Rotary in Korea

 

 

RI President D.K. Lee's home village of Yangdong, Korea.

The older generation of Korean Rotarians remembers well the hard times after the Korean War, when simply scraping together three meals a day was difficult for most people. Today, some five decades later, pride, hard work, and international aid have mended this once-broken country, and the growth of Rotary in Korea mirrors that rebirth.

South Korea occupies the southern half of a peninsula sandwiched between China and Japan. The country, about the size of Indiana, has a population of 50 million. The first Rotary club in Korea was chartered in 1927, but it wasn't until after the Korean War that Rotary really gained a foothold in Korea.

Rotarians persevere after war

After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, many Koreans fled to the south of the country as the Chinese and North Korean armies encroached. Members of Korea's first club, the Rotary Club of Seoul, did their best to continue meeting in the southern port city of Busan. When the war ended in 1953, people returned home, in many cases to utter devastation.

Korean Rotarians pitched in when and where they could in war recovery efforts. “Rotarians were well-to-do people, so they started rehab projects, provided free medical services, and raised money for medical supplies,” says Joung-Yole Rew, a Seoul Rotary club member and past district governor.

But the situation was grim, even for the well-off. “Korea was in a politically and socially depressed period. Nothing worked and everyone felt desperate about the situation,” recalls Po Hi Pak, former professor of social planning at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Pak’s husband, Chae Kyung Oh, is a past RI director; their son, Jung Yul Oh, is the current president of the Seoul club.

Postwar conditions in Korea made long-term Rotary projects a pipe dream. “But Rotarians reflected Rotary’s spirit in their everyday work, not just [in] special projects,” says Chae Kyung Oh. “They did their best through their jobs and professions.”

Chae Kyung’s career is a case in point. Minister of public information under several postwar Korean leaders, he twice lost his job for refusing to ban the writings of certain journalists.

It was such determination that helped expand Rotary in Korea, as the economy surged in the postwar decades. In the early 1960s, when the per capita gross national product was US$100, Korea had a single Rotary district comprising 11 clubs. Today, there are 1,338 clubs with 54,925 members in 17 districts, Korea’s per capita GNP is approaching $20,000, and its economy is ranked 13th in the world.

Prosperity and generosity

With this economic well-being, Koreans began to look outward, to offer others the same kind of aid they had received. The Rotary Foundation became a beneficiary of this impulse. Past RI Director In Sang Song saw much of the aid coming into the country when he served as minister of finance.

“Before the war, we received donations of many things from America, like clothes, books, food. Then, during the war, many American soldiers came to Korea and lost their lives. We cannot repay that debt, but we can do something by contributing to The Rotary Foundation,” says In Sang.

Korea has become a leader in contributions to The Rotary Foundation. During 2007-08, Rotarians in Korea contributed almost $10 million to the Foundation, ranking Korea third among contributing countries.

Koreans are as passionate about projects as they are about contributing. “Rotary introduced the idea to Koreans that individuals can contribute to society, not just the government,” says Seoul club member Byoung Kook Min.

The flagship project of Korean Rotarians is Keep Mongolia Green, a massive reforestation effort in the Gobi. The hope is that Rotarians can plant enough trees to create a windbreak that will reduce the effect of dust storms (a serious health hazard) blowing off the desert into Korea and nearby countries.

Korean Rotarians on world stage

As Rotary in Korea extends its reach, Korean Rotarians are similarly extending their influence. Many Rotarians have official and unofficial ties to the government. South Korean President Myung-bak Lee is a Rotarian, as are four recent prime ministers. The inauguration of D.K. Lee, the first Rotary International president from Korea, is evidence that Rotary has made a significant impact in Korea, and that Koreans are raising their profile on the international stage.

In Sang Song, who is 94 and still attends weekly meetings of the Rotary Club of Seoul Hanyang, reflects on all the changes he’s seen in his country and in Rotary.

“After the war, there was nothing left,” he says. “But we have come a long way since then, and Rotary in Korea has come a long way.”