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Seven Chonbuk National University students who published a book based on their research and case study travel to the Philippines in connection with the issue of Kopinos

University students have published a book based on case studies and research travel to the Philippines in connection with the issue of Kopinos, the children of South Korean fathers and Filipino mothers.

The seven students are 26-year-old graduate Kang Sang-deok, 24-year-old Park Go-eun (currently deferring graduation), 25-year-old Kwon Ye-ri (fourth year), 26-year-old Jeong In-yong (fourth year), 24-year-old Seo Jeong-hee (fourth year), 23-year-old Yun Ji-hyeon (fourth year), and 24-year-old Bang Ha-yeong (currently on leave) from Chonbuk National University. To carry out the project, they organized a team called “Spotlight_Dreamers.” After more than a year of efforts collecting data and visiting communities, they published the book “I‘ll Keep Watching and Looking After You,” available as an e-book and a not-for-sale hard copy.

The team’s name was intended to keep alive interest in the Kopino issue, which briefly became the focus of attention before more or less fading away. Sources reported as many as 30,000 Kopino children currently living under difficult conditions in the Philippines.

The students’ interest in the Kopino issue began in Mar. 2016. As they got to know each other through a job preparation club, they learned about an official request for resolution of the Kopino issue made during a South Korea visit by then-Philippines Prosecutor General Claro Arellano. They felt both shame and a newfound interest in the issue.

As they researched the matter, the students decided together to leave behind a record. They were upset at the way the issue had been briefly discussed by the media, only to be quickly forgotten. To gather data, they participated in Chonbuk National University’s “bestseller program,” which supports student writing activities. But they were able to do little more than piece together existing bits of information - and what books and papers existed were inadequate. Newspaper articles were often deeply polarized. Finally, they decided to visit the Philippines themselves to conduct case studies and research.

Expenses and time commitments proved an obstacle. But the project got off the ground again in June 2016, when the students were selected in a competition for school support for ideas by “adventurous students.” The following July, they flew to the Philippines and spent a week visiting five support institutions for Kopinos. They also visited two shelters offering assistance to Kopino families in South Korea.

The book contains the information they learned on the ground. It reflects their initial impressions on the difficulties of the Kopino issue, the unfortunate lives of the children they met overseas, and the anger and the children’s cleverness as witnessed by the students, along with alternative ideas. In recognition of the work’s excellence, the school agreed to make copies available in its library.

“This is something produced by university students, so it’s not a professional-quality book, but we recorded what we sensed as we traced this matter from a critical perspective,” said Yun Ji-hyeon, the youngest of the group.

“We hope it will help encourage a sustained interest in the Kopino issue, rather than just brief flashes of interest,” Yun added.

By Park Im-keun, North Jeolla correspondent

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