Focus on Conservation: Korean Federation for Environmental Movement in Gwangju

Since 1989, the Korean Federation for Environmental Movements Gwangju (KFEM Gwangju) has been working to advance environmental awareness and protect public health. As Secretary General Choi Ji-Hyun explained, these usually go hand-in-hand, effectively making environmental problems everybody’s business.

Located near downtown, employee bicycles, leafy plants overflowing their pots, and posters from campaigns and demonstrations long past fill the KFEM Gwangju offices. Ms. Choi explained that KFEM Gwangju has six full-time staff and about 2,000 members, whose donations cover operating expenses. Most members volunteer their time and talents by joining campaigns and demonstrations, but many also hold lectures and conduct research projects.

According to Ms. Choi, the most important issue that the organization is currently working on is the effort to protect green spaces. Ten years ago, KFEM Gwangju succeeded in creating a park green space from an unused piece of land. The project was realized through the hard work and dedication of the many Gwangju citizens who cleaned up the land and planted grass and trees. Now, the city plans to develop this valuable piece of property with the construction of a second metro line over the existing park originally created by Gwangju citizens.

“For ten years, Gwangju citizens have been able to walk, go on dates, play, and exercise in the park they built together,” said Ms. Choi.  “Now, we are seeing a crisis!”  KFEM Gwangju is working tenaciously to block the plan so that they can protect this invaluable green space for its continued use and enjoyment.

KFEM Gwangju is one of 52 local KFEM branches nationwide. The largest non-governmental environmental organization in Korea, KFEM has achieved many important victories for environmental rights and an ecologically sustainable economy. In 2002, KFEM joined the Friends of the Earth International to further its policy goal of strengthening international cooperation to protect the global environment. Along with this global network of environmental organizations from more than 70 countries, KFEM is also connected with the East Asia Climate Network and Greenpeace in Seoul, allowing members of like-minded environmental organizations to share their expertise and best practices across the vast network.

At the national scale, KFEM is currently developing a project to reverse the damage wrought by the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, a multi-purpose project on the Han, Nakdong, Geum, and Yeongsan rivers in Korea. Introduced and championed by former president Lee Myung-bak, the project was declared complete in 2011. Environmental organizations, however, refer to it as the “Four Major Rivers Destruction Project.” The project was intended to construct dams and canals in order to prevent floods and drought, improve water quality, and generate jobs.

Yet, according to KFEM Chief Director, Park Chang-Jae, who presented at the World Human Rights Cities Forum held in Gwangju this past May, the enormous budget of 20 billion USD used for this project has devastated the four major rivers in Korea. River bottoms were dug up and dams hastily constructed, triggering hydro-ecological changes including the collapse of tributaries, drainage problems, stagnant water, fish kill, and flooding of farmlands and wetlands near the rivers. KFEM would like to see the end of dam construction, arguing that dams are unnecessary. Mr. Park pointed out that the “Dam Mafia,” composed of development corporations, construction bureaucrats, and politicians, benefit from the construction of dams, so it is fighting an uphill battle to stop dam construction and the environmental damage from it.

Ms. Choi has been engaged in the environmental movement with KFEM Gwangju for 14 years, serving as an office administrator and managing the overall operations of the organization. She sees education as a crucial component of building environmental awareness, citing the education that Korean elementary school students receive about recycling, global warming and energy conservation.  Children made aware of environmental issues have the potential to grow into adults who take initiative and join campaigns to protect the environment. “People power is very important in Korea,” Ms. Choi concluded. She appeals to Gwangju residents interested in environmental issues to not only provide “people power” but also educate themselves on domestic and foreign environmental issues.  “Think globally, act locally.”

The environmental movement in Korea has gained in strength and in number recently with KFEM Gwangju fighting to save all green spaces from any further environmental damage. Every time we enjoy our day at the park we benefit from the hard work of KFEM Gwangju to save this invaluable land that creates a green Korea.