Korean Prostitution Chapter 4
Chapter IV Analysis of the NGO Activities in the Research Areas
1. Theoretical Framework and Summary of Questions
As expounded in the introduction, Cynthia Enloe's theories concerning international relations are divided into two main sections. She commences her argument by stating, the international is personal, which, in Korea, defines the effects of the relationship between the Korean and American governments and upon the residents of the military towns. Secondly, she proposes that the influence of international relations upon domestic society can only be identified through the recognition of gender and the inequalities resulting from the patriarchal dominance of society.
The status of women living in the military towns is influenced by a patriarchal society and manipulations of the definitions of gender. For instance, since the U.S. soldiers regularly interact with prostitutes in the military towns, they most often identify the entirety of Korean women as prostitutes.1) U.S. Army officials promote these stereotypes, claiming prostitution is necessary to maintain 'morale'. Cynthia Enloe says, "Rather than address these deeper ramifications of prostitution, military officials often express only a more narrow concern about (male) soldiers morale and readiness for combat."2) This form of military justification is used to justify the blatant abuse of Korean people by the U.S. military.
The Korean government interested in maintaining power ignores the plight of these women and acquiescences with American demands for social control in the military towns. The students movements uses nationalism to combat the U.S. militarism. However, like the U.S., and Korean governments, the nationalist movements also fails to recognize the plight of the military town women, and therefore the prostitutes are often left completely unprotected from the human rights abuses by the U.S. military.
By in large these human rights abuses result from the failure to recognize the sexual discrimination and inequalities faced by women in the military towns on an everyday basis. The neglection of the social welfare programs by both the U.S. and Korean governments is an extension of this phenomena. As a result, women and children in military towns lack the sufficient medical attention, legal help, and various other social welfare programs needed to survive.
Members of NGOs, such as, Yu Jin Jeong and Kim Hyon Son and various other activists and scholars adopt a similar perspective to Enloe's feminist approach to militarism, in modern Korean society by focusing upon the necessity to recognize the human rights of the individuals within the military towns and critically analyzing the patriarchal nature of U.S./Korean governments and nationalist activist movement. Hence, CB-NGO activists focus upon the immediate needs of the women and children in the military towns and CS-NGO focus upon publicization of these realities.
Through the application of Cynthia Enloe's theories, the works written by the Korean scholars and activist listed above and my personal experiences, I will analyze the activities, thoughts and experiences of the CB-NGO and CS-NGO staff members. As Cynthia Enloe states, the extent of human rights abuses will only become visible if we recognize the sexual discrimination resulting from patriarchal society's deliberate attempts to trivialize the plight of the women in the military towns by the manipulation of the gender.3)
Accordingly, questions were formulated in order to understanding the intricacies of the real-life patriarchal system operating in the military towns. In addition, through implementation of the theoretical analysis discussed above, we will explore the effects of the international environment and the patriarchal nature of the Korean and American governments and the nationalist social movements.
The general questions concerning the NGO activities focus upon the individual staff member's personal experiences in the military towns. For instance, staff members are asked questions such as: What are the (individual/organizational) difficulties you face as a social activist? Why did you choose social activism as a career, and from what perspectives do you approach activism? In addition, this section includes questions regarding staff's individual feelings and thoughts concerning American military criminal acts before and after participating in activism, and the needs of the military town prostitutes, ensuing from the human rights violations by the U.S. military. The staff's experiences in activism and their personal opinions concerning the American Military in Korea will facilitate to attain a better understanding of the philosophical and theoretical approaches activism.
The second section focuses upon the American military crimes in South Korea. Staff members are asked questions such as, what crimes do the GIs most frequently commit? What can the NGOs do to prevent these injustices? Can the NGOs provide expert assistance (lawyer, doctor, councilor) to these women? Through the experiences of the NGO staff members this section provides insight into the real-life struggle between the military town women and the American military and hence the relationship between the international and the individual.
The final two sections endeavors to analyze the pool of personal experiences of the NGO-staff concerning the military town prostitutes and the Amerasian children. The NGO staff members are asked questions such as, how do the NGOs provide medical assistance to the prostitutes? What do you think about the clinics, which only check for STDs? Is sex education offered to either GIs or prostitutes? This section will provide concrete examples which facilitate understanding of the importance of gender and the tendency women in the military towns to be discriminated against because of their sex and social status within society. In addition, the U.S. tendency to attempt to manipulate the social-political environment and the resulting affects of militarism upon the women in the military town will become evident.
The final section of our interview focuses upon the Amerasian children in the military towns. Since the GI, fathers, often left these children behind after their tour of duty, the mother's, the military town prostitutes are forced to take care of these children..
In the following sections, through the summarization of interviews with NGO staff members , and supplementation of verbal interviews, I intend to paint a vivid picture of the present condition within the military towns. This section will focus in upon Cynthia Enloe's two main points, that is, the affects of international relations upon the individual, and the necessity to recognize the inequalities evoked by the ignorance concerning gender.
2. Individual responses
a. CB-NGOs:
*Durae-Bang (Interview with Mrs. Yu, Yong Nim:������)
Presently Durae-Bang consists of four members, two staff members and two-ex prostitutes who are now working in the Bakery. Since Mrs. Park Hae Jong (������), the executive representative, recently experienced back surgery, she was not available for the interview. In addition, because the questions were not appropriate for the ex-prostitutes working in the bakery, we were only able to interview Mrs. Yu, Yong Nim. Mrs. Yu, the head of Dureabang, graduated from Dongkuk University (�������б�) and became involved in military town activism through connections with the church. The women working in the Bakery, who were previously prostitutes, participated in the work transfer program and have become full time staff members of this NGO. Mrs. Yu states that although the bakery was originally created as a job training facility, because of the prostitutes/ ex-prostitutes social status in Korean society, finding a bakery to hire them is almost impossible. Therefore, the two ex-prostitutes working in the bakery became full-time staff, and the job-training program was by all means discontinued. Together these four women constitute the current staff of Durae-Bang, which has a membership of approximately thirty to forty prostitutes and former-prostitutes.
Since the ages of these members range from forty to seventy years and most no longer participate in prostitution, the programs and aims of this organization have been reconfigured. Mrs. Yu states that most often these women are reluctant to leave their homes, because of the physical and mental strain of living in the military towns. Consequently, there are few fixed programs and hence when the women need assistance, they contact Durae-Bang. In addition to dismantling the job-training Bakery programs, the Children's center was also shut down do to lack of participation.
Recently Durae-Bang received a grant from the government4) in order operate an arts and crafts program on behalf of the women in the military towns. This program was created for the elderly women who have difficulty maintaining a level of subsistence for their children and themselves. In addition, in place of the Children's Center, a library and Chinese character classes have been established.
While providing services and operating programs, Mrs. Yu claims that the most difficult aspects of administrating these programs is approaching the prostitutes and subsequently maintaining their trust. According to Mrs. Yu, Durae-Bang does provide financial assistance, however she maintains that prostitutes must not become reliant upon Durae-Bang. She claims that the main goal is to create an environment where these women can survive without Durae-Bang's assistance, become self-sufficient and escape from the debilitating environment of the military town.
According to most social activists who work in the military towns, the main threat to the safety and health of the women in the military towns is the American GIs. Mrs. Yu is definitely no exception. She states that not only do American GIs commit most of the crimes in the military towns, but since the greater part of these incidents go unchecked, the human rights of the military town women are continually violated. The problem is so severe that unless a woman is killed, neither the MP's nor the Korean police show up at the crime scene. Mrs. Yu states regretfully that the only option for rectifying these injustices is religious and psychological counseling, In addition, Durae-Bang maintains a small clinic, which includes a volunteer certified doctor. Furthermore, she states that many of the older women's medical problems are a result of stress acquired through years of living in the military towns. Again regretfully she states that the only solution to these physical/psychological problems is counseling.
Mrs. Yu states that the Amerasian children have become the next generation of victims of American criminal acts in the military towns. Rather than physical or sexual abuse, although these are often included, the GIs crime is against humanity. Without taking responsibility, these soldiers have brought thousands of unwanted Amerasian children into the World. Mrs. Yu states that these children have difficulty relating in Korean society and that the possibility of living a normal life in Korea is almost impossible. Since numerous restrictions are placed upon Amerasian attempting to go to the U.S. and the Korean government offers absolutely no social welfare programs for these children, many of these Amerasian's inevitably become part of the lowest stratums of Korean society. In order to improve these conditions, Mrs. Yu suggests that either the Korean or the American governments must change their policy. She states that, either the Korea government should provide a policy or programs, which will allow these children to be accepted by the rest of Korean society or the U.S. should give them full access to American citizenship.
The seriousness of the injustices in Baet Bore become clear through analysis of the incidents in the military towns with Cynthia Enloe's theories regarding gender and international relations. The international, the U.S. affects the lives of individual, prostitutes, within the military towns. Crimes committed by U.S. officers are left unpunished and a legacy of Amerasian children and ex-prostitutes remains. The women who once served as the R & R for the U.S. military men have aged, and no longer can survive as prostitutes. The U.S.. justifies ignoring the existence of these women with a token, claiming that the soldiers need to maintain 'morale'.
In addition, The Korean government who has only recently provided minimal funds to Durae-Bang, avoids any form of conflict with the U.S. military. Thus, international necessity becomes the reason for domestic sacrifice. As with the U.S. and Korea, that nationalist activist also have no answers to the immediate problems that these women and children face.5) Financial, health, legal difficulties are left unresolved because of the failure to recognize women as an integral member of our society.
* Saewoomtuh (Interview with Kim Hyon-son:������, Kim Ju Young:���ֿ�,������, Kang-Ok Kyong: ������ Chong Kang Shir:������:, Chon Sue Kyong:������)
The representative of this organization is Kim Hyon-son, the vice-representative is Kang-Ok Kyong, the bureau representative Kim Ju Young, Chong Kang Shir is the head of women's relations and finally the Child Center staff is Chong Sue Kyong . In addition to the five staffers listed above, OO, a former prostitute is also working as a staff member. In addition to the questionnaires, I also recorded two live interviews, which included Saewoomtuh's representative Kim Hyon-son and the staff of the Child Center Chong Sue Kyong.
Presently, Saewoomtuh has a total of five staff members, who counsel, advise and provide anything else necessary to an entirety of 80 members, who are mostly prostitutes or ex- prostitutes. The staff has a collective work experience of over twenty years. Unfortunately, due to the lack of funds, societies ignorance concerning the military town, and the shortage of personnel, the effectiveness of the NGO is significantly decreased. Financial difficulties have been exacerbated by Saewoomtuh's refusal to receive funds from large organization or the government. This policy was strictly enforced during Saewoomtuh's first two years of operation. In addition, recently with the growing number of elderly ex-prostitutes, Saewoomtuh's limited capacity has been extended even further.
Despite severe financial difficulties Saewoomtuh provides, the military town women with advice and medical treatment and in case of a serious medical emergency, financial assistance is also provided. Although the government does provide STD clinics for prostitutes, as Kim Ju Young explains, These services only operate in order to protect the U.S. soldiers from being infected with STDs and also to regulate the activities of the military town prostitutes. He suggests that instead, the Korean and American governments need to provide clinics, which offer more complete health care.6)
As with the deficiencies and the paradoxes of the medical services offered in the military towns, Amerasian children also face numerous hazards in the military town environment. As Kim Sue Kyong, staff at the Child Center points out, without the proper care of legitimate parents and an outwards appearance distinctly different from the rest of Korean society, these children experience financial instability and prejudice from both Korean and American societies. As a result many of these Amerasian's spend their entire life destitute, with little or no education, and are alienated from the rest of society. In response to these social issues, Kim Hyon-son suggests that Saewoomtuh must provide,
"1) Social activism to combat the prejudice against the children
2) Education opportunities to these children (study programs, scholarships, and assistance for attending tutoring and
3) assistance to the family or mothers of the Amerasian children."
In other words, Saewoomtuh needs to provide some structure to these children's life. Since the environment of the military town is extremely unstable, the staff of the children's center must play the role of parent, teaching the children to walk, eat, and survive within a hostile environment.
The theoretical approach of Saewoomtuh is a mixture feminism and nationalist student activism, with an emphasis on the human rights of the individual. Kim Hyon-son explains that the feminist perspective has various facets. First of all, although analysis of the problem is initiated from the individual, on a broader level the violation of human rights by the American military also has socio-political implications. In other words, the suffering of the individual must be considered pervasive to the society as a whole. For instance, many Koreans believe that the difficulties faced by the women in the military towns are incurred for personal reasons: liberal lifestyle, the dream of going to America, or the desire for life without responsibility. However when analyzed through a broader lens, due to the IMF economic crisis, and/or other financial-social difficulties, which are related to society as a whole, these women often become prostitutes out of necessity. She claims that the reason for these stereotypes is that society limits the potential of women, not only in the military towns, but also throughout Korean society. Hence, the feminist perspective provides these women with the tools, both psychological and material to mitigate these stereotypes. Through feminism, and a focus upon individuals, Saewoomtuh attempts to dispel the misconceptions held by the majority of the Korean society, thereby creating a social environment responsive to these women's needs and the solution to the human rights abuses by the American military.
The human rights violations in the military town are directly linked to the presence of the U.S. military. More specifically, as the bureau representative Kim Joo Young explains, it's not necessarily the individual GIs who are the root of these evils but rather promotion of the patriarchal order by the U.S. military. This militaristic perspective promotes both physical violence and an ideological notion that the U.S. is superior to Korea. Thus, as Cynthia Enloe points out, the violations of military town women's human rights are intensified because the paradoxes of the patriarchal society.
Furthermore, as Kim Hyon-son states, the most common crimes committed by American soldier is assault, sexual/physical abuse, and theft. Based on her experiences in the military towns, Mrs. Kim observes that one out of five incidents are not reported. In case a military town prostitute is harmed by a GI , Mrs. Kim states that Saewoomtuh has a three step procedure (program):
"1) file an official report at the police station and with mass media,
2) council the victims, (this entails listening to the victims and deciding what they may need (medical/legal aide)) and
3) gather information (about similar cases, past and present)."
She also suggest that the military town women, that is, the victims, must be actively involved in the process of determining a solution to these crimes. For instance, staff members must council the victims, and divide necessary activities, compelling the prostitutes to take responsibility for the situation. In other words, Saewoomtuh promotes the idea that these women are the ones who must lead the fight against injustices in the military town, because these women are most qualified to understand the situation in the military towns. In order facilitate a movement, which functions to include the prostitutes and ex-prostitutes in activism, Saewoomtuh established its center in Dongduchon. Kim Hyon-son and the other staff members of Saewoomtuh believe that the foundation of the NGO must recognize the importance of the victims.
Kim Joo Young expands, by suggesting that society must develop into a social environment in which the victims can express their grief concerning realities in the military town. Through the mass media, and other forms of communication, the distortion of the realities of the military towns must be exposed. Presently, Saewoomtuh utilizes interviews with the media, 'The Military Town Volunteer Program'(��Ȱ), seminars and essays to publicize the realities of the military towns. In addition, Kim Hyon-son proposes that Seawoomtuh will open offices in Seoul, to deal exclusively with issues concerning the civil society.
Although Kim Hyon-son has vowed not to accept contributions from foreign organizations, the movement does maintain ties with foreign organization with similar goals. She says in the future she plans to expand networking and exchange of materials with similar organizations from various countries (Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand).
Saewoomtuh's attempts to facilitate international networking reveals the progressive philosophy of combing theory with activism. In order to better understand the process in which Saewoomtuh facilitates this connection Cynthia Enloe's theoretical approach provides important insight concerning the direction and activities of Saewoomtuh. Most important is the vision of hope offered by Kim Hyon Son and the other members of this NGO. Cynthia Enloe elaborates upon this idea, in her book Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, by claiming, "I suggest that the world is something that has been made; therefore, it can be remade." but first, she continues, "It takes a lot of information-gathering, a lot of thinking, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of emotionally draining work to understand how notions about femininity and masculinity create and sustain global inequalities and oppression in just one of these sectors."7) In Dongduchon, Kim Hyon Son and the staff of Saewoomtuh have adopted this challenge and through trial and error, scholarship and activism this organization is attempting to directly affect the course of events within the military town. Kim Hyon Son claims the women in these areas can no longer simply be viewed as victims without alternatives but rather empowered Korean citizens, able to fight against the injustices which occur because of militarism and nationalism. Through constant research and experiences activists gain knowledge concerning the needs of the women and children in the military towns. Unlike activism in the past, lead by the student movements, Saewoomtuh connects hope, action, understanding and concrete services for the women and children in the military towns. Enloe layed out the theoretical framework, the course needed to overcome the injustices accrued by patriarchal society, and the members of the Saewoomtuh took the theory and went one step further by creating Saewoomtuh.
Another instance of the incorporation of Enloe's theories into Saewoomtuh's agenda, is evident when Enloe discusses the future prospects of militarism and sexual discrimination. Enloe suggests ,"Perhaps because feminists start from the conditions of women's lives, and because they see how many forms violence, unhappiness, and distress can take, they often define peace as women's achievement of control over their own lives."8) Saewoomtuh members adopted this feminists philosophy and defined the ultimate goal of their activism as the self-empowerment of the women and children in the military towns. As with the vision of hope described above, this theoretical approach to activism provides an optimistic outlook and a grain of hope to the women in the military towns.
* Tabitha's Community (Ÿ��Ÿ����ü) (Rev. Woo Sub Chon:���켷, Lee Mi-yae: �̹̾�, Kim Uni: ������, Han Sang Hui: �ѻ���)
Four out of the five staff members of Tabitha's Community completed the questionnaire; the representative Rev. Woo Sub Chon, Lee Mi-yae staff of the Children's center, and two general staff members Kim Uni and Han Sang Hui.9) The foundation of this NGO is religion, mixed with a vague sense of humanism.10) As representative Rev. Woo Sub Chon explains, the main difficulties faced by this NGO are the shortage of funds, societies misconception of the military towns, and a lack of cooperation between the government and the NGOs. Because of these difficulties, attempts to improve the conditions in the military towns have been severely impaired.
Nevertheless, Tabitha's community is quite active, providing counseling, law assistance, as well as, medical assistance. Rev. Woo Sub Chon states that many of the medical and psychological difficulties that the military town women face are a result of the hostile environment of the military town. For instance, dissatisfaction with ones identity and uncertainty concerning ones future, result from the interaction with the unhealthy influences of the military environment, such as loud music cigarettes, prostitution and drugs. If stress from the military town environment becomes acute prostitutes often obtain psychological stress, which results in disease. The counseling program, which is based on religion, uses the bible to promote mental and physical stability.
Reverend Woo Sub Chon stresses the fact that treatment is the number one priority of the medical programs. In other words treatment is considered a priority to religious teachings (counseling). Through the auspicious of the medical facilities condoms and sexual education are also offered. In addition to the medical facilities, Tabitha's community also operates a Children's center and a study room. As Han Sang Hui explains, many of the difficulties experienced by Amerasian children in the military towns occur because these children have 1) difficulty defining their identity and 2) are victims of racial prejudice by the Korean society. She proposes that the only method of confronting these problems is through specialized schools, which provide education tailored to the Amerasian children, in order to focus on the necessities of these children.
The theoretical approach of Tabitha's community is undoubtedly based in the Church. As with Durae-Bang, this organization connects religion with humanism. As Kim Uni states, "In the eyes of Christ, every human has the right to be equal and loved. Since this organizations foundation is based in the church, most of the staff views the military town women as victims, and the church as their liberator. As Rev. Woo Sub Chon states, "The prostitutes are the victims and we are the assailants, therefore we must give them a desire to start a new life. What these women really need is love." In other words, Tabitha's Community has been designated by God to help the military prostitutes. In addition, according to the responses of the other three staff member, we can infer that since the prostitutes are ignorant, in trouble, and victims; Tabitha's Community, which is spreading the gospel of the Church, must save these women.
Unlike other NGOs included in this study; Tabitha's community focus is religion and the military town prostitutes, rather than the U.S. army. Nevertheless, through experience and direct interaction with the residents of the military towns, the image of the American military is far from positive. As Rev. Woo Sub Chon proclaims, "At first I considered the U.S. to be a benevolent super power. However, now I perceive the U.S. as a nation, which uses imperialism to further it's own interests. In addition, my antipathy towards America has increased, because of the frequent human rights violations of by the American military." Along with Rev. Woo Sub Chon, the remaining three staff members had similar experiences. In other words, through activism and interaction with the military town prostitutes and the Amerasian children, the staff of Tabitha's community realized the seriousness of human rights violations of the American military in South Korea.
In order to reform these conditions Tabitha's community focuses upon three main forms of activism. Through the teachings of Christianity, Tabitha's community offers counseling and methods to reform those who live in the military towns, the foundation of these services is missionary work. On the domestic front networking with organization with similar goals empowers the organization. For instance, Rev. Woo Sub Chon also serves as a Deputy representative of the 'National Campaign'. In addition to the domestic activities Rev. Woo Sub Chon states that in the international arena, through the KNCC (�ѱ���ȸ����ȸ), Tabitha's Community has formed ties with churches in Germany and the U.S. and through exchange with these organizations, he hopes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the NGOs in Korea.
b. CS-NGOs: National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by U.S Troops in Korea (���ѹ̱����� ���� �����)(Kim Dong-shim: �赿��, Lee So-Hui�̼���, Oh Jina: ������)
Unlike the Community Based-NGOs described above, the Civil Society-NGO, the National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by U.S. Troops in Korea is located in Seoul, and therefore the staff has limited contact with the military towns. There are presently five permanent staff members, however when I conducted the interview two months ago there were only three. This organization is represented by Reverend Moon Tae-gol (�����), the director of the personnel is Reverend Chong Jin-u(������) and three staff members; Kim Dong-shim (bureau representative), and two general staff members Lee So-hui and Oh Jina. I distributed the questionnaires only to staff members, as the staff members are the ones who plan and participate in the social activism. Since most of the staff members are women and young, older established male religious leaders serve as figureheads for this organization.
Kim Dong-shim states that the objective of this organization is to act as a catalyst in changing the perception of military towns, thereby facilitate more effective social activism. Although this organization has sponsored various programs in order to combat the human rights abuses of the American military in Korea and publicize and educate society concerning the issues in the military towns, including connecting CB-NGOs with lawyers and other legal assistance, seminars, and an internet web sight11), shortage of funds and misrepresentation of the ideological background have been this organizations' Achilles heal.12).
As Kim Dong-shim explains, the situation is so serious that for the past four years, due to lack of funds, this organization has been unable to pay rent, in the box like room they are renting and staffers frequently work without getting paid. In addition, do to the political realities of modern Korea and the pervading stereotypes of Korean society, most Koreans assume the National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by U.S. Troops in Korea, is a leftist or communist organization.13) However, even though staff members participated in the student movements of the 1980's and 1990's, the ideological base of this organization is feminism. Due to society's false impression of the objectives of this NGO, public support is minimal, and governmental support is almost unimaginable.
In addition, the established nationalist social activists also criticize the 'National Campaign'. As Oh Jina explains, "the nationalist movement of the 1970's and 1980's continues to have an immense affect upon today's NGO activities. Presently social activists are having difficulty adopting new theories in order to create a social movement suitable for the 1990's." Because staff members have adopted a feminist perspective, very similar to the ideological framework outlined by Kim Hyon-son of Saewoomtuh, nationalist activist accuse this organization of being lightweight and ineffective. Kim Dong-shim responded to these accusations by stating, "We look at this issue through the human rights perspective and the necessity to preserve the freedom and peace. Therefore, we stand firmly against the nationalist social activism tendency to ignore the violations of human rights by the U.S. military in order to promote the nationalist's own agenda." Even while participating in the student movement during college, Mrs. Dong-shim felt that there was a necessity to further explore the affects of American criminal acts upon the individuals living in the military towns.
In order to expand the sphere of activism, Kim Dong-shim states that this organization has currently branched out and maintains contact with foreign organization, dealing with similar issues. In order to obtain new perspectives regarding activism and solutions to the violations of human rights in the military towns, this organization has made efforts to maintain international networking. The 'National Campaign' currently maintains affiliation with NGOs in the U.S. Philippines, Japan and Okinawa and the goal is to gain a deeper understanding of issues concerning U.S. military presence.
As with in the CB-NGOs and activism which directly affects the lives of the women and children in the military towns, Cynthia's Enloe's theoretical approach also provides important incite into the activities of the CS-NGOs. Although CB-NGOs, which provide social welfare services to the women and children in the military towns, occasionally receive assistance from the government and individual organizations, CS-NGOs such as the 'National Campaign' have a much more difficult task. Enloe proposes that, "...while local feminists have taken concrete steps to ensure that their analysis and future aspirations are included in the overall anti-bases agenda, so far these efforts have had only minimal impact on anti-militarist organizing." In Korea CS NGOs such as the 'National Campaign' inevitably face difficulties which are related to Enloe's statement. The reasons for the lack of influence are two fold, 1) Both the Korean government and society as a whole consider the activities of the 'National Campaign' as being radical and 2) the nationalist student movements refuse to recognize feminist movements as 'true' activism, claiming that NGO activism is not radical.
3. Comparison and Analysis
With limited resources, NGOs attempt to combat the social and political injustices and convey these realities to society as a whole. Each organization listed above has proven to sustain a certain level of productivity thereby promoting much needed social welfare and change in the military towns. Unfortunately, nationalistic social activists and government officials frequently ignore the women activists in the CB/CS-NGOs.
Nevertheless, through a variety of programs Durae-Bang, Saewoomtuh, Tabitha's Community and the National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by U.S. Troops in Korea, represent the most prominent proponents of women and children in the military towns. Each of these NGOs approaches social activism in the military town from a unique standpoint. As the representative of Durae-Bang Mrs. Yu, Yong Nim states, NGOs must observe issues in the military towns from various theoretical approaches in order to obtain a complete understanding of all facets of the military town.14) The base and theoretical standpoint of each NGO inevitably has a major effect upon the activities of each organization. Theoretical approaches focus on such topics as religion, feminism, nationalism and social welfare.
Initially the theoretical base of the prominent NGOs was the Christian Church and the bible. Durae-Bang, Tabitha's Community, and the National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by U.S. Troops in Korea all have their roots in the Church. Both Durae-Bang and Tabitha's Community use the bible and Christian Principles directly in CB-NGO activities, such as counseling for the military women and study programs for the children. Over the years, through direct participation in activism, many NGO staff members have realized the limits of the theological approach while dealing with dilemmas occurring in the military towns. For instance, non-Christian prostitutes have difficulty trusting the staff of these organizations. Moreover, instead of activism being based on the realities of the military towns, programs are based on the precepts of Christianity. In other words, these religious based NGOs 1) are restricted by there theological background 2) patriarchal nature and 3) lack the tools necessary to accurately predict or provide social action necessary in order to confront the injustices in the military towns..
The staff of Saewoomtuh, realized that in order to obtain an accurate evaluation of the needs of the military town women and their children, activism must focus upon self-sufficiency, trust, and understanding. Saewoomtuh has been able to recognize the needs of the women and children in the military towns by recognizing their existence. According to Cynthia Enloe, this entails the recognition of patriarchal favoritism in most modern societies. In so doing, Saewoomtuh's programs recognize the needs of the women in the military towns and provides social welfare programs, acknowledging the need for protection of the human rights of these women. Programs such as counseling, job training and medical care are instituted solely for the purpose of improving the living conditions of the women and children in the military towns. There are no external motivations for Saewoomtuh, such as religion, nationalism or personal economic gain.
Women like representative Kim Hyon-son and vice-representative Kang Ok-kyong, use their experiences with the prostitutes to improve methods of counseling and programs. Programs instituted by Saewoomtuh have concrete goals and strong theoretical rationalization. These activities serve to directly empower the women in the military towns. Staff members create an environment were society is forced to recognize and deal with the existence of these women, the abuses of human rights and the international implication of these incidents. In doing so, they view these women not as victims but rather empowered humans capable of overcoming the injustices carried out by the U.S. military. Empowerment of the military town women includes creating an environment where prostitutes/former prostitutes can learn to be self sufficient, in both everyday life and social activism. The concept of empowerment facilitates a relationship of equality between the staff and the members. In other words, instead of treating these women as 'victims', they are treated as a collective force, an empowered entity within Korean society.
Once these women are empowered, the next step according to Enloe, is to realize the relationships between the international and the individual. In Korea, the system of prostitution in the military towns must be recognized as a result of the social and political manipulations of the U.S. military policy in Korea. Recognition of this relationship will allow CB-NGOs to join forces with CS-NGOs and publicize the human rights abuses in the military towns. Recognition of these concepts will also allow activism in the military towns to spread out and have an impact upon a larger section of society, as well as in the international arena.
1 If the U.S. soldiers are men; white, African-American, Latino, Asian-American- who have grown up imagining that they are somehow more modern or advanced that the local people, the relationships they enter into with local women will be fraught from the start with paternalism and perhaps later with tension and trauma. Enloe (1991), op. cit., p. 98.
2 Ibid., p.101.
3 Cynthia Enloe(1987), op. cit., p.538.
4 Social Welfare Community Fund (��ȸ ���� ���� ��� ȸ).
5 Women do not benefit automatically every time the international system is reordered by a successful nationalist movement.
Cynthia Enloe, "Bananas, Beaches, and Bases", Linda Kauffman ed., American Feminist Though At Century's End: A Reader, (Mass: Blackwell Publishers, 1993) p.452.
6 Interview with Kim Hyon-son on 18 Feb 2000. The tendency for the Korean government to pass the buck was exhibited when Kim Hyon-son, occurred during a visit to the Blue House (the Korean equivalent to the White House) when the chairman for the Committee for Women's Rights said, "I can feel the grief of the victims and am well aware of the atrocious conditions in the military towns and keep up the hard work, and will get to you later."
7 Enloe(1993), op. cit., p.456.
8 Enloe(1987). cit. op., p. 538.
9 Since I did not participate as a volunteer in this organization, verification of the of the validity of the staff's questionnaire is impossible.
10 Upon graduation of (���ȸ���д��� ���д��п�), Rev. Woo Sub Chon 's thesis paper was entitled
"The Study of an Alternative Form of Missionary Work to Deal with the Development of Prostitution in a Paternalist Society." (The development of a humane society)
11 The address of the homepage for the 'National Campaign' is http://usacrime.or.kr.
12 In an interview Oh Jina says, "A few weeks ago I read an article in the Hangurae (�Ѱܷ�) Newspaper which said that although over 60 percent of Korean citizens support the idea of NGOs and appreciate the social activism provided by these organizations, only eight percent were willing to give a donation." This example serves as an illustration of the seriousness of the financial state of the NGOs in Korea.
13 After WWII and the U.S. army was permanently established in South Korea, Anti-American was synonomous with Communist.
14 Mrs. Yu, Yong Nim states, In order to resolve the problems in the military towns the application of a variety of various theoretical approaches is necessary. Interview with Yu, Yong Nim 18 Feb 2000.