Social worker meets challenges head-on

Choi Hyun-ho, manager at the Korea Association of Social Workers

By Choi Kyong-ae

Choi Hyun-ho, 34, decided not to leave his job as a social worker even when he found out he had thyroid cancer three years ago. Now the manager of the Korea Association of Social Workers is deciding whether to take a rest.

Before he got the diagnosis, he used to work for 10 to 11 hours a day taking care of other people ― even though he also has a disability, the result of damaged discs in his spine.

“When I took three months off for cancer surgery, I gave serious consideration to whether to continue my job,” Choi told The Korea Times in a recent telephone interview. “I decided to go back to work because I thought I might regret leaving social work.”

Choi began his career in November 2003, even before he graduated from Daegu University, located 302 kilometers south of Seoul. He had already been helping people as a volunteer for years.

“During my high school years, I participated in an event to help a teenager diagnosed with leukemia in my hometown of Masan,” he said. “I realized that there were a lot of challenged people who needed help, so I applied to the department of social welfare science.”

Looking back on the past 10 years, Choi said he enjoyed his work but that the life of a social worker was still challenging.

He said society needed to pay more attention to the welfare of social workers themselves. Specifically, he sees room for improvement in two areas: the lack of recognition among the general public that social workers do valuable work, and the lack of training programs so that social workers can upgrade their skills.

“We are widely regarded as helpers, not professionals,” he said. “As a result, wages and working conditions need to be improved to encourage social workers. An entry-level social worker earns 1.2 million won ($1,150) a month.”

Choi also believes there should be a government-led plan to train social workers to develop their skills. Right now, he said, a certified social worker can return to the field after not working for five or 10 years, without any screening process or retraining.

As the manager of the Korea Association of Social Workers, Choi said the organization’s next project was to build a training center for the country’s 650,000 social workers.

Despite the challenges and difficulties, however, Choi said he loves the central aspect of his job: helping disadvantaged people.

In 2004, he wrote a letter to the Army’s Chief of Staff, asking for people with disabilities to be included in the popular “Experience the Army” program.

“I felt really great when my request was answered, and 35 disabled people really enjoyed the program,” he said.