As an invited professor, Professor HyeKyung Kim has been giving lectures on civil society and development at the Graduate School of International Studies of Ewha Womans University since 2013. After living in the United States for ten years, she returned to Korea and started working for non-governmental organizations. Among these NGOs are the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ: 경제정의실천시민연합), Global Civic Sharing (GCS: 지구촌나눔운동), ODA Watch (발전대안 피다), and Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).
Professor Kim does not only have experience working in NGOs for almost a decade, but also experience working as the Secretary to the President for Women and Family Affairs of Lee Myung Bak Government, where she was overseeing national policies on gender, family, youth, childcare, and population, and later appointed as the Secretary to the President for Civil Society, leading policies to improve governmental engagement with a wide range of civil society groups.
Recently, in April 2021, she has been appointed as the chairperson of Global Civic Sharing. Last month, Ewha GSIS blog had a chance to interview her on this special occasion at the Global Civic Sharing office. Hopefully, this conversation would help students interested in a development cooperation career get a better picture of what to be prepared for.
First of all, I felt surprised when I saw that you got a Master’s degree in Computer Science. Why did you study computer science?
After graduating from the university, I started working for a commercial bank bank for three years. Then, I moved to the United States. At that time, my husband studied in the US.
When I moved to the US, I found ATM automatic teller machine. It was so new to me. In Korea, we didn’t have ATM at the time. So, at the time, in terms of IT technology, the US was much more advanced. I thought that the utilization of IT technology for the banking business would be very useful. I was good at mathematics, statistics, and accounting. So, I thought computer science would be a very good academic path for me. That’s why I got my master’s degree in computer science from Boston University.
Why did you become interested in the field of development?
I lived in the US for almost ten years with my family. I have three children there. So, I had a chance to participate in a PTA (Parents and Teachers Association) and worked with other parents and teachers. When the school has some problems or lack of funds, they discuss how to move the resources to handle the problems or raise funds. So, I learned the way they work to solve community problems. That’s the power of volunteerism. Apart from the power of volunteerism, in the US, I learned about respecting people and also human rights.
As you know, I went to a university in Korea a long time ago, and at that time, we were under an authoritarian government. Even though we had heard about human rights, we didn’t actually know very much about real human rights. Those who engaged in the student movement had a hard time under the authoritarian government.
So, when I returned to Korea, I decided to work for social development. I started to work for an NGO called the Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ). Its Korean name is 경실련. CCEJ is one of the most well-known non-governmental organizations at that time. Nowadays, it is very well known among the Korean people. At CCEJ, we organized an international forum called ‘Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum.’ The topic was Asian Democratization and Development by Asian people. What’s interesting is that a lot of people from Asian and Pacific countries criticized Western aids, because they believed Western countries demand something in exchange for those aids. It is called string-attached aids. So, they expected the role of developed economies in Asia, such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
The main activity of CCEJ was pursuing a systematic change in economic-related laws or regulations. One of the achievements of CCEJ was pushing for the law relating to the real name banking system and the real name real estate system. Before 1993, everybody in Korea could have a banking account with another person’s name, not their real name. But after 1993, everybody has to use his/her real name to buy real estate. That’s very important. In this way, you cannot avoid tax, and transparency has been enhanced.
After that, I attended the UN conference for women in Beijing in 1995. That was a fourth UN conference on women. At that conference, I explained what my organization was doing, such as the banking system, but some people commented that we’re actually talking about people who don’t even have money and real estate. For them, global economic justice means tackling extreme poverty. So, I was shocked. I realized that the most important economic justice at the global level was poverty. A lot of women were abused because of poverty, through sexual slavery and human trafficking. So, development is to enhance the livelihood and living standard of people, not only focusing on economic development, but also human development. I realized that it is a very important issue. So, when I returned home, I decided to work for development. It is very important for Korea to engage in this global development issue.
I remember an impressive question at the conference asked by a participant from Mozambique. She asked me after receiving my name card, “What do you do for economic justice at the global level?” That question keeps popping up in my mind again and again. Now, I am trying to contribute to global economic justice from an individual level, an organization level, and the national level.
She also criticized Western aids that decided which organization should receive grants based on how well they write English proposals. A small organization such as hers could not write a good English proposal. So, even though her organization works very effectively, they cannot get foreign aids. She criticized aid agencies that decide the donations based on the proposal, not the performance. I know there are organizations that hire consultants to write a good proposal. But local organizations don’t have money for that.
You also work for the government. How could you shift from the NGO and then take part in the governmental body? Is it like going up the hierarchy?
I would not say it is like a promotion because they are in a different sector. Civil society is a volunteering sector. I got a call asking whether I would like to join the president’s office and I hesitated a little bit because I had decided to commit to development. But at the time, I thought it would be a good chance for me to know how the government is running. And I also got my master’s degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy school in MA, USA. So, I thought this could be a good chance to apply my knowledge and experiences to this job.
Before I joined the president’s office, I liked Lincoln’s saying “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” But after I joined the government, I rather like John F Kennedy’s saying “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
When I worked for an NGO, I focused on development. So, when I wrote a statement, I demanded the government to increase ODA. But when I joined the government, I found that there are a lot of different stakeholders. For instance, if the government increases the amount of ODA, poor people will ask why not spend that money for them. The businesses will ask why don’t use ODA for Korean businesses. So, different stakeholders have different perspectives, and they are all taxpayers. That’s the biggest difference between civil society and government. Also, when I worked for an NGO, in order to do something, I had to raise funds. Otherwise, I couldn’t work. But in the government, we have tax money, and your job is already designated.
Working in an NGO is difficult because you have to raise funds and mobilizing resources. Also, you have to decide what kind of activities you are going to do, and you have to work efficiently and effectively. It’s not easy. Also, working for a government is difficult because more people are watching you. And the people are important. They ask you to work for them. If you do not please the people, then, sooner or later, you will be kicked out of the office. You have to consider all the stakeholders. That part is the most difficult.
How would you describe the NGOs and civil society in South Korea? I see that people highlight their role in South Korea differently from other countries.
I think civil society is very strong in Korea and they contributed a lot to achieve democratization. I give them credit for that. But there is a danger for NGOs to become partisan or to support a certain political party. It could be dangerous because, for instance, if you support a certain political party, when there is an issue with gender equality, you cannot raise your voice against it. It really happens. Human rights organizations should raise their voice for the human rights of North Koreans. But nowadays, human rights organizations that are close to the leading party keep quiet. Because the current government wants to maintain a good relationship with North Korea. To avoid this kind of situation, NGOs could be political but should not be partisan.
What is the inspiration for establishing an organization like Global Civic Sharing?
I had the idea to establish a development NGO after I went Beijing conference. The co-founders and I had the idea to establish GCS in 1996. So, I studied a lot of articles and papers and learned that development NGOs work in three ways. First, providing international development projects. Secondly, providing development and education program. And thirdly, doing advocacy.
In 1996, when we tried to establish this one, there was no development NGO in Korea. Most NGOs were social welfare organizations. There were Word Vision, Food for the Hungry, and Christian Children’s Fund. But all of these organizations were established to receive foreign aid. Until the mid-1990s, they were beneficiary organizations. World Vision started to support foreign countries, maybe in 1994 and 1995. So, in 1996, there were almost no development organizations. In 1995, Korea’s GNI became $10,000. And 1996, we became a member of OECD. At that time, Japan was criticized by other Asian countries that while they made a lot of economic growth, they focused only on their economic interest. Japan realized that it had to engage in development. So, they started to increase the ODA. In 1989, Japan became the country with the highest amount of ODA. Before that, the US was first. The co-founders and I realized that it is very important for Korea to take responsibility at the international level. So, we decided to establish an NGO, not only to provide international development but also to raise public awareness on development cooperation and foreign aids. So, we decided to establish an NGO. But because of the Asian Financial Crisis, we postponed the establishment of Global Civic Sharing from 1997 to December 1998.
Do you have any advice for students taking Development Cooperation major right now? How to prepare themselves for this career path?
In this area, you need to have both heart and brain (smile).
Development is an interdisciplinary field. First, you need to know about the country. For example, if you work in Thailand, you need to know about the country. Secondly, you need to know the sector you are working in. If you are a policymaker, you have to know about strategy, especially the strategies that are best for that specific country. So, you need to study a lot (laugh). You need to know a lot about working in the development area. Sometimes you need to know languages.
It is not easy. Sometimes I get frustrated a lot. There are times that you cannot get what you expected from your work. For example, you raise funds, plan something, and then work with colleagues really hard, but the result is not as you expected. Sometimes, if it is international development projects in another country, you need to work closely with your partners. In that case, you are not the owner but an assistant. So, the owner of the development is very important. You have to motivate them and collaborate with them in partnership. Even though you work very hard, sometimes it doesn’t work. That’s very challenging.
But the reward is good. Not in terms of money. I mean when your activity works, then you can see the change in people’s lives in the real world. You can get that kind of reward. That’s why I said if you want to work in this field, you need to have both heart and brain.
Do you still use the knowledge from computer science in your work right now?
I think I got analytical skills from studying computer science. If you want to work in this development arena, you need to have analytical skills. You have to analyze the situation; what your partner is thinking and what your partners need. Also, you have to have advocating ability. You also need to raise funds and mobilize resources, so you need managing skills. You have to manage people and manage your resources. So, you have to learn about those throughout your life.
What do you think about your experience teaching at Ewha GSIS?
Well, my students are from all different countries, like other courses. They are both from developing countries and developed countries around the world; Africa, Europe, Asia, America, and Latin America. I learned a lot from them and the students learn a lot from their classmates. Because they are from different cultures and different countries. We share our different perspectives and different positions on the same issue. So, the discussion is so helpful for us to understand various cultures and customs. It’s very exceptional. We also have students’ presentations on civil society in their own countries, so we could compare these civil societies across different countries. They are so helpful for us to understand, for example, how the external environment for civil society activities is different in various countries. I enjoy teaching and learning (smile).
Ewha GSIS 