“The Voice of 6411 Lecture Series: Labor Rights and Marginalized Workers at Kyunghee University”

On April 27, Lee Eun-ja, who has a daughter with a developmental disability, started her lecture with a microphone at the Chungwoon Hall Auditorium at Kyunghee University. As the head of the Gangseo First Magazine Support Center, he is in charge of a social cooperative that helps people with developmental disabilities find employment. Next to him was Mr. Kim Jeong-in, who produced the documentary. For what reason did the two stand on the podium together? Eunja Lee is a writer for ‘Voice of 6411’, which was co-planned with the Roh Hoe-chan Foundation in May last year. In this corner, migrants, cleaning workers, and caring workers who boarded the 6411 early morning bus that the late Congressman Roh Hoe-chan rode in wrote directly to talk about their lives. It was prepared with the intention of arousing and illuminating the stories of marginalized workers who are not given a chance to speak socially. Professor Kim Jin-hae of Kyung Hee University’s Humanitas College sympathized with that purpose, and has opened a liberal arts course called ‘The Voice of 6411 and a Society Respecting Labor’ from this semester and is conducting classes. Lee and Kim Jung-in took the podium that day and gave a lecture on the right to education and labor issues for students with developmental disabilities. Kim covered the process of establishing Seojin School, a special school in Gayang-dong, Seoul, which opened in 2020 after parents of students with disabilities knelt down and appealed to local residents who opposed the establishment of a special school. On this day, about 170 students who filled the auditorium of Kyunghee University poured out questions as soon as the two lectures were over. “According to the obligatory employment system for the disabled, we have to hire people with disabilities, but Kyunghee University pays fines instead of hiring them. Aren’t you buying your employment obligations with money?” In response to the student’s question, Lee replied, “I think it is more economical for many companies besides universities to pay fines rather than hire people with disabilities.” He continued, “I think that people with developmental disabilities who like repetitive patterns can play roles such as cleaners and librarians at Kyunghee University because they keep certain rules and spaces well.” If you keep asking, I think it will be a great help.”

On the afternoon of the 4th, in a special lecture on ‘The voice of 6411 and a society that respects labor’ held at Kyunghee University in Hoegi-dong, Seoul, Ms. Senior Reporter Yoon Un-shik yws@hani.co.kr

On the 4th, Okcheon-gun Marriage Migrant Women’s Council, Buti Tanhwa, and writer Han In-jeong (activist of the council) spoke about discrimination and labor issues of migrant women as lecturers. In clumsy but smart Korean, the head of the Butytanization Council said, “Marriage migrant women are not only beings who receive help, but also beings who can give and receive help from each other.” , and we will dream of creating a national migrant council in the future so that more butitans can live well.” Yi-bun Yoo, CEO of Small Book (voice editorial advisory committee member of 6411), who was present at the scene, said, “When the head of the Buti Tanhwa Council explained in Vietnamese for about 3 minutes at the beginning of the lecture, I felt frustrated because I could not understand. I was moved to think that this feeling must have been the frustration they must have felt after coming to Korea for a long time.” Professor Kim Jin-hae, who led the class, said that as the lecture went on, he felt that the perspective of the students toward workers and society changed. He said, “As the lecture progressed, I could feel that the students were breaking the prejudices they had by facing the lives of people with specific jobs they had never experienced, not the theories they learned at school.” While feeling it, it seems that the concept of labor, the concept of minorities and the disabled has changed.”

On the afternoon of the 4th, Jun-seok Lee, a student at the Department of Accounting and Taxation (year 4), asks Mr. Buti Tan-hwa of the Okcheon-gun Marriage Migrant Women Association in a special lecture on “The voice of 6411 and a society that respects labor” held at Kyunghee University in Hoegi-dong, Seoul. Senior Reporter Yoon Un-shik yws@hani.co.kr

A total of 195 students applied for the liberal arts course this semester. At first, most of them applied for the lectures with light thoughts, such as to fill their credits or because it would be interesting to hear from various people, but now, half of the semester has passed, students are learning about ‘discrimination’, ‘prejudice’, and ‘labor’ in our society. They say in unison that they have come to have serious concerns. The class consisted of on-site lectures, questions, and a ‘one-minute report’ in which students simply wrote down their impressions after the lecture and submitted an essay. The students evaluated the lecture, saying, “It made me think about the labor that is alive in front of my eyes beyond learning theories from books.” Yoon In-seo (Sophomore, Department of Political Science and International Relations) said, “It was a time for me to indirectly experience and understand a life I had never experienced before.” Looking at it, I thought that their labor was connected to me in that my labor could be threatened at any time.” Novelist Ha Myeong-hee (voice editorial advisory committee member of 6411), who visited the lecture on the 4th, said, “I think that giving a microphone (to those who are marginalized) is very meaningful in itself. It is a valuable opportunity and experience for me.”

On the afternoon of the 4th, in a special lecture on ‘The voice of 6411 and a society that respects labor’ held at Kyunghee University in Hoegi-dong, Seoul, Ms. Senior Reporter Yoon Un-shik yws@hani.co.kr

Reporter Yoon Yeon-jeong yj2gaze@hani.co.kr