Waving the Flag Regardless
of Time and Place
The Story of Jeong, Moon-ja(vice-chair, KWWAU Incheon Branch, director of the Bupyong Self-help Supporting Agency)
Park, Minna Working Woman Editing Staffer
A mother who lights up at the innocent smiles of her children
You get off at Baekwoon station on subway line # 1 to reach the KWWAU Incheon Branch. The colorful words on the windows of the office were a sharp contrast to the crouching buildings in the neighborhood surrounded by high rise apartment complexes. The office was bustling with activity as if a traditional farmers' troupe had suddenly appeared in the neighborhood. The Bupyeong Self-help Supporting Agency was on the second floor.
The office has only recently moved into its present premises and was clean and bright, lively with the busy movements of the workers. Director Jung, Moon-ja, busy with the activities on self-help programs since the designation of the organization as a private self-help supporting agency last August, greeted me warmly.
Director Jung said that she has lost 3kg recently and wished she had two selves to carry out all the administrative details in the self- help programs as well as other organizational work involved. But she would need another self as she is a married woman. On the question about family life, she suddenly opened her bag and took out a photo and a printed paper and started talking about her daughter.
Laughingly, she said, “I was a little sick recently and my seven year old second daughter sent me an e-mail saying how sorry she was for me. I was so proud of her and resolved not to fall sick even for her sake. I showed off to my colleagues at work next morning and everyone took off by saying "There she goes again."
I can imagine how proud she must have been to have printed the e-mail message and carried it around with her. I could understand why she brightened up as she looked into the photos of her children.
“The older daughter who is in grade 5 is half a mother to the younger one. She is so grown up and no matter what happens, she is always at home when the little one returns from school.”
There was a similar time for Director Jung when she was growing up.
An unyielding spirit growing in the midst of painful memories
Belonging to the Yong-il Jung clan and living in Cheongan-myun, Hadong-gun, South Kyeongnam Province with about 20 to 30 families, Director Jung born in the year of the April 19 Revolution (1960) with a brother younger who was 2 years older, grew up in comfortable circumstances due to her hardworking father.
“I lived there until I was 6 years old so I don't remember much. Only about a big stream that flowed pass the village and play stepping on cow dung. However, the village was on the edge of the Mt Jiri and many relatives were killed during the Korean War. I used to hear many war stories my paternal aunt - her husband had been killed and she had lived alone and raised her only child. The villagers were forced to hang the taeguk-gie (South Korean flag) in the daytime and cooked rice for the South Korean soldiers and at night hung the ingong-gie (North Korean flag) and fed North Korean soldiers. Many people died unnecessarily during that time.”
Perhaps her unyielding spirit started to grow in the midst of the stories she heard. The guilt-by-association system was alive and kicking and that often lead to the sacrifice of not only the person incriminated but of relatives as well. She felt sorry for her many relatives who suffered because of the Korean war and who were in such stringent circumstances. It was clear that it was not due to the mistakes of one person. It can be inferred that her family history and the special characteristics of Masan (the city she grew up in) contributed to the growth of her unyielding spirit.
The Heungbu's Children in Masan
Her father had been the head of his family since he was ten years old and had put himself to high school with much difficulty and he moved his own family to Masan for the sake of his children's education. The difficult period in Masan started for the 7-member family including her grandmother. Her parents worked and her grandmother looked after the 5 children with love and wisdom. Her father was hardworking person with a fierce temper and her mother quiet but large-hearted in her work and soon, family circumstances started to improve.
“We never wore clothes bought from the stores, only handmade clothes. We were known as Heungbu's children at one stage. We wore the same clothes cut from the same cloth (laughs). We all shared the room with my grandmother with the exception of the youngest and my dearest wish then was to have my own room with my own things in it.”
It was in the 1970s and times were difficult for everyone. Politically, anti-government forces were growing due to the harsh policies of the dictatorship and economically, the people were told to tighten their belts by the Saemaeul (New Village) Movement undertaken by the government.
At such times, the children are the only source of hope for the parents. All children grew up without causing much difficulty and did well in school and she graduated with top honors from her middle school.
Her heart raced with the end of the dictatorship
She attended Masan Girls' High School and was interested in literature and dreamt of becoming a teacher. On one hand, she felt sorry for her friends and relatives who had to attend vocational schools due to straitened family circumstances caused by the growth of the Masan Industrial Complex. Her only hope was her studies and she was a model student but with her friends, she also discussed the many problems of the Park Chung Hee regime.
“The Bu-ma revolution occurred when I was a high school senior. My heart raced when I heard the shouts of "down with the dictatorship!" which could be heard in my classrooms too. My history teacher used to talk about the irregularities in March 15 elections and when Park Chung Hee was killed on October 26, he continuously said that if Masan rises, all could be changed. I used to think deeply on how I could contribute to the changes. We were in the midst of our university entrance examinations and we did not know if we could even sit for the examinations.”
Director Jung said that she could hardly control her herself when she heard stories of torture of a female university student on the hands of the emergency forces. It was a year she could not forget.
“I felt that it was useless studying in such a situation and I went to see my history teacher with a few of my friends and told him that we have decided not to go to the university. However, he told us that if we really wanted to contribute, we could do so when we were in the universities. So I think I entered the university for that reason (laughs).”
Sacrificing Her Youth to the Movement
Her brother was already studying in Seoul and she decided against the wishes of her parents to apply to a university in Seoul as she felt that Seoul was the place if she were to do something. She selected Ewha Women's University as she wanted to work with other women to accomplish her goals. She became a member of an underground student club and started her life as a typical student activist.
“I was arrested during a demonstration in my senior year and was imprisoned for 18 months. My parents were shocked as they did not know that I was even a student activist. My father was especially shocked as he had great hopes for his oldest daughter and drank heavily every day. He never wrote or visited me in prison.”
It was not easy going against the wishes of her parents and this was a most difficult period for her. She was released after 9 months and while others were fighting against going back to school, she had no choice but to obey her parents and quietly went back to school.
With only her graduation remaining, in December 1984 she went to work for an electronics company in Incheon Fourth Industrial Complex - following the road as a typical labor movement activist. She lied to her parents saying that she had a job in a publishing company. She was not without reservations. She had majored in the Korean language as she had an interest in linguistics and had hopes for continuing her studies but on the other hand, she wanted to remain an ordinary woman, happy with her married life. However, her spirit would not allow her to remain still in a world full of injustice and conflicts and she decided to give her life to the movement. Her entire youth was given to the movement.
“I worked for Inwoo Electronics which assembled cassette heads. I was happy there studying labor laws with my younger colleagues at work and going out with them, letting my dreams and hopes grow. I was healthy and growing plump (laughs). It was then I met Kim, Gie-sohn (first chairperson, KWWAU Incheon Branch) who had a lot of influence on me as a labor movement activist.”
In March 1986, she was fired when it was discovered that she had worked under another person's name. The government was trying to root out former student activists who were working under false names at that time. It was disappointing for her as she had been preparing to organize a union. It was only 5 years later that she and her friends were able to create a union with her as union leader.
Born Fighter
In the midst of her fight for reinstatement, the May 3 Incheon struggle occurred and she continued to participate in the historic incident in her capacity as labor activist. She established an underground club with another colleague who later became her husband and contributed to the labor movement with other labor activists, all who were formerly student activists.
“I met my husband when I became involved in the Catholic movements. As an activist, he was precise and to the point but in reality, was a tender and warm person. We were married in October and as living became difficult, I took a job with the Yongwol Communications, an electronics company. I also enjoyed my duration there but was fired again the following April when we were caught trying to organize a union. Then, the July & August Great Labor Struggles began. It's so strange that I am always in the middle of big historical events. Ha, ha, ha.”
She is a born fighter.
Became a Member of KWWAU
A total of 525 people were arrested during the 3-month long labor struggles which led to the growth many labor unions.
Director Jung had been busy with the organizing of unions and supporting reinstatement struggles and one day, received a proposal that would change her life. Lee, Jae-eun, who was working in KWWAU Seoul branch put forward a proposal for the setting up of a labor organization for women workers in the Incheon region.
“It was then that it struck me. This is it. I had worked actively in the movement but has been rather erratic. I needed a change organizationally and was naturally welcome to the idea of building up a systematic and independent women worker organization I joined the preparatory committee and after fierce debates on the necessity of an independent organization for women workers, the Meeting House for Women (predecessor to the KWWAU Incheon Branch came into being in February 1988.”
Thus, she became a member of the KWWAU. She was happy and thankful for the space where women can come together to build on their dreams and cooperate on women related issues. She was in charge of supporting union activities, something she had done before but this time within the legal framework, allowing her more diverse contribution. She also gave birth to a beautiful baby girl
“I wanted to work hard so I put off having children and it was after 4 years of marriage when my little girl was born. She was so beautiful that I regretted having her so late (laughs). I was busy with KWWAU activities but I found a good daycare center and my husband helped a lot with taking care of the baby and housework, so I did not have much difficulty.”
Leaving Full-time Work in Tears
However, when both spouses were active in the movement, problems were bound to happen. The baby needed the love of her parents most but also needed to be fed. Her husband was still involved in underground activities and the KWWAU was in no position to offer a stipend. She had to earn some money to make ends meet.
It was a difficult time of oppression against labor unions and many unions in women-concentrated workplaces collapsed under pressure. She had not been feeling well after her pregnancy and lost all confidence.
“Finally, I decided to quit as a full-time worker and to remain as an active member only. I was really sad and cried for many days. I got a job as a teacher in a private teaching institute and spent 4 years on that job. I participated in the organizational and operational committees of the KWWAU but my heart was never easy as the organization was undergoing a difficult phase and I really felt sorry for my colleagues there. With such concerns in my heart, I felt that I could not live in such a way any longer. I fought a lot with my husband in those days.”
Again to the KWWAU!
With the advent of the IMF crisis and rise in unemployment, the KWWAU set up an Action Center for unemployed women and the amount of work just exploded. The activities of supporting women householders to survive the winter of 1998 was supplemented by counseling activities. She received a proposal from the then chairperson of the KWWAU to return as a full-time worker.
She was fully supported by her husband who has turned into a citizen movement activist and her two children (the second daughter was born during the interim).
“I was elected as vice-chairperson with the present chairperson, Jo, Song-hae, during our general assembly in January, 1999. I was happy to receive so much support and felt that I have returned home. I worked hard to compensate for my years' of absence. I was sorry for my children who have to miss their mother's care but felt that work was the only way I could recompense for being absent. I really felt thankful to my husband who took care of the children and housework for two days in a week.”
It is the age of self-help projects!
She has been chosen as the person responsible for the self-help project as she had been in charge of the Action Center. This is a part of the women's movement which require new approaches as well as personal transformations. The project necessitates time and effort and it would be difficult to predict early results. Perhaps that is why the project has been so meaningful.
“It is not easy to balance the public nature and profits of the project but in comparison with other profit-oriented private businesses, this requires common participation, common mode of production and common division of profits. In the beginning, self-help project participants and coordinators were disappointed and discouraged. The participants resented our methods and half of them left in the middle of the projects. However, we believed that everyone had the desire to be self-supporting and we bore our difficulties together and did not give up. I don't know when it was but the participants started looking happier when they entered our office. They became more confident when they knew that we would not give up on them and they started hoping and opening themselves to us.”
She had disliked her father's rigid and flaming character when she was young and felt suffocated. As she grew older, she realized that his thrifty and precise character was a role model. Suddenly, she realized that she was growing similar to him.
Such character never permits giving up and she has to see the end of the project undertaken no matter what happens and this has often led to health damage. However, she is at ease nowadays. The self-help project coordinators are finding their places and they all realized now that speediness was just selfish desire and unnecessary to the success of the project. The foundation of the project should be strong and progress made a step at a time.
“Of course, we all want the project to progress and other branches of the KWWAU are starting self-help projects too and we would do our very best and hope people say that the projects have turned out well because the KWWAU was responsible for them.”
She is definitely a KWWAU worker, waving the flag regardless of place and time. I hope that all her projects which has become her life, will bear fruit and she, grow plump with satisfaction.