[KS] Internship exchange program

[Timothy Savage]

Below is a proposal for a US-South Korean internship exchange program from 
the Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea.  If your institution is interested 
in getting involved, please contact network at peacekorea.org

Intern Exchange Program

A Joint Project of: Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea(CNPK, 
www.peacekorea.org) and the East Asia Quaker International Affairs 
Representative (QIAR) Program of the American Friends Service Committee 
(AFSC)

Summary

This project would place South Korean interns with peace-centered 
organizations in the US for a short-term (six-months to one year) 
internship.  The interns would be identified by the CNPK and approved by the 
host institution.  The host institution would agree to cover the intern’s 
expenses(housing and food, Home-stay will be the best) while in the United 
States and the East Asia QIAR program together with the interns would cover 
airfare expenses. It would be paralleled by an exchange of US graduate 
students to intern with similar South Korean NGOs.

Objectives

§	Build the capacity of young Korean NGO activists to work on an 
international level on peace issues, specifically arms trade, disarmament, 
missile defenses, and nuclear issues.
§	Strengthen institutional ties between leading Korean and US peace 
organizations.
§	Enhance and develop programs aimed at promoting peace on the Korean 
peninsula, such as: resisting the proliferation of missile defenses and 
other US weapons sales to South Korea, promoting a peaceful US policy toward 
North Korea, and addressing the issues surrounding US forces in South Korea.

Background

The United States has expansive array of military cooperation with the 
Republic of Korea (South Korea).  In addition to the 37,000 US troops based 
in South Korea, it sells about 3 billion dollars worth of weapons each year 
to South Korea.  The United States has forced South Korea to join in missile 
defense.

The United States also has some of the most influential institutions on arms 
control and disarmament.  While Korea, as a legacy of the pro-democracy 
movement over the past few decades, enjoys a powerful activist NGO 
community, there are precious little resources in Korea on US arms sales, 
Korean government military expenditures, and military plans. Such 
information is shrouded in secrecy under the veil of national security.  
This program would allow the interns, and the Korean NGOs they come from, to 
build the capacity to access, analyze, and publicize such information both 
in the US and in South Korea.

Work Plans

Interns would come equipped with English language skills, advanced 
education, and professional experience sufficient to work within their host 
organizations.  They would be willing to undertake tasks deemed as useful by 
these organizations, but would also hope to work on issues related to 
building peace on the Korean peninsula as agreed upon by the interns and 
their supervisors. The timing of their arrival, and length of their stay, 
would be negotiated directly with each host institution.

Program Background

This project developed out of the East Asia QIARs involvement with 
non-proliferation and demilitarization work with South Korean NGOs.  It is 
paired with plans for a parallel intern exchange in cooperation with leading 
universities in the United States that would bring US-based students to 
South Korea to intern with South Korean NGOs working on peace and 
disarmament.  AFSC is also working with the People’s Solidarity for 
Participatory Democracy (PSPD) in offering support for their new Center for 
Peace & Disarmament.

--------------------
Timothy L. Savage

"As long as mankind shall bestow more liberal applause on its destroyers 
than on its benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice 
of the most exalted characters."  -- Edward Gibbon

"Where are now the warring kings?" -- William Butler Yeats




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