The social worker\'s role in solving an increasing number of cases of serious social problems in society today is an import vector of change. Current social-work practices in the western countries moves from change initiated by individuals, founded on individual social values, to environmentally initiated change, which exemplifies the conversion of societal values into socialchange. The direction of social work practices has been leaning toward advocacy activities in recent years, stemming from environmentally initiated actions that have become a force for implementing social justice. Throughout its history, the profession of social work has been propelled by and impulse to assist others, to change the order of things, to overcome injustice, to prioritize human needs and rights, to reduce suffering, and to promote the fullest, realizable potential of each person. This desire remains equally strong today among current practitioners and students who are entering the social-work profession. Little research has been conducted on the role of advocacy in Korean social- work practices. We suggest that the reason is a lack of necessity and a lack of conceptual thought. Korean college education devotes very little attention to discussions of societal advocacy. There is a limitation on the social worker\'s professional role in Korea\'s peculiar political division into two countries, i.e. South Korea and North Korea, becausedebate on issues of advocacy often deteriorate into hard-line deadlocks between leftist “share-the-wealth” ideology and mainstream conservative views of “self-help” and “personal independence” from government. In this paper, I will attempt to provide a fuller explanation of the term “advocacy”. We have organized our discussion into four categories: (1) how the word has been used in recent western literature; (2) why will advocacy influence Korean social welfare practices; (3) what are the concepts, attitudes and strategies that will most influence Korean social welfare systems; and (4) what type of advocacy involvement will enhance the effectiveness of Korean social workers\' with their clients. I believe that this article, with its definition of advocacy and a defined set of applied principles to guide the social worker, as an “advocate” of change, will contribute to further understanding and clarity about the term of “social work advocacy” in Korea. One might also recognize the adrenaline flowing in their veinsand the yearning that motivates social-work practitioners who are trying to promote professional values and social change as we enter the 21st century. key words : duty of social work advocacy, advocacy concepts, advocacy attitudes, advocacy strategies, advocacy types