On October 11, our Foreign Students World Reporters team had the valuable chance to meet Mr Doyoung Kim, the representative director of CSR Forum. We were generously invited for lunch at SK Broadband, a tour around the company and an interview session about the CSR Forum:
How did the idea of CSR Forum first come to light?
While the Korean society has been growing rapidly, new issues are constantly emerging. Some of the company owners wanted to take part in helping the society not only with one-time donations but in more sustainable and effective ways. That is how the need of a platform that prioritizes social issues and tries to solve them were met. CSR Forum is working as a connection bridge between companies and NGOs to facilitate cooperation in solving social issues. Companies need to pay back to the society, and this help should be realized with a clear philosophy and planning strategy to achieve its targeted social impact outcome.
Since January 2014, 330 companies and around 600 members gather for a monthly meeting to discuss recent social issues, as the Forum is looking forward to having a role in solving them.
It seems you are giving the youth a special care in the activities of the Forum, may we know why?
Society is in a great need of young leaders who are capable of leading us towards the bright future we hope for. The Forum is a great platform for offering networking and training opportunities to prepare the young graduates for their professional careers.
What kind of social problems do you choose to focus on?
Real problems that everyone can relate to. For example, recently a lot of students are facing stress either due to study competition or violence among students. So, an alliance of SK Broadband, police departments, Yonsei University and EBS (Educational Broadcasting Station) was formed to work against school violence. As media currently have a crucial role in transferring information, media content concerning social issues needs to be carefully selected to attract the interest of the audience. In relation to that, the 2019 Blossom Youth Video Festival was launched. Last July, a big event was organized for middle and high school students where famous k-pop group, ACE, gave a concert and delivered encouraging words to stop school violence. The concert was even recorded and uploaded to the campaign’s YouTube channel, so that it can reach as many students as possible. Encouraging videos by celebrities, teachers, lawyers and various other specialists was also uploaded. There is a competition for the best videos with valuable cash prizes.
We wanted to ask you about the project you are the most proud of, but it seems it would be Blossom Youth Video Festival and Campaign, right?
Yes!
What will be your next project after Blossom?
The Forum is looking forward to improving social welfare as a whole. It is more important to make every member of the society capable of affording their own basic and entertainment needs rather than providing just a one-time financial help. The Forum is aiming to be a social venture to benefiting the local community. By the end of the year, the Forum will be organizing education programs for company team leaders which in order to achieve effective results, is going to be performed by experts in social work.
We heard that there is an art center within the Forum activities, would you let us know more about it?
Art holds the power of creativity. It is a non- verbal language that everyone can understand, and which can play an important role in helping the society. For example, having the walls of a "noraebang" ("노래방" - Korean style of karaoke singing room) or a restaurant painted by a famous artist can help increase their visitors. Artists and companies do not speak the same language. That is why we need a platform like CSR to be the mediator between them, thus maintaining the important role of arts in the achievements of urban development.
What do you think about doing a joint activity between foreigners in Korea?
I believe that would be a great idea. For example, people like World Reporters can serve as a reference and ambassadors of their countries, providing examples of their representative countries' social issues and solutions for the sake of mutual benefit and understanding of both the Korean and foreign societies. We, Koreans, have a great interest in foreigners and I think having foreigners giving encouraging messages against school violence, for example, can be highly effective for the success of the campaign.
What is your message for the current and future international students in Korea?
“Our society is eagerly anticipating serious and sincere global leaders, who have a sense of ownership towards society and solving its problems. You, the students here, in Korea, have come from different countries with different backgrounds, and you are the elite of your local societies. We need to gather and discuss about what a true global leader is, and what they can do for the society. We should gather all those ideas and invest them in the enhancement of our society. I will be doing my best to achieve this kind of collaboration. Thank you!”
Finally, after the interview, we recorded encouraging videos against school violence among students. We hope that this will be the start of a fruitful and successful cooperation between Foreign Students World Reporters and CSR Forum.
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