Berlin, May 7, 2025
Protecting Independent Educational Work – Opposing Political Interference and Supporting Democratic Diversity
On April 17, 2025, Korea Verband e.V. filed a lawsuit against the Foundation for Cultural Further Education and Cultural Consulting(Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung(SKWK)). The background is the rejection of funding for the youth education project “Sit Next to Me!(Setz dich neben mich!)”, launched in 2021 to address the colonial history of sexualized violence and to integrate it into Berlin’s political education landscape.
On April 29, 2024, the advisory board of the Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education(Berliner Projektfonds Kulturelle Bildung(BPKB)), which is overseen by SKWK, rejected our funding application for the period from June 2024 to May 2025—despite an explicitly positive jury evaluation and full compliance with all funding criteria. Since August 2024, we have tried unsuccessfully through an appeals process to obtain a fair and objective decision. On March 20, 2025, SKWK also formally rejected our appeal—flawed in procedure—with justifications that are clearly political in nature. SKWK cited its “dutiful discretion” and referred to foreign policy considerations. Furthermore, it explicitly justified the rejection by citing the need to protect “German-Japanese relations.”
Access to records confirms: Japanese embassy influenced funding decision
However, the minutes of the jury and advisory board meetings—obtained through our request for access to the files—clearly show that Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner, along with the Japanese embassy, exerted significant pressure on the funding committees.
“In the discussion about the plaintiff’s application, the advisory board members who were expected to vote ‘no’ justified their stance by stating that continued funding was not desired by the Governing Mayor of Berlin. . Additionally, one board member argued that the plaintiff had used previous funding for political purposes and was promoting an anti-Japanese narrative. The minutes also indicate that several advisory board members had been contacted in advance by the Japanese embassy in Germany, which had expressed a negative stance toward continued funding.”
(Excerpt from the lawsuit filed by Korea Verband against SKWK on April 17, 2025, p. 18)
Behind the scenes, Governing Mayor Kai Wegner not only voiced his disapproval of our project but also exerted pressure on the committee through his administration. At the same time, the Japanese embassy in Berlin directly intervened with several advisory board members—an unacceptable intrusion into independent cultural funding.
Resignation of multiple jury members from the Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education
The seriousness of this case is underscored by the resignation of several senior jury members on January 31, 2025, in protest against “lack of transparency” and the undermining of their independence. In a statement on February 7, 2025, the Berlin Migration Council made the following clear:
“In addition to political decisions made through budget allocations, a pattern of ‘individual cases’ is emerging in which authorities are stripped of their mandates in order to enable political interference in the work of administrative offices, subordinate agencies, or—as in this case—foundations, thereby expanding the reach of political control.”
Request for neutral re-evaluation and full transparency in decision-making process
Current developments in Berlin’s cultural and political education landscape paint a deeply troubling picture. Political interference in funding decisions threatens not only our educational work but also sends a dangerous message to all individuals and organizations committed to diversity-oriented cultural and political education. Therefore, we are not only fighting for a reassessment of our project but also for the protection of independent educational and cultural work from political censorship.
Korea Verband will not yield to this pressure. We demand a transparent, objective, and fair decision on our application—free from political interference or irrelevant considerations. This is about more than just a single project: it is about the fundamental principles of freedom of expression, historical reckoning, and democratic independence.
The lawsuit filed by Korea Verband against the State of Berlin, represented by SKWK (SöR), Berlin, on April 17 can be downloaded here:
https://www.koreaverband.de/downloads/20250417_Korea-Verband-vs-SKWK_dka_Klage_1.pdf
For press inquiries, please contact Korea Verband’s press representative:
Bianca Halliday
bianca.halliday@koreaverband.de
For legal inquiries, please contact our attorney Paul Hothneier directly:
Tel.: +49 30 446 792-16 (Assistent: Ms. Thilow)
E-Mail: hothneier@dka-kanzlei.de
Photo taken at the Statue of Peace Ari, by Hao Yang Sun