VANK, led by Director Park Gi-tae, announced on Feb. 10, 2026, that it had released a video featuring an Indonesian youth researcher introducing her country’s Eulsa Hero. The video was produced as part of VANK’s global campaign to raise awareness about Eulsa Heroes.
VANK’s Global Eulsa Heroes campaign aims to honor historical figures from around the world who resisted imperialism and, based on their legacy, to build global solidarity for peace.
In the video, Ivana Clarissa, a youth researcher majoring in business administration at the University of Indonesia, says, “Indonesia was under Dutch colonial rule for more than 300 years.” She adds that the country was later occupied by Japan during World War II, and like Korea, experienced the pain of losing its freedom and national identity.
Against this historical background, she explains that she deeply relates to the sense of lost identity, oppression and longing for freedom expressed in Korea’s March 1 Declaration of Independence.
“The March 1 Declaration is not simply a document declaring the independence of one nation,” she says. “It contains a message about human dignity, the right to national self-determination, and the courage to stand up against injustice.”
The Eulsa hero introduced by Ivana is Ki Hajar Dewantara (1889–1959), who laid the foundation for modern education in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial period.
At the time, Indonesia’s education system operated on a highly limited basis, and many Indonesians were excluded from educational opportunities, while only certain groups of Dutch descent were able to receive formal education.
In this context, Ki Hajar Dewantara emphasized that education was not a privilege of a particular class but a right for all people.
His educational philosophy became firmly established as the foundation of Indonesia’s education system, and he is now known as the “Father of Indonesian National Education.”
Director Park said that highlighting the spirit of resistance in countries that, like Korea, experienced colonial rule is necessary to form global solidarity against imperialism.