I am standing down from my position in the Korean Sharing Movement (KSM) in which I have spent some of the best times of my life. On days of late, I find myself asking how I might define myself and what path I might yet take without the title of “KSM Secretary-General”. I am as of yet to find the right answer. This place has shaped my identity and I will remain forever proud of being a “KSM activist”.
First of all, I need to thank the personnel of, and donors to, KSM who believe in the project and have propelled us forward over the years. Moreover, I need to thank my brothers and sisters in the South Korean civil society movement who have assisted and supported me over the years. Lastly, I send grateful messages to my successor as Secretary-General, Sangyoung Hong, whose presence, and that of the rest of the KSM office team, allows me to leave safe in the knowledge that our work will continue fruitfully.
23 years ago, In June 1996, we called out to the citizens of South Korea with a simple message; “our brothers and sisters in the north are suffering. We too shall know their suffering. We shall tell them that we too feel their pain. We shall convey that despite the passage of time since division our feelings of the brotherhood have not been extinguished, but remain glowing and that this fact has to be shared because we are indeed the same nation”. And so the Korean Sharing Movement was born. The foundation of the Korean Sharing Movement became a significant tipping point in redefining the concept of 'Korean' despite 50 years of extreme ideological battle on our peninsula. Despite countless obstacles, KSM has stood at the forefront of forging a new path for humanitarian assistance to the North and efforts to transform a relationship defined by conflict and confrontation into one of reconciliation and peace. I am really proud of the last 23 years of our movement developing the ideas of Peace and Sharing on the Korea peninsula. For this reason, I will never forget my times as a part of KSM.
From Kim Young-sam, up to the current Moon Jae-in administration, I have experienced six presidential administrations since 1996. Despite experiencing six different administrations, the protracted conflict between the Koreas remains due to the inherent characteristic of South-North relations. Whilst humanitarian assistance to North Korea and inter-Korean cooperation can and have eased tension on the Korea peninsula it could not yet guarantee lasting peace. The division of the Korean peninsula and the inherent hostility between South and North remains the essence of the antagonistic confrontation. South Korean civil society’s humanitarian assistance has operated within this context and has not been able to guarantee its autonomy or continuity to overcome this fundamental contradiction of division. Furthermore, the North’s basic perception of humanitarian assistance and southern efforts at development assistance is unchanging. North Korea’s basic stance can be nothing but contradictory. On the one hand, they engage in exchange and cooperation in the spirit of ‘one Korea helping each other’, whilst on the other hand, they see a challenge to their system and potentially destabilizing factors. This stance decreases the predictability in planning and transparency of our humanitarian assistance projects which limits our headroom for maneuverability and becomes an obstacle in developing support for engagement towards the North within South Korea.
I started my term as Secretary-General at the same time as the Lee Myung-bak administration in February 2008. The emergence of a conservative administration along with a backlash from North Korea and the corresponding deterioration in South-North relations undermined support in South Korea for engagement. In that regard, we are still today reflecting on why we could not construct a more favorable discourse promoting humanitarian assistance and more strongly rebuke the distorted perspectives that assistance was "pouring money into North Korea" and would actually strengthen the North’s nuclear capability.
As we conducted our projects in the North it was not always without problems. In the process of people meeting with people, not least people raised in a different ideological system, of course, there were times when tensions rose. But during that process, they changed, and we changed. Rather than change, perhaps it would be better to say that we developed mutual understanding. When I first started visiting North Korea in the late nineties it would not be an understatement to state that there was no mutual understanding between the North and South. Furthermore, in North Korea, the concept of an NGO did not exist and so I was also at first misconceived as a tool of the intelligence services. However, that misconception did not last long as the amount of visits and our time interacting increased. We made efforts, but the North Koreans did as well. . Of course, we had our ups and downs. There was a one year eight month period where the North refused to receive me. However, that period too was temporary. Even though progress was painstakingly slow at times we created something between South and North that previously did not exist. We also gain some condolence in that after 70 years of division hanging like a noose over South-North relations, our efforts of 20 years are still a relatively short time.
This year, South-North relations have again become strained and the government and of course civil society are facing many difficulties in pursuing assistance or cooperative projects. However, since the Moon Jae-in administration’s inauguration, the development of a sea change in atmosphere propagating peace and joint prosperity on the Korean peninsula cannot be undone and has taken its place in early 21st century Korean history. The opportunity to co-exist and prosper together continues to be on the table. Despite the difficulties that exist it remains up to civil society to realize the spirit of peace and sharing and there has been no change in my conviction that it is our mission to ensure that humanitarian assistance and exchange projects extend to peace and South-North integration.
Now we must deal with the 'new North Korea' rather than the 'old North Korea' and we must break free from our habits of the past and embrace a new creative imagination when designing South-North exchange and cooperation projects. This new environment poses not only a challenge of survival for South Korean NGOs but also a new opportunity where the need for bold new thinking is pressing. In place of one directional, one-time assistance, a new paradigm that embraces sustainable mutual cooperation projects as a means to lessen the gap between South and North and promote balanced development is required. This has to contribute to pushing us towards a comprehensive peace that extends peaceful coexistence. I hope and expect that the Korea Sharing Movement's remaining staff will continue to show initiative and be at the forefront of efforts from civil society to carry out the humanitarian and inter-Korean cooperative projects that can contribute to peace.
Soon, I will undertake a new work challenge. Even though my new job will not stray too much from the territory of the work that I have done for the last twenty-three years, as I will not be working in an NGO I realize that I must find a new determination suitable for this new challenge whilst never forgetting the identity forged whilst working for civil society. In that sense, I ask for your continued support and encouragement.
Once again, thank you for all your support over the years. Even when I was lacking or too demanding, your patience and belief have sustained me. Furthermore, please support Sangyoung Hong, KSM’s new Secretary-General and the other KSM staff, as you have supported me over the years. I will also continue to do my upmost for KSM in whatever way I can.
Thank you.
