SEPTEMBER 1995 · VOLUME 16 · NUMBER 9

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I N T E R V I E W

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Kyung Suk Soh is the founder and former general secretary of the Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice in Seoul, Korea, a 14,000-member non-governmental organization with 28 chapters throughout Korea.

Multinational Monitor: What is the Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice?

Kyung Suk Soh: The Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice was founded in July 1989 to address economic justice. At that time, there were very strong radical social movements in Korea, but the leanings of these groups were strongly ideological, usually of a Marxist-Leninist tendency. So their primary concern was the plight of labor and national liberation, or Kim Il Sungism [the dictator who died in June 1994, ending his 46-year reign]. They were primarily concerned with the [Korean] unification issue.

In this strongly ideological political environment of social movements at that time, there was no room for the issue of economic justice. So our organization was founded to deal with economic justice head on.

In Korea, we were under a military dictatorship for 26 years. In June 1987, a successful struggle for democracy took place. When our society entered a democratization process, we came to enjoy political and legal breathing space. This prompted people to think that social movements should be legal and peaceful. But Korean social movements still remained radical, violent and subversive. By 1989, the social movements lost much of their popular support because it was so violent and it had not changed its ideological, radical position with the times.

Korea was ready for a citizens movement. We founded our organization on four principles:

* legal and peaceful action;
* developing policy alternatives, and not just destroying and criticizing;
* pursuing the common good, instead of blindly supporting the have-nots and getting wrapped up in class struggle; and
* mobilizing based not on hatred, but the love and good will that everybody has, in order to bring about economic justice.

There are so many good people who belong to the middle class who would not join a radical movement. They could find places in our organization. So they rushed into our organization, and the organization became very big.

Our organization is also non-partisan. We do not openly support a specific political party or a specific politician. Instead, we support policies. In this way, we are able to stay autonomous and neutral.

MM: What were some of the projects that you undertook?

Kyung: Our first project was to eradicate land speculation. Between 1988 and 1991, the price of the land in Korea skyrocketed. Land prices increased at twice the rate of the total Gross National Product. When a person bought an apartment, the price of the apartment doubled in just two months. He could then sell the apartment and buy another apartment, doubling or tripling his assets in six months. So anybody who had land became richer and richer, whereas people who did not have land became poorer and poorer.

This unearned income really jeopardizes the whole society. It kills entrepreneurship. It kills the work ethic and encourages a "jackpot" mentality. Ultimately, it hampers economic growth and prompts labor disputes. But no social movement paid attention to the issue because the previous social movements were very ideological and their issues did not come from the skin, the lives of the people. I spoke out, saying that issues should not come from theory and ideology but from the lives of the people.

MM: How did your organization tackle land speculation?

Kyung: First, we analyzed the issue and then we suggested policy alternatives.

We found that Americans paid land taxes that were 33 times higher than what Koreans pay. Because the Korean tax was so low, it encouraged land speculation. So, we called for taxation reform. We conducted peaceful demonstrations, public hearings, lobbying and press conferences. Finally, because of our activity, a new law was enacted, the so-called public concept of land law, which raised land taxes.

MM: What were some subsequent issues that you took up?

Kyung: We mobilized over 500 organizations throughout the country to form an umbrella organization to push for clean and fair elections. I was the general secretary of the umbrella organization. We have carried out clean and fair election campaign successfully over the past five years.

We also have an anti-overconsumption campaign. We run a thrift shop that collects unused items and sells them at cheap prices.

We also have organized consumer cooperatives for organic agricultural products as an alternative to the products made by large agrochemical companies.

We also work on the plight of illegal workers. In Korea, there are many illegal foreign workers. Last year, we staged a demonstration for their human rights. We demanded that foreign workers be treated the same as Korean workers with respect to wage laws and compensation for injuries.

MM: So illegal workers would be treated as the equals of Korean workers?

Kyung: Yes. Even though they are illegal, they are still workers. So the law for the workers should cover them.

Other issues we deal with include banking, taxation, medium- and small-sized enterprises, wealth concentration, labor issues, agricultural issues, education, traffic congestion and housing.

MM: Do you push for corporate accountability?

Kyung: We are strong critics of large corporations. Their size monopolizes markets and jeopardizes competition. Their interconnectedness with politics corrupts our democracy.

We maintain an Anti-Corruption Center [ACC] that investigates corporate corruption. ACC's activities led to the accusation of Mr. Kim Sum Yun, president of Han Wah group, a large conglomerate, which engaged in illegal foreign exchange transactions and several other law evasion cases. ACC held a news conference to publicly request an investigation by the Prosecutor General's Office. This case concluded with Mr. Kim being arrested and charged with violating the foreign exchange control law. No newspapers reported that case because of the pressure of the conglomerates, which own the newspapers and cooperate with one another.

We also evaluate Korean companies from an economic justice point of view and, every year, we publicize a ranking. We analyzed 409 enterprises among the listed manufacturing industries in seven categories, including: fairness and soundness of business activities, protection of the environment, consumer satisfaction, treatment of employees and contributions to economic development and to the community.

MM: Recently, you expanded your work internationally. What does this entail?

Kyung: We have begun investigating the wrongdoings of Korean companies investing in the Third World. Korean companies go to the Third World, establish factories and often cause labor problems and environmental degradation. Our organization wants to raise these issues in Korea in order to put pressure on the companies.

When a Korean company goes to the Third World, its primary concern is to run profits out of the country -- immediate profit. I don't think that's good. Korean companies should pursue mutual prosperity with these countries. So, we have dispatched a specialist to investigate the conditions of Korean companies that operate in places like Indonesia and the Philippines.

MM: How do you cover such a broad agenda?

Kyung: It's true, some people call us "the pack rat," because we deal with so many issues. But, in Korea, the power of civil society is very strong. We have about 20 subcommittees that research these issues, using the expertise of about 400 scholars and specialists. These specialists do this work for us on a volunteer basis.