Yeon-Koung Kim: "Our Change Makes the World Change"

I have been a member of MUNESCO (Minjok UNESCO), one of the social activity clubs in KMLA, since my freshman year. The goal of this club was “to make a better world”; club members campaigned to persuade people use personal tumbler instead of paper cups, and raised funds to help the multicultural children. The club proclaimed that “Our change makes the world change”; over the last one-and-a-half year I participated in MUNESCO activities, however, I never felt this motto by heart. To be honest, what I felt was closer to skepticism. I wondered how many people would keep their promise to use tumbler after they leave our campaigning site. I wondered whether our fund would change a multicultural kid’s life greatly. I thought that the world was too large and distant that my act can hardly influence it. I thought that the change of an individual can never contribute to the change of the world.

Such of my skeptical attitude toward the power of individual remained same, even when I heard what was happening to my favorite sports star, Yeon-Koung Kim. Kim is a South Korea female professional volleyball player, a heroine of an impressive career that engrosses all the “Best Scorer” and “MVP” awards every season in every league. However, most of the Koreans do not know even of her name, since volleyball is not a renowned sport in Korea. 

Yeon-Koung Kim, the Volleyball Superstar

Using the public indifference over volleyball, Heungkuk Life, a volleyball club which Kim once belonged, and KOVO, Korean Volleyball Federation, are “enslaving” Kim. Heungkuk and KOVO claim that Kim did not run for Heungkuk for six seasons, which is a requisite to be qualified as a FA player (a player who is eligible to sign with any club or franchise, not under contract to any specific team). Kim actually played more than the required six seasons (four in Heungkuk, two in JT Maberas (Japan), and one in Fenerbahce (Turkey), the latter two as a status of rent player); nevertheless, Heungkuk argues that her three seasons in Japan and Turkey should be not counted, thus she needs to run in Korea for two more seasons. As Kim dissents from Heungkuk’s stance, Heungkuk and KOVO classified Kim as a withdrawn player, which means that she cannot play any international games (including the World Championship League, which is being held right now) until she capitulates.

I have loved Yeon-Koung Kim ever since the London Olympics. I joined her fan café, and I regularly search her name in Naver or Google to check what is happening to her. Despite I knew all the terrible things happening to Kim, I thought that there was nothing I can do to help her; no matter how I support Kim and wish her to find her rights, I was just an ordinary eighteen-years-old girl, who cannot influence Heungkuk or KOVO in any way. – That was what I thought.

The day when FIVB officially proclaimed that Kim belonged to Heungkuk was the turning point.* A movement started; one member of fan cafe suggested twitting to politicians and celebrities about Kim, explaining who she is, what is happening to her right now, and asking for help. Another member made an online petition site, which signed-up list would be used to request FIVB for reaffirmation about Kim's status. Members updated every online article about Kim so that other fans can visit the site and leave comments so that the article would be classified as main news.

My Twitter "#LetKimYK10play"

I doubted whether this would work; anyway, I was a pessimist. In hope to be a very, very small help for Kim, nevertheless, made me twit to celebrities every day and sign up for online petition. And, for sure, I was not the only one who did so; Kim’s other fans, who had been hiding behind, did the same.

What happened during last few days was just so amazing; politicians, who received hundreds of twitter messages from Kim’s fans, responded. Some of them contacted the fan café to visit their office and explain more about Kim, so that they can help her. Tomorrow morning, Kim is going to have a press interview in Congress; then, the politicians who promised to help her will discuss Kim’s issue in the proceeding inspection of government offices.

A Politician's Reply: "I will do my best to resolve Kim's problem."

All I did was a few twits. That was really “ALL”. And yet my effort, combined with others’, brought a hopeful chance for Kim. It was the first time that I understood the phrase, “Our change makes the world change”, by heart. No matter how small influence an individual seemed to possess, tremendous impact could be created via cooperation of individuals.

I thank Yeon-Koung Kim for giving me opportunity to gain such a valuable lesson – that I can do something to change the society. I’ll keep on my little acts to support Kim, in conviction that those of hundreds of other fans would be added to mine, thereby motivating Kim the volition to continue the struggle and find her fair rights as a player. All I want is to see Kim back on the court, shining, smiling, playing – the outcome partly based on my small efforts.

Want Kim Back on the Court... T_T ♥

                                                              

If you are  interested in Kim and want to know 

what is happening to her, click HERE.

¿ What Is Happening to Yeon-Koung Kim ?

You wonder who this magnificent player is, who engrosses all the "Best Scorer" and "MVP" awards every season in every league. You search the list of renowned athletes in your mind, including Yuna Kim, Ji-Sung Park, Se-Ri Park, and few others. Still you cannot find out who this player is; the name, Yeon-Koung Kim, is not in your list.

A South Korean female professional volleyball player, Yeon-Koung Kim, is the heroine of this impressive career. Only 24 years old, Kim is Korea's most decorated player within the last years. Every players, coaches, and fans that observed Kim's play named her as "the Gamova of Asia", "the player of a century", "the top notch hitter", etc. Kim's annual income approaches one-and-a-half billion won, definitely a world-class level. And still most of the Koreans do not know even of her name.

 Yeon-Koung, KIM 

Using such public indifference over volleyball, Heungkuk Life, her domestic club, and Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) are "enslaving" Kim. According to the local rule, a female volleyball player can achieve FA (FA: a player who is eligible to sign with any club or franchise, not under contract to any specific team) Qualification after playing for six seasons. After she joined Heungkuk, she played for four seasons, then she entered Japanese League for two seasons, and moved to Turkey League for a season. Even though she played in Japan and Turkey, not in Korea, it was as a status of "leased player", not as "FA player". What this means is that she played seven seasons as a Heungkuk Life player, exceeding the required six seasons for FA Qualification. But Heungkuk argues that her three seasons at Japan and Turkey should not be counted for her FA qualification. 

Kim, who already achieved so many things not only in domestic but also in international stage, does not want to remain in Korea; she wants to stay in Turkey, wants to learn more among worldwide players and coaches, wants to become a better player. And now Heungkuk impedes her from achieving her dream, just to keep its team in top place in V-League. KOVO, which should be a mediator between Kim and Heungkuk's struggle, leans toward Heungkuk.

Recently, FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) judged that Kim, even though she is a FA qualified player according to the laws, still belongs to the Heungkuk. FIVB's decision is based on a document that Kim, Heungkuk, and KOVO signed; its first and second clauses suggest that Kim is a Heungkuk player, thus if she wants to run in Turkey league, she needs to return to Heungkuk after spending two seasons in Turkey. However, the third clause mentions that the above articles are valid if and only if FIVB judges Kim to be a Heungkuk player. Heungkuk and KOVO forced Kim to sign this document, promising that signing this document would not impact FIVB's decision at all, and the document would be kept by KOVO, without any circulation. Even though Kim did not want to sign the document, she needed to depart to Turkey as soon as possible to prepare for the following matches, and it was sure that Heungkuk and KOVO would not let her go without sign. So Kim signed. And what happened? Heungkuk and KOVO sent the document, changing its title from "Agreement" to "Final Decision" so that FIVB would mistake temporary concurrence for definite resolution, without notifying Kim about spreading the document.

This is what is happening to the worldwide superstar volleyball player. She cannot play on the court, just because of Heungkuk and KOVO's stupid logic. Kim once said in interview that she enjoys the moment she runs for national team the most because she loves her nation. She has played the London Olympics without any break, and boosted the Korea Team to the fourth place for the first time in thirty-six years, but all she got in return was a knee surgery (due to the excessive amount of play she did in London) and the nation's betrayal. 

Kim must be free. She must be qualified as a FA player, so that she can play the volleyball freely. Kim recently proclaimed that she would continue this fight, until she gets a fair judgment without intervene from Heungkuk or KOVO. Right now, her fan cafe members are helping her struggle; there is an ongoing online petition site, which signed-up list will be used to request FIVB reconsideration about Yeon-Koung Kim. Please join the sign, if you ever want to see Kim shining on the court once again. This is the moment your help is needed, to save the greatest volleyball player of the age. 

Academic Film Review: Earthlings

Ye Ji Park / 111053 / b4

Mr. Garrioch

English Composition

October 14 2012

                Academic Film Review: Earthlings

                "Mrs. Hicks, finding the girl slow to move, jumped from her bed, seized an oak stick of wood by the fireplace, and with it broke the girl's nose and breastbone, and thus ended her life. I will not say that this most horrid murder produced no sensation in the community," recalled Frederick Douglass, a prominent black leader of the abolitionist movement, of his slavery days that he observed and sometimes experienced by himself of vicious violence upon blacks by whites. In today’s society, in which about two centuries passed after Frederick Douglass' ages, it would be untrue to say that there exists no racial discrimination at all; nevertheless, blacks relish a much happier life than that of their ancestors.

It's surprising that the atrocious brutality whites exerted to blacks had been considered to be perfectly normal and fair in the past. Yet the same bloodshed is prevalent in today's society, only with its subject changed from blacks to animals; Shaun Monson, the writer/producer/and director of the documentary "Earthlings", uncovers this unawareness via exploring the vivid descriptions of animal slaughters for ninety minutes.

"Earthlings" categorizes the humans' cruelty on animals in five parts: pets, food, clothes, entertainment, and scientific research. The first chapter shows animals locked in dirty, cram-full cages of the pet stores. The second chapter portrays the bloody slaughter of pigs and cows, which is practiced without any anesthesia or other methods to appease animals' pain. The third chapter follows India's "Death March" that transports animals to the region where it is allowed to skin. The fourth chapter shows the shackled life of circus animals which are demanded to perform abnormally for the sake of human's entertainment. The final chapter pictures the cold-blooded medical experiments performed on animals, such as dissection without anesthetizing.

All the visual images Shaun Monson displays in the documentary are often shocking and brutal enough to make people feel guilty. A lot of reviewers admit that the video made them reconsider about their causal life of meat dishes -- which is why the video is nicknamed "the Vegan maker". It is doubtful, however, whether this video succeeded in "making" the vegetarians. People did "think" about being vegetarian, but only few actually changed their lifestyle. In other words, "Earthlings" is enough to inspire people to think about change, but not enough to actualize that change.

This "insufficiency" is incurred from three shortcomings of the film: its broad range, prejudiced standpoint, and enumeration of facts. First of all, the video deals with general problem; rather than choosing one specific field about animal abuse, the film covers whole aspects of human violence on animals. Discussion of overall issue is effective to enlighten the viewers that animal violence is not a distant, alien issue for humans but is a ubiquitous problem. The drawback of this approach, however, is that the film has too much content to discuss; some of the details, therefore, is portrayed too briefly that they lack in strong power to persuade the viewer. One person points out that the film "tries to cover the whole spectrum ... that give you fast, short facts here and there". For example, when Shaun pictures animals in the zoos, the image passes so fast that viewers might miss it if they had not been paying close attention on the screen. The reviewer suggests that if the film had included specific acts of zoo staffs mistreating animals, the film would have conveyed much clearer message. In short, because the film deals with general problem, the short cuts of images do not give the viewers enough information or time to ponder about changing their lifestyle. As the reviewer mentioned, the viewers must do their own researches to replenish their knowledge until it reaches enough to lead to realistic action.

Secondly, the stance of "Earthlings" that humans impose too much cruelty on animals is too one-sided. Strongly-biased perspective unintentionally leads the viewers to question, "What about the other side?" Maybe the director picked the most extreme examples among various cases in order to maximize pathos. Maybe there would be some more generous industries that anesthetize animals before slaughter or vivisection. Even if the images are normal, quotidian scenes in animal industry, the "truth" of video is so uncomfortable and guilt-eliciting that the viewers try to deny this truth and justify their current situations. If Shaun had included milder examples of the brutality, or suggested possible objection, the video would have been less biased, thereby raising less disbelief and denial.

Finally, merely listing the facts is not enough to make the viewers of "Earthlings" act. Throughout five chapters, the film clearly shows that animal abuse is omnipresent; however, it does not suggest any solutions to rescue animals from maltreatment. There do exist alternatives; beans and tofu other than meat; synthetic fiber in substitute for leather and fur; tennis competition in place of bullfighting. Instead of suggesting these alternatives, however, the film merely enumerates brutal images over all human life that drive the viewers to think that use of animals is ineradicable. The viewers, thus, feels futile and regards challenge meaningless -- consequently bringing no change in their lifestyles.

"Earthling" is, doubtlessly, one of the greatest definitive animal right films. It introduced a modern version of black discrimination by depicting the brutality of animal abuse while humans think nothing of this violence. Unfortunately, its role stops at merely "introducing" the issue; the film fails to take a further step of eliciting real changes. Shallowness, suspicion, and renunciation, respectively derived from the film's broadness, strongly biased stance, and no suggestion of solutions, prevents the viewers from "being vegetarians". The viewers would need more research that would resolve the drawbacks of "Earthlings". Maybe the film's nickname -- "the Vegan maker" -- is adulation; "the Vegan introducer" would be a little more proper.