| Administrative History | Allocations made: 1923, 1953-1993.
After the Russo-Japanese war of 1904, formerly independent Korea became a Japanese protectorate, annexed as part of Japan in 1910. After World War II Korea again became independent, but divided between the Communist North and the non-Communist South. In 1950 the North invaded the South and the resulting war lasted until 1953. The two countries remain divided.
A small grant from Save the Children (SCF) is recorded in 1923 to Russian refugee children at Genzan. The money came via SCF Japan. As early as the autumn of 1950, the Fund made representations to the government to allow it to work in Korea. An Australian doctor and a South Korean welfare worker were sent out in April 1952. In June 1953 it was estimated that almost half the population of South Korea were refugees. The first wave of work inevitably took the form of emergency relief, with feeding centres and distribution of clothing and supplies. In July 1953, an administrator was sent out, and in August, a nurse. A health centre was opened in Pusan; a TB clinic, a milk feeding centre, a playgroup and an clinic in the refugee 'tented city' opened in February 1954. SCF staff visited local institutions and refugee camps, giving assistance; two children's wards in a Red Cross hospital were opened in January 1954; Korean women were being trained in district visiting; clothing and supplies were distributed; a mobile clinic was started, with the assistance of a German medical unit; immunisations were carried out; orphanage staff were trained. There was also a scheme for training Korean doctors, at the Korean government's expense; and Korean doctors and nurses were recruited to run a number of these projects.
Funding for SCF work came from a variety of sources, including Commonwealth and Scandinavian SCFs.
The health centre at Pusan had to be evacuated in autumn 1954 and had to work in tents until another building was acquired. Extra work taken on around this time included a centre for children, clubs for boys and girls, and a convalescent home. SCF also began the construction of a tuberculosis sanatorium at Masan, with the running costs paid by the Korean government. This building proved very successful. Tuberculosis was a major problem in Korea at this time. By 1957, SCF work was mainly concentrated on child welfare work, with medical work at Pusan and Masan.
On 28 February 1958 the Pusan health centre was replaced by an infant welfare clinic. Another clinic also operated at Kae Jong. Nurseries, food and clothing distribution, and milk feeding continued. In 1960 SCF was operating a home in Heunde for health children from leper colonies. Aid was also given to Hap Shim Won Beggar Boy's Home and Miss Han's Widows' and Children's Home. A BCG inoculation programme was set up at Masan. In 1961 a waiting room was built at Kaejong with money and labour from local Korean families. A new clinic was opened at Kamchon. Pre-natal clinics were started at Kamchon and Kaejong. A Widows' Work project was operating to enable widowed Koreans to earn a living by selling mended second-hand clothes from overseas. Korean nurse health visitors were trained to work at the clinics. In 1962 further clinics were opened at Pusan and Masan. Nursery schools were being run and Kaejong and Choryang, and evening classes at Kaejong and Kamchon. SCF was paying for two Korean doctors to have specialised training in Hong Kong. There was also a public health education programme. A Korean SCF committee was set up at Pusan in 1960 and others were later formed in Seoul and Masan. In 1963 a Freedom from Hunger project was begun, aiming to improve food production in the are around the Naktong River.
By 1967, the work in Korea was accounting for nearly one-sixth of SCF's overseas cash expenditure. SCF expatriate staff had been reduced to six, and much of the work handed over to local staff. In December 1965 a Vocational Training School was set up to train children from leper families. In January 1967, the Kaejong nursery school was taken over the Radda Barnen, which SCF supported another nursery school at Pusan. At the same time the BCG programme for preventing tuberculosis in infants was so successful that it was possible to close the baby rooms at the Children's Wing at Masan. In January 1969 the Western staff withdrew from the Children's Tuberculosis Wing of the National Hospital at Masan. In Pusan, medical work was being concentrated on a large central clinic in place of the three small ones. A new day nursery and library were opened in Kamchon. At the beginning of 1972 the two mother-and-child clinics at Masan were handed over to the local authority. In 1973 the Pusan central medical clinic and the Kamchon day nursery were both handed over. All other major projects were handed over in 1974. The sponsorship programme continued, however.
[Programme spending in 1993/94] |