Song Kyung-jin, director of the Asia Foundation's Korea office, speaks in an interview with The Korea Times on July 25. Photo by Choi Won-sook, The Korea Times
First Korean to head Asia Foundation's Korea office
Kim Ji Soo
When Song Kyung-jin's doctoral thesis was being defended at the University of Kansas, the examining professors asked her where she saw herself in 10 years. She replied that she envisioned working for the United Nations or serving the underprivileged. Now, as the new director of the Asia Foundation's Korea office, she has the opportunity to do both.
In the Asia Foundation's 70-year history, Song is the first Korean to lead a US NGO's Korea office. She succeeds Korean-American Kim Kwang-wook, whose term ended two years ago. If the Asia Foundation's Korea office in the 20th century was essential to Korea's postwar growth and the realization of democracy, the 2024 office is a different kind of “monster.” Song said it is at a crossroads to play an intellectual and strategic role in supporting other countries in Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.
“As the foundation celebrates its 70th anniversary, I proposed to hold the ceremony in South Korea, a country that made the leap from a developing country to a developed nation in the 20th century,” she added. The foundation plans to celebrate its 70th anniversary in South Korea in early 2025.
This shows how far South Korea has come from a war-torn dictatorship to a prosperous world-class conglomerate nation. Given this, it is hard to imagine that the first donation South Korea received from the Asia Foundation was paper for children's textbooks. One of the proudest moments for the Asia Foundation was facilitating South Korea's direct presidential election in 1987, working with and educating the National Election Commission to get democratic elections through. It is also a proud moment for Koreans.
People prepare to count the votes for the presidential election shortly after the end of military rule. Photo courtesy of The Asia Foundation.
Foundations play a variety of roles in institution building and human resource development and are often perceived as government agencies.
“No, we are a non-governmental organization, a unique non-governmental organization that receives its budget from the U.S. Congress and other government departments,” Song said. But she and the Asia Foundation's new president, Laurel Miller, said they playfully dispel such misconceptions. Miller took office in March this year. In fact, the foundation is governed by the Asia Foundation Act of 1983. The foundation's 2019 budget was $105 million for operations in 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
In this 1992 file photo, members of the League of Women Voters of Korea take to the streets to campaign for fair elections. Courtesy of The Asia Foundation
“If you could describe South Korea as having played the role of 'hands and feet' up until now, I believe that from now on it should act as the brain of the Asia-Pacific region, demonstrating intellectual and strategic leadership and contributing to peace and prosperity,” Song said.
South Korea is one of the world's top 10 donors of official development assistance, and expectations for South Korea are growing not only from the foundation but also from around the world. “Most of our cooperation and assistance to date has been bilateral and small in scale, but we would like to increase multilateral cooperation in the future,” said Song.
The move toward multilateral cooperation dovetails with a shift from aid to resource partnerships ordered by then-foundation president Douglas Beluiter in 2005. The initiative, called Asia Development Partners, will mobilize funding and resources from developed Asian economies to support foundation programs and projects in other regions, including reducing reliance on U.S. general grant funding for the Korea office.
Does this include anything related to the “Korean Wave” or the Korean Wave boom?
“Yes, but not just for consuming the Hallyu wave. Korea can share with other countries how to cultivate entertainment talent, as Korea has done, rather than just promoting Hallyu sales. Hallyu content is already doing well on its own in terms of sales,” she said.
The foundation will also continue to provide funding to defectors who want to start their own businesses, she said.
Song, who marks his first year in the position on July 29, plans to add more details to the Asia Foundation's plans. These will address issues such as climate change, building a sustainable and resilient supply chain for core minerals, and strengthening collaboration in STEM education, including collaboration with institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. On August 9, the Korea office held a roundtable with Nepal representative Megan Narbo and other experts to discuss how lessons from both Korea's failures and successes can be applied to Nepal.
Song's background will be useful in this new position. He studied English at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul and received his master's degree in bilingual and bicultural education from Boston University. After receiving his doctorate in communication studies, Song worked in various government agencies and is currently a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' advisory committee focusing on economic diplomacy and other issues. In South Korea, he served as director of the Institute of World Economy in Seoul from 2012 to 2018. It was his experience working at the International Trade Union Confederation (ITU) headquarters in Vienna from July 1999 to April 2004 that dramatically changed Song's perspective on the dynamics of global issues.
“It was an eye-opening experience for me. I learned that in international affairs, you need to not only believe what you see with your own eyes, but you need to know the relations and preferences of countries and the relevant issues between them at the time,” she said.
She said that unlike other labor unions that seemed to be in step with the government, Korean labor union representatives at that time were not sensitive to global issues. She decided then and there to return to Korea for work. She continued to emphasize the importance for Korea to have, strengthen and deepen a global perspective and issues. She personally peruses several foreign and Korean news media every day.
When asked to define her leadership, she replied, “I lead by example and also strive to provide and share information and opportunities with others. Some would say that these are my invaluable assets, but I believe only those who are prepared can turn that information into opportunities.”
Another key element of leadership, she argues, is that “you have to be able to make decisions at the right time. You have to be firm when it's necessary,” and then you add that those actions have to be followed up by action.
As the first Korean to try to involve Korea in various cooperation projects in the Asia-Pacific region, Song has to drive funding for the projects he envisions. “It's always hard, the work is always hard, but if you really think about it, leadership is about thinking outside the box and coming up with alternatives and solutions. Then we can share a one- or two-page concept note and build on that.”
