Reflections of My Work With The Green Party Korea

Before coming to Korea, the Green Party of the United States saw that it would be an important asset to have me maintain contact with the upper echelons of the Green Party Korea. As a member of the Green Party of the United States and a campaign volunteer of the Ohio Green Party, I saw it as my duty to my organization to reach out to the Green Party Korea. My work with the Green Party Korea saw me liasoning anti-war activism and overseeing the start up of the International Committee of the Green Party Korea, as well as election monitoring for the International Greens with Seoul’s Mayor candidate Shin Jiye (some of these tasks never came to fruition).

The Green Party Korea has the goal of becoming a party where grassroots activism takes leading roles within the party, supporting decentralization with various democratic principles including the direct democracy system, realizing equality from itself, reflecting minorities’ opinions including women, the disabled, immigrant, sexual minorities, and youth with low threshold for everyone to be able to participate in.

The involvement with the Green Party Korea expanded my horizons. It made me feel more at ease in Korea. It helped me find my clique, as I didn’t fit in with my conservative roommates my first semester of studying abroad. Coming from the United States, it was very shocking when my roommates would say outlandishly sexist or homophobic things under the assumption that I could not understand their Korean. I could.

After meeting with the Green Party Korea, I felt much happier and carefree. The meetings also tested my Korean speaking, listening, and reading ability as the meetings were only conducted in the Korean language. The Green Party of the United States failed to inform the Green Party Korea of me going to the Green Book Party meeting, so no translator was available. However, many Green Party Korea members have been to the United States, lived in the United Kingdom, or have studied English for an extensive amount of time. If I ever needed help, they were very accommodating to me. There were even times where they’d ask me to translate a phrase or idea to English so that they could learn, such as the phrase “labour rights.” Even though I could not participate in many events and pickets due to my visa and the fact I am not a legal citizen nor a permanent resident, I still enjoyed watching as a “spectator.” I never felt threatened or unwanted. Even with the Cheonan Green Party. They started up in January 2018. The local branch mainly consisted of ajusshis (older Korean men), but they still respected me and enjoyed my company. When I missed a meeting, a few would message me and ask where I have been.

I learned so much more about Korean culture and Korean thought through the Greens. I learned that the Republic of Korea is not a perfect utopia of democracy, civil rights, and culture. It helped me understand the problems of the nation and how I can be the one change I’d like to see in the world.