The Korea University Leaders Association for Publicity, also known as KULAP, is the first public consulting group established at Korea University (KU). As made clear by how the 2022 South Korean presidential election candidates targeted the MZ generation, the role of young adults is crucial in leading innovative social transitions. As such, the youth’s free expression and active participation in social activities should be encouraged, especially through educational institutions and communities where future leaders are cultivated. KULAP is the perfect club and the microcosm of our society where KU students can gain the opportunity to practice their leadership.

Since its establishment in 2011, KULAP strives to solve societal problems through different individual and cooperative projects. Currently, it has settled down as one of KU’s representative clubs, and anyone who is interested in publicity is welcome to the club. Upon joining KULAP, the new “Konsultants” (which means KULAP’s consultants) will participate in a one-year curriculum that empowers them to become the potential leaders and specialists of their interest.

The Pathway to Becoming a Desirable Leader

KULAP’s activities focus on the 3Ps — publicity, person, and passion. As the first step of designing public consulting, KULAP members can select different study areas; for example, students may choose environmental issues like recycling, or technological topics such as artificial intelligence (AI). Regardless of the type of study, KULAP values the teamwork and passion of students, enabling the youth to continuously reflect on the importance of their social participation.

Every week KULAP has two formal sessions where students introduce their consulting ideas and prepare to organize teams for official contests held by different institutions. Then, students plan and design their projects and participate in feedback sessions with other teams. Besides regular meetings, KULAP members create and upload card news to Instagram that shows the progress and results of their activities throughout the semester.

In addition, they participate in KURIJECT, a public project organized through field explorations where students can gain first-hand experience on diverse social issues. During the vacation, students are also invited to work as KULAP reporters in five different departments — politics, economics, social studies, environment, and technology — and write at least two articles to strengthen academic capabilities.

As an example of the club’s activities focused on the 3Ps, KULAP’s “Traditional Market Team” formed in 2020 cooperated with “Kkojivs”, a group of supporters who contribute to revitalizing the Gyeongdong Market. By designing cooperative projects such as the “Dasawa market” and one-day classes, students passionately and directly intervened in community problems. Unfortunately, with the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and increased social agitation, the team’s activities were temporarily halted. Despite the sudden changes, members of KULAP did not abandon their roles as public leaders and continued to participate in other social areas, including habitation and urban regeneration.

Despite previous constraints due to COVID-19, KULAP continued to actively participate in diverse social areas. In the second half of 2021, KULAP produced life-cycle manuals to boost finance education, revitalized tour areas in Korea by using public telephone booths, and uploaded card news on discussions of legislative bills such as the revised family registration law and four-day workweek. By using social network services (SNS) and online tools for discussing and materializing ideas, KULAP safely carried out its activities.

To gain more insight into KULAP’s aim and experience, The Granite Tower (GT) interviewed the head of the club, Oh Uijeong (‘20, Education).

GT: What is your reason for joining KULAP and continuing your dedication to the club?

Oh: Unlike other clubs, I applied to KULAP because it appealed to me in that they called each member a “consultant.” A session cycle conducted by KULAP includes activities called "Idea Sharing Session" and "Rotation Feedback," which require all members to go through the process of presenting ideas and sharing feedback. Based on their interests, members select local community problems and suggest possible solutions, creating an atmosphere where everyone can take the lead. The fact that all consultants can be active as prospective social leaders seems to be the driving force behind my dedication to KULAP.

GT: Were there any memorable moments or experiences as a KULAP member?

Oh: Last semester, my idea of transforming public phone booths into unmanned household goods sharing or household garbage disposal booths was chosen for the “MZ Generation Idea Contest” hosted by the Ministry of Interior and Safety (MOIS). Besides being able to practice leadership and presentation skills, the actual problem-solving process that I had to go through made this experience even more memorable. For example, I found unexpected loopholes in my idea through feedback sessions, which made me reconsider the efficiency, effectiveness, and feasibility of the original plan before actualizing it. Furthermore, I learned that no matter how well the academic foundation is established and investigated, it is difficult to handle the problems that occur in the policy realization process and that it is important to reflect different perspectives through constant feedback.

GT: What can KU students gain from joining KULAP?

Oh: With the growing complexity of problems in public sectors, multilateral approaches and solutions are needed. KULAP offers opportunities for students to be involved in small-scale associations, experience interdisciplinary approaches, and develop problem-solving skills. KULAP especially focuses on what university students can do and provides appropriate public consulting experiences to each consultant. By sharing the individual thoughts and values of publicity and by providing opportunities to think about the direction our society should take, we ultimately set ourselves as policymakers who plan reasonable and practical policies through the harmony of theory and experience.

GT: Please introduce KULAP’s activity plans for this semester.

Oh: We will prepare for contests during the first half of this semester and participate in KURIJECT for the second half. We hope to participate in various themes of urban development, environment, community, and universal designs, including community funding ideas, upcycling, and safe road building. In addition, we are planning to revitalize the KURIJECT sessions this semester by encouraging KULAP members to find, solve, and work directly on everyday problems. For now, participating in face-to-face formal sessions is the principle. We hope to take advantage of face-to-face sessions, especially for activating idea sharing and feedback delivery processes, as well as revitalizing on-site investigations for KURIJECT.