148 Sun Jung
limitations of grassroots-driven alternative media and their relationship with civil
movements. It is evident that socio-political structural problems of a state (such
as authoritarian government control) are easily dispersed among such loosely
organized groups of activists, resulting in critical barriers in the construction of
new forms of socio-political action.
Dure and nostalgic desires toward imagined Ma-eul
Just 1 year after The Cooperative Association Fundamental Law took effect,
the number of registered cooperative associations in Korea had reached 3,597
(Korea Cooperatives 2014). The Dure living co-op in Sungmisan ma-eul is one of
the earlier models and one of the most dynamically functioning living co-ops in
Korea. Seongmisan ma-eul is a community based around shared ideals located in
the center of Seoul, which engages people from a wide area including Seongsan-
dong, Seogyo-dong, and Mangwon-dong (in Mapo-gu).^5 Ma-eul in Korean refers
to “village” or “community,” and the term predominantly applies to those in rural
areas. Dong or dongne is often used to describe neighborhood in urban settings.
Thus, the term ma-eul itself already implies urban middle-class people’s longing
for a rural community and the traditional village. Seongmisan ma-eul was first
established by neighbors who united for communal child care in 1994. This kind
of cooperative child care system was the first of its kind in contemporary Korea.
Communal child care subsequently led to starting other kinds of cooperative
community organizations and businesses, such as Seongmisan school (an
alternative school), cafés, regional recycling ventures, town theatre, radio station,
and the Dure living co-op. The ma-eul brought back the concept of communalism
that had been long forgotten in the seemingly indifferent cosmopolitan city of Seoul.
The Dure living co-op was launched in 2001 and has since become the center of
the ma-eul socially, politically, economically, culturally, and psychologically. In
addition to supplying safe and environmentally friendly food to ma-eul consumers
via a direct link to producers, it also functions as a driving force behind the initial
“community building” of Sungmisan ma-eul (Lee 2012). It was the first living
co-op in Korea that linked and resided within a particular community (Lee 2012).
The Dure co-op also ran after-school programs for children, another key way that
it sought to connect to the community.
The term dure originated from a communal laboring operation that has been
practiced since the primitive era, particularly in rice farming (Joo 2006). As
the process of rice farming is high-maintenance and a large amount of labor is
required at every stage of cultivation, mutual cooperation was essential. While
small dure consists of six to eight members, larger dure includes entire villages.
Under the leadership of the chosen leader or Haengsoo, there were various
committee members to facilitate operations (Joo 2006). In the past, most traditional
village or neighborhood organizations in Asia had a close hierarchical structure
where patriarchal chiefs were steered by political patrons into predominantly
conservative and mono-directional avenues. Even the successful environmental
protest movements during the 1960s and 1970s had to gain support from notable