Director Training 2014-2015 YWCA Emphasis on Education

Seoul YWCA has coordinated a director training program with Seoul’s northern part directors, members, and staff on November 6 (Wednesday) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Out of the six 2014-2015 YWCA priority projects, peaceful unification, female violence prevention, gender-sensitive policy settlement are the lectured subjects summarized and looked at.

Preparations for unification, education for peace and path to aid North Korea

Prof. Kim, Young-Soo (Seogang University)

Why peaceful unification?

Currently North Korea’s ‘Kim Jong Un center’ system has been developing and strong winds of social change is forming. As information circulation has accelerated, more people have come to use cell phones and as capitalism has come into play, there have been changes to perceptions on capital. In a new political culture with its emphasis on foundation and composition and capitalism’s ‘We can live only with money’ have merged, bribery has become prevalent.

Why peaceful unification? This is because we know the damages of unification by force, and because after unification there cannot be a separation. Recently Kim Jong Un has declared a unification by force within three years heightening the tension between North and South Korea. The terrible and tragic effects of war cannot be imagined by any generation that was not experienced war. We need to prepare for a peaceful unification to avoid our country from devastation, and a separation again after unification. Peaceful unification starts with preparation. Institutional unification is important; however, a unified mind is more important. We must start from acknowledging that we are different from others.

Unification of People, Unification of Mind

To overcome the realities of a sixty year division, we need to prepare for a ‘unification of people’, which is the ‘unification of mind’. Why not practice a rehearsal on unification ‘with North Korean refugees’ and not ‘for North Korean refugees’. To understand North Korea comprehensively we need a new education from before and we must continue to inform North Koreans of new announcements.

Envisioning the future after unification is also important. Let’s try imagining how it would be like after unification. We must have thoughts such as ‘what would happen to the army after unification, which major would be most popular, what can we do for a living’ and we must envisage our life after unification.

With regard to North Korean aid, we need not a one-time aid but we need to emphasize ‘little, meaningful, continuous’ aid. Its important to continuously carry out projects such as sending sanitary pads and cosmetics to North Korean women, and sending powdered milk to North Korean children. Let us try constructing a ‘Y-project’ that may differentiate the YWCA from others.