• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.31-63
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• 2014

Recently interest in civic engagement and civic service is increasing. However, in Korea, few studies have focused on civic service. This might be on account of general awareness that civic service is fundamentally different from the basic spirit of voluntary work, while interest in paid volunteer work is on the rise. Thus, it is necessary to examine whether civic service is the real antipode of volunteer work. Under this kind of critical viewpoint, this study aims to analyze civic service based on the attributes of voluntary work and civic service. The major findings are as follows. Firstly, contrary to common belief, civic service has not been established to go beyond the principle of voluntary and unpaid characteristics of volunteer work. Rather, some voluntary work has broken out of principle of voluntary activities. Secondly, civic service and volunteer work might be characterized as different not due to spontaneity and unpaid service but the structural characteristics of the goal, continuity and formality. Furthermore, the reason for the soft landing of civic service in the United States is not because they have supported the reimbursement of expenses and the provision of stipends. Rather, it is because their long-term activities have promoted real community development for the purpose of finding solutions to social problems, and they have derived a sense of pride and satisfaction from social recognition and rewards for their contributions.