Red Cross Youth - Republic of Korea

Republic of Korea

The Red Cross Youth(RCY) in the Republic of Korea was established in 1953, in the midst of the Korean War. The first activity of RCY was to plant 10 thousand trees in the lands that were devastated by war. Now, RCY in South Korea has about 200,000 members in 4,200 clubs and consists of students from all age groups, from elementary schools to universities.

1. Activities

The world’s RCY campaign started from donations and comfort goods sent from youths in Canada, the United States and Australia to help children affected by the war in Europe. This generous spirit continues today according to the resolution of the national Red Cross Societies which called for Red Cross Youth activities at the 2nd General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in 1992. A Red Cross workshop, a Korean RCY campaign, was held in December 1952 in Busan, which was then the temporary capital of Korea. The workshop,tailored for 200 middle and high school students and under the approval of the President and the Ministry of Education in March 1953, marked the beginning of its activities, beginning with the planting of 10,000 trees.

2. The Four Great Activity Goals

1. Health
2. Social Service
3. Amity
4. Ideological Objectives of Red Cross

3. RCY specialized Program

1) Making gift boxes of friendship

The activity is designed to reward friendships demonstrated by the Junior Red Cross Youth members of foreign countries during the Korean war. In this programme, participants make boxes of friendship (worth about 10,000 won per box) containing school supplies such as pencils, notebooks and daily necessities, and send them to the underprivileged children of neighbouring countries. A total of 163,207 boxes were produced from 1991 to 2006, and about 180,000 boxes were sent to developing countries, of which includes parts of Russia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Some 15,000 boxes were sent to North Korea in 2002, with 6,144 in 2003 and 8,930 in 2004.

2) Voluntary Service Post

Voluntary Service Posting refers to a specific location where regular and continuous voluntary service takes place through setting a specific period of service for each RCY member school. The RCY project department of the Korean Red Cross has promoted this campaign from 1999 and at the end of each year awards schools that demonstrate excellent performance and provide support expenses for activities. A casebook focusing on the activities of the Voluntary Service Post was published in 2004, and on the occasion of the 100-year anniversary of the Korean Red Cross in 2005 selected a King of Voluntary Service from among schools which have shown excellent volunteerism. The Korean Red Cross produced and distributed a Voluntary Service Post manual in 2008 for leaders and members participating in the Post, and about 400,000 people participate every year drawn from around 940 RCY schools nationwide and in 1,300 Voluntary Service Posts.

3) A celebration for Teacher’s Day instituted by RCY

Members of the RCY have been visiting sick and retired teachers since 1958, and the National Student Coalition of the RCY has attended Institute Teachers’ Day since 1963. With donations from members and leaders, a monument commemorating Teachers’ Day was constructed at the Kangkyung Middle and High School campus in 2000. To honor the occasion, a ceremony and composition contest for the RCY is held nationwide every year under the supervision of the Korean Red Cross Dajeon chapters office in Chungnam. Each school holds various events such as writing letters of appreciation to teachers, flower presentations, visiting sick and retired teachers, and giving concerts or tea parties. Various commemorative events have been actively carried out for many years.

4) Korean Red Cross Overseas Voluntary Service

Every year since 1993 the Korean Red Cross has selected an overseas volunteer group comprising college students, and dispatched them to Red Cross branches in emerging and disaster-affected countries. The Korean Red Cross also recruits members and ordinary college students during the summer and winter vacation periods and sends them out to promote voluntary service, including lectures and 10-15 day international amity periods in target regions, giving them valuable cultural experiences.

5) RCY IFC (International Friendship Club)

A lodging program, organized in 1999, is intended to cement international ties and friendship and promote international interchange activities among leaders and RCY members through sharing activities with Red Cross sister group RCY. The program comprises lodging, Red Cross and Red Crescent visits, camp participation, historical site exploration and tourism. If desired a member who has provided lodging will get the chance to visit the country of his/her lodging member under the program’s one-on-one reciprocal principle.

6) Red Cross Global Leadership project

The Red Cross Global Leader Initiative is a project designed to cultivate the next generation of Red Cross global leaders. It focuses on instilling the humanitarian spirit in RCY members, in the presence of UN Secretary-General and former RCY member Ban Ki-moon. RCY members who participated in the first project implemented in 2007, Have visited the UN headquarters and taken part in interviews with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Every year the project selects and dispatches representatives from among the RCY membership group. The program consists of various overseas cultural experience opportunities, including field trips to the UN headquarters, the American Red Cross, the Korean Embassy in the USA, the White House, the National Assembly building and Columbia University. The purpose of the project is to cultivate youths’ capabilities as future global leaders and to foster a challenging spirit through new cultural experiences.