By Kim Ji-myung
The late Rev. Kang Won-yong was a religious visionary. And he had the ability, leadership and luck to translate his ideals into reality.
He established the Korea Christian Academy (KCA), which was a religious, academic and influential activist organization, in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. German President Richard von Weizaecker was a good friend of his.
One day during a discussion with young women leaders in 1975, he predicted, "In a few years, you will see, the demands and zeal to change the reality of Korean women will explode like a high-pressure steam-pot."
The participants were "bright and promising" professionals selected and invited there from among professors, journalists, factory workers, women farmers and religious leaders. And I was one of the journalists, attending the series of "Intermediary Group Education" programs, which included on-and-off seminars and sleep-over discussions.
Back then we all really expected to see ordinary Korean citizens pouring out into the streets demanding the abolition of gender discrimination and equal voices in family relations, within three or four years. That was the atmosphere at the time.
Looking back, no steam-pot exploded within the general public. However, the study group continued to have in-depth discussions called "tagung," meaning dialogue in German. The tagung meetings set key agendas for Korean society _ on human rights, cooperation among religions, political and economic challenges, justice issues, participatory industrial relations, and many others.
The overall structure of the socio-political leadership training program was designed as a long-term project to build leadership infrastructure for the future transformation of our nation.
Korea was being ruled by President Park Chung-hee, and rapidly building the national economy was the priority policy of the entire government. Poverty and a self-demeaning attitude among the people was a powerful enemy inside.
If it takes a village to raise a child, maybe it takes an iron-willed leader, devoted technocrats and blindly cooperative citizens to raise a nation out of poverty. People seem to forget the details of the past very easily, remembering only what they choose to remember. I think my understanding remained quite accurate and objective, not only due to my natural tendency to be observant, but because I was producing the KCA Newsletter in English. I was still a reporter, but Rev. Kang gave me full liberty to manage my time and budget, and authority as the editor of the 16-page quarterly.
Although small in volume and only a quarterly, the KCA Newsletter was critical in that the many Christians in Europe, especially in what was then West Germany, learned about what the KCA was doing, and donated large sums of money. Not only with financial assistance, but moral and spiritual support expressed by Dr. von Weiszaecker gained Rev. Kang international credibility and reputation.
So what happened for Korea, thanks to Rev. Kang's programs?
In the early 1970s, President Park thought Rev. Kang's anti-government criticism expressed through dialogue meetings and the vernacular KCA publication Daehwa (meaning dialogue in Korean) went too far. In fact, Rev. Kang could not control the editor of Daehwa as he was editing the monthly, hiding somewhere and inserting his own strong and highly opinionated anti-Park voice.
Later, many of the KCA staff and the editor were interrogated, and some were imprisoned for studying forbidden books from North Korea, violating anti-Communist laws, among other things. That ended my part-time work for the Newsletter.
As I remember those days, I must mention Mrs. Flemington. She was an amazing person and an editorial assistant for me. She wanted to be called halmoni (grandma, in Korean), as she flew to Seoul from Fredericton in Brunswick, Canada, after her husband had died one year before. She just wanted to serve as a volunteer for any work she could find.
We exchanged Christmas cards every year after she returned home, and one item on my bucket list was visiting her town someday. But I got a sad message from her lawyer one year instead of a Christmas card.
Rev. Kang may have died 11 years ago without knowing how many seeds of social change he had scattered throughout Korea at all levels. He was a big man of invincible charisma with a true heart for the Korean people.
The writer is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is heritagekorea21@gmail.com.
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He established the Korea Christian Academy (KCA), which was a religious, academic and influential activist organization, in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. German President Richard von Weizaecker was a good friend of his.
One day during a discussion with young women leaders in 1975, he predicted, "In a few years, you will see, the demands and zeal to change the reality of Korean women will explode like a high-pressure steam-pot."
The participants were "bright and promising" professionals selected and invited there from among professors, journalists, factory workers, women farmers and religious leaders. And I was one of the journalists, attending the series of "Intermediary Group Education" programs, which included on-and-off seminars and sleep-over discussions.
Back then we all really expected to see ordinary Korean citizens pouring out into the streets demanding the abolition of gender discrimination and equal voices in family relations, within three or four years. That was the atmosphere at the time.
Looking back, no steam-pot exploded within the general public. However, the study group continued to have in-depth discussions called "tagung," meaning dialogue in German. The tagung meetings set key agendas for Korean society _ on human rights, cooperation among religions, political and economic challenges, justice issues, participatory industrial relations, and many others.
The overall structure of the socio-political leadership training program was designed as a long-term project to build leadership infrastructure for the future transformation of our nation.
Korea was being ruled by President Park Chung-hee, and rapidly building the national economy was the priority policy of the entire government. Poverty and a self-demeaning attitude among the people was a powerful enemy inside.
If it takes a village to raise a child, maybe it takes an iron-willed leader, devoted technocrats and blindly cooperative citizens to raise a nation out of poverty. People seem to forget the details of the past very easily, remembering only what they choose to remember. I think my understanding remained quite accurate and objective, not only due to my natural tendency to be observant, but because I was producing the KCA Newsletter in English. I was still a reporter, but Rev. Kang gave me full liberty to manage my time and budget, and authority as the editor of the 16-page quarterly.
Although small in volume and only a quarterly, the KCA Newsletter was critical in that the many Christians in Europe, especially in what was then West Germany, learned about what the KCA was doing, and donated large sums of money. Not only with financial assistance, but moral and spiritual support expressed by Dr. von Weiszaecker gained Rev. Kang international credibility and reputation.
So what happened for Korea, thanks to Rev. Kang's programs?
In the early 1970s, President Park thought Rev. Kang's anti-government criticism expressed through dialogue meetings and the vernacular KCA publication Daehwa (meaning dialogue in Korean) went too far. In fact, Rev. Kang could not control the editor of Daehwa as he was editing the monthly, hiding somewhere and inserting his own strong and highly opinionated anti-Park voice.
Later, many of the KCA staff and the editor were interrogated, and some were imprisoned for studying forbidden books from North Korea, violating anti-Communist laws, among other things. That ended my part-time work for the Newsletter.
As I remember those days, I must mention Mrs. Flemington. She was an amazing person and an editorial assistant for me. She wanted to be called halmoni (grandma, in Korean), as she flew to Seoul from Fredericton in Brunswick, Canada, after her husband had died one year before. She just wanted to serve as a volunteer for any work she could find.
We exchanged Christmas cards every year after she returned home, and one item on my bucket list was visiting her town someday. But I got a sad message from her lawyer one year instead of a Christmas card.
Rev. Kang may have died 11 years ago without knowing how many seeds of social change he had scattered throughout Korea at all levels. He was a big man of invincible charisma with a true heart for the Korean people.
The writer is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is heritagekorea21@gmail.com.
