and with nobody to support their struggles, much like their mothers before them.  The women who grew up in dysfunctional families, suffering the strains of marginalization and poverty are now struggling under the double yoke of caring for their children, and taking economic responsibility for their family.  Such is the situation of the married women laborers that symbolize the plight of low-income families in South Korea.

Women need to be liberated from economic poverty, and psychological instability as well.  The more they are psychologically and emotionally unstable, the more difficulty they have in maintaining a healthy family.  That is why emotional support of lower income women is necessary through the support of larger communities they can relate to.

Emotional support programs and education helps the exhausted women to improve their relationship skills, and helps them to strengthen their communication skills by encouraging them to express their feelings and thoughts.  The programs also help the women to develop skills in dealing with the various emotions and conflicts that arise in relationships, encouraging them to take the initiative in communication and helping them to better understand themselves.  Such program activities help the women to attain a healthier perspective of themselves, which in turn leads them to have a healthier perspective towards their neighbor, and also helps them to better understand themselves.

The purpose of the emotional support program, is to help the women Minjung to build up a sense of confidence in relationships, liberating them to live as dignified individuals.

The KACWWM will continue to support the women Minjung through economic programs, as well as these emotional support programs.

4. The World We Envision in the Future

The KACWWM has continued to work within the founding theme of “Jesus, Women, and Minjung” since July of 1986.  This has meant that the KACWWM has continued to uphold the banner of the Minjung throughout the tumultuous changes in the political, economic, and social context of present day Korea.  Striving to live up to our name in support of the Minjung, and at times struggling with the burden of the three themes that pervade our activities the KACWWM has nevertheless continued to engage in many programs and activities according to our founding purpose.  It is this tenacity and perseverance that has seen the continued participation of the younger generation in the ministry of the KACWWM.

Although the times have changed the poor women and their children continue to be confined within the vicious cycle of poverty.  Korean society has seen an increase in the number of impoverished people who suffer from economic and emotional instability because of the neo-liberal economic policies that pervade our society.  That is why the members of the KACWWM are striving to carry on the ministries that God has entrusted to us, working together for a brighter and healthier tomorrow.

The KACWWM is actively engaged in promoting both: a spirituality of voluntary poverty, in an effort to free ourselves from the materialistic world; and working to realize a world of wholeness that God has given us.  This includes the following areas of work:

1) developing a discourse that will open up ways for a feminine and ecological way of life, as well as engaging in programs that promote such a life.  Seeking ways to enhance the holistic quality of life for women, as well as building a sustainable way of life;

2) developing a feminine healing ministry and promoting a daily spirituality rooted in everyday activities;

3) laying the foundation for an alternative social movement by forming a women’s movement that is deeply related with the daily activities of women, and working to enhance the quality of life for poor women;

4) enlarging the issue of women’s movements to be incorporated into the Christian social movement;

5) developing diverse systems that can incorporate and give harmony to the diverse forms of family relations in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic society.  This includes our efforts in voluntary poverty and solidarity with the poor.

As long as globalization continues to corrupt our society and challenge our values, the KACWWM will continue to strive to enhance the quality of the lives of women Minjung, and we will continue to strive to be a light of hope for the small and weak in society, living for: “Jesus, Women, and the Minjung.”

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Appendix E

Appendix E: Case Studies from the Mission Fields of the Korean Minjung Church

Case Study Five - Ministry to Women Working in the Sex Industry

The Ministry of ‘My Sister’s Place’ to Female Sex Workers Working Near U.S. Military Bases

Ms. Yu Young-nim

Director, My Sister’s Place

My Sister’s Place was established in 1986, and founded under the principles of the theology of Missio Dei, with the purpose of ministering women working in the sex industry, especially those working near the many U.S. military bases.  My Sister’s Place is located near a U.S. military base, in Kaneung-dong, Uijungbu, approximately 40 kilometers to the north of Seoul.  It was founded by Moon Hae-lim with the support of the United Church of Christ in the U.S.

From the very beginning, My Sister’s Place sought to develop specific programs that would meet the needs of female sex workers, as well as support their rehabilitation and re-entry into society.  Early programs included: typing classes, English language classes and Korean language classes, as well as counseling.  Other activities included: cooking classes, art classes, as part of a job-training program.  The center also operated a childcare center, and a study room for the children of female sex workers.

The center’s activities also include holding seminars, and programs targeting college students, and intellectuals, focusing on the issue of female sex workers, and the presence of the U.S. military in Korea.

The activities of My Sister’s Place have sought to highlight the human rights violations and abuse suffered by many female sex workers, and the ill treatment of the many mixed race children that are born to these women.  The discussion of these issues in Korean society, had long been suppressed by the government’s policy that placed the importance of national security - and therefore the presence of U.S. troops - above all else.

Through the work of the center, many women and their children have received physical, emotional, and financial support, and have been able to recover their sense of identity and self-worth.  In recent years the center’s programs have diversified, and developed, in order to meet new needs.  Currently, My Sister’s Place operates an art therapy class, and classes in computer literacy.  Through the counseling, and education programs provided by the center many women have secured new jobs and entered the mainstream of society.  Many women have also learned how to improve their self-esteem, and learned how love themselves for the first time.

The success of such programs has been mad possible due to the grace and providence of God, as well as the prayers and support of numerous individuals.

My Sister’s Place has learned a great deal through our ministry to female sex workers: we have seen the devastation that militarism causes in the lives of women; we have witnessed first hand the sorrow and sacrifice forced upon these powerless women, who are exposed without any alternatives to the sex trade near the U.S. military bases; we have been angered by the immorality

and lack of responsibility shown by the American soldiers who have cast away their children; and we have stood face to face with the harsh reality of women from East Asia who gravitate to the military bases, looking to earn money, or hoping to find a partner who will help them to live out their ‘American dream’.  Throughout all these experiences, we have learned of the great burden placed upon women because of their poverty, regardless of their nationality.

The women we come into contact with at My Sister’s Place show the harsh reality of women bound by the chains of poverty, and the structural reality of a divided nation forced to accept the presence of a foreign military power.  This day-to-day reality has become a classroom for numerous college students and intellectuals, and it has been the driving force behind the establishment of the numerous mission programs and activities, that have take place at the center.

Although there is not enough room here to explain in detail about all of the activities that have been conducted through the center’s ministry, we can confidently say that My Sister’s Place has offered man valuable alternatives to women trying to escape from the military base sex industry, as well as contributing to the welfare of female sex workers in their contexts.

Of the many activities conducted through the ministry of My Sister’s Place, I’d like to give an account of three programs.

The first is the program that introduced college students and intellectuals with the female sex workers, allowing the former to see first hand the context that the women were living in.  This had the positive effect of helping the students, and others, to realize that the plight of female sex workers is not a personal issue that pertains only to the women involved, but is a social and national issue that we must tackle together.

The second program, is the nurturing and training of grass roots activists.  Although many of those trained through this program have moved on to other areas, they continue to contribute to the work of organizations working to stop prostitution, and other organizations promoting peace.

The third program that has had significant impact in the lives of women, is the counseling and refuge that My Sister’s Place has provided for those women who have been battered both, physically and emotionally, by their experiences working in the military base sex industry. Women who had had difficulty in forming relationships with persons outside of the military bases, or difficulty meeting with people from other social contexts, were able to relate with, and be encouraged by, their meetings with the counselors, staff members, and volunteers involved with My Sister’s Place.  These women now have hope for a brighter future for themselves, and their families, and have learned the true worth of having a high self-esteem, and a love of the self.

The work of My Sister’s Place is far from complete.  We still have a long way to go.  However, we firmly believe that just as God has provided for and looked after us in the past, He will continue to provide His providential care upon our ministry and use My Sister’s Place to continue to build God’s kingdom on earth.

[report] CCA Peoples Concept of Mission - South Korean Dialogue: Appendix F

Appendix F: Case Studies from the Mission Fields of the Korean Minjung Church

Case Study Six - The Status of the Differently-abled

Human Rights for the Differently-abled Persons of Korea

Rev. Bae Yoong-ho

Manager, Research Department, Easy Access Movement for People with Disabilities in Korea

1. Introduction

The human rights situation in Korea, compared with the relatively high standard of economic

development, is not that bright.  Although the formation of the National Human Rights Committee

has shed some light in looking again at the issues of human rights in Korea, the human rights

of many classes of society, such as: the differently-abled, women, foreign migrant workers,

and homosexuals is very low.

In the case of differently-abled persons, violations of their human rights are quite severe.  The

human rights situation of the differently-abled persons in Korea can rightly be labeled as

discriminative.  The discrimination of society toward the differently-abled persons occurs across

the entire spectrum of their daily lives.

The differently-abled persons in Korea are discriminated against constantly, in the fields of:

education, work, use of public facilities, use of public transportation, access to information,

and even in ecclesiastical communities.

2. Discrimination in Education

More than 50% of the differently-abled persons in Korea have not benefited from any sort of

public education, or have received education only up to the primary level.  When this statistic

is compared with the fact that more than 50% of the entire Korean population has benefited from

at least a high school level of education, this shows the stark reality of discrimination toward

differently-abled persons.

There are two main reasons why differently-abled persons have received such a low level

of education.  The first reason, is because it is difficult for them to go from their homes to the

public schools.  The second reason, is because there is no policy for incorporating the

education of differently-abled persons, with the rest of the recipients of government education,

and especially because the government holds the perspective that differently-abled persons

should be educated in specialized education institutions.

The following testimony of one differently-abled person shows that differently-abled persons

are not receiving an adequate level of education:

“I am a differently-abled person who is confined to a wheelchair.  I had no choice but to attend

a specialized education institution because I could not use the public school facilities in my

wheelchair.  In the specialized school, I was placed in a class with people who had mental,

and psychological differences.  Although I was at the top of my class, the level of education I

received was woefully lacking.”

However, those who are able to secure entry into these specialized schools are among the

fortunate ones.  The majority of differently-abled persons are left at home with no hope of

receiving any sort of formal education.

This sort of discrimination exists right up to middle school, high school, and university.  Middle

schools or high schools recommend that differently-abled individuals go to specialized schools

because they lack the facilities to accommodate them.  Although a differently-abled person can

secure entry into university, in most cases this is allowed only after the individual agrees not to

take any action against the school, for a lack of support facilities for the differently-abled.  Those

people who have vision, or hearing difficulties, have no choice but to attend specialized schools

because there are no special classes available for them in the regular schools.  This

discrimination in the provision of education, naturally leads to discrimination in finding work and

engaging in economic activity.

3. Discrimination in Employment

Korea has a ‘Law for Encouraging the Employment of Differently-abled Persons and Job Training for Differently-abled Persons’.  According to this law, companies that employ more than 300 individuals, are required to staff at least 2% of the total workforce with differently-abled persons.  However, the percentage of differently-abled employed persons actually working is very low.  None of the large conglomerate companies (‘chaebol’), comply with this law, and the government’s public service, itself, has yet to attain the 2% requirement stated in the law.  Also, many differently-abled persons are refused employment during the process of interviews for prospective job placements.  Although the hiring company does not explicitly state that it is refusing to employ a person because of their disabilities, it remains as the primary reason for their refusal.

A differently-abled male job seeker once said:

“I submitted my applications to a large chaebol company with some of my friends when I graduated from college.  I was at the top of my class, and so was quite confident that I would be able to get the job.  But the company did not choose us, even during the first round of reviewing the applications.  The primary reason that my friends and I were passed over was because we all have disabilities.”

There have even been instances where a differently-abled person has applied for an office job, but was refused employment because he could not lift heavy boxes.  Another individual applied for a lecturing position in a college and was rejected because he could not drive!

Unfortunately, there are also cases of abuse and exploitation, where small factory owners’ employ individuals who are mentally challenged, forcing them to work for 50 hours a week and then only paying them slightly more than the legal minimum wage.

4.        Discrimination in Access to Public Facilities, Transportation and Information

Differently-abled persons in Korea are discriminated in the use of public facilities as well.  In 1997 the ‘Law for Securing Comfort Facilities for Differently-abled, Elderly, and Pregnant Persons’ was passed.  As a result, public buildings constructed after 1998 are required to possess certain comfort facilities for differently-abled persons.  However, since the law does not apply to buildings that were built before 1997, these buildings have no such comfort facilities.  The greatest difficulty for differently-abled persons in Korea is in using the public restrooms.  There are few buildings that have separate facilities for differently-abled persons.  As a result some differently-abled individuals go so far as to reduce their food intake, or abstain from drinking liquids before they go out.  Most buildings in Korea have an entrance that has stairs.  This, and the fact that they do not have proper restroom facilities make it difficult for differently-abled persons to venture out.  The narrow pedestrian walkways make it difficult for those who are challenged in their eyesight to travel about.  With the increase in overpasses and underpasses at cross roads, it is difficult to find pedestrian crossing paths.  In the case that there is no pedestrian crossing path, the physically challenged individual may need to risk crossing the road illegally, or seek a safe crossing that would require them to go far out of their way.

Even worse is the discrimination in accessing public transportation.  Subways, buses, and taxis are the most common forms of public transportation in Korea.  However, the physically challenged who are confined to wheelchairs can only use the subway with relative ease.  Even in this case, subway transportation is only available in some of the major cities.  In Seoul, which has the oldest, and most extensive subway network, the proportion of stations that have elevators for use by the wheelchair bound is only 25%.  Approximately 35% of the subway stations throughout Korea have wheelchair elevators, but because they take too long to travel up and down from the entrance to the platform, and because they are poorly maintained and often dangerous, physically challenged individuals shy away from using them.

The situation is worse with the bus system.  There is not one single low floor bus, nor non-step bus in operation throughout Korea.  Of the major cities, only Seoul has a free shuttle bus system that runs certain routes, and has buses that are equipped to accommodate wheelchairs.  Even the buses that run to the new Incheon International Airport do not have any facilities for wheelchair users.

Taxi services in Korea are divided into: regular taxis, deluxe taxis, and jumbo taxis, which operate in Seoul and some of the larger cities.  However, none of these taxis are equipped for use by persons in wheelchairs.  Individuals have no choice but to get out of their wheelchairs if they want to use a taxi.

These cases reflect the difficulty that differently-abled persons have in using public transportation in Korea.  Such obstacles prevent differently-abled persons from venturing outside, and prevent them from fully participating in society.  Recently 64 organizations came together to form the ‘Easy Access Movement for People with Disabilities in Korea’, to lobby the government to introduce low floor buses, and non-step buses, that are more easily accessible by differently-abled persons.

Access to information for individuals who are vision, or hearing impaired, is also very difficult.  Most of the individuals who are vision impaired do not have access to information in Braille, nor voice format, and closed-caption services for the hearing impaired is only provided for a limited number of television programs.  Closed-captioning receivers are also very expensive, and many people cannot afford them.

5.        The Church, Another form of Discrimination

Discrimination is also evident in the churches.  Korea still has segregated churches that only minister to differently-abled persons.  One of the primary reasons is that the local churches do not have the adequate facilities that would enable differently-abled individuals to attend.  Ironically, although Korea has the greatest number of churches in the world, only a few have facilities for the differently-abled.  Only a very few churches have bibles and hymnals in Braille for the vision impaired, and provide translation of services in sign language for the hearing impaired.  The greatest area of discrimination within the church is evident in the lack of employment of differently-abled persons.  Churches in Korea still do not employ any individuals with disabilities as pastors.  Not only that, but there are some seminaries that do not accept individuals who use wheelchairs, or are otherwise challenged.

6.        Towards Full Equality and Human Rights

The encroachment of the human rights of differently-abled persons also takes the form of violence and limitations in freedom of movement in treatment facilities, as well as the discrimination based on prejudice that takes place in all areas of society.  However, the human rights situation in Korea is slowly progressing, thanks to the work of numerous NGOs.  As a result the human rights of differently-abled persons has progressed significantly during the past 10 years.  However, we are still far removed from equality, and the total respect of human rights for the differently-abled.

The discrimination in Korean society against differently-abled persons is closely related to discrimination against women, foreign migrant workers, and homosexuals, reducing, and eliminating the discrimination against differently-abled persons - and all other minorities in Korea - is the first step toward establishing an equal society where the rights and worth of every individual is respected.