hankyoreh

The Ministry of Public Administration and Security announced its “Nonprofit Groups Public Interest Activity Support Project” on Thursday. Thursday’s announcement has raised concerns that it signals that civic and social groups’ public interest projects will be taking a major step back this year. In particular, some are alarmed that groups who have conducted projects helping marginalized groups will be labeled “illegal violent demonstration groups” and excluded from support, while groups calling for security and the development of citizen’s attitudes will receive more and new forms of support.

According to the project’s details, some 159 groups will receive 4.9 billion won in support for 162 projects, but projects by groups that have participated in illegal violent demonstrations will be excluded. Around three quarters of the selected groups are new this year, 120 out of the 159 groups. This is a higher total than last year, 54 percent, and indicates that groups getting support for public interest projects are undergoing a major shakeup.

In fact, groups like the Korean Women Workers Association, Hangeul Culture Alliance and River Restoration Network applied this year for subsidies for public interest projects, but were excluded because they were part of the People’s Conference Against Mad Cow Disease and have been subsequently designated by police as “illegal violent protest groups.” The Korean Women Workers Association will be unable to complete the last year in its designated three-year project of “New Women Workers’ Human Rights Stories.” An official from the group said that despite the fact that the project has been carried out according to plan, the group was suddenly excluded from assistance. The official added that they were flustered since, as they cannot just quit in the middle of their three-year project.

There were many groups that did not even apply for funding. Some of this could be read as a form of protection, but the dominant reason was that they did not think their projects would qualify. An official from an education-related group says the government has made changes in which project forms can receive support. The official said projects that qualify for support should serve as “promotional activities for national affairs” rather than public interest, so it was meaningless for them to apply. Indeed, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security this year limited the scope of the public interest projects to the country’s top 100 national affairs tasks (see Cheong Wa Dae’s homepage), green growth with low carbon emissions (see the Ministry of Strategy and Finance homepage), movements to bring about social unity and advance citizen attitudes (see the Ministry of Public Administration and Security homepage) and movements to create jobs and restore South Korea’s four major rivers. Last year’s scope had included projects promoting social unity and peace, developing a base for volunteer groups and NGO activities, boosting the human rights of marginalized groups, and hosting international exchanges and cooperation.

Several of the newly selected groups this year applied for projects that are focused on “national security” and “advancing the citizenry.” For example, the Retired Colonel Association of Korea applied for 98 million won to study national security strategies and was granted 30 million won. Many of the groups that were granted awards registered themselves as non-profit organizations just in time to meet the application deadline, and have sparked controversy over what some call “hasty screenings.”

Civic and social groups are preparing a response, including an administrative lawsuit. Oh Gwang-jin, the policy team director of Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea, said police designated groups that participated in the candlelight demonstrations as “illegal violent demonstration groups” based on an arbitrary standard, and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security rejected applications for subsidies for public interest projects based on this standard. Oh said they were preparing for an administrative lawsuit in order to restore the honor of those labeled illegal violent protest groups and to bring real recovery to those who suffered losses as a result of rejections for funding.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]