Jo Hee-yeon's Fourth Chapter…'Courtyard of Coexistence' Holds Founding General Meeting and Officially Launches

Former Seoul Superintendent of Education Jo Hee-yeon has stepped onto his fourth starting line. Having lived as a sociologist, civic activist who founded Participatory Democracy Network, and administrator who led Seoul's education for 10 years, he has now unified his three-fold experience and established a new organization dedicated to "coexistence."

The educational civic organization 'Courtyard of Coexistence' held its founding general meeting on September 2 at the Grand Hall of the Jeon Tae-il Memorial Hall in Seoul and officially launched. The meeting adopted bylaws and approved business plans and budgets, then elected former Superintendent Jo as inaugural chairman. An Young-shin, former policy advisor to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, was appointed as inaugural executive director.

◇ Six Major Initiatives Transcending Education's Boundaries…From Rohingya Refugee Education to 'Social Inheritance'

The organization's core initiatives are six-fold. One axis comprises policy and legislative activities—operating a public forum for educational agendas and formulating alternative education policies for presidential and general elections. The other axis transcends education's boundaries. These include 'Global Citizen School,' a public education platform fostering 'Global Citizen Expeditionary Forces,' 'Asia Without Borders' international solidarity linking Asian intellectuals and activists, and the 'social inheritance' fund movement in which citizens return part of their assets to future generations rather than through blood lineage inheritance.

International education partnerships are already in implementation stages. Projects are underway to build self-reliant learning ecosystems using smart devices and artificial intelligence (AI) for Rohingya refugee children and youth in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Survey results from a reconnaissance team that visited the refugee camp last month were shared at the general meeting. At a special lecture held before the meeting, Lee Sung-hoon, ambassador for human rights, peace, and democracy, delivered a keynote on 'global citizen education' in an era of complex crises linking climate, ecology, AI, and security.

The organization began as 'Coexistence Love Room' at the end of 2024 and has been building its foundation over nearly two years. Former Superintendent Jo participated as co-chair of the operating committee at the founding ceremony of the Reading Nation Promotion Committee in the National Assembly, where some 800 people gathered, and organized a joint statement from 325 Asian intellectuals and activists. On August 13, it launched a social inheritance fund with 123 founders. Former Superintendent Jo also donated approximately 25 million won from the March publication commemorative event of his book 'The Age of Far-Right Is Coming' to the organization.

The board of trustees reflects the three sectors through which Chairman Jo has journeyed. The board includes education field professionals such as former Superintendents Ahn Jong-bok and Jo Young-sang and elementary school principal Yang Young-shik; academics including Hansin University professor Song Joo-myung, Hansin University professor emeritus Chung Kun-hwa, and former Dongguk University professor Park Sun-sung; and civic society and youth sector figures such as Revolutionary Economy President Kim Jun-meok and SHIFT representative Choi Hun-min. Auditors are patent attorney O Se-joong and attorney Choi Jung-sik.

◇ From Lecture Hall to Streets, to Administration…and to 'Coexistence'

Chairman Jo's first departure was from the lecture hall. For 24 years beginning in 1990, he served as a professor in the Department of Sociology and NGO Graduate School at Sungkonghoe University, researching Korean civil society. His second departure was to the streets. In 1994, he spearheaded the founding of Participatory Democracy Network, putting scholarship into practice. His third departure was administration. From 2014 to 2024, he served as superintendent of Seoul education, implementing education policies such as expanding innovative schools. And his fourth departure is the 'Courtyard of Coexistence.' As of September 1, Chairman Jo was reappointed as emeritus professor at Sungkonghoe University, also returning to the lecture hall where his first chapter began.

Seoul Superintendent of Education Jung Geun-sik attended the general meeting and delivered congratulatory remarks. The incumbent superintendent directly congratulated the launch of a civic organization founded by his predecessor.

Participants pledged in the founding declaration: "We will move beyond competition toward cooperation, beyond division toward solidarity, beyond exclusion toward inclusion, and beyond catastrophe toward recovery and transformation."