My Participation Changes the World

On the 10th of February, 2001, the seventh PSPD General Assembly was held in Millennium Hall at Sungkyunkwan University. A reorganization was inevitable because some board members were not able to support and participate actively any longer, and because the number of members and staff of the PSPD has drastically increased every year. In this year"s assembly, new members and newly appointed board members were briefed on all of last year"s activities.



The report to the General Assembly runs as follows:



1. The Accomplishments of the Year 2000



i. During the year 2000, PSPD has consistently run society reforming activities such as:

1) The tax-payer movement, which is now regarded as a major area of civil movement, 2) The Korean Telecommunication installation fee refund movement which overturned a grand governmental business, 3) movements for adopting mass-suit system and making concentrated vote system a legal duty, which became a major agenda item for a Chaebol reform policy, 4) resident welfare, securing the right of social welfare campaigners, or whistle blower protection project through an arduous exercise, and 5) legal personnel evaluating activity which was initiated by the Supreme Court personnel hearing.



ii. As the PSPD"s membership exceeded 10,000 and the financial support rate by membership fees hit 80%, the civil movement organizations" independence and influence was assured. Along with expansion of the recent expanded by challenging a new area. The cyberspace movement will be optimized so that various cyberspace signature movements, and various campaigns on the internet are popularized.



iii. Complete financial independence is to be established by positive building-up of membership.



iv. Politic responses and skills for reflection will be strengthened. There are various problems currently in Korean society which need to be considered seriously: emergence of interest groups, shifts in the relationship between North and South Korea, local self-government, etc. The policy committee will discuss these controversial subjects so that projects and activities can be initiated.



v. We will be actively involved with solidarity movements. Since the national financial threat in 1997, the number of the poor and unemployed has increased. Korean society is being financially polarized, thus quite often human rights issues are emerging. In the year 2001, through a solidarity with grass-root movements and human rights movements, PSPD will stand by those who are marginalized.



vi. As an effort to optimize the capability of each and every activist and staff, an education committee will be established to conduct various educational programs on regular and irregular basis. Moreover, opportunities for study and relaxation will be provided through oversees training and a standardized annual vacation.





4. The plans according to the direction illustrated above are as follows:



i. Dedicated public-fund watching project: reformation of actual management of public funds and corresponding systems, various monitorings and citizen indictment movements to accuse unreliable enterprisers.



ii. Estimate watch movement by tax-payers: watching for wasteful estimates of local governments, and various kinds of funds, such as special subsidies from government, movement for the legislation of tax-payers" suit, and campaigning for taxation on illegitimate inheritance of assets.



iii. Making civil actions present throughout the country for political reformation: dedicated monitoring for the reformation of political funds, nation-wide civil action for revision of the laws related to politics, and ensuring the presence of a watch net on parliament.



iv. Asking for protected information: movement for publicizing the minutes from meetings where major national policies are legislated, such as in The National Information Center, Defense Ministry, and national security related agencies. Free information movement.

v. The PSPD is building four new project teams in the year 2001; headquarters for media projects, dandelion project group, center for public benefit laws, and alternative community project.



-Headquarter for media projects: Participatory Society (the monthly publication of PSPD) and Cyber Participatory Solidarity team will be working jointly from now on as a media squad to be involved more actively in the cyberspace civil movement and to enhance public access.

-Dandelion project group: (as spores get spread.) This group is responsible for the membership increase project. Throughout the country various goods will be sold at members" own businesses to benefit the civil movement and to promote the PSPD Center for public benefit laws. This will be a space provided for lawyers to stimulate public benefit activities. The legislation movement will be initiated from here for the five major public benefit laws (The code of collective legal procedure, prevention of illegal estimate, legal responsibility on products, compensation and actualization of alimony and, deregulation of applicants).



-Alternative community movements, such as building cooperatives, are to be sketched.

Financial Report



As of March 25, the membership of the PSPD is 11,933.



Chart 1: Income Settlement and Estimate

Chart 2: Expense Settlement and Estimate



Income in 2001 & Income estimated for 2001

items 2000 % 2001 % Donations 328,248,748 21.0% 344,300,000 16.4% Membership dues 769,000,868 49.3% 1,095,680,000 52.3% Revenue from Contracts Insurance 36,262,130 2.3% 18,500,000 0.9% Events 208,901,010 13.4% 178,700,000 8.5% Miscellaneous 21,293,940 1.4% 112,831,000 5.4% Subtotal 266,457,080 17.1% 310,031,000 14.8% Loan 19,803,153 1.3%   0.0% Miscellaneous 50,923,501 3.3%   0.0% Balance Transferred from the previous year 126,058,784 8.1% 345,358,063 16.5% Total 1,560,492,134 100.0% 2,095,369,063 100.0%

Expenditure in 2000 & Expenditure estimated in 2001

Items 2000 % 2001 % Operation Wages 517,609,318 33.2% 626,340,360 29.9% Administration 136,247,655 8.7% 218,212,160 10.4% Subtotal 653,856,973 41.9% 844,552,520 40.3% Projects & Events Events for Members 148,047,854 9.5% 328,310,000 15.7% Publication & Advertizement 66,085,551 4.2% 282,234,929 13.5% Research 15,619,110 1.0% 18,700,000 0.9% Miscellaneous 331,524,583 21.2% 35,000,000 1.7% Subtotal 561,277,098 36.0% 664,244,929 31.7% Savings 0 0.0% 500,000,000 23.9% Balance Transferred to the following year 345,358,063 22.1% 86,571,614 4.1% Total 1,560,492,134 100.0% 2,095,369,063 100.0%