KOREA(2015.8.)

august 2015

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70 th Anniversary of Independence A remarkable journey, a new dawn Travel Andong, the Ancient Center of Intellectualism Special Issue Universiade Gwangju 2015

contents

korea

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70 Anniversary of Independence

The World in Your Hands

Diplomat Yi Sang-seol

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Ryu Seong-ryong, Descendant of Independence Activists

Universiade Gwangju 2015

Eleven Years in the Nation of ‘Arirang’

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Pansori Master Ahn Sook-sun

A Story of 70 Years

Settle in Korea

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Andong, the Ancient Center of Intellectualism

Korea, Honduras agree to pursue trade deal

The Mysterious and Lonely Islands

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50

Aiming for Glory

Commemorating 70 Years with 50 Events

Naengmyeon Cold Noodles for a Hot Day

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40

Welcome to a Magic World

Help Us, Robots!

Cover Story th

PEOPLE 1

PEOPLE 2

September 18 to October 11

TRAVEL

SPORTS

ENTERTAINMENT

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CURRENT KOREA

Special Issue

Special Interview

Summit Diplomacy

POLICY REVIEW

GREAT KOREANS

MY KOREA

MULTICULTURAL KOREA

NATURE

FLAVOR

CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY

Publisher Park Young-goog, Korean Culture and Information Service Executive Producer Han Seong-rae E-mail webmaster@korea.net Magazine Production The Book Company Production Supervisor Kim Min-kyung Copy Editor Gregory C. Eaves, Hwang Chi-young Creative Director Oh Seong-min Head Designer Kim Se-ryeong Photographers Moon Duk-gwan, Hong Ha-yan Printing Kumkang Printing Co,.Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission from KOREA and the Korean Culture and Information Service.

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COVER STORY

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70th Anniversary of Independence

A remarkable journey, a new dawn In the 70 years since Korea was granted independence from colonial rule, the country has risen from the devastation of division and war and has grown in every respect: economically, militarily, culturally, diplomatically and politically. Korea has even made meaningful progress toward unification.

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Economy From an aid recipient to an aid donor

In modern Korea, the first economic data were officially collected and analyzed in 1953, immediately after the Korean War (1950-1953). At that time, the GNP was only USD 1.3 billion. By 2013, it had increased about 1,000 times, reaching over USD 1.3 trillion. Over the same period, per capita GDP increased 390 times, from USD 66 to USD 25,973. This figure is expected to reach USD 30,000 in 2015.

The five-year economic development plans, originally launched by Park Chunghee in 1962 and continuing over the following three decades, were a framework for national development. Primary export items in the 1960s were natural minerals and fishery products.Today, ships, semiconductors and automobiles are responsible for

the bulk of exports after the rapid growth of heavy industry. In the early 1950s, primary industries such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries, accounted for more than 40% of the country’s total added value, but they only take up 2% today. Over the same per iod, manufactur ing increased from 10.8% to 30.4% of total added value, and services from 41.3% to 67%.The economic structure has completely changed. Total exports increased from USD 120 million in 1964 to USD 573.1 billion in 2014, driving the countr y’s remarkable economic growth.Thanks to this dramatic increase in exports, the country’s balance of trade went from a deficit of USD 300 million to a surplus of USD 44 billion over the same period.

In the 1960s, Korea’s primary industry was light industry. Heavy industries and chemicals were developed in the 1970s.

Since the 1990s, the economy has been powered by high-tech industries. Korea’s semiconductor industry became one of the world’s largest in the early 1990s. Today, semiconductors account for about 10% of the country’s total exports.The automobile industry ranked fifth in the world in 2013 in terms of annual production capacity. Its ship-building is the world’s second-best.

Between 1966 and 1970, Korea recorded the highest economic growth and export performance among a group of 59 developing countr ies. This rapid economic development is what is often referred to as the “Miracle on the Han.” Of course, there were numerous challenges.The greatest setback was the financial crisis of 1997. One large company after another went bankrupt, and even some of the banks went out of business.The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell to a

mere USD 3.9 billion and there was no way that it could pay back its debts. In November 1997, the country itself was on the verge of bankruptcy and it had to sign a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an emergency loan of USD 19.5 billion. Numerous companies were restructured and reformed and, sadly, thousands of employees were let go. Some people took an active part in helping the government recover, donating their gold to help relieve the nation’s financial difficulties. The IMF loan was fully repaid by August 23, 2001.

Since then, Korea’s foreign exchange reserves have continually grown and were the world’s sixth largest, at USD 371.5 billion, as of June 2015.

In 1956, the country’s total stock market capitalization was only KRW 400 million. In 1977, it exceeded KRW 1 trillion and as of January 2015 it was KRW 1,387 trillion (approximately USD 1.18 trillion). Korea joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1996 and the organization’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2006. This membership means that Korea, once an aid recipient, has now been transformed into an aid donor.Today, the Korean economy is the 13th largest in the world.

Unification and Security Unification would be a Blessing

Automobiles are the chief items of export. According to the 2014 export records for automobiles released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the automobile export for last year reached USD 48.9 billion, reaching a record high. ©Yonhap News

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Active fighting on the Korean Peninsula ended in July 1953, but North and South Korea are still technically at war.The military conflict has yet to be completely resolved. Commemorating the 70th anniversary of independence, there are several signs of improvement in intra-Korea relations.

Korea has seen one of its biggest changes over the past seven decades in terms of military capability. At the start of the Korean War in the summer of 1950, the military numbered only 105,000 personnel, far fewer than North Korea’s 190,000.

By 2014, the figure had increased six times

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The quality of living, environment, education and medical service improved dramatically after the Korean independence, and above all, telecommunications technology has improved the most. ©Yonhap News

Children hang Korean flags, written with messages hoping for unification, onto wire fences at Imjingak. ©Yonhap News

to 630,000. Over the same period, Korea went from zero tanks to 2,400, and the number of armored vehicles increased from 27 to 2,700. There were only 22 training and liaison aircraft in 1950, but there are now some 400 combat aircraft, 60 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, 50 transport aircraft and 160 training aircraft.After sending troops to the Vietnam War (1955-1975), Korea sought to greatly improve its defense capabilities for self-reliant national defense.”

North Korea also boasts a sizable military today. It has 1.2 million personnel and

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some 800 naval vessels. There are some 4,300 tanks, 8,600 field guns and 5,500 multiple rocket launchers. On paper, North Korea looks more powerful than South Korea, but the South’s military is, in fact, much stronger and more advanced. Experts assert that it will remain so in the future. In an effort to enhance its military capabilities, North Korea is focusing on asymmetric force. It is believed that it has developed or obtained weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear and biochemical weapons, and simple drones.

Even though the ar mistice ended

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direct hostilities, there have been several military skirmishes between the South and the North throughout the years. From 1961 to August 2010, some 1,554 soldiers from the South Korean, the North Korean and the U.S. militaries have died. Since the 1980s, it has been reported that some 1.9 billion propaganda flyers have been distributed in North Korea as part of the South’s psychological warfare program.

There have, thankfully, been periods of reconciliation. In 1972, Seoul and Pyongyang issued the July 4 North-South Joint Statement. It announced the principles and means of unification: independence, peace and grand national unity. In 1998, people from South Korea and other countries were allowed to visit Geumgangsan Mountain in North Korea. In June 2000 and October 2007, summit talks were held between the two Koreas. The Gaeseong Industrial Complex, a symbol of interKorean economic cooperation, opened in December 2004. However, in 2008 the Geumgangsan Mountain tours were halted when a 53-year-old South Korean tourist was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers for wandering into a restricted military zone, sending relations into another per iod of deep freeze. In March 2010,

North Korea tor pedoed and sank the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan and in November that year shelled Yeonpyeong Island.These incidents further exacerbated South-North relations.

In recent years, more and more people have argued that unification would be a blessing for both South and North Korea.

They claim that unification would make the new Korea stronger, reunite separated families and boost economic growth.

According to experts, if the two Koreas were to be unified, the per capita GDP would increase from USD 40,000 to 50,000 by 2030, making Korea one of the most economically powerful countries in the world. Even today, Korea is making efforts on multiple levels to relieve tension on the peninsula and to restore trust to intra-Korea relations.

Diplomacy From the Periphery to the Center

Korea has, diplomatically, been focused over the past seven decades on countering the threat from the North and dealing with the so-called “four powers”: the U.S., Japan, mainland China and Russia. Since independence in 1945 through to the 1990s, Korean diplomats worked avidly to present

The quality and level of medical treatment developed to the highest standard, attracting foreigners to visit Korea for a medical checkup. There are also increased efforts to promote Korean medicine. ©Yonhap News

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the Republic of Korea as an impregnable anticommunist fortress.They then began to forge new ties with formerly communist countries as the Cold War finally drew to a close. During that period of roughly 40 years, the U.S. and Japan—especially the for mer—were at the heart of Korean diplomacy.The collapse of the Communist Bloc in the 1990s was a very welcome development, but it has in many respects rendered diplomacy far more complicated.

Diplomats now must understand varied interests and address multilayered, complex issues. As of December 2014, Korea had diplomatic ties with 190 countries across the globe.

The first government of the Republic of Korea (1945-1950) was vehemently and publicly opposed to communism and to Japan. When the Korean War (1950-1953) broke out, the South Korean army’s operational command was handed over to the U.S. In 1994, Korea recovered its operational command authority, but only for peacetime; not during wartime.

As regards the country’s diplomatic relations with Japan, the road has been long and winding. Diplomats of the two countries engaged in painfully prolonged preliminary negotiations that dragged on for 14 years, from 1951 to 1965. A full two decades passed after Korea’s 1945 independence from Japan before negotiations finally came to a conclusion.

Another milestone in Korean diplomacy, as well as its military development, was the country’s decision to send troops to fight in Vietnam on the side of the U.S. At the request of Washington, D.C., the Korean government dispatched medical personnel and taekwondo trainers on September 11, 1964, and finally began to send combat troops in 1965. By 1973, when Korea withdrew its forces, it had sent more than 320,000 troops to fight in Vietnam.

This was Korea’s first-ever decision to dispatch its military abroad. Notably, Korea had the second largest contingent in Vietnam after only the U.S., fighting away from

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In 2010, Korea hosted the G-20 Seoul Summit, solidifying the country’s position as the mediator for closing the gap between opinions of developed countries and developing countries. ©Yonhap News

home in the thick of the jungle against Vietnamese independence.The decision to send troops had some benefits for Korea, as it boosted employment and economic growth, but it was hardly without cost.

More than 5,000 Koreans died and more than 15,000 were injured, and there were other social costs as well.

In the 1980s, Korean diplomats worked hard to strengthen cooperation with Asian and African nations, and also flew to Eastern Europe to forge diplomatic ties with communist countries. In 1989, Korea established diplomatic relations with Hungary, heralding new diplomatic relations with other Eastern Bloc countries.

Korea forged diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in 1990. Premier Mikhail Gorbachev visited Jeju Island for a summit in 1991, marking a new era in Korean

diplomacy. This was the first-ever visit to South Korea by a Soviet leader.

December 1996 witnessed another diplomatic breakthrough when Korea acceded to the OECD, a club of developed economies. Korea’s hosting of the G20 Summit in 2010 further testified to Korea’s irrepressible rise in the international diplomatic community and also helped make the Korean public more aware of diplomatic and international issues.

Despite all these strides, the Korean peninsula still faces great diplomatic challenges: Korea’s icy relations with Japan, North Korea’s relentless and uncompromising determination to cling to nuclear weapons, reshaping the alliance between Korea and the U.S., especially with all the discussion about the U.S.-led missile defense system, and South-North Korean

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reunification, which has been complicated by changes in U.S.-China relations.

Society Outgrowing Old Customs

Korean society has undergone a complete metamorphosis over the past 70 years. In 1949, the country’s population was just over 20 million. That number reached 30 million in 1967, 40 million in 1984 and 50 million in 2012. This growth, however, is not just about numbers.The essential driver of the change was Korea’s adoption of a whole new set of values and beliefs. The country has largely broken away from traditionally Confucian mores and customs that had dictated people’s lives for some two thousand years. People can now enjoy their freedom as individuals and realize their own dreams. Patriarchy is still the

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norm, and in certain communities sons are still preferred over daughters, but this preference is far less strong than it used to be.

Moreover, society is no longer agrarian.

The average age of first marriage is 32.4 years for males and 29.8 years for females.

One household is no longer made up of several generations.The number of singleperson households is on the rise.The structure of Korean society is becoming just like that in other highly-industrialized countries.

Partly due to the vast improvement in health care, Korea became an aging society in 2000, a society in which 7% or more of the population is aged over 65. It is expected to become an aged society in the near future, with people aged over 65 accounting for 14% or more of the population. Better health care is readily apparent in statistical data. In 1950, there were only 22.3 doctors for every 100,000 citizens.

This figure has since increased nearly tenfold, to 218.2 by 2013. Over the same period, the child mortality rate per 1,000 babies decreased from 138 to 2.9.The quality of education has also drastically improved. In 1965, students were packed like sardines into classrooms, with one teacher responsible for 62.4 students. By 2013, the figure had dropped to only 15.3 students.

In 1965, parents had to be financially well-off to send their children to kindergarten. Only one out of every 100 children aged 4 and 5 were enrolled in pre-school programs. Today, about 47% of all children attend kindergarten.The number of schools has rapidly increased. In 1948, there were only 3,900 elementary, middle and high schools. This number is expected to soon exceed 20,000. All of these changes attest to the fact that Korea has completely made the transition from an agrarian society to an industrialized and urbanized society.

The development of infrastructure across the country has rendered cars a great necessity for some families. There were only 48,838 registered cars in 1966, but

Korea’s Past and Present Rapid Growth

Delayed Marriage and Childbearing

Per Capita GNI

Crude Marriage Rate (number of marriages per 1,000 people)

1953

USD

1930

2014

66

USD

28,180

2014

10

6

cases

cases

per capita GNP

crude divorce rate 1930: 0.5 cases → 2014: 2.23 cases

Foreign Exchange Reserves

Child Mortality Rate (per 1,000 babies)

May 2015

1953

1 60 million

371.5

USD

USD

billion

the world’s sixth largest

1950

over

babies

Stronger Military Total Military Manpower

Today

40%

2.9

babies

Share of Agriculture and Fisheries in Economy Early 1950s

Media and the Arts Korea as a Brand

2014

138

about

2%

1950

manufacturing increased from 10% to 30%, services increased 30% to 60% over the same period

Oct. 2014

about

about

105,000 soldiers

630,000 the world’s 7th largest

Army’s Military Power

Improved Quality of Life

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some

tanks

1965

2013

78%

Oct. 2014

1950

Housing Supply Rate

116%

armored vehicles

2,400 2,700

tanks

armored vehicles

per capita living space 1975: 7.9 m2 → 2012: 31.7 m2

New Challenge

Number of Cars

Low Birth Rate an d Aging Population Feb. 2015

1936

6,296

20 m illion

over

units

units

Population over 65 (since 2000)

Aging population

over

7%

2014

Aged population

12.7%

over

14%

Education (number of students per class in elementary school) 1970

Population under 15

2013

62.1

23.2

students

students

Cellular Phone Users

2014

1955

41.2%

14.3%

Total Fertility Rate

1990

2014

80 ,000

57.2 million

users

users

1970

4.53

2014

babies

1.21

there were over 20 million as of February 2015.

Such rapid development across the board has, needless to say, not been without some side effects. Examples include the widening gap between the rich and the poor, a growing burden on the welfare system and conflicts between the generations. However challenging the issues may be, Korea will be able to resolve them with the strength it has shown over the past 70 years, creating an even better society for all.

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A country’s art scene and media industry reflect the trends of the times. Korean society has surely mirrored the ups and downs of its modern history. During colonial times, the Korean people were forbidden from using their own language. After independence, pop culture started to develop.

In the 1950s, popular songs on the radio included “Parting at Busan Station” and “Be Strong, Geumsun,” both of which comforted people during the Korean War. Widespread use of radio and the establishment of television stations, including KBS in 1961, TBC in 1964 and MBC in 1969, spurred the development of pop culture and mass media.

The unbridled expansion of popular culture suffered a severe setback in the 1970s and 1980s under the militar y regimes. Numerous young people and free-spirited artists were arrested for smoking marijuana. Their songs and albums were banned. Strict censorship of all art work followed, resulting in dozens of forbidden songs.

Pop culture received a welcome boost when color television was introduced.The first color television broadcasts were transmitted in 1981, and TV soap operas began to gain popularity. “Love and Ambition,” one of the most popular shows at the time, reached up to 70% of the viewing public.

In 1991, the first non-government station, SBS, was established, and in 1995, cable

channels were introduced. TV viewers could enjoy more options as soap operas and reality shows filled the broadcast schedule.Today, there are about 200 channels, and the platfor ms are no longer restricted solely to terrestrial and cable TV. People can watch programs via satellite TV or through online and mobile streaming services.

Since 2000, Korean pop culture and entertainment began gaining popularity across East Asia and beyond. Soap operas made a breakthrough in Japan with “Winter Sonata,” which was soon broadcast in mainland China and Southeast Asia, too. Next was pop music. Pop artists and groups began staging performances across Asia, Europe, North Amer ica and the Middle East. Psy rose to global stardom and is now one of the most well-known Korean singers. His hit song “Gangnam Style” has over 2.3 billion views on YouTube.

Economic data support the popularity of Korean pop culture in many parts of the world. In 2014, revenue from tourism and exports of media content increased 8.4% to USD 6.16 billion, far outstripping the 2.3% g rowth seen in the countr y’s overall exports.

In the movie industry, Im Gwon-taek’s

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1995 musical drama “Seopyeonje” became the first Korean film to sell over 1 million tickets domestically. In 2003, Gang U-seok’s “Silmido” was the first to sell over 10 million domestic tickets. Globally, filmmakers such as Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk and Hong Sang-soo have been recognized for their work and have received multiple awards at international film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. Korean actors and actresses are making names for themselves as well. In 2007, Jeon Do-yeon received the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Lee Byung-hun has appeared in several Hollywood films, including “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (2009), “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” (2013) and “Terminator Genisys” (2015).

Politics Moves toward Democracy

The past 70 years have been a relentless march toward free democracy. Industrialization and democratization continued to progress in tandem, like the two wheels of a bicycle. Even after thousands of years of dynastic rule, decades of colonial rule and decades of military rule, the Korean people

Korean singer Psy and M.C. Hammer performed together in front of Times Square in New York. ©Yonhap News

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readily adopted a democratic political system. Academics around the world were amazed that the countr y was able to achieve this and curious about the drive that fed this change.

There were certainly many challenges that had to be overcome before democracy could rein freely. Historically, Korea was not the only country in the world that had been under military rule before the people achieved democracy. Differences of opinion had to be resolved, and trial and error was unavoidable. For Korea, the only difference was that this process did not unfold over centuries, but over only seven decades.

After Japan surrendered in 1945, putting an end to World War II in the Pacific, Korea was independent on August 15, 1945. The U.S. and the USSR agreed to temporarily occupy the country, divided along the 38th parallel north. The U.S.

occupied the southern half and the Soviet Union occupied the northern half. On August 15, 1948, the Republic of Korea was established and Rhee Syngman, the first president of Korea, was sworn into office. On September 9 that same year, Kim Il-sung established his gover nment in Pyongyang. “One country, two systems” persists on the peninsula to this day.

On April 19, 1960, students led massive pro-democracy protests against Rhee’s corrupt, oppressive government, including his victory in the March 15 presidential election by an unusually wide margin.The movement exerted such pressure that Rhee Syngman resigned and a parliamentary system was adopted. Soon afterward, however, Park Chung-hee seized power, on May 16, 1961, through a military coup d’état. Under Park’s rule, Korea began its rapid industr ialization and economic

development. The following decades were a time of political frustration until a popular election for president was finally held in 1988. Then, in 1992, Korea elected Kim Young-sam as president, the first civilian to hold the office in over 30 years. Since then, the country has maintained a strong political system characterized by smooth transitions between administrations.

The financial crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 shook the country’s democratic system to its foundation, but it prevailed. The people never abandoned their hope and determination for a free, fair political system. In April 1960, May 1980 and June 1987, the people repeatedly took to the streets demanding democracy, willing to give their lives for the cause.

Now, Korea is seeking ways to become a mature democracy.

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Modern Korean History

Aug. 15, 1945 Japan’s surrender ends World War II; the 38th parallel north forms the border between South and North Korea

Aug. 15, 1948 The Republic of Korea is established

Jun. 25, 1950 The Korean War begins.

Jul. 27, 1953 Armistice ends the Korean War

1955 Korea joins the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (per capita GNP reaches USD 65)

Jul. 21, 1969 The Gyeongin Expressway opens

Aug. 15, 1974 The Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 opens

May 18, 1980 The Gwangju Democratization Movement begins

Sep. 17, 1988 The 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games begin

Sep. 18, 1991 South and North Korea join the United Nations

1993 Total stock market value exceeds KRW 100 trillion

Dec. 12, 1996 Korea joins the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Jun. 15, 2000 Seoul and Pyongyang issue the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration

May 31, 2002 Korea co-hosts the FIFA World Cup with Japan

Apr. 1, 2004 New high-speed train, KTX, opens

Oct. 13, 2006 Ban Ki-moon is elected the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations

Dec. 5, 2006 Exports exceed USD 300 billion

Oct. 2-4, 2007 Seoul and Pyongyang hold the second inter-Korean summit; the Declaration on the Advancement of. South-North Korean Relations, Peace and Prosperity is issued

Nov. 11-12, 2010 Seoul hosts the G20 Summit

Jan. 30, 2013 Korea successfully launches its first space rocket, Naro, into orbit

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2015 Total stock market value reaches KRW 1,320 trillion (approx. USD 1.1 trillion)

Per capita GNI reaches USD 28,180

• Nominal GDP reaches KRW 1,497 trillion (approx. USD 1.3 trillion) (30,000-fold growth since 1953)

• Exports reach USD 574 billion • Foreign reserves ranks sixth in the world Foreigners dressed in colorful Hanbok dresses post for a photo. ©Yonhap News

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Ryu Seong-ryong, descendant of independence activists Ryu’s grandfather and granduncle devoted their prime years to Korea’s independence.

Written by Kim Hyeon-tae Photographed by hong ha-yan

“M

y grandfather’s elder brother was a great speaker. Even when he was in prison, he sat with a group of people and encouraged them to make something of themselves instead of committing petty theft. Many of the people to whom he spoke returned to prison, but this time, they were brought in for taking part in the independence movement. The colonial regime must have despised him. I was told that he was kept in solitary confinement and moved to a different facility every few months,” says Ryu. Brothers’ lonely fight for independence

After the formal annexation of Korea in 1910, many people began resisting colonial rule and launched an independence movement across the country. Ryu Seong-geun (1878-1942), the elder brother of Ryu Seong-ryong’s grandfather, was also committed to fighting for independence. In June 1920, he went to Manchuria to join the Korean independence army and was soon put in charge of recruiting and raising funds. His daily duties included recruiting, building support for the independence movement and sending warning letters to colonial officials. Ryu continued raising

funds for the army after returning to his hometown of Icheon in Gyeonggi-do Province. In May 1921, he was arrested near a hideout in what is now North Korea.

He was tried in Pyongyang’s high court and sentenced to 12 years in prison. By the time he was released, torture had made him a broken man both physically and mentally and he had to be nursed in his sickbed until death overtook him.

Ryu Eung-geun (1887-1957), Ryu Seong-geun’s younger brother, also devoted his life to fighting the colonial regime. “His older brother was his mentor.

When he was asked to raise funds for the independence movement, he didn’t hesitate to sell everything he owned. He also took out a loan from a usurer with his farmland as collateral. He ended up spending all of his money on the independence movement. So his entire family, including my father, lived in poverty thereafter,” says Ryu Seong-ryong.

The media eventually covered Ryu Seong-geun’s story and he was recognized for his service as an independence fighter.

In 1982, he was posthumously awarded the Accolade for National Foundation and in 1990 the Order of Mer it for National Foundation. Unfortunately, there was not

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enough evidence of Ryu Eung-geun’s work with the independence movement, so his services to the movement have still not been officially recognized. It has been a life-long hope of Ryu Seong-ryong’s father, now 80, to see his father recognized for all the work he did for his country’s independence. He often shares the proud legacy of his family with his five sons lest it be forgotten. As he tells the story, his voice trembles and his eyes well up.

“ My ancestors would be very happy to see that Korea has come so far after all these years,” says Ryu.

Remembering the family legacy

As his father has done, Ryu Seong-ryong tells his two daughters about their ancestors’ fight for independence. He encourages them to take pride in their family’s legacy, which helped lay the foundation for a modern Korea, and to be worthy of their ancestors’ sacrifice. Ryu also reflects on the life of his patriotic ancestors. “I tell myself to remember what they did for me. All of the independence activists, including my ancestors, fought for their country’s independence with genuine passion and love.

Many even sacrificed their lives for it.This is why I feel responsible to make my own country a more beautiful place for posterity. I strongly believe that our ancestors will protect us in whatever we do,” says Ryu.

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Pansori Master Ahn Sook-sun Ahn’s musical storytelling moves the world.

Written by Yoon Se-eun Photographed by Moon Duk-gwan

he performance ran for five hours.

On stage, there was only one singer, wearing a traditional Hanbok dress and holding a folding fan in her hand. Many people in the audience had never seen or heard of the traditional narrative music of pansori, but each and every one of them was completely engrossed in the music throughout the performance. The diva on stage was Ahn Sook-sun. In 1988, she staged such narrative musical perfor mances across seven European countries. Ahn is a trained master and practitioner of Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 23, singing while playing the twelve-stringed zither, or gayageum. Nowadays, Ahn continues to stage shows one after the other.

She also plans and directs performances and teaches as the artistic director at the National Gugak Center.

Music: the universal language

Pansori is a traditional genre of musical storytelling sung to the rhythms of a drum.

One performance may run up to seven or eight hours. The performer does not use a microphone, but relies solely on his or her voice. Ahn has been staging shows like this all around the world. She often contemplates how a non-Korean audience would perceive her music, sung in Korean. “I had an interview after a show in Sweden once and the interviewer told me that language does not matter to the audience. He said that a perfor mer’s “color of music” is enough for the audience to know what is happening in the story. In the tale of Sim Cheong, for example, the performer gropes the floor with his fan as he sings the part about Sim Cheong’s blind father. Emotion can be expressed using different pitches, and the use of breath can add an element of suspense. So the audience can comprehend and become absorbed in the music without understanding the language,” explains Ahn. In the summer of 2003, she performed at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York and at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. In November that same year,

pansor i was officially recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Heritage Item of Humanity.

It is often said that music is a universal language, but many Koreans, especially younger Koreans, regard pansori as something arcane.That is why Ahn strives to sing not only traditional stories, but also contemporary, original stories. She also enjoys collaborating with classical, jazz and other musical artists. Fans express concern that doing so may undermine pansori’s style, but Ahn insists that she needs to continue to innovate. “I want to show people how great this music truly is. It can make incredible sounds with any type of music.”

A career of over 55 years

Ahn started studying pansori at the age of eight, along with traditional dance and the zither, and exhibited great talent in singing.

She was taught by some of the greatest teachers and she modeled herself after them for their professional integrity. “I came to Seoul from my hometown of Namwon in Jeollabuk-do Province.When I joined the National Changgeuk Com-

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pany of Korea, I decided that I would do this for the rest of my life. Portraying the protagonist in famous folktales, I felt like a princess.When I stood in the spotlight with perfect hair and makeup, I knew I belonged on stage,” recalls Ahn. She has practiced for many long hours throughout her career. Even to this day, she trains every moment of every day. “These days, I have to split my time between being a singer and an art director. Nonetheless, I can’t cut back on practice time,” says Ahn. In September, she will head for Paris for a performance to celebrate 130 years of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Paris.

When asked if she is preparing anything special for the French audience, she replies that practice is all she needs. “Once I’m on stage, I need to perform my best so that everyone in the audience can enjoy the music. A true singer should be able to move the audience with his or her voice alone,” says Ahn with confidence. She believes that the audience will be attentive to the songs of a singer who has achieved certain virtuosity. Ahn takes this strong faith to the stage every performance.

“ A true singer should be able to touch the audience with singing alone,” says Ahn.

The virtues of a good pansori singer include soft facial expressions, a calm tone of voice and a clean look with Hanbok.

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TRAVEL

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Andong, the Ancient Center of Intellectualism Home of Korean Confucianism, the historic town boasts many rich traditions.

Written by Lee Min-jeong Photographed by Moon Duk-gwan

our fir st impression of Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, might be less than favorable. At first glance, it is obvious that it doesn’t have any spectacular scenery or awe-inspiring natural wonders. Andong’s most popular attraction, the Hahoe Folk Village, may seem little more than quaint.

To fully enjoy this historical town, however, one needs to understand the spirit that it embodies.

Andong was home to many renowned scholars during Joseon times (1392-1910).

The people there take great pride in their ancestors, and they still widely render tra-

ditional offerings to ancestors worshipped there in perpetuity. At Andong’s Hahoe Folk Village, visitors can see architectural elements that represent the spirit of Joseon’s virtuous scholars and of neo-Confucianism. For example, one of the largest estates in the village is the house of the Pungsan Ryu clan. It has 99 units, and even includes humble outhouses with their pedestrian thatched-roofs. The owners explain that they maintain these antiquated bathrooms to remind them of the cycle of life, just as the moon wanes after it is full. Other features include a wall outside the inner main

At the Hahoe Folk Village, visitors may be lucky enough to see a performance of the Hahoe Byeolsingut Tallori mask dance.

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women’s quarters separating them from the men’s quarters. The women’s rooms have small windows in the upper reaches, used for peeking outside.These are some of the legacies of Joseon that convey the era’s strict separation of men and women as dictated by Confucianism.

Dosan Seowon, a Confucian Academy

The educational philosophy of Confucian scholar Yi Hwang ( 李 滉 ,1501-1570) is something visitors can lear n about in Andong. During the early Joseon period,Yi

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1863-1873) ( 興宣大院君 ). The school is noted for its picturesque landscape of the Nakdonggang River flowing past in the foreground and Byeongsan Mountain off in the distance. According to one myth, the school was built near the mountain so that students could solely focus on their studies and find their way in the real world.

Gyeongsangbuk-do Independence Movement Memorial

The Nakdonggang River flows around Hahoe Village. Taken from the way the river wraps around the area, the village was named ‘Muldongidong’, or ‘Hahoe’ in Chineses characters.

was one of the main influences in the development of orthodox Korean Confucianism, based on commentaries on the Confucian canon made by the 12th-century Chinese scholar Zhu Xi (朱熹,1130-1200).

In 1534,Yi, at age 33, passed the preliminary provincial civil service examination with top honors. He continued his scholarly pursuits while working for the Joseon government until he was appointed an officer in the Royal Secretariat. In his later years,Yi built the Dosan Seodang, a small, private Confucian academy to offer lectures on the classics and to honor famous sages through regular memorial rites. The academy’s layout, with the lecture hall in the front and a g raveyard in the rear, became the model for other Joseon Confucian academies.Yi wanted to teach his students about the meaning of the world through nature. Every evening, he took his students on a walk around the academy, observing the movements of the stars in the

sky. After Yi’s death, his students established the Dosan Seowon in his honor on the hill behind the Dosan Seodang.

Hahoe Folk Village

This traditional village is nestled in the foothills of Hwasan Mountain, an offshoot of Taebaek Mountain that rises up to the east. The name Hahoe, where ha means “river” and hoe means “to turn around,” der ives from the shar p bend that the Nakdonggang River makes around the village. In addition to the Nakdonggang

River, nearby scenery includes the Buyongdae Cliffs, endlessly unfolding sandy beaches along the r iver and lush, oldgrowth pine trees. The village attracted global attention in 1999 when Queen Elizabeth II visited to celebrate her 73 rd birthday, during a four-day state visit to Korea. In July 2010, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Her itage List for its Confucian heritage and historic value.

Byeongsan Seowon, a Confucian Academy

This school was established in tribute to Ryu Seong-ryong ( 柳成龍, 1542-1607), a much revered scholar who was the chief state councilor during Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea between 1592 and 1598.

This school was representative of Confucian architecture during Joseon times and was one of only 47 Confucian schools in all of Korea that was not demolished during the rule of the Regent Daewongun (r.

For Confucian scholars and students of Andong, the independence movement was a perfect way to practice what they preached. There were many people in Andong whose entire family devoted themselves to winning back independence from the colonial power. Ten scholars starved themselves to death in protest against Japanese colonial rule, and others sought asylum in Manchuria and trained other independence activists. Located in a traditional Hanok building, the memorial has two permanent exhibition halls and one temporary exhibition hall. This rather welcoming memorial displays historical material that explains the history of the independence movement in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

Visitors can enjoy a beautiful view of the Hahoe Folk Village from the Buyondae Cliffs.

Foodies from all over the country come to the old market in Andong to enjoy the city’s famous braised chicken, jjimdak.

The highlight of the braised chicken is the sweet and spicy sauce.

What to Eat Andong’s delicacies include salted mackerel (gangodeungeo), bibimbap served with soy sauce and side dishes (heotjesa bap) and braised chicken (jjimdak). Andong residents prepare bibimbap with soy sauce for ancestral rites, but they also enjoy it all year round. Kkachi Gumeongjip (Tel. 054-855-1056) serves an excellent soy sauce bibimbap. The Gusijang Market is a great place to enjoy braised chicken. The dish was invented in the 1980s by some of the restaurants in the market to compete against fried chicken. It is cooked by braising a chicken in a sweet and spicy sauce with vegetables and starch noodles.

Where to Stay An outlying village over 100 years old was in danger of being submerged by the

reservoir behind the new Andong Dam. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Andong City government and the SK Group worked together to save its legacy. Seven traditional homes were selected, taken apart and then reassembled at a new location, forming the beginning of a resort. Gurume (054-823-9001) is the “old house resort,” yet it still boasts modern amenities.

Getting There Nine trains run every weekday from Seoul’s Cheongnyangni Station to Andong. The ride takes about 3 hours and 20 minutes. A slightly faster way is to take a bus from the Dong Seoul (East Seoul) Bus Terminal. The bus leaves every 30 minutes and arrives at the Andong Bus Terminal in 2 hours and 50 minutes.

The Dosan Seowon has a simple, efficient layout.

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Seoul 2 hr 50 min

Andong

Busan

SPORTS

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passed, and Korean women’s football has progressed substantially. A women’s football league was established in 2009, and today there are seven professional teams. On the international stage, the national team won the summer Universiade in 2009 and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2010.

It finished third at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup that same year. It also won bronze medals at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.

The national team for the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada included many athletes who were on those winning teams, and they are referred to as the “Golden Generation.” One of them is Ji So-yun, who plays for Chelsea Ladies in England and received the Women’s Player of the Year award at the Professional Footballers’ Association Awards in April 2015. Park Eunsun, who played for the national team in its first World Cup in 2003 when she was 17, joined the team once again. On the field, the team exceeded fans’ expectations.

Until the next World Cup

Aiming for Glory The women’s football team reached the Round of 16 for the first time at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Written by Chung Kyu-young

Korea defeats Spain 2-1 in the Group Stages at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 on June 17. © Yonhap News

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n article titled “1,765 vs. 84,000” was published in the online magazine Footballist ahead of Korea’s Round of 16 match against France in Montreal, Canada, on June 21, part of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. Each figure represented the number of female athletes playing football in Korea and France, respectively.The article stated that the comparison put this David and Goliath match into clearer perspective than to simply say that Korea was ranked 18th and France was

ranked third in the world. David was defeated 3-0.The Korean women’s football team managed to earn its first World Cup victory against Spain in the Group Stages and to reach the Round of 16 for the first time, but prevailing over one of the world’s best teams proved more than difficult.

The Golden Generation

Korea’s national women’s football team was only established in 1990.Women’s football was adopted as an official sport for the Asian Games in Beijing the same year, and

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Although the women’s national team did not make it to the Quarterfinals, it achieved two great feats: it won its first World Cup victory and it reached the Round of 16.

The two main attackers, Ji So-yun and Park Eun-sun, exhibited remarkable resilience in all matches despite recovering from

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Cho So-hyun (No. 8) celebrates her goal during the match against Spain on June 17. © Yonhap News

The women’s national football team earned a great victory by making it to the Round of 16, even though two of its attackers were not in their best physical condition due to injuries.

athletes from other spor ts were put together to form a team. The team’s first friendly match against Japan, on September 6, 1990, in Seoul, ended in a crushing 13-1 defeat. At the Beijing Asian Games, Korea finished fifth out of six teams, winning just one of the five games it played.

In 2003, the national team surprised football when it defeated Japan to compete in its first FIFA Women’s World Cup, but it lost all of its matches in the Group Stages.

However, the team was grateful for having scored its first goal.Twelve years have since

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injuries. The team’s performance overall was praiseworthy. When they returned home on June 24, the fans gave them a heroine’s welcome.

Many members of the team attracted people’s attention for their impressive performance in the World Cup.Veteran goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi has been featured on the front page of FIFA’s website for her consecutive saves in the match against France.The team’s captain, midfielder Cho So-hyun, has been noticed for her strength and presence on the field and is now receiving offers from several teams in Europe.

Coach Yoon Duk-yeo is celebrated for his leadership. With no prior experience in coaching a women’s team, he succeeded in taking his team to the Round of 16 in only 30 months after he began coaching them.

Several players are planning for their futures. Ji So-yun is considering moving to another team, possibly in the U.S., Germany or France. Park Eun-sun expressed her hope to take part in her third World Cup, saying, “We will make it to the Quarterfinals in 2019.”

The prospects are bright for the women’s national football team in 2019 as many members of the victorious U-17 team will be joining it as front-line players. The Korea Football Association plans to offer its full support to provide a better environment for the women’s team over the coming years.

ENTERTAINMENT

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Welcome to a Magic World Magician Choi Hyeon-u makes magic a popular pastime.

Written by Yoon Se-eun Photographed by Raon Play

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r iskly flicking through a deck of cards, an illusionist asks a woman in the audience to think of a card. The illusionist hands the deck to the woman and asks if her card is there. It isn’t. As he gestures to a high-rise building next door, office lights show the seven of diamonds on its glass facade, the card the woman picked. It is an impressive trick in the opening scene of the film “Now You See Me.”The film included different types of magicians, including a “mentalist,” played by Woody Harrelson.

His tricks involved “mental magic,” which

combines conventional magic tricks with hypnosis and psychology, and is becoming a big thing in its own right these days.

A magician on the international stage

Magicians have been around for a very long time, but Korea’s history with such sleights of hand is rather short. These days, more and more Korean magicians and illusionists are making names for themselves around the world. Choi Hyeon-u is one of them. Better known internationally as

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Charming Choi, he is famous for “mental magic.” He never liked the stereotype of a magician donning a black tuxedo and a fedora and performing tricks with rabbits.

Taking inspiration from David Copperfield, Choi is redefining what it means to be a magician.

Choi first attracted attention when he won awards at the International Brotherhood of Magicians convention in 2002 and at the Blackpool Magic Convention in 2008. In 2009, he became the first Asian magician to win an award at the Interna-

1 - C hoi Hyeon-u’s ‘mental magic’ incorporates state-of-the-art props.

2 - F light attendants perform magic tricks in front of passengers. © Yonhap News 3 - C hoi Hyeon-u is one of the best-known magicians in Korea.

tional Federation of Mag ic Societies (FISM) World Championships, in the Most Original Act category. In 2012, he became t he youngest-ever judge in the same com etition.To be selected as a judge, a magician must have a world championship title and have made a considerable contribution to the field of magic in his or her own country. Choi was duly recognized for having done both.

Since 2002, Choi has staged more than 1,000 shows. His latest performance, “The Brain,” focuses on his unique style of “mental magic.” He will try some things that have never been tried before, such as using drones. He is presently fine-tuning his new “mental magic” tricks that combine optical illusions, science and psychology.

Magic is no longer considered complex.

It is now a popular form of entertainment.

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From tricks to a pastime

Spectators expect to see more amazing tricks from magicians and illusionists.That is why they invent new tricks and practice executing them until they are perfect.

Some magicians not only stage their own shows, but also appear on reality TV shows or write books to reach a wider audience.

The more popular magicians become, the 25

Choi Hyeon-u is one of the best-known magicians in Korea.

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more familiar people become with magic.

People no longer simply associate magic with eye-deceiving tricks or think that they involve complex techniques that only trained magicians can perfor m. It has become a popular form of entertainment.

There are now management agencies dedicated to magicians. Raon Play, which manages Choi, organizes magic performances and plans brand-launching extravaganzas, promotional campaigns and TV commercials that involve magic.

Service industries are also turning to magic for inspiration in their business.

Asiana Airlines is teaching its flight attendants simple tricks that they can perform to entertain passengers during the flight. In fact, female magician Oh Eun-yeong used to be one of the flight attendants who performed these tricks. She became so fascinated with magic that she changed professions.

Different people are beginning to study magic for various reasons. Introverts learn magic as a way to improve their interpersonal skills, and retirees find a new passion for life in it. Anyone can learn a magic trick. All it takes is your hands and a few simple props.

CURRENT KOREA

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The World in Your Hands Smartphones are leading a new mobile trend Written by CHUNG DAYOUNG

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im Jihoon, a strategist at SK Planet, uses a coffee shop app downloaded onto his smartphone to order a large coffee and to set the pickup time. His coffee is waiting for him on the counter just as he arrives at the coffee shop.Without having to wait in line or take out his wallet, he can grab the coffee on his way to the office.

Before SK Planet, Kim worked as a product manager at SK Telecom and is very knowledgeable about mobile services. He shows off his favorite apps: “Syrup” is a mobile wallet and “T-map” is a public transportation and GPS app. “Nowadays, people are spending more time searching for information with their smartphones than using laptops or desktops. So naturally,

newly launched services are targeted at mobile environments,” says Kim. FROM WEB TO MOBILE

As the smartphone penetrates further and further into the marketplace, people can easily access the Internet, enabling them to obtain real-time information. According to recent Google research, weekly use of mobile applications in Korea averages 13.4 hours, which compares to only 6.3 hours in the U.S.This astounding number greatly surpasses the time spent watching television, at 9 hours.

In 2011, mobile services were simply a smaller version of web services, as search engines provided their services for mobile

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phones. The user experience on a mobile was almost always the same as with a desktop-based web service. People still needed to type in keywords to find information, and the capacity of the mobile eco-system was too limited to offer users any compelling value. Since then, however, the mobile environment has been changing dramatically. Now, smartphone penetration in Korea is 80%, which is the second highest figure in Asia, after Singapore.

MOBILE APPS THAT KEEP YOU MOBILE

More interesting and diverse services are being created exclusively for mobile environments as people use their smartphones more frequently. Anyone who has a smart-

phone in Korea can grab a taxi with “Kakao Taxi,” order a coffee or food with “Syrup” and send instant messages with “KakaoTalk” or “WeChat.”The same phenomenon extends to entertainment. Online comics and e-books that were originally created for laptops or tablets are now designed to fit into the user’s hand. People can enjoy entertainment through their smartphones at anytime, anywhere and without the restraint of being stationary at a terminal.As acceptance of the mobile environment increases, even the most conservative industries are diving into mobile services.

Fintech is one of them, expanding its web services onto mobile platforms. Meeting the demand of users who want to shop with their mobile phones, Internet service provider SK Planet and software company Daum-Kakao launched a payment service app in partnership with domestic financial institutions. In the case of “Syrup Pay,” users can pay with simply a password, without having to install Active X, a previous barrier to the evolution of online shopping.

Now, Korea’s mobile eco-system is questioning old regulations and policies in a way that allows people to conveniently use their mobile services for payment or entertainment.

Consider ing the wide coverage of physical Internet networks across Korea and the rapid acceptance of new technologies, this is only the beginning for mobile services.We shall be seeing more and more mobile services that will affect our lives for the better.

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Currently, more interesting and diverse services are created exculsively targeted for the mobile environment.

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1 - W ith ‘Paynow Touch’, users can pay offline by simply putting in their mobile number.

2 - N ewly launched services are designed for mobile environment.

3 - W ith SK Planet’s “Syrup”, users can replace all their plastic membership awards cards with the smartphone applications.

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Special Issue

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under the themes of “You are Shining” and “Light Up Tomorrow.” President Park Geun-hye and FISU President Gallien were joined by Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC) Copresidents Yoon Jang-hyun and Kim Hwang-sik to hold a balloon that symbolized youth and hope.

Opening ceremony performances featured traditional music fused with pop, sending the message that “Youth is the true light of the future.” Athletes from the 143 nations entered the stadium in English alphabetical order. Katie Dudley of the U.S. women’s water polo team said that the excitement of representing her country gave her chills and that it, “was the coolest experience of my life.”

Team Korea entered last to a cheering crowd with its largest-ever Summer Universiade delegation, 525 athletes and officials in all 21 sports.

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1 - N early 13,000 participants from 143 countries took part in the Gwangju Universiade, making it the largest Universiade in history. © Yonhap News 2 - A n actual Korean traditional wedding took place during the Universiade. © Yonhap News 3 - A thletes and spectators enjoy the celebrations together at the closing ceremony of the Gwangju Universiade. © Yonhap News

UNIVERSIADE GWANGJU 2015 Korea’s “City of Light” hosts 28 th Summer Universiade Written by Sean Lim

students.

Claude-Louis Gallien, president of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), said the host city of Gwangju was the “ideal platform” because of its legacy of student activism and democracy.

Under the ambitious mantra of “Champions today, Leaders tomorrow,” the Universiade torch passed from one “City of Light” to another. Lit in Paris, the flame arrived in Korea on May 24 via Taipei.

Throughout the month of June, it traveled 3,700 kilometers across Korea, including to Jejudo Island, on a route passing through

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In conjunction with Gwangju City, the GUOC arranged numerous cultural events that focused on youth, including the World Youth Festival and the Youth Nanjang Festival.Visitors saw live performances that ranged from musicals, traditional gugak music and live plays.

The Gwangju City government and Gwangju City Tourism Association organized special reenactments of Korean traditional ceremonies, including an actual traditional wedding ceremony for a young couple. A traditional wedding was conducted at Gwangju Universiade Park for Gwangju-born Park Ji-hoon and Valerie Gallasi from France. Gallasi arrived at the ceremony in a traditional bridal carriage and the couple received blessings from the guests from around the world.

Universiade Gwangju 2015 Ends With a Splash

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Universiade Festivals Highlight Korean Heritage

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ast month, Gwangju, Korea’s very own “City of Light,” 330 kilometers south of Seoul, hosted the largest Universiade in history. From July 3 to 14, 2015, nearly 13,000 participants from 143 countries exhibited the best of their athleticism at the 12-day global sports event.

“Universiade” is a portmanteau of the words “univer sity” and “Olympiad.”

Though often viewed as a popular precursor to the Olympic games, the Universiade is only open to student athletes or postcollegiate athletes between the ages of 17 and 28.The event is a festival for university

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17 cities. The torch occasionally changed hands among pop stars, too, including Sooyoung from the group Girls’ Generation.

Gwangju Universiade Opens to Crowd of 40,000 Spectators

On July 3, the torch relay ended at the Universiade Main Stadium where the final torchbearers, Park Chan-ho, a for mer major league baseball player, and Olympic gymnast Yang Hak-seon, ignited the cauldron in front of 40,000 spectators.The festivities kicked off with a focus on youth

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The Universiade Gwangju 2015 closed with the men’s water polo final between Italy and Hungary. After 13 penalty shots, Hungary secured the gold medal in a 14-13 win, becoming the first team since the U.S. in 1991 and 1993 to win consecutive Universiade gold medals in water polo.

To give the global sporting event a proper farewell, over 900 perfor mers packed the main arena once again for a performance titled “Sharing the Light.”

Those gracing the stage included pop idols Shinee, EXID and the Kim Kyung-ho Band, along with other traditional musicians from Jeollanam-do Province.

All participants, from the athletes to the volunteers, were honored for their effor ts at br ing ing the world closer together through sports. As the end of the 28th Summer Universiade was declared, the flag was handed over to the mayor of the next host city, Taipei. May the lights shine on at the upcoming Summer Universiade 2017 in Taiwan.

Special Interview

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A Story of 70 Years

used to worry about the economic cost of unification, but they are more supportive of it,” says Kim. The most urgent task for Korea if it wants to achieve a peaceful unification is for the government and for the people alike to maintain a positive outlook and to give it their best efforts. Unification on the Korean Peninsula will not be possible unless the people are determined to see it through with an understanding of the possible costs. Korea survived a war and established a free democracy. If the two Koreas are unified, North Koreans’ basic human rights will finally be respected.

Those who were born in 1945, the year Korea gained independence from colonial rule, are known as haebangdugie, meaning, “liberation children.” This is a generation that witnessed the major events of Korea’s modern history, including the country’s independence, the establishment of the South Korean government, the Korean War (1950-1953), economic development and eventually democracy. This month, KOREA Magazine explores Korea’s past and present through interviews with prominent figures from various fields, born around the time of Korea’s independence, sharing with the country’s visions for its future.

Written by CHEONG KYU-YOUNG, SO JONG-SEOP Photographed by hong ha-yan

the Koreans race, especially dynamism.

“Being dynamic could mean that we are short-tempered, but it also means that we are decisive. However stubborn we may be, we quickly accept things once we decide on something. For example, we readily

Lee Jin-gon was born in 1949. Previously

a managing director at the Kukmin Ilbo newspaper, he is a visiting professor of political science and international relations at Kyunghee University.

Way to a Mature Democracy Working for Peace

We are of one race, the Korean race. In some sense, a divided nation is a state of abnormality. The most fundamental rights as a human being were taken away when thousands of people were separated from their families, not knowing if their father was still alive or where their siblings were.

As of June 30, 2015, there are 130,000 applicants who are hoping to find their lost family members, according to statistics. For Kim Suk-woo, unification means returning the abnormality back to normality. “It would mean returning the community, the people and the families to the way they are meant to be. Prosperity will come naturally after unification,” he says.

Of the many important events in modern Korean history, he emphasized the founding of the Republic of Korea and the June 29 Declaration of 1987.“The country was founded based on the Korean Constitution, with respect for a liberal democracy, a market economy and human r ights, under a situation where North Korea had already established its government. Korea’s economic development and democracy proves that this system worked.The June 29 Declaration in 1987, a movement for democratization, was the people’s government that represented the people in inter-

Kim Suk-woo was born in 1945. He is

currently director of the National Development Institute and a member of the Presidential Security Advisory Panel. Previously, he served as the director of the Asian Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the chief of presidential protocol and the chief of staff to the speaker of the National Assembly.

* T he views expressed in the interviews do not necessarily reflect the views of Korea magazine.

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Korean relations.The citizens’ opinion was reflected in the declaration and this turned the right to unification and economic development into democratization,” says Kim. Kim says that unification and the national security of Korea has changed dramatically, according to changes in the Korean government and in the international situation, and that the Korean president plays an important role in this. The Park Geun-hye gover nment’s Nor th Korean policy is based on her Trust-building Process on the Korean Peninsula, announced in 2013. According to this, Korea will improve its relations with the North, establish peace on the peninsula and lay the groundwork for unification based on mutual trust. “President Park’s positive attitude toward unification has resulted in better awareness among the public. People

Lee Jin-gon sees the past 70 years as a time of perseverance through pain to build a stable political and economic system. From the ashes of its painful modern history, Korea has successfully gone through economic development and finally democratization. Such achievements have provided the people with a sense of confidence and fulfillment. Lee says of the power that drove the country’s formidable growth that, “It is the distinctive nature of our nation, which is based on a spirit of determination and cooperation. Everyone had a strong sense of patriotism and responsibility. They also had clear visions and goals for the country, and there were great political leaders that could achieve the desired goals.”

During the democracy movement, thousands of people were injured and killed. It was a period of political darkness.

Thankfully, democratization made rapid progress some 40 years after the country’s independence. It is particularly noteworthy that this transformation was made by the very hands that initially led the authoritarian rule. They eventually responded to the people’s cry for autonomy and freedom.

The political system took a dramatic turn in the proper direction during the peak of authoritarian rule.

Lee believes that this turn to democracy is due to certain characteristic traits of

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adopted a democratic political system after a series of royal dynasties and an oppressive colonial state.We introduced women’s suffrage in 1948, with the first Korean Constitution. Patriarchy is still the norm, but we elected our first female president in 2012.”

Despite all the development the country has achieved, people still express their strong desire for change. “It is important that we change our political practices so that parties and leaders can come together to achieve a common public goal. We can only mature as a democracy if individuals and groups alike stop pursuing personal gain.”

korea

Korea’s Dynamic Society

“I was born in what is now North Korea, and my f amily fled south dur ing the Korean War (1950-1953). The war caused major changes in our nation. The Korean Peninsula became a battlefield in the global conflict between the U.S. and the USSR and mainland china.The war also gave the residents of different regions a chance to intermix,” says Park Sung-hyun. As a haebangdugie, Park is filled with emotion as Korea celebrates its 70 th anniversary of independence in 2015. “After the war, Korea sought to pull itself up out of crushing poverty. The country was already poor before the war, and the war left it completely devastated.To escape poverty, thousands left their hometowns and went to live in Bukgando, (the Korean word for Yanbian, in Manchuria), for the Russian Far East, for elsewhere in mainland China, Japan and the U.S. Today, over 7 million Koreans live outside of Korea. The per capita GDP in North Korea was higher than that of South Korea after independence, but the South later pulled ahead by dint of its rapid economic development.

The economic gap between the two Koreas is now extremely wide,” he says.

Park notes that the nationwide Saemaul (New Community) Movement campaign was the largest factor in overcoming poverty. He remembers those days as a young university student. “I traveled across the country to participate in the movement. I paved roads, built buildings and cleaned up the streets. The entire country was busy transforming its neighborhoods.

There is truth when people say that Korea is a dynamic country. I think Korea started to become fast-paced during the Saemaul Movement.”

He also puts great emphasis on the contributions made by science and technology in terms of Korea’s social development. In the 1970s, Hyundai Motor started selling Korea’s first mass-produced car, the Pony.The wide use of code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular technology in

and baby formula, which we called ‘the three whites.’ The baby formula would be rock hard inside the container after a long time in storage. I remember breaking the hard formula and eating it like crackers.”

Kang Man-su, a former minister of strategy and finance, was a public servant for 40 years starting in 1970. He is a witness to the country’s economic milestones that led to today’s modern state. “Based on my experience, I think that the economic development plan in 1973, known as the Heavy-Chemical Industry Drive, was a critical moment in our economic development,” says Kang. “Boosting the nation’s exports to USD 10 billion per annum and gaining a per capita GDP of USD 1,000 per annim was thought to be impossible, but this plan did, indeed, drive remarkable growth.”

According the Kang, this was when Korea began developing its automobile, steel, ship-building and electronics industries. Korea found it necessary to develop heavy and chemical industries as prerequisites to establishing a domestic defense

Park Sung-hyun

is the president of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology. He is also professor emeritus at the Department of Statistics at Seoul National University and chair professor at the Department of Management of Technology at Konkuk University.

industry. Automotive technologies were needed to build tanks and armored vehicles, and ship-building technologies were needed to make destroyers and submarines.

Steel and electronics were utterly essential.

Korea could only develop its heavy and chemical industries because it was desperate to increase its capability to survive on its own.

In 1972, the per capita GDPs of the two Koreas were roughly the same. North Korea was rich in natural resources and still retained many of its industrial facilities, and South Korea had less in comparison. “If we hadn’t been divided, the economy might

Kang Man-su was born in 1945. He was

previously the commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, minister of strategy and finance, a special economic advisor in the Office of the President and president of the Industrial Bank of Korea.

ward. If it is difficult for us to seek political and economic cooperation, we can first work together on science and technology.

Korea can offer assistance to the North in promoting food and energy security, reforestation and biodiversity.This will not only stabilize North Korean society, but also reduce the potential costs of unification.”

Desperation led to Growth

the mid-1990s prepared the country for the introduction of smartphones in the 2000s. Korea will further seek technological development through robotics research and integrated, modular reactor technologies. “I think improvements in interKorean relations and eventual unification are the most pressing challenges going for-

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If you watch films or TV shows about the Korean War (1950-1953), you see children saying “Give me chocolate,” at U.S. GIs. Nowadays, we can look back on those times with a chuckle, but this just shows the hardships and deprivations of war. “I, too, was always hungry. The U.S. Army brought in supplies, including flour, sugar

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not have developed this much.We focused on building heavy and chemical industries to make weapons, and everyone worked very hard to survive. National division may have cost us in many different ways, but it also kept us diligent and vigilant,” says Kang. “Economic aid from the U.S. played a major role in re-building the Korean economy. In the late 1960s, the country nearly went bankrupt several times due to a lack of foreign-exchange reserves resulting from heavy investment in accordance with the second five-year economic development plan. During this period of hardship, U.S. military supplies helped Korea pull itself up again.The country would not have then managed to develop heavy and chemical industries without that.”

Kang foresees that there will be greater economic growth when the two Koreas are unified. The populations of North and South Korea combined will surpass 80 million, given that the optimal population to become an economic superpower is 100 million. In such a case, the domestic economy will thrive and expand globally.

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Kim Hee-sang was born in 1945. He is the chairman of the Korea Institute for National Security Affairs. A retired army lieutenant, he was previously the president of the Korea National Defense University, the chairman of the Emergency Planning Commission and national defense advisor at the Office of the President.

Diplomacy as National Power

From a recipient of aid to a member of the G20, the changes over the past 70 years that led Korea to become the center of the global economy have surely been remarkable. From the first free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and Chile in 2004, followed by FTAs with Singapore, the European Free Trade Association, ASEAN, India and the European Union, Korea has expanded into world markets and has increased its national competitiveness, becoming a truly global nation.

Kim Hee-sang says that being strategically located between China, Russia and Japan, diplomacy for Korea has always been a matter of survival. He says that the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. in 1953 during the cease-fire talks to end the Korean War (1950-1953) was the most important event in post-independence Korea. Even though the war had finally

ended, the South’s long-term survival was in doubt because of the presence of hostile regimes next door.

“The alliance with the U.S. offered security and survival, and we found our identity as a new nation during the Cold War.The Mutual Defense Treaty has maintained peace and security on the Korean Peninsula over the past several decades. It also supported Korea’s economic development,” says Kim. In 1965, Korea normalized relations with Japan. It was a monumental event that ended the period of confusion and frustration that followed colonial rule and the Korean War. Korea then began to engage in multilateral diplomacy.The “It’s Nordpolitik” policy in the early 1990s was a diplomatic watershed for Korea. “It was the first government policy to expand Korea’s diplomatic horizons by establishing ties with countries such as Russia and China. In the

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final years of the Cold War, doors were opened to Eastern Blo countries while maintaining friendly relations with the U.S.,” says Kim. Kim says that there are delicate diplomatic challenges that Korea has to navigate in the future, too.“Diplomacy is about protecting our national interests, and at present, that is survival and unification. The more friends we have around the world, the better.The basis for Korea’s diplomacy remains its alliance with the U.S. While strengthening this alliance, we also need to build relations with mainland China and reexamine our relations with Japan.”

Korea’s Rich Culture

Professor Samuel P. Huntington and other Harvard professors sponsored a conference in 1999. They invited academics from 25 countries and discussed why some nations are so poor and others are so rich. The

answer was that “culture matters,” which is also the title of the book that two of the professors co-edited, based on the conference’s results. In the book’s foreword, Huntington shows a comparison of economic data between Ghana and Korea from the early 1960s. He notes that he was astonished to see how similar the two economies were at the time. Per capita GNP in both countries was less than USD 80 per year, and their economies were similarly structured among primary products, manufacturing and services.Thirty years later, Korea had become the 11th largest economy in the world, but not much had changed in Ghana. Huntington and Harrison cite certain aspects of Korean’s society, such as loyalty to nation, filial piety and a strong emphasis on education, as well as on the dynamic image represented by the Saemaul Movement’s slogan, “Let’s live well!” He says these played a key role in the country’s economic development. Chung Hongtaek, Korea’s first entertainment journalist, says that these factors are still alive in Korean society today.

“The Inter national Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO) World Congress was held in Seoul last year. A majority of the 400 foreign attendees were first-time visitors to Korea. After a one week visit, their impress i o n s o f Ko re a we re “ a p ro s p e ro u s country,”and “a country of rich culture.” A convenient public transportation system, excellent public safety and the national character of the Korean race were also highly praised. In the end, tradition and economic development go hand in hand.”

Korean society has seen remarkable development, in terms of both popular culture and high culture alike. Today, Korea is one of the few countries in the world with a population of over 50 million that has a per capita GDP of at least USD 20,000.

While Korea was under colonial rule, people were not even permitted to speak their own language, and the entire country was devastated during the Korean War

(1950-1953). Nonetheless, its traditions managed to survive these turbulent times and became the basis for economic development.

Chung describes Korean society as being as strong and powerful. “Hanbok are beautiful traditional dresses. They steal all the attention at any place or time. Similarly, Korean sports fans attract immediate attention when they enter the stadium with their traditional drums. Korean society is

Chung Hong-taek was born in 1936. He is the president of the Korea Reproduction and Transmission Rights Association. He previously served as the publication director for the Hankook Ilbo newspaper and as the secretary general of the Korea Media Rating Board.

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powerful, and we need to show this to the world.”

The hosting of the Asian Games in 1986 and the Summer Olympic Games in 1988 brought solidarity among the people as well as nurtured society’s social integrity.

The world enjoyed Korean traditional beauty at the recent Gwangju Universiade.

“The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018 will be a good opportunity to create bigger and more ambitious shows and to promote the distinctive features of Korean society. This should be a combination of both traditional and contemporary elements. Existence is all about producing new things. Jean-Paul Sartre once said that culture should be left untouched, but I believe this is no longer true. We need to continuously develop our society and let it shine across the world,” says Chung.

Summit Diplomacy

Korea, Honduras Agree to Pursue Trade Deal Korea and Honduras have agreed to cooperate on new renewable energies and to try to quickly reach a free trade agreement.

EXCERPT from KOREA.NET

President Park Geun-hye and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez hold a bilateral summit. The two presidents agreed to cooperate on developing online government services, bringing Korea’s New Community Movement to Honduras and developing public order systems in Honduras. © Yonhap News

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President Park Geun-hye held a bilateral summit with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on July 20. As part of the summit, the two nations signed four memoranda of understanding (MOUs), including ones covering the energy industry and an agreement to accept the other country’s drivers’ licenses.

“The two sides agreed to concentrate our efforts on quickly reaching a free trade deal between Korea and six Central American nations ever since we declared the beginning of FTA negotiations in midJune,” said President Park. “Korea and Honduras can complement each other in trade and have high potential for expanded cooperation. Considering that, we decided to seek cooperation on boosting bilateral trade and investment and on building energy infrastructure.”

“It is very meaningful that with the signing of an energy industry MOU, the two sides agreed to expand cooperation on the energy industry, including the establishment of an environmentally friendly village and making electricity transmission and distribution more efficient,” said the president. “I hope that the two nations’ cooperation can contribute to international efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.”

“I hope that Korea and the Central American Integration System (SICA) can hold a summit when Honduras becomes the SICA chair country next year,” said President Hernandez. “It is also important that Korea can join the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) as an offshore member.”

The energy industry-related MOU includes the establishment of a pro-environment village, reducing the rate of loss when transmitting and distributing electricity, supplying electric cars and constructing charging stations for them. The two sides also agreed to consider tapping the Green Climate Fund to fund the construction of a landfill power plant in Tegucigalpa that would use methane gas.

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President Park Geun-hye (right) and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez talk before a bilateral summit at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on July 20. © Yonhap News

“ The two nations signed several MOUs to launch an e-government committee that will coordinate the building of online government services, educate professionals.”

Honduras Capital Tegucigalpa Language Spanish Population 8.6 million (2014 estimate) GDP 20 billion: 106th (2015 estimate by the IMF) Religion Catholic (85%), Christianity (10%), and other

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In addition, the two nations signed several MOUs to launch an e-government committee that will coordinate the building of online government services, educate professionals and leaders for the New Community Movement and share and develop p u bl i c o rd e r s y s t e m s i n H o n d u r a s .

The two leaders appreciated the fact that a feasibility study for the establishment of a Zone for Employment and Economic Development, a USD 6-billion logistics and transportation project, was successfully completed. President Park asked the Honduran president to ensure a favorable business environment for Korean conglomerates, including tax benefits to encourage them to participate in the project.

POLICY REVIEW

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building and the lack of space for additional tablets, the government decided to build a larger hall atop the existing building.

The new Hall of Independence will cover 5,000 square meters and hold more than 20,000 memorial tablets. Besides the main hall for the memorial tablets, the building will house an exhibition hall, a lecture room, offices and a visitor’s center.

The construction will begin and is scheduled to finish by 2018. The government aims to open the hall by March 1, 2019, the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement.

COMPILATION OF ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INDEPENDENCE PATRIOTS

A special performance was held at Vladivostok Station in Russia to bid safe journey for the Eurasia Friendship Express.

Commemorating 70 Years with 50 Events The government is initiating several events and projects in commemoration of Korea’s independence.

Written by CHUNG DAYOUNG

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vents are being held around the country to celebrate the modern independence of Korea on August 15, 1945. The year 2015 marks 70 years since the end of World War II.The Prime Minister’s Office established the Committee for the 70th Anniversary of Korean Liberation to oversee the planning of 50 events for the commemoration.

HALL OF INDEPENDENCE

The Ministry of Patr iots and Veterans Affairs is preparing to build an as yet tentatively-named Hall of Independence at Seodaemun Independence Park in northern Seoul. It will honor the souls of the independence patriots who fought and gave their lives for the freedom of their country.

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Presently, 2,835 memor ial tablets inscribed with the names of people who died for the cause of national independence are enshrined inside the Independence Hall, or the Dongnipgwan, located at the park. The single-story building was built in a Korean traditional architectural style in 1996 as a commemorative hall for patriots. Due to the deterioration of the

An encyclopedia of every independence fighter is currently being compiled, to record the lives and achievements of the thousands of people who fought for independence under Japanese colonialism. A committee of 130 scholars and 10 literary authorities, specializing in Korean contemporary history and the Korean independence movement, was created to work on the compilation. Around 16,000 men and women officially recognized as independence patriots by the government will be listed in the encyclopedia. The index will carry detailed information about each patriot’s childhood, education, ideology and activities as an independence fighter.

A digital copy of the encyclopedia will be uploaded onto the Web for public access.

The committee hopes to histor ically restore the lives and works of the patriots and increase national pride. Research on the content has already commenced, and the finished publication is to be released in 2019.

The people of Irkutsk, Russia enjoy the festivities of the 2015 Eurasian Friendship Express.

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Unification, is the restoration of the disconnected Gyeongwon Line.

Built in 1914, the railway line was once used to travel between Seoul and Wonsan, a port city on the East Sea now in North Korea’s Gangwon-do Province. In 2012, the Korean government restored the railway leading up to Baengmagoji Station, the last station of the Gyeongwon Line, 12 kilometers from the Military Demarcation Line. The Gyeongwon Line in North Korea, starts at Pyeonggang, just north of the DMZ, and heads to Gowon. The government plans to reconnect the entire Gyeongwon Line by restoring the severed section between the two countries.

The reconnection of the Gyeongwon Line is crucial to restoring ties with North Korea and to preparing for the unification of the two countries. It is also the key step in realizing President Park Geun-hye’s Eurasia Initiative, a government project to revive the ancient Silk Road by connecting the Far East to Western Europe.

Korea is calling for North Korea’s cooperation on some of the commemorative events, including the restoration of the disconnected Gyeongwon Line.

RESTORATION OF THE GYEONGWON LINE

Korea is calling for North Korea’s cooperation on some of the commemorative events. One of the proposed inter-Korean ventures, led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of

The “70 Voices of 70 Years” exhibition is currently being held at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History.

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CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY

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n March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 ear thquake and a tsunami hit Japan’s Tohoku region off the Pacific Coast, causing accidents at several nuclear power plants, including a massive radioactive leak from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The authorities immediately launched an intense cleanup effort. Had robots been available, the cleanup could have been much more manageable and completed without exposing humans to radioactivity.

In response to the challenges in the cleanup at Fukushima, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense, launched the DARPA Robotics

Challenge (DRC) in October 2012. The competition encouraged robotics researchers to develop on-the-ground robotic capabilities to execute complex tasks in dangerous environments. Critics were initially skeptical about its potential outcome, claiming that designing robots to assist humans in responding to natural and manmade disasters would only be possible in 100 years’ time. Robotics engineers from around the world proved them wrong.

At the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals held at the Fairplex convention center in Pomona, California, on June 5 and 6, Korea’s Team KAIST and its robot, DRC-Hubo, won the grand prize of USD 2 million, beating out 22 competing robots

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from six countries. KAIST’s humanoid robot performed the best across a series of eight tasks relevant to natural disaster response, with an overall time of 44 minutes and 28 seconds.

Mission accomplished

Less than a decade ago, Korean researchers were on the periphery of robotics.The first domestic robotics research began in 2001 with Professor Oh Jun-ho of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Professor Oh heard about the world’s first humanoid robot, ASIMO, developed by Honda in 1997, and decided to start his own research with his students,

Help Us, Robots!

Korea showcases cutting-edge robotic technologies.

Written by Chung Kyu-young

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1 - The modular humanoid robot, Thormang, created by Robotis.

2 - RoboBuilder’s latest robot uses 5G wireless technology to emulate the movements of the operator in real time. © RoboBuilder 3 - K RISO’s CR200 scuttles along the seafloor to assist ocean exploration and rescue work. © KRISO ubo saws a hole in a wall during the 2015 DARPA Robotics 4 - H Challenge Finals. © KAIST

despite objections from friends and colleagues. In just three years, he had designed his own humanoid robot, Hubo.Through a series of improvements, Hubo was able to run by 2009 and dance by 2012.

The tasks at the DRC, however, required far greater skills and abilities. Each robot had to drive a car, open a door, pull a lever, turn a knob and saw a hole in a wall.

There was also the possibility of a surprise challenge. Hubo finished ninth in the preliminary trials in 2013 after one of its ankle sensors malfunctioned. Since then, Hubo has been made bigger and taller, with wheels along his shins so that he could move around on his knees. As a result, Hubo earned the highest score in the finals in June 2015. Team KAIST defeated research teams that had begun developing robots much earlier.

There were two other Korean teams at the 2015 DRC finals: one from Seoul National University and the other from robot manufacturer Robotis. Five more teams from other countries used robots developed in Korea.

Dance and swim

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A small robot maker, RoboBuilder, which had previously introduced its entertainment robot UXA-90 that danced to Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” unveiled the UXA90-Light in late 2014.The company is now planning to work together with mobile carrier SK Telecom to develop emergency response robots, medical robots and traffic control robots using 5G wireless technology.

The CR200, better known by its nick2 name “Crabster,” is a six-legged robot

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developed by the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO).

It can swim and walk underwater, and its potential uses include scientific exploration, commercial surveying and treasure hunting. Crabster moves only 0.25 meter per second, but it can steady itself along the seafloor by putting its head down, raising its rear and facing the current head-on. In Apr il last year, the 650-kg robot was deployed for a month at the site of the Sewol ferry sinking off the southern coast

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to assist divers in searching the ferry wreck in the murky waters by filming the site with its sonar camera. In April and May this year, it was used to help explore the ocean and excavate artifacts off Mado Island in Taean, Chungcheongnam-do Province.

KRISO will further improve the capabilities of the CR200, which can descend as deep as 200 meters. By the end of this year, it intends to introduce a CR6000, designed to endure water pressure up to a depth of 6,000 meters.

GREAT KOREANS

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A statue of Yi Sang-seol stands in front of his birthplace in Jincheon, Chungcheongbuk-do Province. © kto

Diplomat Yi Sang-seol Yi asserted Korea’s sovereignty at the Hague Peace Conference of 1907.

Written by Kim Hyeon-tae

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he Hague Convention of 1907 figures prominently in the life of Yi Sang-seol (李相卨,1870-1917).The two Hague Conventions were a series of international treaties and declarations.The First Hague Conference was held in 1899 with 26 countries in attendance, and the Second Hague Convention, in 1907, had 47 countries in attendance. Joseon’s Emperor Gojong (r. 18631907) saw the second peace conference as an opportunity to appeal to the international community against the injustice of

Japan’s control over Korea. He hoped to reassert Korea’s diplomatic rights and independence, which Japan had wrested away through the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, and to reestablish royal authority over his nation. To do so, he decided to send secret emissaries to the conference.The question was, who was he going to send and how would he circumvent Japan’s efforts to stop him? The emissaries would have to make swift decisions and have the courage to stand up for the nation at whatever cost.

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Emperor Gojong had just such a person in mind:Yi Sang-seol.

Confidential emissaries to The Hague

Emperor Gojong sent two other envoys along with him:Yi Jun (李儁,1859-1907) and Yi Wi-jong ( 李瑋鍾, 1887-1917).

Together, they were to attempt to make their way into the Second Hague Peace Convention along with Yi Sang-seol. The three left Korea from different locations to

evade Japanese monitoring and arrived at The Hague via Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway. As soon as they arrived at a downtown hotel, they raised the Korean flag outside and began their work. The emissaries’ mission was to declare the invalidity of the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, which Emperor Gojong had been coerced to sign, and to gather support from the international community to regain their nation’s independence.

On June 29, the three emissaries first requested a meeting with Count Aleksandr Nelidov of Russia, the president of the second Hague conference, to express their wish to attend the convention. Nelidov refused to meet them, saying that he was in no position to intervene. They then called upon the representatives of Britain, France, Germany and Qing China, but were turned away by all.The conference accepted Japan’s position that Korea no longer had diplomatic rights to attend the meeting.

It was then that they began their “off stage” efforts to make their voices heard.

Their work culminated when they managed to attend a press conference on July 9, hosted by British journalist William T. Stead, who had been covering the peace conferences.Yi Wi-jong spoke several languages, including English and French, and was only 20 years old at the time. He delivered an impassioned petition on behalf of his besieged monarch, what is now known as the “Plea for Korea.” In his speech, he accused Japan of illegally occupying Joseon and criticized the Western powers for their inaction. The audience was impressed by his passion.

Despite their continued efforts to build international support for their cause, the three emissaries failed to achieve any concrete results.The mission ended in failure.

On July 14, Yi Jun died suddenly of exhaustion and despair. Back in Seoul, Japan accused Emperor Gojong of dispatching a delegation to The Hague without its permission and forced him to abdicate. The three emissaries were tried in absentia.Yi

Sang-seol was sentenced to death and Yi Jun and Yi Wi-jong were sentenced to life in prison. On July 24, the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1907 was concluded, turning Joseon’s administration of internal affairs over to Japan, and the Joseon army was disbanded on August 1. Even though the emissaries to The Hague failed to complete their mission, their work was meaningful in that they made one of the first efforts to inform the world of the invalidity of the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 and of Korea’s determination to regain its independence.

Persistent efforts for independence until death

Yi Sang-seol devoted himself entirely to trying to regain Korean independence and decided to not return to Joseon after the mission. Instead, he visited a number of countries, including Britain, France, the U.S. and Russia, to reveal the brutality of the Japanese invasion of his country. After

Yi Sang-seol was an independence activist of unbreakable resolve and passion.

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the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910, by which Japan formally annexed Korea, he formed an organization with other activists, such as Yu In-seok and Lee Beom-yun, to fight Japan’s annexation and sent a manifesto containing their resolution for Korean independence to a range of other countries, including the U.S., Russia and China.

Written by Yi himself and signed by some 8,624 independence activists, the manifesto stated in part that, “We resolve to maintain the name of Korea and our identity as Koreans. A true Korean would be ready to die for his freedom and the independence of his country.”

Following his futile efforts for the cause,Yi Sang-seol became ill. He died on March 2, 1917, in Siberia.Yi asked in his will that his body be cremated and all his writings be burned. He wrote that he did not deserve to return home because of his failure to reclaim his country’s independence.

William T. Stead wrote and published the story of the three emissaries from Joseon-era Korea in his journal Courrier de la Conferénce de la Paix. © Yonhap News.

my korea

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Eleven Years in the Nation of ‘Arirang’ A song completely interwoven into the lives of the Korean people.

Written by JON DUNBAR ILLUSTRATED by KIM DONG-JIN

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fter living in Korea for eleven years, I’m surprised by how fast the time has flown. I most recently celebrated my 35th birthday here, which is an odd age to be in Korea: too old for nightclubs, too young for elderly subway seating. I rarely contemplate why I’m still here. In fact, life in Korea keeps me too engaged to ever think of leaving.

This country might seem impenetrable from the outside, a nondescript East Asian country with an estranged brother to the north, but once you start peeling back

layers, it’s hard to stop.This is especially true of “Arirang,” a folk song with countless variations across the peninsula.

Lyrically, it is a tragic song of separation and lost love.The singer laments a departing lover travelling through the Arirang Pass.

“Dear one who abandoned me/ shall not walk ten ri (about 4 kilometers) before his/ her feet hurt.” It is sung with all the emotion that the singer feels, rising with joy and mirth and falling with tragedy and defeat.

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There are many different variations of the song, but you are probably most familiar with “Jindo Arirang” or “New Arirang.”

The song’s origin and how it spread across the land are unknown, but how it has been adapted and localized into rural communities is apparent.That was a major reason the song was included on UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage of Humanity list in 2012.

“Arirang” has been a constant companion for the people during their country’s hardships and moments of glory.

Besides music, it has inspired all manner of art, literature, dance and the visual arts. Its name has been used for a cigarette brand, a satellite and a TV station. It has also made celebrations of the countr y’s highest achievements all the sweeter. It is heavily ingrained into the Korean spirit, absorbing all the feelings experienced throughout Korean history. It is tied closely with the Korean emotional state of han, meaning a sense of angst and helplessness in matters beyond one’s control.

That spirit of han is changing today, replaced with social media, instant gratification and superficial beauty, but maybe that’s just a byproduct of the younger generation growing up in a land of plenty. I still believe that that spirit exists if you look deeply, and the song “Arirang” can still bring it to the surface, even among younger people.

I can’t remember exactly when I first

h e a rd “ A r i r a n g .” I d o re c a l l b e i n g enchanted seeing it performed live in 2007 by a Korean ska band. A pansori-trained singer wailed out the tune with the whole crowd singing along. Since then, I’ve heard this versatile song performed by folk singers, rock bands, orchestras, choirs, military marching bands and a mass performance by tens of thousands of North Korean people.

Most recently, it was made into a musical based on Jo Jung-rae’s popular multivolume novel “Arirang.” I attended an early performance of the three-hour musical, set during Japanese colonial times. It is a dark musical, with scenes depicting executions, rape and suicide. An actress sings one musical number with a noose around her neck while she tries to throw the rope over a high rafter.

“Arirang” makes its first appearance during a night scene set in a military camp

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in Manchur ia. The first appearance of “New Arirang,” the version most people know, is sung in hushed voices by the protagonist’s family as it huddles together indoors, the sound of an army marching past outside.

Having been a colony of Japan is largely an experience unique to Korea. It began in 1910 and lasted until Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, in 1945.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the independence of Korea. That feels like a long time ago, but I have already been alive for exactly half of those 70 years. Suddenly, that doesn’t feel as far removed as it did when I studied the war in grade school. It is easy to feel the closeness of this troubling period of East Asian history and understand how it still reverberates today.

After independence, Korea’s troubles were just starting. Japan left the country impoverished and powerless, and the forces that came in tore the country in half, a cruelly ironic realization of the narrative of the song itself. As well as being selected as the marching song of the U.S. Ar my’s 7th Infantry Division, “Arirang” likely comforted and consoled civilians and soldiers alike on both sides of the Korean War (1950-1953).

Today, “Arirang” continues to carry deep meaning, not just in South Korea, but also in North Korea. In 2014, North Korea also registered six of its own traditional var iants of “Ar irang” on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, which makes perfect sense when you consider that all variations of “Arirang” predate the division of the Korean Peninsula.

The relevance of “Arirang,” which is often considered the unofficial anthem of Korea, is still deeply felt in the lives of the Korean people on both sides of the DMZ. Today, the song remains a powerful reminder of what the nation lost and the cruel fates it has suffered throughout the 20th century. It also reminds us that Korea remains capable of great things.

MULTICULTURAL KOREA

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Some describe the difficulties of living in Korea, while others come to learn the language and about its traditions. Ultimately, visitors come to the center for one purpose: to adjust to their new community in Seoul and to get along with their new neighbors.

tial art classes and hiking tours. More informative programs include CPR and emergency first aid classes, volunteer activities and legal consultations for visa and workrelated issues.The center invites professionals to speak at these classes, and so many people want to attend that they have a waiting list.

Helping people settle in

Employees at the Itaewon Global Village Center spend every day meeting people from all over the world and finding ways to help them better enjoy their lives in Seoul.

They occasionally encounter difficult problems. “Understanding people who speak a language other than English tends to be especially difficult. Our capacity for providing translation for many different languages is extremely limited. One time, a refugee came in and was almost shouting in Arabic, but we couldn’t understand a word,” says Corteza.

The Itaewon Global Village Center has seen hundreds of people trying to adapt to their new surroundings in Seoul and emphasizes the importance of overcoming the language barrier as a first step. This is why the center has a three-month Korean language program.The goal is to teach visitors practical phrases they need to live and work, instead of solely focusing on improving their language proficiency. The center also hosts beauty and makeup classes, mar-

Settle in Korea Katherine Ann Corteza, director of the Itaewon Global Village Center, helps non-Korean residents in Seoul adjust to their new community.

Written by Yoon Se-eun Photographed by Hong Ha-yan

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n Seoul, Itaewon is a popular attraction for visitors. Its located east of the military compound of the 8 th U.S. Army and the United Nations Command headquarters.

The name Itaewon originates from a lodging place for travelers that had been kept since the Goryeo period (918-1392). After Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea from 15921598, Itaewon was called “Itain,” meaning “Foreigner’s Village,” because of the Japanese soldiers stationed there.When the war ended in 1598, some of the Japanese sol-

Offering professional and practical help

There are seven Global Village Centers in Seoul, but the one in Itaewon is by far the biggest. It has a number of excellent educational programs. Corteza and the center’s

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diers settled down in the neighborhood.

After the Korean War (1950-1953), Itaewon became home to a large number of Amer icans due the U.S. military base.

Today, it is a truly multicultural neighborhood where one can meet people of many different nationalities and backgrounds.For Seoul’s non-Korean residents, the Itaewon Global Village Center is a reliable, one-stop service center to help them live in the Korean capital.

Katherine Ann Corteza became the

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director of the Itaewon Global Village Center in 2014. She finds her work at the center very exciting and rewarding. “I previously worked for a non-governmental organization that helps workers from the Philippines. Most of my work involved dealing with visa issues or labor law. Here, my work is different every day. Not knowing what I will have to deal with makes work that much more difficult, but it is always interesting,” says Corteza. People come to the center for various reasons.

1 - D irector Katherine Ann Corteza often stays late at the office to do as much work as she can to help Seoul’s non-Korean residents.

2 - T he popularity of Korean pop culture has greatly increased interest in Korean language classes.

3 - t he center organizes many educational and cultural programs throughout the year.

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employees have a wealth of information on how to help people adjust to their new, Korean community and remain confident that they can offer professional, practical help to those who may need it, regardless of where they come from. The Itaewon Global Village Center plans to keep its doors open to anyone who wants to gain better knowledge and awareness about their new life in Seoul. “I think Korea is a great country in which to live, and the people are very kind. The fact that the Global Village Center is here to help testifies to that,” says Corteza.

nature

korea

the surface of what makes this island so beautiful.

Known as the “Mysterious Island,” Ulleungdo Island’s first peculiarity is its pentagonal outline, formed by volcanic activity. The beauty of the island can be seen in the vivid turquoise sea, virgin forests and spectacular rock formations, all of which can be enjoyed by staying a night or by taking a leisurely cruise around the island. Two popular rock formations both take the shape of exotic animals.There is a small rock in the shape of an elephant drinking water, called the Elephant Rock, and Lion Rock is a thirty-minute bus ride from the island’s main town of Dodong.

Lion Rock is not simply a tourist destination. It has great historical significance.

In the year 512, the Silla king sent a warship to the island to subjugate the inhabitants in the hope of collecting tribute. This proved to be easier than expected. The troops simply threatened the islanders with wooden lions.Though not quite as impressive as the Trojan Horse, the deception succeeded and the island for some time became part of Silla. Legend has it that one of the wooden lions morphed into Lion Rock.Throughout the centuries, the island actually changed hands several times due to its distance from the mainland. Ulleungdo Island generally stayed aloof from peninsu-

The Mysterious and Lonely Islands Exploring Korea’s two easternmost islands Written by Isaac Colson

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lar affairs, and was even uninhabited for hundreds of years, adding to its mysteriousness.

The Island of Emotion

Dokdo Island, known as the “Lonely Island,” has a more blurred and ambiguous history due to its small size and even more remote location. It is actually two smaller islands, East Island and West Island, and 36 smaller islets.The cluster is located a further 87 kilometers east of Ulleungdo and can be seen with the naked eye from there on a clear day. Since the islands are devoid of fresh water or trees, they were likely uninth habited until the turn of the 19 century.

The islets were later used as a bombing range during and after World War II and remained uninhabited until after the Korean War (1950-1953).

People’s love for Dokdo Island is apparent in the hundreds of tourists that brave the high seas to experience its beauty.

Visitors have but 30 to 40 minutes to enjoy the marine flora and fauna before boarding again and heading back to Ulleungdo.

Dokdo is officially home to 60 species of migratory birds and 60 species of wild flowers.

All in all, Korea’s eastern islands of Ulleungdo and Dokdo are truly ecological national treasures.

The beauty of Ulleungdo Island can be seen in the turquoise sea, virgin forests, and spectacular rock formations.

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lleungdo Island and Dokdo Island are tucked away quietly, far off the East Coast. Unlike the more popular vacation spots, these two islands are f ar more secluded and have yet to be overrun by tourists. Both are known for their beauty, rich history and the special place they hold in the people’s hearts.

The Five Haves and the Three Have Nots of Ulleungdo Island

Jejudo Island is a wildly popular vacation spot 64 kilometers south of the main peninsula. It is known primarily for strong winds, magnificent rock formations and a population that is major ity female.

Ulleungdo Island, on the other hand, is 120

kilometers east of the peninsula and is home to juniper trees, beautiful women, oddly-shaped stones, roaring winds and fresh water. These are the mythic “five haves.” The pr istine island also has no thieves, pollution, or snakes, so they say.

These are known as the three “have nots.”

The haves and the have nots only scratch

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The small cluster of islands that form dokdo Island is home to 60 species of migratory birds and 60 species of wild flowers.

FLAVOR

Your recommendations helped me very much during my trip.

민수 씨가 정보를 준 덕분에 정말 재밌었어요.

Naengmyeon

Minsu ssiga jeongboreul jun deokbune jeongmal jaemisseosseoyo.

Cold Noodles for a Hot Day

Mingming and Minsu are talking about Mingming’s recent trip to Seoul.

Mingming thanks Minsu for his recommendations.

Written by CHUNG DAYOUNG Photographed by MOON DUK-GWAN COOKED AND ST YLED BY KIM YOUNG-BIN

Mingming, how was your trip to Seoul?

밍밍 씨, 서울은 잘 다녀왔어요?

Mingming ssi, Seoul-eun jal danyeowasseoyo?

I did some shopping and enjoyed the city’s night views.

Thanks to your recommendations, the whole trip was great.

네, 서울에서 쇼핑도 하고 야경도 구경했는데 정말 멋있었어요. 민수 씨가 정보를 준 덕분에 여행하는 동안 재밌었어요.

민수

ne, seoul-eseo shopping-do hago yagyeongdo gugyeonghaenneunde jeongmal meosisseosseoyo.

Minsu ssiga jeongboreul jun deokbune yeohaenghaneun dong-an jaemisseosseoyo.

Perhaps we can visit together next time.

다음에는 같이 가요.

daeumeneun gachi gayo.

밍밍

민수

Let’s practice! 여러분은 친구에게 고마운 것이 있어요? 다음을 보고 보기와 같이 친구에게 감사의 인사를 해보세요.

reason 1

여행 정보를 주다

여행이 즐거웠다

to give information (recommendations) for a trip

to have an enjoyable trip

yeohaeng jeongboreul juda

2

outcome

yeohaeng-i jeulgeowotda

이야기를 잘 들어주다

기분이 좋아졌다

to listen carefully

to feel better (emotionally)

iyagireul jal deureojuda

gibuni joajyeotda

용기를 주다

포기하지 않고 열심히 했다

to give encouragement

to try one’s best without giving up

yonggireul juda

pogihaji anko yeolsimi haetda

–(으)ㄴ 덕분에 ‘–(으)ㄴ 덕분에’ is added to a verb stem to state

N

aengmyeon literally translates as “cold noodles” and it is a popular summer dish, eaten year round. It is made with long, thin hand-made noodles made from the flour and starch of buckwheat, potatoes or sweet potatoes. Cold noodles are served in large bowls with a savory, sometimes beefy, icecold broth. Slices of cucumber, pear, radish,

3

boiled egg and beef are common toppings.

A drizzle of vinegar and spicy mustard sauce is added to the broth to give it a piquant finish.

Originally a delicacy in the cities of Pyongyang and Hamheung in what is now North Korea, the dish became widely popular across the peninsula after the Korean

50

War (1950-1953).Altering some of the elements, such as the broth, the type of noodle or the toppings, has created a wide variety of cold noodle dishes.

There is nothing like a savory, mouth watering, ice-cold broth and thin noodles to hit the spot on a hot day, making a bowl of cold noodles the ideal summer dish.

the reason for a fortunate outcome suggesting gratitude.

–는 동안

Example 민수 씨, 고마워요. Minsu ssi, gomawoyo.

‘–는 동안’ is attached to a verb stem to express

the period of continuation for the preceding action or condition.

Thank you, Minsu.

여행 정보를 준 덕분에 여행이 즐거웠어요. yeohaeng jeongboreul jun deokbune yeohaeng-i jeulgeowosseoyo.

Your recommendations helped me so much. I had a great trip.

Pronunciation Tensification 1 덕분에 [deokbune]

70 voices of 70 years 70년의 세월, 70가지 이 야 기

2015.

TUE TUE 07.07 ~09.29 The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History www.much.go.kr Tel +82-2-3700-9200

광복70년 기념사업추진위원회