Progressive Community Movements in Korea

Abstract

This paper aims at a systematic review of Korea's progressive community movements which lead to the formation of a cooperative urban community. The second section provides some remarks regarding a new concept of community development which is brought into light by the so-called postmodern social change. The third section presents a sketch on Korea's NGO-led community movements emerging along with the opening of civil society. The forth section attempts a case review on the shaping of a cooperative community, by taking an example of the ‘Hangdang-Kumho-Hawang’ area in Seoul. The fifth section draws theoretical implications from this analysis about a new model of progressive community development. By way of conclusion, there are summary and some comments on the limit of this study.

1) According to Lefebvre (1991), these two aspects of urban community stem from two contrasting characters of urban space: one for exchange value, the other for use value. 2) It is reported that, as of 1996, 3,200 civil movement organizations are formally registered to the public authority, of which 60 percent have been formed since the year 1986 when June Civil Uprising (or 6.29 Civil Uprising) broke out (Cho, 1997c). 3) Because of this, the term community movement is interchangeable with that of community development. 4) This case study is based on the author's three-year-long observation and the analysis of materials produced by both the Korea Center for City and Environment Research and the Residents' Board for Hangdang-Kumho-Hawang Planning. However, much of detailed information was drawn from the author's indepth interview with Mr. Jae-Cheon Park, a key community organizer as well as, currently, Director of the Board. I would like to thank him for letting me listen his impressive Experiences related to community movements in which he has been involved over the last 20 years. 5) Korea's current housing redevelopment relies on the method called ‘joint redevelopment’ which is carried out on the agreement between the cooperative of property owners and private developer firms. 6) The progressiveness is, in this regard, synonymous with the radicalness of the action which is taken through the COs' transgression of the given institutional framework for solution. 7) Its literal meaning is a village of pine trees and herons, symbolic of longevity. 8) The story of the village has been covered by a number of news medias (eg., Hankyeorae Daily, February 2 1997, p.11)