해외봉사의 다차원적 가치 구조 분석: WFK 청년봉사단을 중심으로

Abstract

(Purpose) This study aims to analyze how the value of youth overseas volunteering is interconnected across the individual, national, and international dimensions, and to derive theoretical, practical, and policy implications based on the case of the World Friends Korea (WFK) Youth Volunteer Corps. (Design/methodology/approach) An integrated analytical framework is developed, drawing on self-determination theory (individual), soft power and public diplomacy (national), and global citizenship and SDGs (international). Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling in Python, this study analyzes 444 essays written by WFK volunteers and interprets the extracted topics through these theoretical lenses. (Findings) Eighteen latent topics are identified. At the individual dimension, narratives centered on emotional bonds with children and relationships with peers indicate that relatedness is a key psychological driver, whereas autonomy and competence are less prominent. At the national dimension, public diplomacy based on soft power is enacted through cultural exchange and trust building in schools and local communities, rather than state led promotion. At the international dimension, global citizenship is widely evident, but awareness of SDGs implementation remains limited. (Research implications or Originality) The study presents a multidimensional value structure of youth overseas volunteering in which need satisfaction, cultural and trust assets, global solidarity, and SDGs contributions are intertwined. It also suggests practical and policy implications for redesigning overseas volunteer programs to balance autonomy, competence, and relatedness, systematically build cultural exchange and trust as public diplomacy assets, and connect global citizenship to SDG related development practice.