Korea Focus January 2015 by The Korea Foundation

Table of Contents

- Korea Focus - January 2015 - TOC - Politics 1. Hopes for Inter-Korean Summit to Ease Seven-decade Pain of Division 2. North Korea’s Sony Hack is Seoul’s Opportunity 3. Systematic Preparations Needed for North Korea Contingency 4. Overseas Forced Labor Helps Pyongyang Maintain Power 5. An Observation of Progressives over Six Decades 6. Building a Good Party is a Priority

- Economy 1. Why is the Crisis Different This Time? 2. Why Doesn’t the Bank of Korea Aim at Zero Interest Rate? 3. Threatened Economy and Wayward Politics 4. On Debt 5. Financing Unification as the First Step toward ‘Unification Bonanza’

- Society 1. The Curse of Hierarchical Lineup of Universities 2. Singles Tax, Homes for Newlyweds ― Would Babies Be Born? 3. An Admirable Dream of 'Social Families' 4. Another Hypothesis about Increasing Chinese Tourists

- Culture 1. Andrei Serban’s Chunhyang What’s So ‘Different’? 2. Authors in Their Forties 3. Seosomun History Park or Catholic Sanctuary? 4. Stable Financial Source for Promotion of Culture and Arts 5. President Park’s ‘Culture Day’

- Essays 1. Impact of the Korea-China FTA on the Korean Economy 2. Foreign Professionals in Korea Survey on their Life and Work 3. Public’s Tolerance Foments Corruption

- Features 1. The Lives and Loves of Young Defectors 2. Booming Seochon Drives Out Old Residents

- Book Reviews 1. A Korean-English Buddhism Dictionary, a Must for Temple Visits 2. Tracing the Footsteps of Joseon Diplomatic Missions to China

- Interview 1. A Thoughtful Talk with Professor Yu Hong-june 2. Kim Chang-il, Art Collector in the Spotlight 3. “A teacher and gangster hanging out together because they’re from the same hometown Unthinkable in America.”

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- Hopes for Inter-Korean Summit to Ease Seven-decade Pain of Division - North Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sony Hack is Seoulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Opportunity - Systematic Preparations Needed for North Korea Contingency - Overseas Forced Labor Helps Pyongyang Maintain Power - An Observation of Progressives over Six Decades - Building a Good Party is a Priority

Hopes for Inter-Korean Summit to Ease Seven-decade Pain of Division

Editorial The Chosun Ilbo

In a nationally televised New Year’s address, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for a “big shift” in relations between North and South Korea “through stepped-up dialogue, negotiations and exchanges,” proposing the resumption of high-level government talks and contacts in other sectors. Since taking control of the North three years ago Kim had never before expressed such willingness toward an inter-Korean summit. “Depending on the mood and circumstances to be created, we have no reason not to hold the highest-level talks,” he said. Kim’s overture was not unconditional. As prerequisites to a summit, he asked for a halt to U.S.-South Korean annual military exercises and anti-Pyongyang leaflets packed in balloons flown into the North from the South. He also sought Seoul’s renunciation of attempts to achieve unification through absorption of North Korea. Nevertheless, the young North Korean leader’s comments on an inter-Korean dialogue were his most concrete and straightforward to date. In his previous New Year addresses, Kim’s statements on inter-Korean ties were rather vague, largely referring to the need to create “viable environments.” Kim’s latest address was obviously in response to President Park Geun-hye’s proposal for a ministerial conference with the North, made three days earlier. In her proposal, delivered through the Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation, Park also expressed positive views for an inter-Korean 5

summit. With Pyongyang’s affirmative response, the likelihood has increased for the resumption of North-South talks sooner or later and rapid improvements in bilateral relations.

At present, North Korea is stuck in a no-win situation, both internally and externally. Its economy has long been frozen and unmanageable. International sanctions in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and human rights record and worsening relations with China have exacerbated the North’s economic isolation. Facing such an acute situation, it is quite natural for Pyongyang to turn to South Korea. It should be noted that guile and shrewd tactics, not good faith, have always underscored the North’s policy toward the South. Kim’s New Year message should be seen as a calculated effort to receive aid from South Korea, which would blunt international sanctions imposed by Seoul, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo. Still, the South has to shoulder the burden of transforming the North’s policy into an opportunity leading to peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula. As stressed by both Koreas, this year marks the 70th anniversary of the country’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule and territorial partition. The direction in which all Koreans should go has been decided already; it should be forward, together. We in the South are now tasked with gradually leading the North to follow the chosen path and open a new chapter in history. In this vein, an opportunity is evidently within our reach.

Nevertheless, the opportunity will also pose formidable difficulties at every turn. Even if the North comes to the table, there is practically no possibility that it would give up its nuclear option, the root of almost all pending issues. Quite obscure are prospects as to whether Pyongyang would ever admit its role in the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan, the South Korean naval craft, and apologize for the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island later in the same year and the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist at the Mount Kumgang resort in 2008. Under such circumstances, it would not be an easy process to harmonize Seoul’s pursuit of bilateral talks with the stiff international resolve to reprimand Pyongyang for its recalcitrant nuclear ambition and dismal human rights situation.

Fantasy is one thing that should be guarded against in dealing with inter-Korean issues, but there is no need to resign prematurely and be disappointed altogether. North Korea is in desperate need of outside help. Pyongyang must be aware that it ought to do something before it can reach its objectives. Making this fundamental principle clear, Seoul had better apply it to the North in an open yet composed manner so as to grasp an opportunity to upgrade inter-Korean relations a notch higher. 6

Unless Pyongyang abruptly changes its strategy, the two Koreas would likely discuss holding a summit meeting of their top leaders in the near future. North Korea is under the singular leadership of Kim Jong-un. Accordingly, opening a new chapter in relations between the two Koreas through a meaningful dialogue and a fruitful settlement of fundamental issues would have to be ultimately made in talks between President Park and Kim. Unlike some of her predecessors, Park is not weighed down by controversies surrounding the motivations for summit talks with the North. Thus, she has wider room to maneuver.

There are widespread hopes for a significant North-South summit in which Pyongyang would be forward-looking in addressing its nuclear arms and human rights and the Cheonan sinking, and bilateral economic cooperation would be expanded beyond the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Rajin-Khasan project. If any section of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), cutting the Korean peninsula, can be developed into a peace park as proposed by President Park, it would be a huge leap toward easing the seven-decade-long pain of territorial division. The 75 million brethren on both sides of the brutal line of division are watching attentively to see if the North Korean paramount leader’s remark on a “big shift” will bear fruit or become another falsehood.

[January 2, 2015]

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North Korea’s Sony Hack is Seoul’s Opportunity

Kim Young-hie Senior Diplomatic Correspondent The JoongAng Ilbo

The cyber war between the United States and North Korea sparked by a Hollywood comedy movie has splashed cold water on the simultaneous efforts of Seoul, Washington, Tokyo and Moscow to reach out to Pyongyang. This looks likely to continue for the time being, but the opportunity to engage the North has not gone away.

The recent announcement by the Obama administration that it would improve relations with Cuba is just the latest in a series of efforts to improve relations with long-standing enemies. In 2012, President Obama visited Myanmar, a country that strategically connects China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Obama went to China’s doorstep and won over a country Beijing had had overwhelming influence over. This was rightfully declared a diplomatic triumph. Congress must still lift the sanctions imposed on the country, but the Burmese now lean toward the United States.

In September 2013, Obama telephoned Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. This was the first dialogue between the heads of the two states since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The path to normalization remains long, but compared to U.S.-Iranian relations over the previous 33 years, whispers of entering a new era can be heard. America’s relations with Vietnam, a country that dealt America a humiliating military defeat in the 8

1970s, have risen to the level of cooperation in the security sphere, riding the wave of the U.S.-China competition for hegemony in Asia. This is a consequence of China’s provocations to assert its sovereignty over large swathes of the South China Sea. Secretary of State John Kerry used his 2013 visit to Hanoi as an opportunity to lift restrictions on weapons sales to Vietnam. In spite of these diplomatic accomplishments, Obama’s vacillating stance on the Syrian situation dealt a fatal blow to U.S. global leadership. Similarly, in the case of the Ukraine crisis, even though there were no strategic blunders, the net effect was to reveal America’s lack of influence. Thus, Obama sought a bigger diplomatic achievement. Obama set his sights on Cuba, the “Egg of Columbus” that his predecessors had not dared to touch. The historic announcement made on December 17 that the United States and Cuba would normalize relations for the first time in 53 years began with secret negotiations in June 2013 in Canada. The normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations was so huge that it is on the same level as President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972.

In terms of domestic politics, given that the Republicans now control both houses of Congress, Obama cannot count on passage of any bills that would be included in his political legacy. Seeing President Obama’s surprising decision on Cuba and his lack of domestic opportunities, the first question that automatically pops up is, “Is North Korea next?” In view of the series of improvements in relations between America and its enemies, President Obama’s long diplomatic journey cannot be viewed as complete until he has found a way to pass through the eye of the needle and improve U.S.-North Korea relations.

Obama cannot but want to finish drawing his diplomatic portrait. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 essentially on credit, having not made any contribution to world peace at that point. He needs to keep paying off his debt.

However, the cyber terror attack on Sony has etched in the minds of Americans that North Korea is a dangerous rogue state. For the average American, North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are an abstract threat from a distant country. However, by naming North Korea as the perpetrator of the cyber attack that halted distribution of a movie, Americans realized that North Korea was a concrete threat to their everyday lives.

The instigator of this whole incident is Sony Pictures Entertainment. Its latest comedy “The Interview” not only lampoons a real country — North Korea — rather than an imaginary dictatorship, it also depicts the assassination of a real leader — Kim Jong-un — rather than some fictionalized character. To North Koreans, the film was the most horribly blasphemous one imaginable. North Korea could not comprehend Obama’s words about freedom of expression. Americans cannot understand North Korea’s cyber attack. This is a clash of civilizations.

For the time being, the atmosphere is such that no one can suggest that the United States and North Korea resume a dialogue. North Korea is trapped in a corner. Relations with China have turned decidedly chilly, while the North’s high expectations for Russia are being dashed by the plunge in the value of the ruble and the price of oil. The sanctions imposed by the United States and the EU are putting Russia’s feet to the fire.

After being provoked enough to consider reclassifying North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, even the United States has decided to take a step back. There is likely a sense of not wanting to circumvent any chance of improving bilateral relations. Now that Obama has left the Caribbean, his diplomatic compass could point to Pyongyang. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, buoyed by his victory in the general elections, could board the bus for Pyongyang. Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited the leaders of North and South Korea to Moscow for a summit. Even if the cyber war has created a perilous atmosphere, the winds of change on the Korean peninsula have not died.

The North is turning its attention to the South. Chairman Kim Jong-un has taken the unusual step of sending personal letters to former First Lady Lee Hee-ho and Hyundai-Asan Chairwoman Hyun Jungeun. Seoul must proactively extend a hand to Pyongyang. The situation demands that we have the wisdom to strategically use North Korea’s crisis as an opportunity.

President Park Geun-hye must take advantage of the opportunity presented by the U.S.-North Korea cyber war. If she is not able to open the dike and improve North-South relations in the first half of the year, she is likely to find herself crashing into former President Lee Myung-bak’s failure train.

[December 26, 2014]

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Systematic Preparations Needed for North Korea Contingency

Kim Sung-han Director, Ilmin International Relations Institute Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Korea University

By coincidence, South Korea’s answer to its biggest civilian disaster this year overlapped in November with international action on North Korea. Right after a U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a resolution on the dismal human rights situation in North Korea, a new government agency ― the Ministry of Public Safety and Security ― was launched in Seoul as a result of the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry in April. This timing raises questions about the South Korean government’s ability to ensure public safety. If it falls short, one can hardly expect the South to effectively protect the safety and human rights of North Koreans in a catastrophic situation.

Our concern is a momentous crisis that is beyond the control of the Pyongyang regime and raises the possibility of interference by the international community, including neighboring powers. It is conceivable that such a scenario would spark armed power struggles, North Koreans fleeing en masse, genocides, failed control of nuclear arsenals, and intervention by foreign military forces. At issue is the possibility that these developments might merge in complex patterns. As long as the Kim Jong-un regime is stuck to its “parallel policy” of economic development and nuclear armament, North Korea will remain unstable. Unless Kim drops his belief that nuclear arsenal 11

is the last safeguard to his regime, confrontation between Pyongyang and the international community is inevitable. Several variables could undermine North Korea’s state security, including internal infighting among the power elite, further spread of a market economy, Kim Jong-un’s health problems, and additional international sanctions against the North. If it continues to refuse to become a “normal state” and give up its nuclear ambitions, North Korea will remain in constant risk of catastrophic upheaval. This won’t change even if it improves relations with South Korea and the United States. Therefore, we in the South need to have systematic contingency measures, keeping unification in mind.

In this regard, the most difficult task is to accurately grasp overall developments in the North and precisely time appropriate measures against a sudden change or collapse. The very moment an abrupt catastrophic change in North Korea is reported by the news media, our economy will face severe pressure.

Although South Korea had a record high of US$366.55 billion in foreign reserves as of the end of June, speculative foreign funds estimated at some $300 billion may be pulled out all at once, plunging our capital market into turmoil.

The South would have to introduce emergency funds to stabilize its foreign exchange rates and quell the chaos surrounding mass withdrawal of short-term foreign funds. Otherwise, we will lose a “golden time.”

The greatest external variable would stem from China. Beijing would reinforce its military deployment along North Korea-China border areas, keeping a close watch to preclude intervention or pressure on the North by other foreign powers. Beijing would likely be against unification of the Korean peninsula unless it serves China’s national interests. Therefore, Seoul needs to focus its unification diplomacy on persuading Beijing not to oppose Korean unification by presenting a convincing vision of unified Korea.

The central axis in dealing with an emergency situation in North Korea is the military alliance between South Korea and the United States. Be that as it may, we should not expect Americans to settle every harsh problem that arises around us. Washington’s utmost concern is how to control the North’s nuclear capabilities. In order to prevent an outflow of nuclear materials, the United States would lean toward rapid military deployment to the North. Thus, the South Korean forces would be left to lead 12

civil affairs operations in North Korea.

Still, Seoul and Washington should settle their lingering discord on the division of roles prescribed in their joint “Concept Plan (CONPLAN) 5029” so as to upgrade it into an “operational plan.” Also needed are concrete plans regarding a possible massive exodus of North Korean refugees and defectors by land and sea. In a survey last month, Korea University’s Ilmin International Relations Institute asked 135 foreign experts in international relations and security to identify the biggest obstacle to unification of the Korean peninsula. Sixty-eight percent said the North Korean regime’s objection to unification. The second most common answer at 16.3 percent was “the South Korean government’s lack of preparations,” suggesting that Seoul would encounter stiff challenges in achieving national reunification unless it prepares properly.

In particular, 25 percent of Chinese respondents cited lack of preparation by Seoul, indicating that it could lead to a burden on Beijing. One cannot dismiss the possibility of a clandestine deal between the United States and China to keep the peninsula divided if Washington feels South Korea cannot handle precarious conditions and subsequent unification in the event of a sudden change in the North.

Taking advantage of the inauguration of the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, it is suggested that efficient systems of inter-agency collaboration be charted to cope with any future developments in the North in conjunction with upgrading the expertise for domestic public security.

[Chosun Ilbo, November 26, 2014]

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Overseas Forced Labor Helps Pyongyang Maintain Power

Yun Jeong-ho Washington Correspondent The Chosun Ilbo

One of the three miners killed in a coal mine blast in Malaysia’s island of Borneo on November 22 was North Korean. According to reports from the site, almost half of the 119 miners were from North Korea. North Korean workers are toiling in remote sites abroad to earn foreign currency. This explains the reason why the North Korean leadership is unconcerned with the various sanctions imposed by the United Nations and can indiscriminately purchase luxury goods like yachts, Mercedes-Benz cars and cognac.

The forced laborers sent abroad by the North Korean regime earn an estimated $1.2 billion to $2.3 billion in cash per year, more than offsetting economic sanctions. At a seminar held in Washington, D.C. at the Stimson Center on November 21, Asan Institute for Policy Studies research fellows Shin Chang-hoon and Go Myung-hyun pointed out that “the income that North Korea earns through forced labor overseas is 100 times more than the funds in its Banco Delta Asia accounts that were frozen in 2007 in a representative case of sanctions enforcement against the regime.”

Since North Korea still has access to hard currency, sanctions have been ineffective. With the exception of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, North-South trade came to a halt in 2010 as a result of the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang by Seoul on May 24 in that year, due to the North’s sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan. 14

The Emergency Committee on Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation calculates that the lost trade totals $2.2 billion over the past three years, but according to Bank of Korea statistics, the North Korean economy expanded during that period. The money earned by North Korean laborers financed the expansion. The workers’ wages are delivered directly to the regime in the form of cold hard cash, in clear violation of U.N. sanctions. According to the two Asan researchers’ report, “Beyond the UN COI Report on Human Rights in North Korea,” the North currently has over 50,000 forced laborers in 16 countries around the world. The countries receiving the most North Koreans are in descending order Russia (20,000), China (19,000), Mongolia (over 13,000), Kuwait (5,000), United Arab Emirates (2,000), Qatar (1,800), and Angola (1,000). At one time, North Korea sent its people to 45 countries, including Iraq and Syria.

These workers do not have a labor contract and do not directly receive their wages. The North Korean regime garnishes most of their income and they are forced to live in extreme poverty. The Asan report points out that the workers are not allowed to travel freely and they must live in communal housing under constant surveillance. Interviews with them reveal that the average North Korean worker abroad works 12 to 16 hours a day, and in extreme cases, up to 20 hours a day with four hours for sleeping. According to Shin Chang-hoon, “In order to make sanctions against North Korea more effective, we must take aim at the regime’s dispatch of workers overseas, but we must first take interim steps to deal with the problem.” Shin asserted that the international community must demand that countries utilizing North Korean workers ensure a minimum standard of living and work conditions for them. In addition, he proposed that wages be paid directly to the workers rather than the North Korean regime and that host governments conduct detailed inspections of each workplace. The Asan researchers also argued that now that North Korea’s human rights situation has become the focus of global attention, we must treat the exploitation of North Korean workers abroad exactly the same as we do the internal human rights condition in the North. Because North Korea is a signatory to the international treaty against slave labor, the world must strongly demand that Pyongyang comply with its provisions. In particular, should the International Labor Organization become involved, it would create yet another pressure point on the North by the world, which would make efforts to deal with the North’s nuclear program more effective.

[November 24, 2014]

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An Observation of Progressives over Six Decades

Nam Jae-hee Journalist

When I was a student at Seoul National University, there were progressive student organizations called the Sinjinhoe (“Newcomers Society”) in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Sinjohoe (“New Trends Society”) in the College of Law. Their members talked about embracing the Fabian socialism of Great Britain, which was one of the trends in the intellectual community at the time, but without thoroughly studying it. These student movement organizations became more influential among my juniors. Harold Laski’s ideas also had some impact at the time. Professor Min Byung-tae was the one who introduced Laski’s thoughts to Korea during the Korean War.

As a student, I met several progressive political leaders. I visited Cho Bong-am (courtesy name Juksan), who lived in Sajik-dong, Seoul, through a friend’s introduction, and met Suh Sang-il (courtesy name Dongam) at his house in Myeongnyun-dong. I still recall Cho in a sweater sitting on a sofa, and bearded Suh wearing a traditional Korean outfit sitting on a papered ondol floor, as if those images have symbolic meanings. Those two leaders failed to join forces in the end and went their separate ways, Cho to the Progressive Party (Chinbodang) and Suh to the Democratic Progressive Party (Minju hyeoksindang). If Cho, who had cut ties with Park Hun-young, had continued his alliance with Suh, who was one of the eight core leaders of the Korea Democratic Party (Hanmindang), if that had happened, I recall with sad heart, a major political tragedy in Korean history would have been avoided and that would have been good for Korean political development.

After the April Student Revolution of 1960, the energy of the progressive movement swept across the country. The Daegu area was its epicenter. The progressives participated in general elections, mostly rallying around the Social Mass Party (Sahoe daejungdang). When the May 16 coup d’etat occurred the following year, the progressives were divided into several political parties ― the Unified Socialist Party (Tongil sahoedang, Suh Sang-il and Lee Dong-hwa), the Progressive Party (Hyeoksindang, Chang Kun-sang), the conservative faction (Gosu-pa) of the Social Mass Party (Kim Dal-ho), and the Socialist Party (Sahoedang, Choi Kun-woo). What was more important, however, was the division into two groups over the issue of national reunification ― the Central Council for National Independence and Reunification (Minjok jaju tongil jungang hyepeuihoe: Minjatong), which called for talks with North Korea, and the Federation for the Reunification of the Fatherland through Neutrality (Jungriphwa joguk tongil undong chong yeonmaeng:Jungtongryeon), which argued for permanent neutrality of the country. I was following the situation closely as a newspaper reporter.

Domestic policy platforms of these political groups remained at the level of slogans. They neither brought forward concrete policy alternatives nor had substantial political clout.

At the time, social democracy as ideology was gaining traction. For example, Lee Young-kun, an aide to Cho Bong-am, harshly accused Lee Dong-hwa, who had studied political science at the University of Tokyo, of having inserted social democracy into the Progressive Party. Lee Young-kun argued that progressives needed to formulate realistic policies based on the principles such as national independence and an autonomous national economy, and there was no need to be shackled by any specific ideology. When he campaigned in the 1950 general election in Cheongju, Lee Young-kun promised "a complete guarantee of three meals a day."

After the 1961 military coup, the Unified Socialist Party (Tongil sahoedang, forerunner of the Social Democratic Party) led by Kim Chul remained in name only. After another coup in 1979, Koh Junghoon played a role in the international arena as the leader of a government-patronized progressive party. The People’s Party (Minjungdang), which formed later, was worth noticing. But its chairman Lee Woo-jae joined the ruling party, and then Lee Jae-oh and Kim Moon-soo followed suit. Chang Ki-pyo was left alone. The appearance of Paek Ki-wan on the stage of politics deserves mentioning as a "phenomenon."

After the founding of the Progressive Party led by Cho Bong-am in 1956, the Democratic Labor Party (Minju nodongdang) of the early 2000s became the first noteworthy progressive political party. The DLP, formed in the wake of industrialization, was the nation’s first worker-based party in the modern 18

sense of the word. (Chun Jin-han established the Workers and Farmers Party [Nonongdang] in the mid-1950s under the slogan of liberal cooperativism, but his party ended up staying on the periphery.)

The DLP garnered more than 10 percent of the national vote after its founding, giving people the hope that it would become something. But it fell into disarray after going through repeated breakups. In my opinion, its disunity stemmed from a power struggle among internal factions seeking to maximize their share of substantially increased proportional representative seats by seizing control of the party. I have had chances to meet its former leaders, including Kwon Young-ghil, Dan Byung-ho, Moon Sung-hyun, Roh Hoe-chan, Shim Sang-jung, and Hong Se-hwa. Its demise is really regrettable.

It is hard for me to make substantive comments on leaders of the Unified Progressive Party (Tonghap jinbodang, the DLP was integrated into the UPP in 2011), who are making political splashes these days, because I have met none of them. It seems that dark clouds are hanging over the party due to its notorious cliquishness and an angry backlash from the public. But I believe that under no circumstances should it be disbanded under the principle of constitutional democracy. Was it in 1878 when an anti-socialist law was promulgated in Germany? These days, Korea's "mannerless progressives” seem to be on the chopping block as they have become a hot topic not only for newspaper columns but also books. Former lawmaker Kim Young-chun is said to have started the popular circulation of the word “mannerless” when he said that the progressives “make worthy statements in such mannerless ways.” No matter how hard the progressives search for new solutions, they should have the wisdom to respect socially accepted norms of civility.

To be fair, I also need to discuss the conservatives at the opposite end. The first thing to keep in mind is the situation that the conservatives are solidly entrenched in society. South Koreans experienced the horrendous Korean War (1950-1953). Therefore, walls of conservatism cannot but be thick and heavy. On top of that the side that wants to utilize such ingrained conservatism has tried to fan it in an inflammatory manner. Some conservatives ended up turning into ultra-rightists and “pro-NorthKorea”-baiting (jongbuk mori) has appeared in full force, even outshining the McCarthyism of the United States in the 1950s. From the Western point of view, this political environment must appear weird. How would be the best response by South Korean progressives under these circumstances?

People have come up with various analyses and remedies, but I would like to suggest that, bluntly speaking, it might be the best to follow the U.S. Democratic Party model considering the situation of national division we are living in. The Democratic Party contains a broad spectrum of groups from 19

conservatives to progressives. Compared to the Republican Party, it is more reformist overall. Roughly speaking, the Republican Party is "conservative," while the Democratic Party is "liberal." The word "liberal" in this context has a unique implication. On the left, it includes a progressive inclination similar to the progressive parties in Europe. The "New Deal Democratic Partyâ&#x20AC;? led by Franklin Roosevelt was reputed to be very progressive, and its impact reverberated for a long time. The Democratic Party under the leadership of Lyndon B. Johnson, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama was, and still is, reform-oriented. Clinton shared many of his views with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and they sought a "third way" together.

In Korea, the progressives can stick with their own progressive platforms and follow the path of progressive party movements. But a part of them can also join a bigger, relatively reform-minded party, where they can seek reforms from within. This latter route could be a more effective way to pursue reforms. Many progressive politicians have already joined the main opposition party. They can blaze a trail for progressivism by forming a progressive bloc inside opposition parties, just as a progressive bloc does within the Democratic Party in the United States.

John Kenneth Galbraith, an American reform-minded academic, supported the Democratic Party. He once served as the president of the Americans for Democratic Action and contributed significantly to the political development in the United States. Paik Nak-chung, an SNU professor emeritus, might be comparable to him.

Of course, there are progressive parties in the United States, too. The history of progressive politics in the United States is a persistent one as we know from activities of Eugene V. Debs, an American union leader, and Norman Thomas, an American socialist. But I think that Galbraith's way of participating in politics by joining the Democratic Partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reformist bloc might be a more effective way than other alternatives.

But separately from, or prior to, a discussion of the method of participation, I think that it is very important to make improvements to the electoral system. Even if we set aside the question of whether or not we should replace the presidential system with a parliamentary system for the future, we need to introduce a runoff voting system in the presidential election and increase the proportionally elected seats at the National Assembly to about one-third with the rest chosen by popular vote. About half of all parliamentarians are elected through proportional representation in Germany. I am reminded of a political axiom, which goes, "Majority is a rule of decision and a proportional system is a principle of representation." 20

One last thing I would like to say is this: I hope we think first of policies based on the reality and then establish an ideology as a model, if necessary, rather than adopting an ideology first and setting up policies in a top-down fashion. Our thinking habits are still influenced by the idealistic and deductive reasoning mode of the Japanese intellectual world, which was heavily influenced by German philosophers. It is quite different from the empirical, inductive method prevalent in Britain and the United States. In a word, we need to think from the bottom up, rather than coming down from the sky. We need to put reality in the foreground, rather than ideology.

[The Hankyoreh, November 22, 2014]

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Building a Good Party is a Priority

Park Sang-hoon Representative Director Publishing Company Humanitas

Reshaping a political party is a way of pointing it in the right direction. It is very important for a party to become a strong party that dedicates itself to low- and middle-income people; a competent party that can hold the government in check effectively; a grassroots party that protects people's everyday life; a well-organized party whose officials exude passion and pride; and a party whose members and supporters feel proud of themselves.

But the main opposition party of Korea seems to be indifferent to such things. Its lawmakers and members seem to be blinded by a belief that their party is nothing but a platform to win the next presidential or general elections. They only discuss how to pick senior party officials and nominate candidates, or political networking.

Granted it is important to adapt to a new technological environment, be it online or whatever, and open the door to the party, as they claim, I doubt that the party's senior members have ever visited their own party headquarters' website. In the case of the websites of its major municipal and provincial chapters, the problem is more serious. I doubt that the party can build a network-based party when its own officials and members are not making the most of their own existing online network.

Attempting to recruit new members online might be a good way to gain exposure to managing an 22

online network effectively. An acquaintance of mine had a difficult time trying to join the opposition party. He said he became upset because party officials suspected his intention. Another acquaintance said he had to phone the party many times in order to withdraw his party membership. Very few of the opposition partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organizations are functioning, according to one of the party's longterm officials. Party members who are preparing for programs for its Youth Committee are upset with the party headquarters' indifference toward their activity. Many of its lawmakers do not even know the most obvious information â&#x20AC;&#x2022; where their own party headquarters is located.

The party's presidential hopefuls and their associates have behaved in a weird and unusual way, which is nothing new in our political environment. It has been a long time since we last saw opposition politicians dedicate themselves to building a good party, seeking a system of bona fide competition and cooperation among various factions, making its members feel proud of their party and contributing to society by maximizing its political energy.

At every opportunity, the opposition party spews well-meaning slogans, mindful of the public opinion, but it does not do what it should do within its own structure. It is urging the country's president to communicate with the people, but the party has never urged communication or compromise among its factions or coalesce their intentions and hopes.

The party is engaged only in very strange and bizarre politics, whereby it is begging the people to believe its sincerity. Without exception, aides to its presidential hopefuls are invariably advising their bosses to keep a safe distance from their own party and create their own good images, because they will be scarred politically if they get too close. There is nothing worse in dragging down the political culture than this kind of behavior.

We call a political group a clique when the group diverts its political assets to its own private uses. Likewise, we cannot call a political culture a good culture, either, when members of a party are enthusiastic only about winning the presidential election. If the only goal of politicians and their factions is to grab presidential power, their success will end up as the bane of democracy.

It is good to adapt to changes in communication technology, be it networking through social media or whatever. But no matter how hard it may try to be citizen-friendly and open to the public, no party can achieve anything if it fails to solidify itself and fulfill its own mission. If it underplays substantive cooperation among its own members and overly relies on online networking, the party will never be 23

good in politics, no matter how many supporters there may be in the digital space. Journalists and so-called experts are saying that the public dislikes political parties â&#x20AC;&#x2022; a flippant interpretation of public opinion. The people are disappointed with, and are criticizing, the parties for engaging in politics as we see it. What they really want is a good, well-functioning party.

We hope that the members of the main opposition party will refrain from getting absorbed merely in their own self-display and self-promotion in the established opinion market or in the virtual space, and fulfill their responsibility, as politicians, for building a good party. We believe that only those politicians who bet everything on making their own party a good decent party can have a decent chance in elections, including the presidential election.

[Kyunghyang Shinmun, November 17, 2014]

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- Why is the Crisis Different This Time? - Why Doesn’t the Bank of Korea Aim at Zero Interest Rate? - Threatened Economy and Wayward Politics - On Debt - Financing Unification as the First Step toward ‘Unification Bonanza’

Why is the Crisis Different This Time?

Jung Ku-hyun Visiting Professor, College of Business Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

With the New Year around the corner, our society is in distress and enterprises are beset with pessimism about what lies ahead. Many individuals are discontented and business executives are expressing uncertainties more and more. Compared to past downturns, why is the mood so glum this time?

During its past six decades of economic growth, Korea has withstood major external shocks without too much difficulty. For example, in the latest global financial crisis, society and enterprises rallied to overcome the severe repercussions in three years. Before that, Korea had to avert a sovereign debt default twice amid oil crises.

So why is the nation, which has been characterized by its indefatigable will and determination to meet challenges, floundering now? The current crisis is different from its predecessors on several counts.

First, the domestic and global economies are in turmoil simultaneously.

In 1997-98, the Asian financial crisis was confined to several countries in the region. As such, Korea could devalue its currency sharply, bolstering the price attractiveness of its exports, and recover in a short period of time. Today, the world economy remains in a slump that started with the 2008 global financial crisis. Moreover, international trade is expanding at an even slower pace than the fragile 26

world economy, hobbling the Korean economy, which has been driven by manufacturing prowess and exports. Currency exchange remedies are not available this time because trade rival Japan is weakening its yen.

Secondly, the Korean economy has matured.

It was easy for Korea to overcome a crisis before; its enterprises simply had to catch up with their counterparts in advanced nations. It was not too difficult for them to follow the footsteps of those doing well around the world. When Korean companies were told to “charge ahead,” they moved without hesitation until they reached their goal. Now it is not easy to determine where to take aim. No country clearly stands out as Korea’s future model. Nor is it clear which foreign corporations Korean companies should benchmark to achieve higher performance.

It is time for Korea to set its own goal and strategy for attaining it. Its fast-follower approach has outlived its usefulness.

Thirdly, Korea has a formidable challenger, which is none other than China.

During the past 25 years, Japanese corporations have been passive, and Korean companies, pushing for fast growth, have benefited substantially. When Japan’s property market bubble burst and a socalled balance sheet recession started in 1991, Japanese corporations found it difficult to go on the offensive with capital investments and expansion into new markets.

Now Chinese corporations are on the offensive. Many of them are growing fast, like bamboo shoots after rain. They are emphasizing speedy decision-making for rapid responses to changes in the business environment and bolstering efficiency ― operational practices that were once hallmarks of Korean corporations.

It is not just the external conditions that are unfavorable. The domestic business environment is just as hostile. Its low-growth, high-cost characteristics are intensifying. As such, the current dilemma is different from the previous ones. Its handling demands new strategies.

Several come to the mind. To begin with, the Korean government should demonstrate strong support 27

for reforms.

Of late, not many in the international financial community accept policies announced by the Korean government at their face value. The reason is that the administration does not have a strong will to push for them, while the National Assembly more often than not seeks to stymie policy initiatives. One example of the lack of commitment was reform of government employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pension plan. The administration promised to reform it this year. But the deadline came and went. The president and senior officials should have earnestly appealed to government workers to understand and sacrifice.

Ideally, reform of the government pension plan would have preceded reform of the labor market. Now political leaders will have to put all they have on the line and try to persuade both government workers and unions to accept reforms.

It is the same with corporations. They need to implement structural reforms, as they did during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, and work hard for a breakthrough. Their so-called octopus-like diversification is a business model that has outlived its usefulness. A business group cannot maintain its global competitiveness if it keeps a moribund company under its wing, simply because it is one of its affiliates. Drastic structural reform is needed for such a business group.

Korea cannot surmount its current crisis by devaluing the won and promoting exports alone, as it did in the past. The most important task is to make the economy and corporations structurally sound to overcome the current crisis.

[The Dong-A Ilbo, December 13, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Why Doesn’t the Bank of Korea Aim at Zero Interest Rate?

Sohn Sung-won Smith Professor of Economics California State University CI

The Bank of Korea recently lowered its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 2 percent, the lowest since the 2009 financial crisis. With Korea’s economic growth expected to reach 3.5 percent this year, there are forecasts of 4 percent expansion in 2015 and accelerated inflation in the years ahead. Some say that the Bank of Korea does not need to cut its benchmark interest rate any further and that it won’t need to consider a rate hike until the U.S. Federal Reserve starts to increase its rate. But others advocate more rate cuts until the outlook on the global and Korean economies noticeably improve. They say the global economy is losing vitality and that deflation is spreading throughout the world.

Indeed, the world economy is in a worrisome state. The export-driven Korean economy is like a small ship in a vast ocean that cannot shield itself from turbulence. It is highly influenced by the economic performance in China, the euro zone and the United States, all of which are in precarious condition. China’s growth rate, which was on a double-digit pace two or three years ago, has dropped to a singledigit track despite massive liquidity injections by the People’s Bank of China. Bubbles are bursting in the property market, the most important sector of the Chinese economy. In major cities in China, home prices are falling and transactions are also declining. China has set its growth target at 7.5 percent. But some think tanks forecast growth will slow to 6 percent and remain there for several years. 29

The euro zone may relapse into recession. Growth has stopped in Germany, the economic engine of the euro zone. Conditions in France are little better, with prices no longer rising. Consumers, who expect prices will fall in the future, are keeping their purse strings tight. The U.S. economy is in better shape than any other advanced economy. Yet, few would say its growth is solid. Although the gross domestic product in the United States is 7 percent higher than the historic high, past recoveries suggest that it should be nearly 20 percent higher by now.

Weak performance in China and the euro zone will retard growth in the United States. The Fed says the U.S. labor market is improving. But the worsening world economy and the strengthening dollar will keep the U.S. central bank from raising its benchmark lending rate until at least the middle of next year.

Some say the BOK is not in a position to lower its benchmark rate again because a further reduction would risk an outflow of capital. The outflow, they say, would be exacerbated once the Fed begins to raise its rate, which would widen the gap with the BOK rate. Moreover, they say, a weak Korean won will fuel inflation. But is this scenario plausible?

Ten years ago, the BOK initiated its benchmark rate cuts by 0.5 percentage point two times but the won appreciated nevertheless. Share prices soared as foreign capital poured into the Korean securities market. Property prices somewhat gained, too. Consumer spending soared as lending rates fell and the economic outlook brightened. What happened? Here, the keyword was “expectations.” The central bank’s rate cut spurred optimism about growth and that helped lift the economy. Could the same result have been achieved with 0.25 percentage point cuts over a longer time frame?

A monetary policy needs the element of surprise to be effective. Americans were taken by surprise when the Fed announced its plan to buy financial assets ― quantitative easing ― to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero and to boost the money supply. Most economists agree that the first of the three rounds of quantitative easing was the most effective and successful. The first round had the element of surprise, but the others did not.

In conclusion, the most critical factors for an effective monetary policy are the new rate and the new level of liquidity. Exceeding expectations, the element of surprise is the secondary element. A big 30

surprise cannot be expected through modest rate cuts of 0.25 percentage points over a long time period. Such action has minimal effects on the economy.

The BOK will have to consider a drastic cut in its interest rate if the world economy and the Korean economy do not show signs of meaningful improvement soon. It even may have to cut it to zero. Given the deflationary trend in the world, the Korean economy will not have any problem of inflation at least for some time to come.

[Dong-A Ilbo, November 7, 2014]

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Threatened Economy and Wayward Politics

Kim Jong-seok Dean, College of Business Administration Hongik University

The Korean economy is in deep trouble. It is bedeviled with chronic unemployment and dwindling job openings, rising household and government debt, worsening income inequality, and a shortage of funds for welfare. It is threatened by a protracted slump and even the possibility of depression. All these difficulties are rooted in a persistent decline in the nation’s growth potential.

The decline began in the 1990s. The growth potential is now 3.5 percent compared to 9 percent in the late 1980s. If this trend continues, it will not be long before the growth potential falls below 1 percent. In its 2012 report on the Korean economy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that its growth potential could be exhausted by the 2030s. Given the current economic condition, such a crisis could come even earlier. The effects of falling growth potential and productivity will appear sooner or later. Korea’s leading industries ― the electronics, auto, shipbuilding, petrochemical and steelmaking industries ― are not performing well. There may be different reasons. Yet, it may not be a mere coincidence, given that they are underperforming simultaneously. The Korean industries are losing competitiveness in the world markets.

The Korean economy and major industries are afflicted with the challenges posed by the rise of Chinese business enterprises, a slump in the world, a fall in Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth and the weakening of the Japanese yen. The challenges have more to do with structural problems of the Korean economy rather than business cycles.

With uncertainty about the world economy showing no signs of abating, there is no predicting the timing or scope of the next global economic crisis. The world economy could plummet on the scale of the 2008 crisis if China suffers a financial meltdown; Japan slips into a fiscal crisis; the euro zone breaks apart; emerging economies sharply decline; or the Middle East goes into a tailspin. Then the Korean economy, which relies heavily on exports for growth, would be severely impacted.

Korea is scheduled to hold a presidential election in December 2017 and host the Winter Olympics in February 2018. If any of the leading domestic industries or the domestic financial market is in crisis during the intervening period, the outgoing administration will be hard pressed to manage the situation and push needed structural reforms. It will be hampered like previous administrations in protecting the nation in the event of a serious external economic threat like the 2008 global financial crisis. As such, it is necessary to push for economic reform and competitive advantages before the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s electoral timetable goes into full swing for the April 2016 parliamentary elections. Thus, 2015 is regarded as the golden time for economic reform.

If the Korean economy, beset with high costs and low efficiency, is not reformed before the next administration takes office, it will be vulnerable to even a small shock. In this regard, the ruling Saenuri Party is doing well to push for reform of the government workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pension, deregulation, and reform of state enterprises. Korea should not allow itself to remain unprepared for an economic crisis, as it did when it was hit by the 1997 Asian financial meltdown. Parliamentary approval of the reforms would undoubtedly help the Korean economy become more competitive and raise its growth potential.

It is worth remembering what happened in 1996. The administration tried in vain to reform labormanagement relations and the financial industry. The efforts crumbled when the president slipped into lame-duck status in the face of resistance from the opposition party and labor unions. No effective management was forthcoming when the nation was hit by the Asian financial crisis the next year.

[Korea Economic Daily, November 20, 2014]

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On Debt

Chang Kyeong-deok Editorial Writer The Maeil Business Newspaper

Amid the severe downturn that followed the 2008 global financial crisis, Paul Krugman, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics, called on the U.S. government to spend more, instead of making much ado about consequential fiscal debt. The Princeton University professor said debt does not make a society as a whole any poorer. “Debt,” he said, “is one person’s liability, but another person’s asset.” Irving Fisher, a U.S. economist in the Great Depression era, said, “The more debtors pay, the more they owe.” If all people spend less to reduce debt, it will hurt employment and income levels, which will inevitably drag down the whole economy. Few have been more faithful to this line of reasoning than the Korean government. Korea’s national debt has increased 80 percent to 220 trillion won since the 2008 global financial crisis. The household debt has risen 53 percent to more than 1,200 trillion won in the past six years.

The Korean government encouraged households to take on more debt to make up for a shortage in demand, which came as corporations, which had taken a beating in the 1997 Asian financial meltdown, tightened their belts. When these efforts reached a limit, the government started to boost demand itself by rapidly increasing its own debt.

These efforts made it possible for the nation to avoid severe pain. But they did not solve the fundamental problem. If things turn sour, the debt burden will prove to be stifling to the nation.

A drop in interest rates will not necessarily shrink the debt burden. The Bank of Korea has cut its benchmark rate to a historical low, 2 percent. Yet, one of every seven corporations is a zombie, sustaining its life with preferential loans and interest rates.

Even more serious is household debt. Two-thirds of all households are currently in debt. On average, each of them has 91.17 million won in debt, an amount twice as large as their disposable income. Households spend 26 percent of their disposable income on paying off their debt plus interest. Those on the lower end of the income ladder are especially affected, spending up to 68 percent of their net income on servicing debt.

The indebted households do not have much to spend on the one hand. On the other, the creditors do not have much desire to spend. Given Krugman’s dictum that someone’s debt is someone else’s asset, isn’t the creditor supposed to spend part of the interest income if not more? But he is tightening his purse string as well.

Last year, the disposable household income rose 5 percent. But consumer spending only rose 0.2 percent. Super-low interest rates are not igniting spending. Will an additional rate cut boost spending? That is questionable.

Household debt may have already reached the threshold of explosion. A rate cut is seen to be nothing but a blunted sword. It is not possible to sever a detonating cord with a blunt sword. There are four ways to reduce debt ― spark a high rate of inflation, increase income faster than debt, restructure debt, and write off non-performing loans. The use of inflation appears to be out of the question at a time when the price of oil has fallen below $70 per barrel from $110. How much money would have to be printed if it is to offset the cut in the oil price and, at the same time, raise consumer prices? A frontal assault to the problem is to raise income and lower the debt ratio. Who wouldn’t know this? Debt restructuring invites moral hazard and weakens the financial industry. No wonder, financial institutions are opposed to debt restructuring. As such, the government is standing idle.

The time bomb will explode sooner or later if it is not defused. A shoddy attempt to remove the fuse will be of no help. Drastic deleveraging will do more harm than good.

A more realistic choice under these circumstances will be to combine all debt-reduction methods. It is necessary to write off the debt when the debtors cannot pay it in any way. Debt payment should be immediately rescheduled for those who can meet their obligations over a longer period.

The government will have to do all it can do if it is to avoid a deadly cocktail of runaway liabilities and economic slump, and boost household income. Snowballing debt may make the nation as a whole poorer. Handwringing is definitely no solution to the debt problem.

[November 20, 2014]

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Financing Unification as the First Step toward ‘Unification Bonanza’

Kwon Goo-hoon Managing Director, Co-Head of Research Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., Seoul Branch

International financial institutions agree that economic unity between South and North Korea will create new momentum for growth and help catapult South Korea to advanced nation status. Yet, amid the discourse that began early this year on a “unification bonanza,” they do not seem to be motivated enough to invest yet in South Korea. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the timing, process and risks surrounding Korean unification. The absence of an appropriate roadmap on unification is the main cause.

The political, diplomatic and social experiences surrounding the unification of West and East Germany may be applied to South Korea. However, it is neither realistic nor desirable to employ the economic approach that was used.

Sudden and outright unification was regarded as the only option for West Germany, with the Soviet Union given as a potential obstacle. As such, how to reduce the income gap between East and West Germany was the central issue in the West German policy on unification.

West Germany raised taxes and issued treasury bonds to provide massive income subsidies to East Germans and offered a concessionary exchange rate to East Germany for currency unity. Consequently, interest rates rose and the German currency appreciated. But West Germany was able to 38

absorb East Germany without too much economic disturbance.

If South Korea adopts the subsidy-based German approach, the cost will be much higher than Germany’s unification. The reason is that the income gap between the two Koreas is now seven times as large as that between East and West Germany at the time of their unification and the South and North Korean population gap is half the East and West German population gap.

Even so, not many investors believe that the Korean division will continue to last. As is shown by China’s successful transition to a market economy, there is little room for a centrally planned socialist economy. As its failed currency reform showed, North Korea’s foundation is breaking apart.

Gradual economic unity through persistent exchanges between North Korea and South Korea and other members of the international community would be the most desirable approach. But political developments inside North Korea create many obstacles to unity.

Most encouraging in this regard is the first official blueprint for financing Korean unification, crafted by the Financial Services Commission of South Korea. The document has not been officially endorsed by the entire government, but has freed South Korea from the dogma of the German unification model.

The blueprint takes into account the transition of Russia, China, Vietnam and other countries from socialist economic systems and the progress they have had. This means that the South Korean government and financial authorities have freed themselves from the dichotomy of radical or gradual unification and started to grapple with what they need to do for economic unity on the Korean peninsula.

According to the commission, South Korea envisions the adoption of a market-based system in North Korea for effective allocation of resources during the transition to economic unity. South Korea also plans to improve roads, railways, power grids and other infrastructure and establish a legal foundation for the protection of property rights and contracts in the North.

South Korea seeks to protect manufacturing in North Korea, as it has done in the South Koreaninvested industrial complex in Kaesong, and improve the quality of life for North Koreans by encouraging private investments in the North. It has worked out how to finance those projects, which it estimates will cost US$500 billion. It would not be impossible to raise the per capita income in North 39

Korea to $10,000 in 15 years, given that former communist states raised their per capita incomes by 10 times on average in that time period after installing a market economy.

The most important part of the blueprint is its mechanism for macroeconomic stability. South Korea plans to take its economic superiority into consideration in dealing with currency unity. This is a most considerate and appropriate approach. It will help ensure macroeconomic flexibility, which will be the biggest necessity as economic unity unfolds.

The use of a single currency from the initial phase of unity, in disregard to differences in productivity and economic structures, will result in massive layoffs in North Korea. That will compound financial and political pressure on South Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s central bank and government and create a possible security risk to the entire unification process. The burdens will include a surging amount of money in circulation and sharp increases in the inflation and currency exchange rates. Each one would be capable of imperiling macroeconomic stability.

A unification bonanza is obtainable but not gratuitous. Public consensus on how to finance unification will not be easy to build and even if achieved, efforts to reach a unity policy may become stuck. Skepticism about the Southâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to sustain a unity policy already is being heard.

The blueprint for financing unification and public debate on it will help allay such concerns. In addition to the blueprint, the South Korean government will have to produce an overall policy for a unified economy, including a policy on welfare for North Korea during the transition period.

[Chosun Ilbo, November 20, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

- The Curse of Hierarchical Lineup of Universities - Singles Tax, Homes for Newlyweds â&#x20AC;&#x2022; Would Babies Be Born? - An Admirable Dream of 'Social Families' - Another Hypothesis about Increasing Chinese Tourists

The Curse of Hierarchical Lineup of Universities

Yang Sang-hoon Chief Editorial Writer The Chosun Ilbo

The high school students who enter the testing sites for the nationwide College Scholastic Ability Test look like they are being dragged into a slaughterhouse. Some of them even shed tears before the test begins. The 18-year-olds, with pale faces from tension, walk into a battlefield where they will very likely die. And like a warning about tough times ahead, it’s always very cold on the day of this test. After watching them entering the “battlefield,” their parents turn to “God.” When the test begins, students are bombarded with many questions that seem trivial and peripheral, considering the future and potential of the students. With these fragmentary, inaccurate and trivial test questions, hundreds of thousands of students are lined up and cut off by the difference of 0.1 point. So many of them are cut off and wither without even having a chance to blossom. They have to carry this permanent stigma of being second or third class for their whole life.

The gate has opened again to the hell of college entrance examination, which kills a significant part of the nation’s potential by labeling the majority as losers for the sake of the success of a small minority. The exam hell was once publicized as the source of Korea’s competitiveness. It may have been true at some point in the past. However, the exam hell is now just a curse that will devastate our society and ruin the nation. 42

We have many challenges such as North Korea’s nuclear arms and China’s industrial threat. Yet, a problem more serious than all these combined is our aging society coupled with the nation’s low birthrate. If we don’t tackle the low birthrate problem right away, our nation is destined to face an apocalypse in economy, politics, society and security. We don’t even have 10 years for that. Korea’s exam hell discourages the human instinct to produce offspring. I know a couple who married in their later years but don’t have a child. “I feel horrible simply imagining that we force our child to study extra hours at private institutes from elementary school years. Also, we can’t afford that. Even if we manage to spend more for the child’s education, the chance of our child going to a prestigious university is about 1 percent. Even after graduating from a prestigious university, it will be difficult for the child to land a good job. … After all, the child will end up being like us or even worse. We really want to have at least one child, but we don’t want to make ourselves, including our child, feel miserable and unhappy.”

The exam hell originates from the system of ranking universities. Every country has prestigious universities. However, no other country than Korea ranks all of its universities. For those who don’t qualify for a small group of prestigious universities, the world becomes a totally different game.

One of my acquaintances was once giving a lecture at a non-prestigious university in Seoul and found himself shouting at the students, “I’m also a graduate from a second-class university, and I experienced many unfair damn situations. But at least I didn’t give up out of spite. Don’t you guys even have such spite?” He said he was angered at the sight of students paralyzed with victim mentality and sense of defeat.

I guess the small minority of winners who have survived exam hell must have contributed to our society. However, we are losing the potential abilities of others that are many times greater than their contributions. Half of Japan’s Nobel Prize winners for science graduated from regional universities outside of Tokyo. Even one Nobel laureate for chemistry is a regional university graduate who doesn’t even have a master’s degree. Among the three Japanese Nobel Prize winners for physics this year, two are also professors of regional universities. Nagoya University even created a “Nobel Prize Street” on its campus.

Korea is killing enormous potential strength with unreasonable prejudices and stubbornness. The difference between regional universities in Korea and Japan starts with the attitude in Korea, where there are a few universities that are prestigious and the rest are where “losers” end up. In the shadow of this brutal reality, many students choose to not even try. In Korean high schools, half of the students sleep in the classroom. Teachers look away.

I know a Korean American whose son was admitted to both a state university and Harvard University. No doubt he wanted his son to choose Harvard but tuition was too expensive. His American neighbors couldn’t understand why he hesitated, saying, “Our state university is a very good school.” Their response is not strange; it’s just normal. Up until some 30 years ago, the difference between Korea’s regional universities and major universities in Seoul was not very wide. Now the gap is huge. One professor of a regional university laments, “Students clearly realize limitations they would face in the future and draw boundaries. Is this really okay?”

For the past several decades, we have been lining up hundreds of thousands of youths every year based on their test scores, thereby branding so many of them as “losers” and throwing them aside. It would be strange if this doesn’t come as karma and get back at us someday.

Creativity and vitality have been vanishing from our society, with those abandoned in such ruthless manner squeaking painfully. And finally an apocalypse called a sagging birthrate is undermining the foundation of our nation. Giving a well-wishing remark like “I wish everybody gets good test results” to the students entering the test site this morning is nothing but a palpable lie.

Under this system, a large majority is destined to be pushed aside. It is also obvious that the families of numerous students are going to feel frustration and pain in tears tonight. Offering my heartfelt consolation to them, I sincerely hope for a courageous innovation that will fundamentally change our educational system and environment.

[November 13, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Singles Tax, Homes for Newlyweds ― Would Babies Be Born?

Kang Kyung-hee Social Policy Editor The Chosun Ilbo

The Ministry of Health and Welfare recently became the source of speculation about a tax on single people. This began when a high-ranking official at the ministry said, “If the current low birthrate trend holds, we may have to discuss a policy to impose penalty taxes on those who refuse to have babies on purpose.” Rumors about the tax spread on the Internet, setting off a heated online debate.

Finally, the ministry had to issue an official statement to explain that the government is absolutely not considering a special tax on singles. Nevertheless, the outrage seethed, especially among Internet users. Some argued, “President Park Geun-hye, you pay the singles tax first,” while others fumed, “It is depressing enough to live alone. And now you want me to pay more taxes for it?” The day after the “singles tax” rumor erupted, 80 lawmakers from the 130-member opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy launched a forum called “A Home for a Newlywed Couple.” Rep. Hong Jong-hak proposed to increase the number of public rental homes by more than 1 million and provide them to newlywed couples for five to 10 years. Given that each home costs 100 million won (approximately US$100,000), the proposal requires 100 trillion won at the least.

Hong immediately came under severe public criticism. Critics blamed him for proposing an idea to win the support of young voters when the state coffer is already staggering with three flagship welfare 45

programs: free school lunch, free daycare and basic pension. “He is no better than middle school students nagging their parents for expensive clothes without caring about their families’ financial situation,” they said. Korea’s birthrate has been the world’s lowest for more than 10 years. The situation is so serious that fear of a “singles tax” and offering a home to every newly married couple have been produced.

Between 2006 and 2013, the government spent as much as 53 trillion won to turn around the birthrate. But there has been little difference. This is not because the spending is insufficient but because our society has turned against raising children. Amid the increase in women’s participation in economic activity, a low birthrate is somewhat inevitable. In Korea, however, the problem has become especially acute due to our unique situation. After our nation’s high-speed economic growth has stalled, employment has also slowed down and the labor market has become so unstable that workers can be kicked out at any time. Therefore, parents have become desperate and have started pouring their money into private education to send their children to prestigious universities. However, even after graduating from college, their children can hardly get a job so they need endless support from their parents.

All major phases of life of children, such as entering college, finding a job and getting married, require huge amounts of money from parents’ pockets. Korea has thus become a “miserable society,” in which the pressure of raising a child is felt too burdensome compared to the joy of having a baby. In fact, 49.4 percent of the married women in their 30s in Seoul either have no children or have only one. Across all age groups it is 40 percent nationwide, more than double that of 20 years ago.

The low birthrate is the combined outcome of problems faced by Korean society. To solve the problem, comprehensive remedies are necessary, such as creating a society with more job opportunities, a social climate encouraging women to juggle work and family and a safe environment for children, and reforming schools into places where children can be happy. In other words, if we employ all possible efforts on a constant basis, the road will be open for our society to achieve qualitative improvements. When people believe that “having a child is a blessing and my child will grow up happily in this society,” the birthrate will improve significantly. This is not a problem that can be solved with an

â&#x20AC;&#x153;eye-catching one-off policyâ&#x20AC;? hurriedly devised by a single government agency or an opposition lawmaker. Public officials and politicians need to have an open-minded attitude to cooperate with everyone in order for wisdom to be pooled to overcome this great national challenge.

[November 18, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Another Hypothesis about Increasing Chinese Tourists

Yim Chul-soon Editorial Advisor, The Hankook Ilbo Chairman, Singles Union of Korea

The number of single-person households stands at more than 5 million, about a quarter of all households across the country. The figure will reach 5.88 million by 2020. The increase is causing changes in people's style of living and their mindset and in social environment, as well as the government's housing policy and companies' production activities.

The community spirit among people is weakened, with the fragmentation of society accelerated, people's indifference to their neighbors deepening, and the masses becoming petit bourgeois. Most of the singles donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have adequate shelter or a job and those who are employed have a low income. The absolute poverty rate of those whose income falls short of the minimum cost of living is 41.4 percent for single households, more than four times that of multi-person households (10.1 percent). Also, many singles suffer from the lack of human familial affection that cannot be quantified.

In Korea, there is a shortage of legal and systemic considerations for single households to the extent that no search result is found for "single households" out of 4,418 laws and regulations. In contrast, there is a glut of marketing strategies for goods targeting single households.

Isolation is another problem in addition to poverty. "Solitary death" is the biggest tragedy facing single households. Solitary deaths, which are increasing annually, are no longer a characteristic of 48

singles over 65 years old. Of the 878 family-less people who died last year, 50-somethings topped the list with 253 (28.8 percent) and 228, or 25.9 percent, of them were over 65, according to data compiled by the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker Kim Choon-jin. It is shocking that nearly three in every 10 solitary deaths were of those in their 50s.

Another serious problem facing the single-person households is that many juveniles have to support themselves after they leave orphanages at age 18. Every year, an average of 800 such juveniles enter society with a government subsidy of 5 million won, which it is hard for them to do anything meaningful with and easy for them to squander. It is difficult for them to support themselves either economically or emotionally. They are beyond the legal or social protection.

Since it was launched last year, the Singles Union of Korea has promoted the creation of "social families," a multi-generation group of single households who form a family for support.

For this, the union has recruited supporters who will serve as grandfathers and fathers, and interviewed juveniles who constitute single households to grasp their situation and demands. Based on this, "social families" will be launched on December 5. The "social families" will include lawyers as well as supporters to give single juveniles legal and emotional stability and help them become good members of society.

The union has also opened a legal aid center for single-person households, while designating the 11th day of each month as the "day of legal aid for single households" because the figure "11" symbolically represents companionship.

"Social families" can be understood as uigajok (sworn families or foster families, 義家族) in Korean. The word ui (right way or righteousness, 義) consists of two components ― yang (羊: lamb or mutton) and ah (我: I). It means that "I" let other people eat "mutton" first and then eat my portion later. This is a way to seek the common good and it is the virtue that "social families" should carry.

Despite the public's tarnished view of foster fathers and foster kids, we need to restore the good original meaning of them. But goodwill or good intentions alone are not enough. Not all human relationships can be maintained as smoothly as we intend. We need persistent efforts, sustainable programs, and unwavering attention and care so that they can take care of each other as "families." But a start itself does not mean success. We are tasked with a heavy burden and have a long way to go. Nobody 49

should be tired out.

[Hankook Ilbo, November 15, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Another Hypothesis about Increasing Chinese Tourists

Park Hae-cheon Professor, Department of Liberal Arts Dongyang University

For the past month of October, Seoul was chaotic with “youker,” which means Chinese tourists. Every weekend, the main streets of Seoul were crowded with young couples holding selfie sticks mixed with Chinese tourists. The media forecast “the era of 10 million youkers” by 2020 at every chance, hoping for vitality in the domestic market.

Two months ago, I suggested a hypothesis in this column that the increase in Chinese tourists is changing the cultural geography of Seoul (September 15). In accordance with this trend, let me now take a close look at how shopping districts in Myeong-dong and Hongdae have changed using more specific statistics and indicators. Let’s first look at the Myeong-dong shopping area. The area began to see a major change in the mid 2000s. As the reconstruction of apartment buildings in Gangnam sparked a property boom, the retail district in Myeong-dong was also following the same path thanks to the rebuilding and remodeling of commercial buildings in the area. There was a big difference between Gangnam and Myeong-dong, of course. While apartment buildings in Gangnam were becoming a stronghold of the upper-middle class, commercial buildings in Myeong-dong started to put up signs of foreign SPA (Specialty store retailer of Private label Apparel) brands in front.

It was because the commercial buildings, which had been originally built to become another Doosan Tower or Migliore, were no match for Internet fashion malls with their fast growing revenues. The only way these buildings could calm down the outcry of their renters was to introduce foreign SPA brands. The first success story was the Myeong-dong Fashion Mall, which included Uniqlo after remodeling in 2007.

The first impact on Myeong-dong in the 21st century was ending by the time the media ran interviews of Japanese tourists saying “Myeongd-ong streets make me feel at home because they look very similar to Japan.” The second impact started right after that in 2009. The main contributors were Chinese tourists.

The number of Japanese tourists, which remained a little over 2 million until the mid 2000s, seemed to slow down since exceeding 3 million in 2009. On the other hand, the number of Chinese tourists, which was 1.34 million in 2009, nearly tripled to 3.92 million in 2013. Two indicators that reflect this shift are the increasing number of cosmetics shops and the rising rents for stores. In 2008, there were only 21 cosmetics shops in Myeong-dong, but the number jumped to 81 in 2012 and further increased to 105 in 2014.

Meanwhile, the average rent for stores on ground floor, which was a little over 190,000 won per square meter in 2009, topped 280,000 won in 2012. In addition, young Koreans who used to fill the long pedestrian-only byways of Myeong-dong are now mostly replaced by Chinese tourists. The rents and prices in the most expensive commercial district were too high for “the generation of 880,000 won income per month.” Where did they go? It’s impossible to accurately track all of them but the number of people alighting at subway stops that are mainly used by young people is a good indicator. The Hongik University station had the most dramatic change in traffic during this period. The number of people alighting at this station was a little over 17 million and 19 million in 2005 and 2009, respectively. This growth has completely changed since 2010. The number was 21.28 million and 25.01 million in 2010 and 2013, respectively, growing as many as 6 million in four years.

The commercial district surrounding Hongik University had an unprecedented boom with the rise in floating population, but at the same time lost its unique original character with many rental disputes between building owners and store owners.

If we acknowledge the correlation between the rise in Chinese tourists and the change in the major commercial districts of Seoul, we could say the recent transformation in the two major commercial districts of Myeong-dong and Hongik University foretell the future of Seoul receiving â&#x20AC;&#x153;10 million youkers.â&#x20AC;?

If we focus only on the economic effect of the more and more tourists without proper measures for the city, many areas of Seoul are destined to being pushed around by the standards of Chinese tourists and the interests of building owners and fall below standards all together.

[Kyunghyang Shinmun, November 10, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

- Andrei Serban’s Chunhyang What’s So ‘Different’? - Authors in Their Forties - Seosomun History Park or Catholic Sanctuary? - Stable Financial Source for Promotion of Culture and Arts - President Park’s ‘Culture Day’

Andrei Serban’s Chunhyang What’s So ‘Different’?

Lee Ji-yeong Staff Reporter The JoongAng Ilbo

“Chunhyang-jeon” (The Story of Chunhyang) is one of the most famous folk tales in Korea and has been remade many times. Romanian-born American director Andrei Serban, 71, has taken an unconventional approach to this classical Korean love story, transforming it into a changgeuk (traditional Korean opera) with a modern touch. The world-renowned director believes that “doing what others do is a waste of time,” and like his words, Chunhyang has taken on a whole different character in his production, aptly titled “Andrei Serban’s Different Chunhyang.” The performance opened on November 20 at the National Theater of Korea’s Dal Hall in Jangchung-dong, Seoul, and runs until December 6. How “different” is it that he would highlight the fact in the title? We looked at some of the unique features of the new “Chunhyang-jeon.”

♦ Contemporary Setting The time setting has been moved to the present. Mongryong, the lead male character, listens to music with earphones and uses a laptop to study. Bangja, his male servant in the original version, wears a padded vest and has dyed his hair. When Mongryong sings “Sarang-ga” (Love Song) to Chunhyang at her house and the two exchange words of love, his cellphone rings and he receives two voice

messages. The main characters are bubbly and speak like any 16-year-old would today. When Mongryong’s family has to move to Seoul because his father has been appointed to a key government post, Chunhyang’s first words are, “Seoul? That’s awesome!” Unlike the dialogue, the songs, including “Sarang-ga,” “Sipjang-ga” (Song of Ten Lashings), “Ssukdaemeori” (Disheveled Heart) and “Galkkabuda” (I Wish I Can Go to My Love), strictly adhere to the original tradition of pansori (traditional Korean narrative song). So in the same scene, the songs are sung in old Korean while the lines are spoken in contemporary modern Korean. For example, the scene where Chunhyang writes a letter to Mongryong from prison starts with the line, “Hey! How can you not call me once?” and ends with the song, “All I wish is for my beloved husband to live a prosperous life in this world, and that we reunite in our next lives and live happily ever after.” It’s an odd yet delightful combination.

♦ ‘Not So Cool’ Mongryong Andrei Serban said of the character Chunhyang, “She is a hero that is not afraid to risk her life and fight to defend the ideal of love.” But his interpretation of Chunhyang’s love is not her love towards Mongryong, but an absolute value in life. “Mongryong has forgotten about Chunhyang. That kind of love is insignificant,” he said. In the “Different Chunhyang,” Mongryong doesn’t even bother to call and his love is all the more doubted. Perhaps it’s because he has incurred the “hatred” of the director, but Mongryong is portrayed as a dork. His mother’s voice message, “Son, once you check this message, come home quickly!” makes him anxious. His parents made a donation to get him into the prestigious S University. What he says to Bangja when he first sets eyes on Chunhyang on a swing is rather distasteful: “The daughter of a gisaeng (courtesan)? Then she must know how to have a good time. Go and ask her to join us and have some fun together.” It’s quite hard to believe that that could be the beginning of a pure and noble love.

♦ Similar Yet Different Ending The framework of the story is similar to the original. Mongyrong becomes a high-flying prosecutor and returns home in glory. He investigates and prosecutes the corrupt government official Byeon, who had imprisoned Chunhyang, and frees her. In the original ending, Mongryong and Chunhyang get married, have many children and live happily ever after. But “Different Chunhyang” chooses a different ending. Chunhyang, a gray-haired old lady, sits in a wheelchair on the stage. The curtain comes down with the closing narration, “Will a bigger triumph of love come after the triumph of justice?” The ending is a bit ambiguous. It is difficult to say whether from the point of view of Chunhyang and Mongryong that it is a happy ending. However, it is a clear victory for Chunhyang, who didn’t succumb to threats and remained steadfast in her beliefs and resolve.

P.S. What’s lost and gained: Poignant emotions that the original “Chunhyang-jeon” evokes are mostly lost in the “Different Chunhyang.” The biggest problem is that the ardent love between the male and female leads is nowhere to be found. Only a few moments touch the audiences’ heart or provide a cathartic experience. But the significance of such a novel interpretation of a classical Korean folk story cannot be easily disregarded. The fact that a world-class director like Andrei Serban experimented with pansori and “Chunhyang-jeon” — inherently Korean contents — is meaningful in itself. “Like Shakespeare’s works, ‘Chunhyang-jeon’ is open to experimentation and reinterpretation. It can be turned upside down; a lot can be done with it,” said Serban. Even if the outcome of his first attempt 57

falls short of expectations, it nonetheless raises hope that Chunhyang can become a world-famous character like Hamlet. This is just the first step.

[November 24, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Authors in Their Forties

Son Hong-gyu Novelist

Korean short stories are noticeably different from those of other countries in that they are relatively longer. According to the entry criteria of debuting short story writers for literary magazines as well as for year-end competitions hosted by newspapers, the required length of submissions was about 78 pages (A4 size) in the early and mid 20th century. However, it has grown to 10-12 pages.

The length of the story also has influenced the density of the work; in short, it has become more tightly packed. If a 60-page novel were stretched to a 100-page novel, one would expect a looser plot and less suspense. To the contrary, Korean short stories are more refined and tight-knit than ever before.

For example, works by Nam Jung-hyun, Cho Se-hui, Yoon Heung-gil, Oh Jung-hee, and Lee Munku are quite dense, and the cohesion between the sentences is so strong that if one were to delete just one sentence the plot would fall apart. These writers share one thing in common. They use sentences that are lean and have no words to spare; these sharpened and refined sentences require more proactive comprehension on the part of the reader. The Korean short story has trodden the path that no other countriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; short stories ever walked. It is unique in that it not only presents a fleeting moment, a critical life-or-death moment in a meaningful way, which is expected of short stories in general. It has reached the level of calling the readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 59

attention to the totality of the world, which is only possible in novels.

There are some foreign short stories that have a similar format to that of Korean short stories, but it is very rare to see such a format develop and be accepted on the same scale as in Korea. In other words, people’s lives unravel in Korean short stories, often torn to bits and pieces, broken, bruised, shattered and left bleeding. This is typical in novels in other countries. Maybe that is why, but my acquaintances who are ordinary readers sometimes complain that Korean short stories are harder to read and less interesting.

I believe it is a valid point, and I agree, too. In these instances, I can only share with them William Faulkner’s anecdote. Someone asked the American writer, “Readers complain that your novel is hard to understand no matter how many times they read it. They do not get it the first time, second time, nor the third time. What do you think about this?” Faulkner replied, cautiously but firmly, “Can’t they read it the fourth time?” November 18 this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Writers’ Association of Korea. Forty years ago on this day, young authors rose against the established writers, critical of their literature and sense of order choking imagination, and founded the Council of Writers for Freedom and Practice. The venerable-sounding name had changed to the Association of Writers for National Literature and then to the Writers’ Association of Korea, and it is living witness to the contemporary Korean history.

Most of the writers are uninteresting. They even look somewhat sad when they are drinking. They have a frayed look on their faces as if they are weary of making a living as a writer in this tough Korean society of all places.

They were the ones silently fighting against tyranny and resisting hack writing. They were determined to write so long as there was at least one person feeling desolate and marginalized from society. They swore to stand by that person and write for him. They also designed a unique format of the short story genre. This was possible because they stretched their creative space to infinity. They did not write in their studios but on the streets, in restaurants, at workplaces, and in prison. If that was not allowed, they wrote in mid-air and in people’s hearts.

For the last 40 years, they have affirmed that literature is indeed words passing from person to person. If there is something truly unique about Korean literature compared to other countries’ work, then we can say with confidence that it was their own doing. 60

[Kyunghyang Shinmun, November 18, 2014]

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Seosomun History Park or Catholic Sanctuary?

Lim A-yeong Staff Reporter The Kyunghyang Shinmun

The project that is turning the historic site outside Seosomun into a tourist attraction is stoking tensions among different religious groups. A misunderstanding kindled because the Catholic Church showed excessive enthusiasm and drive behind reformulating the sacred place. The People’s Commission to Redress the Issue of Seosomun Memorial Park, established with the Cheondogyo Church as the main force, recently said: “Not only Catholics but many other people were executed at Seosomun during 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty. Seosomun is also held sacred by the Cheondogyo Church. The place must be turned into a memorial park of joint peace and harmony honoring Catholicism, Cheondogyo and national history.” Catholic converts were executed at Seosumun (“small west gate,” one of the eight gates of Hanyang, present-day Seoul), and 44 out of 103 Korean saints were martyred there. Of the 124 beatified in August this year, 27 were also executed at the holy place. Seosomun also served as the capital city’s official execution site during the Joseon Dynasty. Leaders of Donghak movement, such as Jeon Bongjun and Hong Gyeong-rae, were executed there, and Choe Si-hyeong, the second patriarch of Donghak which developed into the Cheondogyo (Religion of Heavenly Way), was imprisoned and tried at Seosomun.

For these reasons, the People’s Commission showed concern that the Catholic Church may be trying to claim exclusive rights to Seosomun Park. The project to turn the Seosomun historic site into a tourist attraction is to be completed in 2017 with a total budget of 45 billion won from the central government, the Seoul metropolitan government and the Jung-gu district office. Underground space extending 8,300 square meters will be used for a memorial hall, exhibition hall and support facilities.

Seoul plans to make Seosomun Park a tourist attraction as well as part of the pilgrimage course connecting Myeongdong Cathedral, Yakhyeon Cathedral and Jeoldusan (Beheading Hill) Martyrs’ Shrine. To this end, the Jung-gu district and the Archdiocese of Seoul signed an agreement for the creation of Seosomun History and Culture Park in March 2012. In September this year, the district exhibited in Myeongdong Cathedral’s Peace Gallery the designs that won awards at the design competition for the historic sites outside Seosomun. The opening ceremony was attended by Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung and District Mayor Choi Chang-sik of Jung-gu. Pope Francis visited Seosomun on his trip to Korea in August and offered his prayers.

The government claims to be impartial to all religions. The Jung-gu District who owns the project says, “We plan to build a joint historic park focusing on the history of later Joseon Dynasty.” Lee Eun-bok, heading the Local Tradition and Culture Division at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, “After the Pope’s visit to Seosomun, more emphasis was given on the historic value of the sanctuary of martyrs to make it into a tourist attraction. It is nothing more than that. We do not plan to build a facility favoring a particular religion. I think other religions are concerned because there is a high level of interest shown on the part of the Catholics.”

How did this misunderstanding come about? The Seosomun Project is highly emphasized by the Seoul Archdiocese, which had proposed this project to the Jung-gu District in July 2011. After being appointed the archbishop of Seoul in 2012, Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung held the position of Commissioner of Creating History/Culture Park and Martyrs’ Shrine at Seosomun. Cardinal Yeom said, “The Seosomun sanctuary is where the history of martyrdom in the Korean Catholic Church began. There was a lot of pressure because our hands were pretty much tied and there was not much we could do in the process of creating the park.”

Opinions were divided about the project even among the Catholics. A source in the church who wished to remain anonymous said, “Carrying on the Seosomun project is kind of claiming ownership of the land. Holy shrine projects only stress the exterior form and go against the teachings of the 63

Pope.” A source from the Seoul Archdiocese said, “It is true that the Church puts a lot of emphasis on the project, but it does not plan to create a space solely for the Catholics.”

Seosomun is not the only place that the Catholic Church has conflicts with other groups of faith over creating a sacred place. An association of Buddhist monks and laymen called “Let’s Live as Buddhas” is holding a public discussion on November 25 on how to resolve the conflict concerning Jueo Temple.

Persecution of Catholics in later Joseon also occurred at Cheonjinam hermitage in Gwangju and Jueo Temple in Yeoju, both in Gyeonggi Province. The resident monks of the two temples had provided meeting spaces for the Catholics, for which they were beheaded and the temples also closed down. Currently, the grounds of Cheonjinam enshrine the graves of persecuted converts including Yi Byeok, Yi Seung-hoon and Jeong Yak-jong, and the Catholic Church wanted to make this a sacred place, which sowed the seeds of conflict. The laymen’s association of Yongju Temple, the head temple of the second patriarch of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, is offering 1,000 days of prayers to restore the original state of Jueo Temple. Byeon Taek-ju, head of research at Let’s Live as Buddhas, said, “If one party insists that it is their sacred place, it leads to a conflict. We plan to hold a discussion in the sense that we need to show people how we should live in harmony.”

[November 21, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Stable Financial Source for Promotion of Culture and Arts

Kwon Young-bin Chairman Arts Council Korea

Joanne Rowling, the author of “Harry Potter” fantasy series, was once in a desperate situation, too. When she knocked on the doors of publishing houses, all of them rejected her manuscript. But thanks to a grant from the Scottish Arts Council she was able to focus on the Harry Potter series. Behind the success of the writer, who now has the annual earnings estimated at US$909 million, was a grant for promotion of culture and the arts from the Arts Council England (ACE).

The Korea Culture and Arts Foundation, the predecessor of the Arts Council Korea, was established by President Park Chung-hee, in the early 1970s. The decision to set up a state fund for culture and the arts, modeled after the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) of the United States, in a period when people were struggling to make both ends meet was an insightful step that laid the cornerstone for Korea to become a cultural powerhouse. Each of the sentences of the declaration for the “rejuvenation of culture and the arts” which was issued at that time reflects the ardent wish. It begins by saying, “Underlying the force that determines the fate of a nation is the nation’s artistic and cultural creativity.” Resolving to contribute to human civilization through active international exchanges of culture, it proclaims that “all those who are engaged in the arts and culture are committed to creating an environment in which the arts and culture are cherished and accomplishing a cultural renaissance by joining forces with the entire public.” 65

Coincidentally, 40 years after this declaration was issued, the incumbent administration identified cultural prosperity as a key political agenda at its outset. The Arts Council Korea’s budget has grown to 180 billion won (approximately US$170 million), more than a 200-fold increase from 860 million won in 1974, serving as the main funding source for the promotion of culture and the arts. Responding to the government’s initiative for cultural flourishing, young Korean artists have demonstrated their brilliance on the international stage one after another. For example, the Arts Council Korea-funded Korean Pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014. Korean culture is at last approaching closer to an era of cultural prosperity to contribute to civilization, as proclaimed four decades ago by the declaration for the “rejuvenation of culture and the arts.”

But the Culture and Arts Promotion Fund, the only funding source of the Arts Council Korea, is nearing exhaustion. The fund has provided financial assistance to a wide range of creative activities, including literature, fine arts, performing arts and traditional arts, over the past 40 years. It is expected to be completely depleted in 2017.

The financial peril has been forecast since the system requiring mandatory contributions of around 6 percent of cinema and theater admission revenues was scrapped in 2003. The National Assembly and cultural and arts circles have raised concern over the foreseeable fund depletion every year, but their voices have been left unheeded and the fund operators have used the reserve fund to cover expenditures. Some efforts have been made to stabilize the fund, such as allocating part of the profit from lottery businesses as well as cycle and motorboat racings to be spent on culture and the arts.

However, the use of the proceeds from lottery businesses is limited to helping underprivileged people enjoy culture and the arts, and the profits from cycle and motorboat racings are far short of satisfying demand.

The Arts Council Korea, which is in charge of managing the fund, has launched a campaign to assign an artistically gifted student to a sponsor under the catchphrase of “Art Changes the World.” It also has worked hard to increase corporate and individual sponsorships, leading to a rise in individual donations. However, it has yet to find a fundamental solution.

The paucity of the fund is glaringly evident when compared with other domestic funds. This year's 66

budget of the Culture and Arts Promotion Fund amounts to a mere 20 percent of those of the tourism and sports funds. Moreover, it is only 15 percent of the budget of the Arts Council of Great Britain which has a support system similar to Korea. Under the current support system, limited largesse to more than 6,000 annual applications is inevitable. “The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us ― fostering creativity, goodness and beauty. The arts help us express our values, build bridges between cultures and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age. When times are tough, the arts are salve for the ache.” This is the first of the top 10 reasons to support the arts as declared by the Americans for The Arts (AFTA).

The arts are an important gauge in determining quality of life, not a simple object of consumption, and the enjoyment of culture and the arts has become the basic rights of the public. Culture and the arts are the roots from which the creative power of a nation is derived to enrich the cultural rights of the people and enhance their competitiveness. Nevertheless, the artistic and cultural environment of our nation is too harsh and shabby in comparison with the level of development in other areas. Hence, it is more urgent to secure a stable source of funding.

[JoongAng Ilbo, November 18, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

President Park’s ‘Culture Day’

Chang Jae-seon Culture Editor The Munhwa Ilbo

Will President Park Geun-hye have a cultural outing this weekend? As this month’s Culture Day is approaching, the cultural circles are putting up their antennae. The Park administration has designated the 25th day of each month as Culture Day in a bid to realize cultural flourishing, one of its key policies. On this day all cinemas, theaters, museums and galleries throughout the country offer free or discounted admissions to all visitors. It is intended to make culture more accessible so that the public can enjoy it more easily in their daily lives.

President Park has made four outings on Culture Day. She watched an animation film in January and a Korean creative musical in February. She visited an art exhibition in June. In August, she watched another homemade musical that incorporated diverse genres, inviting harsh criticism from political opponents for “leisurely watching a musical performance while the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry victims are fasting.” Regardless of the views of Park’s supporters or opponents, the current administration resembles the administration of President Kim Dae-jung the most in terms of its cultural policy. The Kim administration, though under the burden of overcoming the currency crisis of 1997-98, implemented a policy to build a cultural powerhouse. In 2000, the allocation for culture surpassed 1 percent of the nation’s total annual budget for the first time. Park Jie-won, a close aide to President Kim, was serving 68

as the minister of culture and tourism. Many believed that Park played a big role with strong support from President Kim.

Some claim that the overseas craze for Korean popular culture, or hallyu, started to bloom during the Kim administration thanks to the fortuitous tide that turned in the nation’s favor. I agree. Korean pop culture had shown hopeful signs and began flowering as the global community became more interested in Korea. However, without the commitment of the nation’s top leader to provide solid policy support, the fortuitous tide would not have been sustained. President Kim Dae-jung

The Park government, preceded by two administrations that followed President Kim, promised to allocate 2 percent of its budget to culture toward the purpose of achieving cultural prosperity. In 2013 when Park took office, the budget for culture reached 1.47 percent (5.276 trillion won), and in 2014 it rose to 1.52 percent (5.413 trillion won). For 2015, the budget bill submitted to the National Assembly seeks 5.977 trillion won, or 1.59 percent of the total government budget, for culture.

The current administration intends to fulfill its promise in 2018 when President Park completes his term. Is this possible? It is unlikely. First, huge amounts of money are needed to support other welfare programs besides culture and the arts. This is why the budget planners at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance shake their heads when asked about the fate of this campaign promise of the president.

Officials at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism use the term “cultural funding” instead of “cultural budget.” Thus, they obviously include the budgets of the Cultural Heritage Administration and the Korea Communications Commission, and part of expenditures by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, as well as the budget for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The incumbent administration’s effort to raise it up to 2 percent during its tenure appears to face an uphill battle. Under these circumstances, President Park’s cultural outing on Culture Day carries significance in that it reveals her commitment to cultural prosperity. Under a presidential system of government, the top leader’s determination has the power to elicit cooperation from the private sector, not to mention government organizations. It is desirable to use the power to boost culture and make people feel happier, rather than to stay in power.

Coming into contact with the public at cultural events is important for a leader as a means of communication. Even supporters of Park point out that she lacks communication skills, unlike her father, the late President Park Chung-hee who often mingled with commoners, sharing makgeolli (unrefined rice wine) and laughing heartily. At this point, it is necessary to recall Park’s visit to Myeongdong Cathedral to attend a mass presided over by Pope Francis. The pope’s trip to Korea was promoted mostly by left-wing Catholic priests. Some of them even displayed animosity toward the Park administration. It is said that Park’s participation in the mass significantly helped allay their antagonism. Culture Day should not be abused for political purposes. I just suggest that the president’s activity on the day be used for her to communicate with people, including those who oppose her. A leader needs a generous heart to embrace everyone, even opponents. Above all, I hope the president herself fully enjoys her monthly outing and people delightfully watch her. It would be a natural scene befitting a country dreaming of cultural prosperity, as it already is in advanced countries like France.

[November 24, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

- Impact of the Korea-China FTA on the Korean Economy - Foreign Professionals in Korea Survey on their Life and Work - Publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tolerance Foments Corruption

Impact of the Korea-China FTA on the Korean Economy Huh Moon-jong Senior Research Manager Woori Finance Research Institute

I. Overview The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, held in Beijing on November 10, provided the spark to conclude the Korea-China free trade agreement. Considering the rapidly expanding Chinese market and the increased mutual importance of bilateral trade, the FTA is expected to boost exports of commodities and services to China, ultimately contributing to Korea’s economic growth.

Initially, chemical and high-end consumer goods should benefit the most from the trade pact. But in the long term, services and e-commerce industries will probably be the biggest winners rather than manufacturing. IT and steel industries will not gain much and agriculture and textiles are expected to suffer the most. Despite the overall positive outlook, the Korean government needs to take strategic steps to utilize the narrowing technological gap between Korean and Chinese manufacturers and to take advantage of China’s shift in economic structure and the U.S.-China trade dynamics.

II. Korea’s Free Trade Agreements Korea and China began negotiations on a free trade agreement in September 2004, when their trade ministers agreed to launch a feasibility study at the private level. A joint industry-academy-government analysis was conducted from 2007 to 2010, and 14 rounds of negotiations were held between May 2012 and November 2014. The FTA will go into effect after the initialing and signing and parliamentary ratification. The China-Korea deal is Korea’s 13th free trade pact and Korea’s third in 2014, following the Australia-Korea FTA in April and the Canada-Korea FTA in September.

With the new trade deal, Korea has FTAs with the three top markets ― the United States, the European Union and China ― expanding its economic footprint to 73.2 percent of the global GDP. As of 2013, China’s share accounted for 21.3 percent of Korea’s total trade, far exceeding the EU’s 9.8 percent and the United States’ 9.6 percent. In this sense, the conclusion of Korea’s FTA with China, its biggest trading partner, is expected to refresh Korea’s exports.

The degree of the market opening under the China-Korea FTA will be relatively less than Korea’s FTAs with the United States and the EU. However, the possible impact on the Korean economy is expected to be much larger, considering that China already is Korea’s biggest trading partner. Korea’s FTA with China is distinctively different from its other FTAs in that Korean negotiators focused on minimizing damage to the nation’s agriculture, fisheries and livestock industries rather than maximizing profits through the removal of tariffs on major export items. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the China-Korea FTA will remove $5.44 billion in annual tariffs, nearly 6 times more than the $930 million saved in the Korea-U.S. FTA and 4 times more than the $1.38 billion lifted by the Korea-EU FTA.

III. Expected Impact by Industry Taking into account the rapid expansion of the Chinese market and China’s leading share in Korea’s total trade, the China-Korea FTA is expected to contribute to Korea’s economic growth through increased exports of commodities and services. China is the biggest single-nation market and Korea needs to use the FTA to expand exports to China before other rivals and make China its second domestic market.

The tariff elimination is expected to give Korean commodity exporters enhanced price competiveness, and the opening of the Chinese services sector should provide a new growth engine for Korea’s exports. Intermediate and capital goods, where Korean companies have already held a dominant position, are more likely to have price competitiveness when non-tariff barriers are removed along with 75

regulations imposed by China’s local governments. Strenuous efforts need to be made to increase the share of consumer goods in Korea’s export portfolio to China. However, it is desirable to maintain Korea’s competitive advantage in the exports of intermediate and capital goods until the consumer goods’ market share reaches a certain level. The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy estimates that Korea’s real GDP growth will increase by 0.92 to 1.25 percent in five years after the China-Korea FTA goes into effect, and the figure will rise by 2.28 to 3.04 percent in 10 years.

The expected impact of the bilateral free trade pact will vary by industry. Petrochemical and petroleum products are expected to benefit the most initially. They account for 45 percent and 18 percent of Korea’s total shipments to China, respectively, and Chinese tariff rates of 5.5 to 6.5 percent are currently applied to them.

Luxury goods, such as high-end home appliances, apparel, sports and leisure goods, and baby products, are also expected to benefit, given the rising income of Chinese consumers and the Chinese government’s push for a consumption-based economy. Consumer goods take up a mere 3 percent share of Korea’s exports to China, but they face higher tariff rates than intermediate and capital goods. For example, 6.5 to 10 percent of tariff rates are imposed on cosmetics. Therefore, tariff removal will be a significant boost to Korean consumer goods.

However, there still remains a possibility that enhanced self-sufficiency, intensifying competition and weaker demand in China will cap Korean exporters’ presence in the Chinese market.

The benefit to Korean IT products is expected to be limited because a significant amount of them are being assembled in China and low tariffs are already applied to them. In particular, communication equipment, displays and semiconductors are already subject to preferential tariffs in the Chinese market, because they have been categorized as processing trade.

The effects of tariff removal on steel, general machinery and construction industries are also likely to be insignificant. High-end steel products, which are less sensitive to tariff barriers, take up the largest share of Korea’s exports to China, while low-end products that are more sensitive to tariff changes account for the largest share of Korea’s imports from China. Therefore, the Korean steel industry is expected to have few benefits from the FTA or to be negatively affected. Since general machinery is also classified as processing trade benefiting from low tariff rates, the FTA tariff reduction will have negligible effects. Automobiles were excluded from the list of tariff concessions.

Due to the foreseeable increases in the imports of agricultural and fishery products, textile and apparel, furniture, and daily supplies that are less competitive over Chinese counterparts, Korean firms are expected to lose market share and suffer squeezed profit margins. During the FTA negotiations, the government focused on protecting the domestic agriculture and fisheries industry by substantially extending the list of agricultural products excluded from the trade deal. However, since cheap imports from China have already sharply increased, it is inevitable for tariff cuts to deal another blow to Korea’s agriculture and fisheries industry.

Luxury textile and garment goods are likely to benefit from the FTA. However, mid- and low-priced goods and local SPA (specialty retailer of private label apparel) fashion brands are expected to be hurt by fierce competition fueled by cheap products imported from China. China-made furniture and everyday supplies have already flooded into the Korean market. Korean furniture and everyday supplies are expected to suffer greatly due to additional increases of cheap Chinese imports. As of 2013, China accounted for 51.6 percent ($7.16 billion) of Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imports of everyday supplies, while Vietnam took up 8.5 percent ($610 million).

IV. Widening Opportunity for Services and E-Commerce In the long term, services and e-commerce industries stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of the trade pact rather than manufacturers. As their service sector and financial industry become more accessible to foreign competitors, the exchange of human and physical capital between Korea and China will 78

increase and further cement their bilateral economic relations.

Taking a positive list approach, China agreed to first provide guidelines on liberalization of its service sector and investment protection. Legal services, construction, distribution, entertainment and environment-related businesses will be affected. Follow-up talks will be held on sensitive areas that were not excluded completely from the FTA.

Liberalization of bilateral services sectors will further boost the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea and facilitate the influx of Chinese capital into Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial market and local businesses. The FTA will allow Korean and Chinese travel agencies to form partnerships to provide service to bilateral tourism. The imminent market opening of the bilateral services sectors also is expected to increase growth in the movie, drama, music and game contents markets and, along with the proliferation of hallyu in China, have a positive impact on other sectors.

The inclusion of e-commerce sectors in the FTA should be a significant boost to Korean firms who are eyeing China’s rapidly growing e-commerce market. The China-Korea FTA is China’s first trade agreement with an exclusive chapter on e-commerce. As of 2013, China’s e-commerce market is worth 10.2 trillion yuan, the world’s second-largest after the United States. In particular, its online shopping sector has the world’s largest market value worth 2.7 trillion yuan. iResearch, a leading market research firm focusing on China’s Internet industry, predicts the value of China’s e-commerce market will double to 21.6 trillion yuan by the end of 2017 compared to 2013. The number of Internet users is expected to increase to 850 million from 630 million in 2013 and the number of mobile Internet users to 750 million (500 million in 2013). Korean firms probably will produce high-end apparel, cosmetics, accessories, cultural contents, and children’s products that can easily increase their market share in China. Accordingly, the dynamics of the distribution industry centering on e-shopping is forecast to change.

V. Korea’s Strategic Position The technology gap between manufacturers in the two economies has been steadily narrowing. Therefore, over time, the China-Korea FTA’s positive effects on Korea’s manufacturing sector and GDP will erode. China’s enhanced production capacity has been mentioned as one of the factors in the poor performance of Korea’s exports to China this year. China’s capability to locally produce petroleum 80

and petrochemical products and display equipment has significantly improved. (Refer to the figures below) The upward trend in Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s production capacity will likely not change.

Taking into account such changes in the mid-and-long-term bilateral trade environment, strategic measures need to be devised to increase the exports of luxury consumer goods to China in order to gradually expand the share of consumer goods that currently accounts for about a mere 3 percent in Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total exports to China.

The opening of China’s service market should be utilized as an opportunity not only to raise sale of Korean services, but also expand domestic demand through aggressive inducement of Chinese capital.

As the culture industry, which is driven by the high value added of Korean pop culture, will exert significant influence on other industries, it is expected to become a new growth engine for the Korean economy.

The Korean government needs to take a strategic position between the United States and China amid their respective attempts to create broader economic blocs in order to hold each other in check. As part of their efforts, the United States has pushed ahead with the creation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), whereas China is taking a leading role in the formation of compressive free trade agreements, i.e. the Free Trade Area of Asia Pacific (FTAAF) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Given that the FTAAP is not conceptually opposed to the TPP but a comprehensive multilateral free trade agreement encompassing the TPP, it is sensible, from a long-term perspective, for Korea to be part of the FTAAP through the signing of the China-Korea FTA, the RCEP and the TPP. However, it is worth noting that multiple and overlapping FTA memberships can cause extra work, the so-called “spaghetti bowl effect,” which can undermine the savings effect of FTAs. That is because more time and labor must be invested to identify different rules of origin and customs clearance procedures 82

applied to the same product by each partner country. Therefore, the government needs to counteract the unwanted phenomenon in a strategic manner.

[Issue Briefs, Vol. 4, No. 45, November 19, 2014, Woori Finance Research Institute]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Foreign Professionals in Korea Survey on their Life and Work Jeon Hai-young Senior Researcher Hyundai Research Institute

I. Overview Korea is increasingly aware of the need to attract foreign professionals to replenish intellectual capital and to better cope with a shrinking working population caused by the nation’s low birthrate and rapidly aging society. But its ability to attract foreign professionals and provide them with a decent living and working environment has been problematic. Many feel constrained because of Korea’s rigid work culture and language barrier.

The number of foreign professionals in Korea increased more than 40 percent between 2009 and 2013, rising from 21,000 to 30,000. Still, they account for a mere 0.7 percent of the professional manpower in the country.

This study examines how foreign professionals (or foreign workers at similar levels of professional expertise) are living in Korea and offers policy suggestions. To that end, it seeks to understand what motivated the foreign professionals to come to Korea, their level of satisfaction with their life here and, if they plan to leave Korea, their reasons.

For this study, an opinion survey of 115 foreigner professionals was conducted by email from October 31 to November 11, 2014. They included professors, researchers and educators (who hold E-1, E-3, E-4 visas), ordinary foreign experts who are engaged in professional occupations (E-5 visa holders) or are engaged in specific activities (E-7), ethnic Koreans with foreign nationalities working for large Korean businesses (F-4), and those who have satisfied residential requirements (F-2).

II. Survey on Foreign Professional Manpower 1. Opinion before Arrival

1) Factors in Decision The survey responses were compiled on a 5-point scale with 5 being the highest. “Development possibility” received the highest total (3.8 points) when asked to identify the decisive factor for coming 84

to Korea. It was followed by “contents of work,” “living environment” and “compensation.”

The level of expectations prior to arrival ranged from average to slightly higher, with 3.6 points. About 54 percent of the respondents had high expectations (“very high” and “high”). The share of those who had low expectations (“very low” and “low”) was 5.3 percent, while those who had the “average” level of expectation amounted to 39.5 percent.

2. Opinion after Arrival

1) Level of Satisfaction Foreign professionals are generally satisfied with their stay in Korea, but their levels of satisfaction with some specific aspects tend to be somewhat low. Their overall satisfaction level was relatively higher at 3.8 points, compared to other types of foreigners such as married immigrants and naturalized Koreans (3.64 points), foreign workers staying here based on a work permit or visiting workers (3.51 points), and foreign permanent residents (3.25 points). Specifically, foreign professionals are satisfied with “food accessibility,” “superiors and colleagues” and “fulfillment of immigration conditions.” However, they showed low levels of satisfaction in “balance between work and life,” “cultural and religious life” and “medical service.”

2) Image of Korea Many foreign professionals said their impressions of Korea have improved since their arrival and that they are somewhat willing to recommend their friends move here for work. About half of respondents (49.6 percent) said they now have higher impressions of Korea (“very good” + “quite good”). Some 9 percent have a lower impression (“very bad” + “quite bad”), while 36.5 percent said theirs have “changed little.”

Asked whether they would recommend their friends to move to Korea to work, 50.4 percent of respondents said they had the willingness (“very high” and “somewhat high”). About 15 percent were less willing (“very low” and “somewhat low”) and 29.6 percent said their willingness was “so-so.”

3) Difficulties and Support Systems The share of respondents who found it difficult (very difficult + quite difficult) to seek a “balance between work and life” was a relatively high 36.9 percent, followed by those who have problems in “language” (30.7 percent), “food accessibility” (24.6 percent) and “children’s education” (21.9 percent). Asked about Korea’s support system for foreign professionals, the survey respondents picked “language training” as a possible solution to help them lead better lives (4.2 points). Coming next were “administrative support” and “other linguistic support” (such as translation).

4) Assistance Providers During their stay in Korea, foreign professionals receive relatively more effective assistance from their employers, superiors and co-workers than their relatives, friends or government agencies, in areas such as “workplace/employment-related problems,” “fulfillment of immigration conditions” 91

and “development possibility.”

They said that friends and neighbors, local or foreign, help them in certain areas, but community facilities and government agencies have not extended much assistance. Foreign friends and neighbors helped in areas related with “workplace/employment-related problems,” while Korean friends and neighbors gave help in “daily life” and “language.” Community facilities and government agencies have not been of much help in general, they said.

3. Future Plans

A considerable number of respondents said that they would stay in Korea for three years or longer, and half of them said they would return to their homeland or move to another foreign country when their scheduled sojourn period ends here. Those who replied they would stay in Korea for 10 years or longer took up the largest share (21.9 percent), followed by 3-5 years (21.1 percent), 1-2 years (14.9 92

percent), 6-10 years (7.0 percent), and less than 1 year (4.4 percent). Those who had yet to decide amounted to 30.7 percent.

In particular, the share of foreign professionals who would stay for 10 years or longer was highest among those in their 30s with 24.5 percent, followed by those in their 20s (20.0 percent) and 40s (18.8 percent).

Foreign professionals who replied that they would leave Korea when their planned sojourn period ends and those who had yet to decide accounted for half of the total, respectively. Those who replied that they would return to their home country accounted for 34.5 percent and those who would move to third countries took up 8.8 percent with the remaining 56.6 percent answering they were still undecided.

By age, the share of foreign professionals who would go back home or move to third countries was highest among those aged 29 years or younger with 50 percent, followed by those in their 30s (41.5 percent) and 40s (25 percent).

By the type of visa, those engaged in specific activities took up the largest share of people who would leave Korea with 61.1 percent, followed by those engaged in professional occupations (50.0 percent), ethnic Koreans living abroad (32.3 percent), and those engaged in research and education (28.5 percent).

The survey examined the weight of deciding factors for leaving Korea at the end of contract periods by asking the reasons of 48 respondents who wanted to leave. The chief factor was “corporate culture and value,” followed by “discrimination,” “balance between work and life,” “development possibility,” “evaluation and promotion” and “workplace communication.” It is noteworthy that factors for leaving are also the sources of the foreign professionals’ biggest difficulties and dissatisfaction. As for “balance between work and life,” for instance, 36.9 percent of respondents said that they experienced difficulties, and their level of satisfaction with it also remained at 3.0 points, ranking 18th out of 20 factors. Other factors that contributed to decisions to leave, such as “corporate culture and value,” “discrimination,” “workplace communication,” also showed high levels of difficulty and low level of satisfaction.

III. Policy Suggestions In order to enhance the satisfaction level of foreign professionals with their life in Korea and convince them to stay here longer, the government needs to strengthen support to extend their stay by improving the methods of assistance and their work environment. • Enhancement of Support: To help foreign professionals adapt themselves to Korea and stay here longer, the government needs to enhance language training and expand support for their families. A number of the survey participants said they are experiencing difficulties in “language,” and that “language training” would help them considerably. Accordingly, the government’s education program for social integration should be expanded and invigorated. To help foreign professionals consolidate their basis of living, the government should also offer housing support, help their spouses find jobs and assist their children’s education. 96

• Improvement of Work Environment: It is necessary to create an environment for work that foreign professionals would find attractive. “Development possibility” is the greatest motivating factor for most foreign professionals in deciding to come to Korea, while other workplace/employment-related factors, including the “balance between work and life,” are the chief reasons in their decision to leave Korea. Accordingly, in order to attract foreign professionals more effectively and help them stay in Korea longer, the government policy should be directed at improving their work environment at domestic companies and institutions. • Improvement of the Methods of Support: While seeking to improve services, in both quality and scale, provided by community facilities and public organizations, the government needs to consider developing and invigorating support systems for foreign professionals in collaboration with their workplaces. This is particularly necessary given that most foreign professionals are receiving substantial assistance from their employers, superiors and co-workers. Any community facilities and public agencies that are of little help to foreign professionals, giving rise to complaints, should be guided to improve their services in terms of quality and scale.

[Appendix I] Types and Contents of Visas Held by Foreign Professionals Subject to the Survey

[Appendix 2] Characteristics of Respondents The majority of the 115 foreign professionals who participated in the survey were younger than 40, male, unmarried, and working at a business enterprise in Korea since 2006 or later.

[Issues and Tasks 14-25, November 26, 2014, Hyundai Research Institute]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

Public’s Tolerance Foments Corruption Chang Hu-seok Research Fellow Hyundai Research Institute

I. Need to Eradicate Corruption A raft of research has shown a nation’s level of corruption and its economic development are closely correlated. In Korea, it is often asserted that widespread corruption is suppressing progress and a paradigm shift in attitude toward combating corruption is required for a second economic leap.

In terms of corruption level, Korea currently ranks in the bottom half among the 34 advanced economies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It garnered 4.7 points out of a possible 10 on the OECD’s corruption index. Korea needs to rise to the index average of 7 points through intensive anti-corruption campaigns, which should include revisions of laws and systems as well as efforts for social reform. Research suggests that if the average score is reached, Korea would see annual gains of $138.50 in nominal per capita gross domestic product and 0.65 percentage points in economic growth. By correctly determining the public’s perception of corruption and identifying the characteristics of corrupt practices in Korea, we can offer important material for establishing anti-corruption policies and strategies.

II. Survey on Koreans’ Perception of Corruption 1. Perception of Corruption

1) High Level of Corruption The Hyundai Research Institute surveyed 802 Korean adults on October 8-15, 2014, to gauge their 100

perceptions on corruption. The questioning was done by phone and the respondents were asked to choose between “high” and “low.” An overwhelming majority (88.5 percent) believed that Korea has a high degree of corruption. People in their 20s were especially negative, with 91.4 percent answering “high,” compared to 87.9 percent among those aged 30-39, 85.6 percent among those aged 40-49 and 89.4 percent among those aged 50 or older.

2) Vulnerability to Corruption Nearly a quarter of the respondents said they would be willing to commit an illegal act if they could collect a substantial financial return, say 1 billion won (about US$1 million). The respondents were given the statement: “I would commit an illegal act if someone offers 1 billion won in cash for it.” As many as 23.3 percent said, “Yes.”

Ironically, those in the 20-29 age group, who were most negative about corruption, were also most willing to commit an unlawful act for financial gain. Twenty-nine percent of this group said they would, compared to 19.8 percent among the 30-39 age group, 23.7 percent among the 40-49 age group and 21.7 percent among those aged 50 or older. The prevalent willingness to compromise among young adults could hamper anti-corruption efforts in the future.

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3) Negative Outlook for the Future While an absolute majority of the respondents believe that corruption is prevalent in Korea, nearly half of them also believe that the level of corruption will remain more or less the same in the future. This leads to strong negative views on the chances of having a clean bureaucracy. When asked to predict Korea’s level of corruption in the future, 25.8 percent of the respondents said it will “decrease,” 29.2 percent opted for “increase” and 45.0 percent chose “remain similar.”

It is noteworthy that people in their 20s and 30s are more pessimistic than those in their 40s or older. In the 20-29 age group, 36.6 percent believed that corruption will increase in the future and 10.9 percent said it will decrease, while in the 30-39 age group, 27.5 percent believed that corruption will increase and 20.3 percent said it will decrease. In the 40-49 age group, 23.2 percent said corruption will increase and 34.5 percent said it will decrease. Among those aged 50 or older, 30 percent had negative views while 35.0 percent expressed optimism.

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2. Tolerance for Corruption

1) Flexible Standards Compared to people in advanced nations who refuse to overlook any minor corruption, Koreans are more tolerant about misdeeds by public servants. When asked “What do you think about a policeman accepting a soft drink from the owner of a lost bicycle which the policeman found for him?” 95.8 percent of the respondents said it was “acceptable.” In Finland, a policeman who accepted a soft drink from the owner of a lost bicycle was fined 250 times the price of the drink. To the question “What do you think about a public official who borrowed money to buy a house from a bank at an interest rate lower than the going rate?” 60.5 percent replied that “it is unethical but does not warrant resignation.” In Germany, however, former President Christian Wulff resigned in 2012 when prosecutors started to investigate an allegation that he accepted loan from an entrepreneur to purchase a house while he was serving as the prime minister of Lower Saxony.

2) Expediency Seen as Necessary Evil Two out of every three Koreans believe that acts of expediency such as bending laws and regulations are sometimes necessary. As to the statement that “a little bending of the law is a necessary evil,” 65.8 percent of the respondents said “yes” and 34.2 percent said “no.” As the “broken windows theory” of James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling suggests, even a minor misdeed, if left uncorrected, can lead to more serious crime. The fact that Korea has many people who have a tolerant attitude toward transgressions augurs ill for establishing a fair society.

In fact, the survey revealed that the majority of Koreans are ready to rely on small bribes in everyday life. When asked “Do you think a certain amount of ‘express fee’ is needed to speed up the processing of business with government offices in Korea?” 60.7 percent of the respondents said “yes.”

3) High Ratio of Tolerance Nearly half of the respondents, or 47.9 percent, said they can ignore minor irregularities committed by their close friends or relatives. This suggests that anti-corruption efforts cannot succeed in Korea, unless the chronic ills involving regional, academic and blood ties in social relations are eliminated.

Survey participants in their 20s and 30s showed greater tolerance for corruptive behavior of their 103

friends and relatives while older generations have relatively stricter attitudes. In the 20-29 age group 56.0 percent showed tolerance, while the comparable ratios are 50.7 percent in the 30-39 age group, 46.4 percent in the 40-49 age group, and 39.8 percent among those aged 50 or older.

As the younger generation shows a stronger tendency of tolerating corruptive conduct by people close to them, it is feared that the culture of relying on regional, academic and blood connections will be even more difficult to abandon in the future.

4) Preference for Flexibility The survey revealed that four out of every 10 Koreans, or 42.6 percent, feel confined if they strictly obey rules and regulations, indicating considerable negativity toward respecting rules and regulations. This means that prevalent impatience in society foments corruption and injustice. There are certain distinctions by age group in response to othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; observance of rules: those in their 40s and younger are split between 56.3 percent approving and 43.8 percent disapproving of it. The ratio of approval is slightly higher among those aged 50 or older with 60.2 percent against 39.8 percent.

3. Ways to Prevent Corruption

1) Stern Punishment Heavy punishment is considered the best way to prevent corruption. Asked about the priority measures to fight corruption, the respondents cited stiffer punishment (33.4 percent), enhancement of civil ethics (24.4 percent), increased oversight on the power group (24.2 percent) and improvement 104

of legal systems (18.0 percent).

Respondents in their 50s or older were the biggest advocate of using heavy punishment to eliminate corruption. The younger generation under the age 49 gave more emphasis on closely watching the behavior of the power elite (26.4 percent) compared to those aged 50 or older (18.6 percent).

2) Efforts to Eradicate Corruption More than four out of every 10 survey respondents believed that efforts are being made in Korean society to deal sternly with corruption. The survey asked respondents to assess their own and others’ attitudes about corruption and other forms of misconduct. To this, 41.5 percent said “I and others are trying to be stern about corruption”; 20.7 percent said “I am trying but most others aren’t doing so yet”; and 37.8 percent said “I and others are equally insensitive to corruption.”

It is important to recognize that the majority of people are trying to eliminate corruption because such a perception leads to efforts to refrain from engaging in corrupt behavior as well as positively support anti-corruption efforts. To make headway against corruption, those who believe they alone are clean need to be convinced that there are many other people out there who “try to be stern” toward corruption.

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III. Implications First, it is necessary for the public to reach a consensus about setting strict standards on corruption. Models may be taken from Finland, Germany and other advanced nations with anti-corruption records, even though it may be difficult yet to reach their level of strictness in view of our socio-cultural environment.

Second, the state needs to show firmness in law enforcement in dealing with corruption cases. As seen in the survey results, what the public wants most is stiffer punishment of authorities who violate the code of conduct of public officials as well as criminal laws. Publicity efforts are needed to convince the people of the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s endeavors to eradicate wrongdoings in the bureaucracy. Oversight and exposure of misconduct by the elite class should be strengthened to prevent the spread of perceptions that they are protected by political power.

Third, efforts are also needed to spread the awareness that more people are spontaneously joining in anti-corruption drives by trying to be stern about corruption and that their ethical standards are improving. This study has found that Koreans want to live in a corruption-free society and are making efforts to achieve it. This will positively influence future endeavors to prevent corruption on the part of private citizens as well as members of the bureaucratic community. In this regard, the importance of publicity campaigns is also emphasized.

[VIP Report 14-38, No. 589, October 27, 2014, Hyundai Research Institute]

www.koreafocus.or.kr 106

- The Lives and Loves of Young Defectors - Booming Seochon Drives Out Old Residents

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The Lives and Loves of Young Defectors

Jeong Gang-heon and Chae Seung-gi Staff Reporters The JoongAng Ilbo

Defecting from North Korea can be called crossing the line that separates the dead from the living. Then they have to forge a new life. This process is difficult for us to comprehend. We don’t know what it is like to live in a country where everyone is constantly being watched. Nor do we know how it feels to be desperate enough to turn one’s back on family members, who will be left behind, or understand the horrors of crossing the border into China. We merely live among these defectors without really appreciating their situation. But how much longer can we live together without really understanding one another?

A total of 26,854 defectors were living in the South as of June 2014. More importantly, well over half of all defectors — 15,229 — were in their 20s and 30s. This is a fact that we absolutely must consider. This is because this generation will play a key role in a “unified Korea,” which could happen at any time.

Since last month, our Youth Report team has met with North Korean defectors in the springtime of their lives. As luck would have it, we learned that the human rights organization Union for North Korea Freedom had opened a play, “Star-Crossed Love” (“Ojakkyo”), which is about young North Korean defectors. It is the story of about the marriage of a South Korean documentary filmmaker, Cheol-su, and the defector Yeong-hui. The play features a performance by real-life defector Kim Pil108

ju, 28.

For our interview, we met with two other defectors Lee Ji-yeong, 28, and Go Myeong, 28 (both aliases), who are university students, in addition to Kim Pil-ju. We were joined by a key South Korean human rights activist Kim Ji-yeon, 29, and theater actor Jeong Jun-yeong, 28. We watched the play’s five scenes and had a discussion. Their stories stunned us. The cultural differences and various forms of discrimination that young North Korean defectors endure in the South are like making another difficult journey.

Guaranteed Job vs. High Barriers has happened to come for the meeting in place of a friend of hers. Yet she overcompensates in trying to hide the fact that she is a defector from North Korea by wearing leather and smoking. She declares, “Marriage is a reality” and asks about Cheol-su’s monthly pay. - In the South, a potential marriage partner’s job is an important consideration, so the competition for jobs is intense. * Kim Pil-ju (defected in 2002): “These days, it has also become as important in the North as it is in the South to know your potential partner’s income. We don’t agonize about getting a job in the North because even if there is something we want to do, we cannot do it. The party assigns you to a farm or a factory and you spend your whole life working there. In a word, the party decides your path in life. Even if you have a special talent or ability, it is not recognized.” * Lee Ji-yeong (defected in 2011): “We don’t worry about employment. The only question is if someone can use a personal connection to get a better factory assignment.”

- Since you have not experienced competing for a job in the North, it must not be easy to get a job in the South. * Lee Ji-yeong: “I had a private English lesson just today. My roommate is an American. To get a job in the South, English is essential. I didn’t have any experience learning English when I lived in the North, so it is really hard for me to catch up.” * Kim Pil-ju: “Because of the prejudice against defectors, we face a range of difficulties. I have a 109

defector friend who is proficient in five languages but failed to be selected for a job after he had his final interview. The interviewer looked at my friend’s resume and said, `Oh? You’re from the North. I will contact you.’ Of course, my friend said that he never did.”

Dating: Pure and Innocent vs. Light and Casual In the play, Cheol-su interviews a young married defector named Seol-ju. She notes, “In the North, the most popular South Korean drama is ‘Love and War.’” She argues, “The only reason South Korean men like North Korean defector women is they think we are good at taking care of the home, but we are just like South Korean women.”

- Do you have any experience dating since coming to South Korea? Are there difficulties in being a North-South couple?

* Lee Ji-yeong: I have a South Korean boyfriend right now and I am having no difficulties. I was a soldier in the North, so I have the image of being tough, but thanks to my boyfriend, I have become more affectionate. But when I look at my boyfriend or South Korean friends, I am having trouble adjusting to their strong tendency towards individualism. They treat me well, but they really lack consideration of others. I am the kind of person that looks after the people around me, but my boyfriend criticizes me for poking my nose into other people’s business. * Jeong Jun-yeong: “From the perspective of someone who grew up in the South, when a Northerner dates a Southerner, it feels like the Hwang Sun-won’s novel ‘Rain Shower’ (“Sonagi”) — pure and innocent. In contrast, when my South Korean friends date, it is like the drama ‘Love and War.’ They come together and separate so easily. Dating is becoming light and casual.” * Kim Pil-ju: “In the case of North Korean men, the patrimonial tendencies are still strong. On the other hand, the men I see in South Korean dramas have manners and are thoughtful. However, when it comes to their hearts, North Korean men seem to be a little more devoted to their women.”

Cultural and Linguistic Gap Cheol-su’s purity and sincerity lead Yeong-hui to open her heart and start dating the young man. She sends and receives Kakao Talk messages with him and is able to affirm their love. - Like Cheol-su and Yeong-hui’s Kakao Talk exchanges, have you experienced difficulties due to 110

language differences? * Lee Ji-yeong: “At first, when my friends exchanged Kakao Talk messages, I had no idea what they were talking about. They would say things like “Doggy fail” (gae manghaesseo) instead of “Complete failure” (wanjeonhi manghaetda), “Ewww pic” (hyeomjjal) instead of “hateful picture” (hyeomoseureoun sajin), or “men break” (menbung) instead of “mental breakdown” (mental bunggwoe). I didn’t know what these words meant so I looked them up on the Internet and only understood much later.”

- Besides English, what other difficulties you have experienced? * Lee Ji-yeong: “When I went to a cosmetics store for the first time, the makeup artist said to me, `smoky makeup has become such a big trend that you have to make good use of eyeliner and mascara.’ I had no idea what she was talking about!” * Kim Pil-ju: “Ordering in a café is difficult. When they ask what size I would like, I just respond ‘yes.’ ‘Large,’ ‘regular,’ ‘small,’ ‘tall’ — these terms are too difficult.” * Go Myeong (defected in 2007): “During class the professor frequently uses English, but I usually have trouble understanding. I try to sound the words out in Korean and look them up later.”

- Besides language, what are some of the other difficulties or differences? * Lee Ji-yeong: “My South Korean friends depend on their parents for a wide range of support. They are coldly focused on studying and getting a job.” * Kim Ji-yeon: “When I saw that in South Korea, parents look after their children until their final year of high school, it made me realize that I am not really prepared to live my own life.”

Physical Gap Cheol-su and Yeong-hui quarrel about getting married. Yeong-hui scolds Cheol-su by saying, “In North Korea, a guy like you would be sent straight to the coal mines.” Cheol-su responds, “Are you really from North Korea? Can you sing the song about Hamhung cold noodles (naengmyeon)?” To which Yeong-hui shoots back, “Ask people who looks more North Korean, me or you? 111

The play talks about height differences. We can really see the difference in height between North and South Koreans, which is widening. * Kim Pil-ju: “When I defected from the North in 2002, I was 18 years old and my height was 150 centimeters (5 feet tall). After two years in the South, I grew 20 centimeters. I started having nutritious meals and I no longer had to toil carrying heavy objects. There were 40 kids in my class in the North and I was one of the taller ones. I was not short in the North” * Lee Ji-yeong: “When I defected from the North in 2011, I was 157 cm (5’3”), which made me the second tallest in the class. Since I was a tall woman, I was dragged into the military.” * Kim Pil-ju: “I have heard a rumor that because North Korean men are getting shorter and shorter as a result of chronic hunger, the minimum height to join the military for men of 142 cm (4’9”) was eliminated in 2012.” * Go Myeong: “When we see someone who is tall in the North we think, ‘that guy shoveled a lot of food in his mouth.’ When I look at a picture taken with my mother when I was 15, she was 159 cm (5’4) and I did not even come up to her shoulders. Now I am 167 cm (5’6”). When I went to the hospital recently, they told me that I would not grow anymore.”

Hiding Identity at Own Wedding When Yeong-hui needed to perform her wedding bow to her parents, she looked for someone to play the role of her fake mother. When Cheol-su attended a defectors’ gathering by chance, he learned Yeong-hui’s true identity. Cheol-su cries, “What is so wrong with being a defector that you have to hide your identity?” Tears flowing, Yeong-hui responds, “We have no other choice but to live this way because we are aliens in the Republic of Korea.” This leads the two to reaffirm their love for one another and they marry.

- Is it really so difficult to reveal your North Korean identity in South Korean society to the point where you need to find a fake mother? * Go Myeong: “I truly sympathize with that scene. There are never any people at the weddings of North Korean defectors. I have a lot of friends that turn to event planners to produce wedding guests. 112

* Lee Ji-yeong: “I don’t always try to hide my defector identity. There are sometimes adults who are biased against me. I think that is because the overall image of North Korea is so negative that defectors are seen in the same light.” * Kim Pil-ju: “When we use North Korean words or have trouble understanding South Korean words, the atmosphere of a gathering becomes awkward. Because South Korean society casts a discriminatory eye towards defectors, we feel burdened in revealing our identities.” * Lee Ji-yeong: “My boyfriend knows all about my background and that I came here with nothing. If we continue to communicate well, I don’t think it will be a problem for us to get married.” * Kim Pil-ju: “Defectors do not have any experience accumulating wealth, so the South Korean thinking that ‘you must gather a lot of financial resources before marriage’ is burdensome for us.”

[November 12, 2014]

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Booming Seochon Drives Out Old Residents

Eum Seong-won Staff Reporter The Hankyoreh

Capital inflows have crowded out longtime inhabitants from a traditional residential area in Seoul, and the peculiar charm of their neighborhood is increasingly tarnished. This is the transformation that is occurring west of Gyeongbok Palace, an area populated by traditional Korean hanok buildings and widely known as “Seochon” (Western Village).

The Paradox of ‘Booming Neighborhood’ The area has been home to quiet alleys and land lots as old as the Joseon Dynasty. Residents have maintained modernized hanok houses since the 1930s. Until not so long ago, the locals had been the target of cynical remarks that they fail to keep pace with the changing times. But the very slow pace of the time created a unique charm to the neighborhood. Tourists now swarm into the area, and young lovers visit the neighborhood for their special dates, filling restaurants and cafés.

According to a data analysis of registered general buildings by the Hankyoreh newspaper, the eight buildings near the 7th Jahamun Street (or formerly, the 19th land lot of Chebu-dong, connecting Jahamun Street with Suseong-dong Valley), which used to be home to residences, offices, and mom and pop stores, are quickly turning into restaurants and cafés. The commercialization trend has been especially evident since 2012, with the residential space shrinking 8.8 percent from 878.05 square meters to 801.17 square meters, and the coverage of restaurants and cafés more than doubled from 114

307.7 square meters to 705.49 square meters in the same period.

Residents say media hype initiated the transformation. A major television program featured the neighborhood in 2010 and that prompted media and entertainment companies to use the neighborhood as a backdrop for shows and movies. Kim Han-ul, executive director of Seochon Residential Space Research Institute, says, “The restoration of Suseong-dong Valley completed in July 2012 also spurred the inflow of people.”

Outsiders started to purchase properties to capitalize on the peculiar charm of the area, driving away the people who had occupied Seochon Hanok Village for three to four decades and created its unique traditional aura. In urban development terms, the change is called “gentrification.”

Rent Hikes and New Faces Among the 15 buildings on the 5th Jahamun Street (formerly, the 14th land lot of Chebu-dong), just behind the 7th Jahamun Street, during the past one year, seven have already changed ownership or replaced tenants; two are in the process. It means during the past year, 60 percent of the former local residents have been replaced by new settlers and investors, or in such a process.

As properties in Seochon rapidly changed hands or were refurbished for commercial use, tenants of multi-family houses tended to be driven away by price hikes.

For instance, a house on the 5th Jahamun Street is being renovated into a guest house by a new owner. Kim, 72, a former tenant who lived in the house for 34 years on a lease with 10 million won deposit, had to move in May after his lease deposit was raised to 60 million won. He still feels lucky compared to five other elderly tenants. Some ended up in nursing homes or basement rooms. Kim says, “The owner was undecided about the property sale until last year. But it was eventually sold at a high price. It is an understandable decision because one of the tenants could not even pay 50,000 won for monthly rent, causing headache to the landlord.”

The house which sits over a 171.6-square-meter lot was known to be sold for more than 1 billion won (approximately US$1 million). According to the official register of land value, compared to 2007, the eight buildings that changed the purpose of use saw their average value jump 32 percent to 17.96 million won per 3.3 square meters (pyeong) this year, bucking the general property market slump 115

since a peak in 2007. Local residents and real estate agents estimate actual transactions will reach 30 million to 50 million won per 3.3 square meters of land in the area.

Park Gwon-seok, 33, and his wife were another casualty of higher prices. After marrying, they moved into a four-story multi-family house in Singyo-dong on 90 million won deposit and no monthly rent. When their two-year contract expired, their landlord wanted to change the terms to a 50 million won deposit plus 600,000 won monthly rent. Park, who is still active in the amateur football club in Seochon area, says, “In the beginning, 45 out of the total 50 members were locals. Now the local membership base has shrunk by half.” He and wife left the Seochon area in October 2013. While changes in people’s livelihood often take implicit forms, commercial transformations are easily perceptible. For example, local shopping arcades on the 7th Jahamun Street have been increasingly populated by cafés, driving up rent rates and chasing away small retail merchants who have long been providing necessities for locals. Song, 26, who is assisting his father’s 15-year-old flower shop in Ogin-dong, expressed his anxiety over surging rent prices. “The monthly rent rose from 700,000 won to 1 million won recently. Another increase is expected, as the new owner of this building is known to want to charge us 1.5 million won.” He went on, “Relocation around this neighborhood is not a viable option because all other locations here are experiencing rent hikes. We don’t know what to do.”

Kim, who has been running a fish stew restaurant for the past nine years in Chebu-dong, also shares similar predicament. She was told by the landlord to relocate last April. “The restaurant was supposed to be an alternative source of income after retirement. My husband retired last year, and our financing now depends on this restaurant. Then we were told to leave out of the blue.” She refused to move out, and the landlord filed a lawsuit against her. “We have invested a lot to renovate the old hanok house into a restaurant, and the landlord’s request is unacceptable,” Kim said. “About four to five years ago, the landlord actually asked us whether we would like to buy the house. We should have purchased it back then. … We refused the offer because a traditional hanok property was not eligible for sufficient mortgage-backed loans. Now, financial valuation of hanok houses rapidly increased, and we are faced with a difficult situation.” Gu Ja-hyeok, president of “Hyeok’s House,” a community space to facilitate cultural activities for Seochon residents, says, “Along the street leading to Suseong-dong Valley, some 18 shops have been 116

changed into new ones. Rent hikes drove away long-term tenants, such as dry cleaner’s, milk delivery store, and 15-year-old hairdresser’s shop. They were kicked out because they could not meet the landlords’ demand to increase monthly rent by 2 to 2.5 times the usual charge.” Some property owners are seeking to realize cash value amid the area’s property boom. Oh, a 60year-old retail businessman, who owns a house in Seochon, said, “I am closing down my store because of bad economy, so I am thinking of selling off my house.” He added with a sigh, “Housing prices near Suseong-dong Valley are phenomenal but the price hikes on this side of Seochon (on the 5th Jahamun Street) have not met our initial expectation.”

In Korea, population migration so far was typically a consequence of large-scale removal of urban slums. Therefore, policy studies on urban migration in Korea have been concentrated on redevelopment-related issues as well. However, stagnation in the real estate market made it impossible to implement urban redevelopment projects during the past several years. As seen in the case of Seochon, gentrification will probably become increasingly prevalent.

Shin Hyeon-jun, a research professor at the East Asian Research Center of SungKongHoe University, said, “The speed of gentrification seems to be accelerating. In the 1990s, the gentrification process of Insa-dong took 10 years, involving a massive influx of cosmetics stores. In the 2000s, Samcheongdong was gentrified over a five-year period. In the 2010s, Seochon’s gentrification seems to be maturing within only two to three years. It is now the time to analyze implications of such phenomena.”

[November 24, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

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- A Korean-English Buddhism Dictionary, a Must for Temple Visits - Tracing the Footsteps of Joseon Diplomatic Missions to China

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A Korean-English Buddhism Dictionary, a Must for Temple Visits

Han Seung-dong Senior Journalist The Hankyoreh

“A Korean-English Dictionary of Buddhism” By Charles Muller in Collaboration with Chun Ock-bae, Unjusa, 1,806 pages, 81,000 won “Despite the call for globalization of Korean Buddhism, there is no proper English dictionary. Without it, translating Buddhist text into English is a daunting task. We need one to take hallyu (Korean Wave) one step further and to lay a stronger foundation,” said Chun Ock-bae, 67, head of the Korea Institute of Buddhist English Translation. After 25 years of working in the banking industry, Chun belatedly embarked on Buddhist studies in his 50s and had two of his reference works on Buddhism published this year. One is “A Korean-English Dictionary of Buddhism” with 12,000 entries, and the other is “An Encyclopedia of Korean Buddhism” with 570 keywords and 180 photographs, both published by Unjusa Publishing Co.

The dictionary was co-written with Professor Charles Muller of Tokyo University who received a PhD in Korean Buddhist Studies from the State University of New York. Chun was deeply involved as a researcher in writing the encyclopedia authored by the scholar-bhikkhuni Hyewon and Professor David Mason of NamSeoul University. Explaining his efforts, Chun says, “Koreans account for the largest number of foreign tourists visiting 119

El Camino de Santiago in Spain, but they don’t need to go so far. Korea has potential resources that can rival that: Buddhist monuments and relics that are 1,700 years old and can well represent Korean culture. It would be quite fascinating to build a pilgrimage trail connecting all the temples in famous mountains in Korea, like the Olle walking trails in Jeju Island. Already quite a number of foreigners are coming to Korean temple pilgrimage tours. Their response is phenomenal. For these kinds of initiatives, a Korean-English Buddhist dictionary is a must. “Initially, I targeted two years. However, the dictionary took more than seven years. Add to that the encyclopedia, and about 10 years were spent on publishing the two reference books. The amount of work was enormous. I only learned to use the computer in 2000 and being an awkward typist with my neck constantly jutting out of my shoulders at an awkward angle, I developed a slipped disc in the neck. The nerves on the right side of my body were damaged and my right arm is currently paralyzed. I am getting acupuncture treatment.”

Chun graduated from Korea University as a law major and went to work for Korea Exchange Bank in 1975. He left the bank in 1999, right after the country was hit with the Asian financial crisis, and at the age of 54 he enrolled in a graduate course on Buddhism at Dongguk University. “I was Christian but when I was working at the Anam-dong branch of Korea Exchange Bank, I visited a sangha university in the neighborhood during which time I became interested in the religion,” Chun said. “I wanted to study Buddhism in earnest and that is why I entered the graduate school, and participating in 2001 on the editorial board of Korea’s first English-language Buddhist journal, ‘International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture,’ published by Dongguk University, I felt the need for an English-Korean Buddhist dictionary.”

In translating the Korean text into English, they had to rely on a Japanese-English Buddhist dictionary and a Chinese-English Buddhist dictionary. It took up too much of their precious time and energy. “Mindful of the issue, Song suk-gu, then president of Dongguk University, suggested that I compile a Korean-English dictionary. I thought two years would be enough. However, too many unexpected variables emerged.”

An international symposium on Buddhism held in 2006 at the Manhae Village in front of Baekdam Temple offered decisive momentum. Chun met Professor Muller, who was running a digital dictionary of Buddhism. “I had heard about the website by coincidence and I was already using it. I met

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Professor Muller at the symposium and working as his interpreter and sharing a room together I became friends with him. We agreed to work on a dictionary together.”

The on-line Buddhist dictionary (buddhism-dict.net/ddb) that Professor Muller started 20 years ago includes 62,000 Buddhist terms and names written by 70 scholars from different parts of the world and the database is being updated with 300 to 400 new words every month. The names of the contributors are made public on the site, and Chun became one of the top contributors by offering thousands of words. The Korean-English dictionary selected one-fifth of the entries from the site, and Chun added some more related to Korean Buddhism.

The content was simplified and standardized, and each entry word entailed a basic definition and detailed descriptions. The descriptions are all in English, but the words were written in Korean, Chinese, and/or Sanskrit on an as-needed basis, and Chinese indexes were added. Of the Buddhism dictionaries on the market, it contains the most words.

The encyclopedia which is a guide to Korean Buddhism for foreigners was created to fill an information gap. “Although Korean culture is gaining global attention owing to hallyu, there was no proper reference material to introduce foreigners to the cultural elements of Korean Buddhism which is an integral part of Korean culture in general,” Chun said. The encyclopedia benchmarked “Dictionary of Korean Buddhist Culture” published by the Korean Buddhist Center, and was published with the support of the Magnolias, a group of female monks led by Hyewon, who formerly headed the center.

Chun said that it was such an arduous undertaking that he and Professor Muller swore never to take on such a venture again. “Professor Muller and I were not in it for money. We just wanted to make a small donation to the community, and so did the publisher. This is quite a tall order for any individual or a single publisher. This kind of project should rather be initiated by the Jogye Order, a local autonomous body, or the central government.”

The dictionary is not selling well, as was expected. However, Chun is currently working on yet another dictionary. He wants to update it and make it fuller and more complete with 30,000 entries. He carries around the dictionary and all the blank spaces are filled with his scribbles. He has another ambitious goal, which is to create a Korean temple pilgrimage trail for truth seekers, following the footsteps of Great Master Wonhyo (617-686). He is confident it could be a sustainable tourist attraction.

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[October 24, 2014]

www.koreafocus.or.kr

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Tracing the Footsteps of Joseon Diplomatic Missions to China

Lee Han-su Staff Reporter The Chosun Ilbo

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Following the Path of Joseon Envoys to Chinaâ&#x20AC;? By Seo In-beom, Hangilsa, 576 pages, 22,000 won

Approximately 600 records by Korean envoys of the Joseon Dynasty to China remain to this day. The envoys walked 2,000 kilometers, starting out from the border city of Euiju, in Pyeongan Province, crossing the Amnok (Yalu) River, passing through Liaoyang and Shanhaiguan, and arriving in Beijing. Starting in the late Goryeo Dynasty, Korea sent 1,797 diplomatic missions to China: 119 during the 13th and 14th centuries, 698 in the 15th century, 362 in the 16th century, 278 in the 17th century, 172 in the 18th century, and 168 in the 19th century.

Each mission included a delegation of 300 to 600 people. They included the jeongsa (chief of mission), busa (deputy chief of mission), seojanggwan (document officer), gungwan (military official), yeokgwan (translation official), servants, and packhorse drivers. Assuming the delegations averaged 500 members, almost 900,000 people undertook the round-trip to China, which lasted five to six months.

The author, a Dongguk University professor, relives the history and scenery of the times by tracing the footsteps of the Korean emissaries to China. Their journey to China was daunting. They had to 123

traverse unpaved roads and treacherous mountain trails as well as wade across numerous rivers and streams, come rain or shine. Stepping outside Lianshanguan on the way to Liaodong Fortress, presentday Liaoyang, they had to conquer precipitous cliffs and forests, slowly zigzagging and very often in a single file up and down the mountains. Document officer Seo Yu-mun joined a mission in 1798, the 22nd year of King Jeongjo’s reign, and recorded his delegation’s arduous travel on icy springtime roads. “There was heavy snowstorm and rain. The ice in the valleys is more than one cheok (30 centimeters) thick. The carts slipped and the horses were too tired and could not escape easily,” he wrote.

During the Ming to Qing transition period, the land routes were closed and the envoys had to go by sea. In 1629, the seventh year of Injo’s reign, seven years before the Manchs invaded Joseon, around 600 people died at sea during a storm on their way to China. Not only did people drown, many died from food- and water-borne diseases. This may all seem pathetic if paying respect to China as a tributary state was nothing more than a disgraceful act. “I was anguished to read the envoys’ records,” the author notes.

Chinese officials demanded bribes and exploited the Korean envoys to the point of unbearable fatigue. Chae Je-gong served King Jeongjo as prime minister, and he titled his record of a diplomatic trip “Haminnok” (Record of Patience), indicating how he had to swallow his pride and bitterness. We become solemn when reading about the pain and suffering of the envoys as they sought ways for survival as a weaker neighbor. The author’s modern version of the diplomatic records connects the present with the past by looking back at the history and its legacies that remain. It narrates the history in an easy-to-understand dialogue with a fictitious document officer named Mr. Brush. The book also offers insight into Korea’s present-day diplomacy as it describes the Joseon envoys’ efforts in building guanxi with the Chinese in an attempt to achieve diplomatic results.

[November 15, 2014]

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- A Thoughtful Talk with Professor Yu Hong-june - Kim Chang-il, Art Collector in the Spotlight - “A teacher and gangster hanging out together because they’re from the same hometown Unthinkable in America.”

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A Thoughtful Talk with Professor Yu Hong-june

Hyemin Vice Abbot Bulkwang Zen Center

Twenty years ago I came across a book that claimed “Our whole country is a museum.” Back then, we never imagined that people from other countries would fall in love with Korean pop music and dramas. All the young people around me blindly admired Western culture and tried to copy it. “My Exploration of Cultural Heritage,” a book series written by Yu Hong-june, made me turn my antennae, which had been tuned to the world outside Korea, back inside to look properly at our own cultural heritage. And like the saying, “You see only as much as you know,” I became aware of the value of Korea’s cultural treasures.

Now I am the age that Professor Yu was when he wrote the first book in his series. Professor Yu belongs to the generation that immediately preceded mine. I wanted to hear about his life and ask how my generation should live to make our lives meaningful. “I usually don’t like doing interviews, but since it’s with you, here I am,” Professor Yu said. “I am grateful for the way you have given hope and comfort to young people by helping them to realize the value of standing still for a while, that is, ‘the beauty of stopping.’”

I replied that it was an honor to meet him and that I had wanted to talk with him for some time.

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In person, Professor Yu is tall and, perhaps because his hair is still thick, looks much younger than his age. He is such a well-known speaker that he is counted as one of the “three walking education broadcasters,” along with Lee O-ryong and Kim Yong-ok. I was eager to hear what he had to say.

First, can I ask you about your youth? You entered the department of aesthetics at Seoul National University in 1967 but did not graduate until the 1980s. What happened in between? “When I was young I was a romanticist and full of intellectual curiosity. I wanted to study the arts and become an art critic and professor. Back then, it did not seem that becoming a professor would be that difficult. But in 1969, when the Constitution was amended to allow the president to serve a third term in office, the obstructions of the dictatorial government arose as a political issue and university students like me could not help asking if it was right to advocate the purity of learning when reality was such a mess. I joined in demonstrations against the constitutional amendment and was suspended indefinitely from school. This was later lifted but in 1971 I was drafted into military service. When I was discharged in 1974 I participated in demonstrations again and this time I was arrested and received a seven-year sentence.”

Did you serve the prison sentence? “Fortunately, the execution of my sentence was suspended a year later in February 1975 and I came out of prison. But I was not able to return to school until March 1980. Considering my family’s circumstances, I had to work but I had not graduated from university and because of my suspended prison term, it was difficult to get a job. But with the help of an acquaintance, I was able to enter the editorial department of the architectural magazine “Gonggan” (Space), and then got a job at the new art magazine “Gyegan Misul” (Art Quarterly) published by the JoongAng Ilbo, where I worked till 1983. As I took charge of the magazine’s ‘Beauty of Korea’ series I began to travel all over the country in search of cultural heritage. For me that time was like an internship, and it proved to be a huge asset for my later research.”

After finally gaining his university degree, Yu began postgraduate studies in art history at Hongik University. When he graduated, armed with 16 different documents, he submitted his application to become a professor. But a day after he was accepted by one university, his suspended sentence became a problem and his appointment was retracted. He could have fallen into despair or blamed the world, but since he had been ready to leave anyway, he lied and told the magazine he had gain a professorship and would teach art history. “If I had become a professor then, I would not have led the life that I 127

have. When I left the magazine, I began to work as an art critic and started the public lecture series “Korean Art History for Young People.” That was in 1985.

Is that when you started Korean art history lectures for the general public? I think it was a time when there were not so many humanities lectures open to the public as there are today. “I think I was the only one [giving such lectures] in those days. I stuck up posters at three universities with a college of art — Seoul National University, Ewha Womans University and Hongik University. About 30 people came to the first lecture but the next time the number jumped to well over a hundred. I wanted to preach Korean art history to those young students but didn’t have a Bible. So I decided the best way was to visit the sites and explore them first-hand. That was the start of the ‘My Exploration of Cultural Heritage’ series of books.”

So the books did not just appear one day out of the air but were based in long years of on-site exploration and open lectures for students. “I think I put in about 10 years laying the groundwork before the books came out. If someone had told me they would give me money to write the books, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. ‘My Exploration of Cultural Heritage’ first began with an article I wrote for free for the inaugural edition of a monthly titled “Sahoe Pyeongnon” (Social Criticism). But Paik Nak-chung [literary critic] recognized the value of the article and suggested that I write a book. At the time Paik was my role model or my hero even.”

When the book first came out, the publisher estimated that it would sell around 30,000 copies. But it was such a hit that the printing presses ran continuously and sales reached one million within a year. It was no less than a sensation for a humanities book, not a novel or book of essays, to be so popular. I read the book too, and did a lot of soul searching. As Professor Yu said, if you love something you get to know about it, if you know about something you come to understand it. I was very ashamed that I did not know how to love our cultural heritage, or take an interest in it and understand it properly. Then Professor Yu said something that could serve as a guiding post in my life. “I believe true contribution to society is sharing with your contemporaries the things you have studied and learned. I don’t know where I got the nerve to step up before the public. I simply wanted to tell people ‘this is how I understand our tradition and art.’ That’s the way for a specialist to serve the public. I was not in a position to study for the sake of learning, and have never thought about doing 128

so. I wanted to share my specialized knowledge, for I believed that was the way to contribute to society.” I’d like to ask you about the volumes on Japan, which you have now finished. In the short period of two years you have written four books on the exploration of cultural heritage of Japan. What sparked your interest in Japanese art history? “I am interested in Japanese art history because it shows how Korean art history had an effect outside the country. If we consider the Buddhist sculptures of the Three Kingdoms period, in the early years there were many that came from China, and they are related to those that later went to Japan. Naturally I was interested. From the time I made my first exploration of Japan in the Asuka region in 1988, I had decided to write a book about Japan’s cultural heritage. No matter how much Japan may distort history, relics such as bones and stones, and earthenware shards are pieces of historical evidence. It is my position to talk about the relics as relics.”

What did you want to convey to readers in your exploration of Japanese culture? “We really don’t know much about Japan. We have never studied it properly. If asked to name a historical figure from Japan, all we can come up with are Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Ito Hirobumi. At the same time we have a tendency to look down on Japanese culture, claiming that ‘Japan’s ancient culture all came from Korea.’ But if by the same token the Chinese were to say to us, ‘Korea’s ancient culture all came from China,’ how would we feel? In fact, while Japan was influenced by Korea, in many instances the Japanese built on and further developed things into their own culture. We have to acknowledge their achievements. To make use of the advanced aspects of another country, rather than disdaining them, is these days called benchmarking. The one who uses that which is advanced comes out on top, and that is the direction in which civilization has developed.”

In your view, what is one aspect of Japanese culture that we should already have taken for benchmarking? “The artisan spirit. One of the famous sayings of the Japanese monk Saicho (767-822), who established the Tendai school of Buddhism in Japan, is ‘If you hold the light to one corner out of a thousand corners, that corner is a national treasure.” That is, the idea that concentrating on one thing in your life will result in that one thing being considered precious and treated with respect, existed in Japan more than a thousand years ago. The potters, who were treated as low-class citizens in Korea, were 129

treated as artisans when they were kidnapped and taken to Japan, and some are even treated as gods. The Japanese respect those skilled in a particular field and do not distinguish between high and low jobs. This work ethic laid the foundation for the healthy development of Japanese society.”

Regretfully, relations between Korea and Japan are not particularly good. How do you think relations between the two countries can be resolved? “In the 2,300 years of Korea-Japan relations, there were only two times in history when relations were not good: the seven-year Japanese Invasions that began in 1592 and the 35 years of Japanese occupation of Korea. If we look at Europe, England and France were at war for one hundred years. As for France and Germany, Napoleon invaded Germany and later Hitler invaded France. The FrancoPrussian War also lasted 30 years. In comparison, Korea and Japan are not in such a bad way. The problem is that we have not been able to solve issues from the past. It is a point that has to be resolved.”

In concrete terms, how do you think those past issues should be solved? “I think we can find the answer in the way our ancestors solved similar issues after the Japanese Invasions (1592-1598) during the Joseon Dynasty. To resolve issues between the two countries, Joseon requested two things: that the grave robbers who had destroyed the royal tombs be found and executed, and that those who had been taken as prisoners of war be returned. In response the Tokugawa Shogunate, in a bid to begin relations with Joseon, sent two grave robbers. Though realizing they were fake, the Joseon government accepted the situation and had the two executed. In regard to the issue of prisoners of war, the great monk and militia leader Samyeong was sent as an envoy and managed to bring back 3,000 people. Thereafter, up to 1811 Joseon sent nine missions to Japan under the name of tongsinsa (“emissary of communication”), which expressed the idea that the two countries had faith in each other. As in the past, if Japan clearly apologizes for the Dokdo and ‘comfort women’ issues and Korea accepts the apology, then following issues should not be a problem.”

There was one thing I really wanted to ask Professor Yu. When I am in the United States, students sometimes ask me about PSY and Korean TV dramas. There are times when I have to ask American students about some of the latest Korean pop idols. This would have been unimaginable a few years ago. As our popular culture reaches out to the world, I wanted to hear Professor Yu’s advice on what the next generation should focus on.

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In contrast to the past, Korean electronics and Korean pop culture have a strong presence in the international market. How do you see this phenomenon? “It’s because our products are high quality and because people can relate to the cultural contents we have made. In truth, we simply worked hard. We didn’t think this would happen, did we? But over the years we studied hard to learn about the world and put all our efforts into keeping up with the rest. As a result, we learned about the world and at the same time developed what is ours. There was already an international element latent in the culture we created. That’s what people liked and responded to. They buy our products because they are good and sing along to our pop songs because they’re a lot of fun. It’s an amazing thing.”

What do you think we should do now to take it even further? “Historical experience is very important. But since Dangun founded our nation, we have never had the historical experience of leading the world for even a second. It’s more comfortable to run in second place. The one coming second can simply follow the one coming first with hard work and technology. But it’s different when you’re in first place. The one in first place has to set the direction and lead the rest of the pack. And there’s only so much you can do with technology alone. Setting the direction is no longer a matter of electronic engineering; it has to be supported by the humanities, such as psychology or anthropology.” So, you’re saying that to set new directions and lead the world, we need to lay a solid foundation in the humanities. “I’ll give you an example. After the Osaka Expo in 1970, the buildings were used to create the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan. The museum researches the food, clothing and shelter of 100 nations as well as their religions and languages. It hires hundreds of curators, with at least one curator in charge of each nation studied. So, when employees of a Japanese company are dispatched to live and work in Uganda, for example, they get all the information they can on Uganda from the museum’s curators. Then after living there for several years, they return and give information based on their experience in Uganda to the curators. To sustain and further spread hallyu, we need experts on regions where it is likely to make an impact, such as South America, Africa, and the Middle East, but unfortunately we are not prepared. It’s a task that has to be tackled, either by the state or big business.”

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Do you have any particular hopes for the following generation in your field? “What I really want is for someone to write a book that will blow mine off the bookshelves. My exploration series was written from the perspective of art history. The same theme can be tackled from the perspective of folk studies, Korean language and literature, or history. But regretfully, no one has done it. I wrote the books from the perspective of an analog person. I want to see someone write a book reflecting the sentiments of the digital age that will overtake mine. That’s the way for me to cut free from my books, that’s what I want.”

Painting Orchids is a Way of Offering Comfort The series “My Exploration of Cultural Heritage” (Na-ui munhwa yusan dapsa gi) has sold over 3.6 million copies so far. Everyone was surprised at the tremendous energy Professor Yu displayed in completing four books on Japan in just two years. He says people ask him why he’s going so fast. But Professor Yu is clear on that point: “My goal is not to go fast but to go a long way.” This naturally makes one wonder what his next move is going to be. So I ask him if he has plans for a China series. “I have been thinking about it,” he said. “At the moment I’m writing a book on the Namhan River area stretching from Gangwon to North Chungcheong and Gyeonggi provinces. When that’s done I’ll write a book on Seoul, and then one on the islands such as Ganghwado, Bogildo, Geojedo and Ulleungdo, with Dokdo as the final chapter. That will complete the set of 10 volumes on Korea. By that time I’ll be 70 years old. I’ll have to think about the China books then. China can be explored from three perspectives: the remains in Manchuria of the ancient Koreans states of Gojoseon (2333-

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108 B.C.), Goguryeo (37 B.C.-A.D. 668) and Balhae (698-926) as well as the traces of the independence movement in the first half of the 20th century; the great cultural heritage of China as the source of the culture of East Asia; and China as it was experienced and perceived by our ancestors, including the envoys taking part in Joseon missions to the Qing Dynasty of China. I would like to write about heritage through the third perspective. It would explore the travels of the scholar and scientist Hong Dae-yong (1731-1783), the scholar Park Ji-won (1737-1805), and the famed calligrapher and scholar Kim Jeong-hui (1786-1856).” What is your definition of “beauty”? “If you seek beauty according to some personal aesthetic value, you will not find it easily. When you look for beauty, you have to first open your hearts. I once took some students to Seokguram Grotto in Gyeongju. When we entered the cave temple, one of the doctorate students couldn’t stop crying. ‘Why are you crying?’ I asked, and she said, ‘I don’t know. The tears are just coming.’ In Seokguram, it is quite natural to become dazed, or to slap your knee in amazement, or to cry. That’s what beauty is. It’s the experience of purifying your sensibilities until you are totally empty.” Sometimes I have that kind of experience when listening to music. It’s the feeling that time has stopped completely, the feeling of being empty yet completely full. But in this busy age of ours, many people seem to have forgotten about beauty. “We so-called intellects living in this age have to make an effort to build up a store of activities that will raise the level of our culture and comfort people and make them happy. This means talking about people, talking about cultural heritage, and talking about art. It’s under this belief that I keep writing away to produce the ‘My Exploration of Cultural Heritage’ series. Sometimes I paint orchids and give the finished works to my students as wedding presents. In this regard, I quote Zheng Xie [famous calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty, China]: ‘I paint orchids not for my own pleasure but to comfort the people who are working so hard.’”

Sadly, Korean society is marked by serious conflict arising from ideological and generational differences and the gap between the rich and the poor. What do you think is the way for people to respect and communicate with each other? “At some point in time, it seemed some people were not happy until they had categorized others into left and right. But human ways of thinking are very diverse. For example, a person may be politically 133

left but right when it comes to economics or women’s issues. There are so many aspects of our lives where it is difficult to draw a clear line between left and right. I think the first step is to acknowledge such diversity and start respecting each other’s position.”

When Professor Yu came in for the interview, he was holding a fan in his hand as yellow as the golden bells. He had written something on the fan after receiving my list of possible interview questions: “in-in-you-chaek,” which means “Everybody is responsible.” This was his answer to my question on what we could do to heal the wounds left by the Sewol ferry disaster, how we should approach the matter. “One of the stories about the captain of the Titanic, there’s the story of how he remained in command till the very end, and exhorted his crew to ‘Be English!’ as the ship went down. This means, to behave like an English person. If someone said ‘Be Korean!’ we wouldn’t know what to do. It’s still not clear what it means to behave like a Korean. But if we had continued to build up an unbroken tradition of thought and culture, for example, if the seonbi spirit [noble spirit of the traditional Korean intellect] had been maintained and was firmly rooted in society today, the Sewol disaster might have taken a different turn by using the words ‘Behave like the seonbi!’ So in answer to the question of how we should approach the matter of healing the wounds of the Sewol disaster, my answer is this: in-in-you-chaek. Each and every one of us is responsible.”

My final question: When do you feel happy? “I’m happy when I’m working, when I’m writing. It’s pure rapture. The happiness that I feel when I learn something new, when I become sure of something that I had known only vaguely — it’s hard to express. I can’t sleep.”

The originally planned two-hour interview effortlessly filled more than four hours. For me, it was rapture to hear what Professor Yu had to say. If we look at the inscription written by Choe Chi-won (scholar of the ancient Silla Kingdom) on the stele of the monk Jijeung, it says: Great Master Jijeung liked to learn things on his own and did not make any effort to teach others. But one day a woodcutter suddenly appeared before him and said, “The one who has reached enlightenment first should not be lazy in teaching those who would come behind him.” Then the woodcutter vanished. It is said that was when the monk built a dharma hall and started to hold sermons for the ordinary people. In Professor Yu’s youthful passion to ceaselessly share what he has learned with the next generation lies the answer to how the intellectuals of our time should live and contribute to society.

Yu Hong-june 134

Yu was born in 1949. He graduated from the Department of Aesthetics at Seoul National University and began his career as an art critic and art writer when he won grand prize in the art criticism category of a literary competition in 1981. He served as a professor and director of the museum at Yeungnam University and administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration. After retiring from his post as art history professor at Myongji University, he continues to serve as an endowed professor. His major work is the series “My Exploration of Cultural Heritage.” Since publishing the first volume on the Jeolla region in 1993, he has released seven volumes on Korea and four on Japan. His first book sparked a wave of exploration around Korea. Maintaining that “you only see as much as you know,” he expanded the horizons for the humanities book market in Korea. He is also lauded for his contribution to society through art history. In 1974 he received a seven-year sentence for his role in antigovernment student protests and served 10 months in prison.

Hyemin The Venerable Hyemin graduated from high school in Seoul and later went to the United States, where he received a master’s degree in comparative religious studies from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Princeton University. He served as a professor of religion for eight years at Hampshire College in Massachusetts and is now vice abbot of the Bulkwang Zen Center in New York. He became a Buddhist monk while studying at Harvard.

[JoongAng Ilbo, November 14, 2014]

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Kim Chang-il, Art Collector in the Spotlight

Lee Jin-yeong Staff Reporter The Dong-A Ilbo

He has a sixth sense. The stocks he buys skyrockets. The ailing companies he takes over become a golden goose. He is Kim Chang-il, 63, chairman of Arario Group, which he has single-handedly built into a mid-size conglomerate. Starting with an express bus terminal in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, he now has a department store, multiplex and art galleries, all of which generate 350 billion won (approximately US$350 million) in annual revenue.

But while people envy his sixth sense and acknowledge that he is a natural-born businessman, when it involves the refined art world, his savvy business sense elicits bitterness and criticism.

He is a global art collector, having acquired around 3,700 or so artworks over the course of 36 years since 1978. Still, the general opinion of him has been: “A nouveau riche from Cheonan is stirring up the art world.” The detractors say if you profess to be an art collector, you should at least try to follow in the footsteps of the great Korean art collector Chun Hyung-pil (courtesy name Kansong). Kim’s first private exhibition held in 2003 under the pseudonym CI Kim set even more tongues wagging. When he acquired Space Group building designed by Kim Swoo-geun (1931-1986) that is regarded as one of the greatest modern architectural works in Korea, people expressed concern that “such a historic building should not have been handed over to a merchant.” 136

Kim has once again come into the spotlight with the opening of four modern art museums in Seoul and on Jeju Island this autumn. He remodeled the Space building in central Seoul and opened the Arario Museum in Space in September. He also transformed a movie theater and bike shop in Tapdong-ro and a motel in Sanji-ro, Jeju Island, and opened the Arario Museum Tapdong Cinema, Arario Museum Tapdong Bike Shop and Arario Museum Dongmun Motel, respectively, in October. There are also plans to open another art museum in Sanji-ro in March next year. Arario Gallery already has branches in Cheonan and Seoul, and also in Shanghai, China.

His collection that fills these art museums is truly jaw-dropping, boasting works from prominent artists, such as Nam June Paik, Andy Warhol, Damian Hirst, Marc Quinn, Keith Haring and Cindy Sherman, just to name a few. Rather than harsh criticism that the exhibition has no coherent theme, you are more likely to be awed and amazed at such a huge collection of some of the finest works of art.

Kim spends most of his time at his house in Cheonan and his studio on Jeju Island. We met at the Arario Museum in Space in Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, when he was on a recent visit to Seoul. At first glance, he appeared as if he had just thrown on a pair of jeans, a hoodie and a khaki safari jacket, but his bare-footed loafer style showed that it was all carefully thought out. ‘I Only Invest in Art Now’

Q. The art collection is amazing, but the building is also a masterpiece in itself. It is not overpowered by the modern artworks it houses, but achieves a perfect harmony. The scenery you take in through the windows throughout the building is at times even more beautiful than the artworks.

A. The first time I visited this building was 10 years ago when I gave a lecture here at the request of Lee Sang-leem, CEO of Space Group. (When I heard news that Space Group had filed for bankruptcy and put the building up for sale last year) I thought it would be priced at around 30 billion won ($30 million). But the lowest bidding price at the auction was 15 billion won. When the building didn’t sell, I went to Lee and said, “I’ll buy it for 15 billion won.” The price is usually discounted when the bidding fails, but you don’t negotiate the price for a landmark building like this.

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Q. The café and restaurant in the glass building next to the art museum offers a view of Changdeok Palace. The people at Space Group who used to work there complained that “the glass building is hot in summer and cold in winter.” But now that it has been converted to a commercial building and opened to the public, it seems to have found a more appropriate purpose.

A. The glass building is a perfect complement to the old building (art museum). I plan to publish a book about the late Jang Se-yang (1947-1996), the second CEO of Space Group, who designed the building. I paid particular attention to the restaurant when remodeling the buildings. The restaurant is part of the art museum. People look at the artworks, marvel at their brilliance, and go to the restaurant to drink coffee and truly savor the experience. We bake our own bread at the bread factory in the basement. Restaurants are my specialty. I have experience running 25 restaurants.

Q. You have opened four art museums on Jeju Island, and your studio is also there. Why Jeju?

A. Everything about Jeju, even the wild flowers on the road, is art. I plan to open nine art museums on Jeju Island in the next five years. Jeju is a place people go to with a planned itinerary. I plan to open a café and restaurant near the art museums to attract more visitors.

Q. The art museums you recently opened in Seoul and Jeju are remodeled buildings. A. With new buildings, the design may be fabulous, but there’s no guarantee that the space will be conducive for exhibitions. I’m more interested in bringing new life to derelict buildings through my art collection. Tapdong Cinema closed down in 2005, and at the 2006 auction I bid 2.3 billion won ($2.3 million), but didn’t get it. In 2012, I bought it for 1.9 billion won.

Q. I heard you bought several buildings on Jeju Island to convert to art museums and restaurants. Do you have a gut feeling when it comes to real estate investments?

A. I only purchase buildings that I intend to use, and not for speculation. When I returned to college after completing my mandatory military service, I earned tens of millions of won from stock investments. I squandered all that money on drinking bouts. My life was a nightmare back then. Easy money made from stock or real estate investments ruins your life. Your mindset is the seed that grows and determines how you look at things in life. So I don’t do stocks or real estate anymore. ‘Bad Art Should be Sold Quickly; Good Art Becomes Wild Ginseng’ 138

Although known as a millionaire from Cheonan, Kim is originally from Seoul. He went to Whimoon High School and majored in business administration at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. After graduating from college, he took over management of the Cheonan Express Bus Terminal, which his mother had received in lieu of a debt payment. That’s how he settled down in Cheonan. “The bus terminal business was a sunset industry at that time,” Kim said. “With the launch of KTX (Korea Train Express) and the increase in privately-owned cars, prospects were bleak. I turned the struggling business around and started making hundreds of millions of won by directly managing the snack bars.” Q. Wasn’t it hard doing business in a place where you don’t have any connections? A. It really helped me to broaden my horizons. Since it’s a small city, I was able to meet high-level public officials and lawmakers. I learned a lot then.

Q. In your past interview with our newspaper, you said, “In the analog age, you buy gold and real estate, but in the digital age, artworks are gold.”

A. I invest around 2 billion to 3 billion won in artwork each year. When business was difficult, my employees suggested that I sell some of them, but I have kept 98 percent of my acquisitions.

Q. Are there any pieces that you consider a failure?

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A. Maybe around one in five.

Q. Where do you keep your collection?

A. I built a storage house in Mokcheon-eup in Cheonan. It is around 10,000 square meters in size, and has three floors and a basement. Maintenance costs around 500 million won ($500,000) annually. Kim has once again been ranked among the top 200 art collectors in the world this year by “ARTnews,” a prestigious art magazine based in New York, making it his seventh consecutive year. He is the only Korean on the list. When I asked him, “What advice can you give to those who are thinking of collecting art?” his words began to pick up speed. “First, buy the best,” he said. “Then you won’t lose out. Even works of the same artist vary greatly. If you have chosen the artist, then purchase his finest work. Ninety-nine percent of the mistakes are made from choosing the wrong artwork, not the artist. “Second, don’t negotiate the price. For example, the German soldiers (‘Capitalism has broken down! Yes? No! Stupid!’) by brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman on display at the Dongmun Motel art museum on Jeju Island is a work I bought for $1 million from White Cube during the Hong Kong art fair. Later the price went up to $8 million. I told Jake, ‘I want to buy it,’ but he said, ‘Another buyer has bought it on condition of a 15 percent discount.’ I said I would be willing to pay the full price, and he sold it to me in five minutes. After many years, it becomes meaningless whether you got a discount. “Third, bad art ‘begs’ you to buy it, but good art does not wait for you. We have to wait to buy it. When I acquired the Space building, everyone strongly advised against it, but I thought, ‘If I don’t buy it now, I’ll regret it my whole life’ and went ahead with it. Opportunity does not wait for you. “Fourth, bad art should be sold quickly, but good art goes from red ginseng to wild ginseng with time. Red ginseng is worth hundreds of thousands of won, but the price of wild ginseng can go up to as much as over 100 million won. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work, which I purchased for $500,000, went up to $800,000 in just a year and a half, and soared to $5 million a year after that. Ten years ago, I sold Andy Warhol’s ‘Marilyn Monroe’ that is currently on display at Tapdong Cinema art museum for $200,000, and when I wanted to purchase it again, I had to pay $2.4 million for it at Christie’s auction last year. So whether it’s art or real estate, the person who owns it wins.” 140

‘Art Has Enriched My Life’

Kim is also a contemporary artist himself. He holds a private exhibition in summer once every two years at Arario Gallery, Cheonan. His works are also exhibited at Arario Museum together with artworks by big-name artists from around the world. At the opening, reporters asked, “You exhibit your own work at your art museum?” and “And right next to the great masters?” He answered, “I realize that it could stir controversy, but you should reserve judgment on my works for now.” “I’ve never received a formal education in art,” Kim said. “I learned it in the field when I tore down and rebuilt restaurants numerous times. When I was doing research on restaurants overseas, they wouldn’t let me take photographs, so I had to make sketches myself. You don’t need a license to do modern art. Gone are the days when artists were fostered in school. Not all artists are made from the same cookie cutter. People speak ill of me as if I committed theft or something, when in fact they should be offering words of encouragement.”

Q. Have you ever sold your own work? A. I’ve received a few offers both in Korea and from abroad, but I turned them all down. If I sell my own artwork, people are going to talk behind my back saying that “it’s some kind of ploy.” I don’t want the people close to me getting hurt. Happiness is not about me feeling happy, but seeing the people I care about being happy. One thing that’s for sure is that my love for art — whether doing it or collecting it — has enriched my life. Former Sotheby’s chairman Peter Wilson, who played an instrumental role in the growth of the company into one of the largest global art auction houses, said, “It is difficult to admire a piece of art without the desire to possess it. If it were not for human greed, art would disappear from this world.” It underscores the importance of art collectors in the development of art. “I’m going to establish a foundation one day. Then my collection will belong to the public,” said Kim. When that day comes, people will no longer be able to say, “What has CI Kim contributed to the development of the Korean art world?”

[November 15, 2014]

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“A teacher and gangster hanging out together because they’re from the same hometown Unthinkable in America.”

Lee Cheol-jae Staff Reporter The JoongAng Ilbo

Jonson Porteux, an American visiting lecturer at Hosei University in Japan, has a PhD in Korean studies. That’s hardly remarkable, but the subject of his dissertation was: organized crime in Korea. We sat down with him during his recent visit to Korea. The following are his words.

Doctorate in Korean Organized Crime

My name is Jonson N. Porteux. I was born in 1977, the Year of the Snake, in California. I received my doctorate in Korean organized crime at the Department of Political Science, University of Michigan last year. My ties with Korea go way back to when I first learned taekwondo from a Korean instructor at the age of seven. When I entered the University of California, Berkeley as an economics major, I was interested in studying transition economy, which refers to an economy that is changing from a socialist to capitalist system.

I chose North Korea to study. But as I saw that the North Korean regime was not likely to change anytime soon, I switched my major to comparative politics in graduate school. In politics, it is widely thought that the state monopolizes the use of violence, but in reality, violence is exercised by certain private groups. I had always wondered why that was possible. 142

In 2009, Kim Jung-gil, the former minister of justice, came to the University of Michigan as a visiting professor. I worked closely with him as his research assistant. My study of organized crime in Korea began under his guidance. Then during 2010 and 2011, I had the opportunity to visit Korea on a Fulbright scholarship to conduct fieldwork.

In the beginning, I mostly met with prosecutors, police officers, journalists and professors. Then one day, the owner of a gym I’d been frequenting introduced me to a local politician, through whom I was able to meet a national-level boss. I called him “oyabun (absolute leader).” He asked me, “Jjonson, you want to meet Korean geondal (organized gang member)?” A geondal is different from ggangpae (thug) and yangachi (hoodlum). If you call a geondal, a ggangpae or a yangachi, you’ll be in big trouble. A ggangpae does not belong to an organization, and a yangachi is just a neighborhood bully. The young thugs and hoodlums eventually want to become a gang member, which is why geondal are able to have control over them. I answered, “Yes,” and the boss took me to one of the “events” attended by national-level bosses. Some of those who attended were behind-the-scenes heavyweights. These so-called events were held around once a month at what appeared to be weddings, 70th birthday celebrations and children’s first birthday parties. Around 15 to 20 bosses and heavyweights get together in a small room to discuss new businesses or resolve internal disputes. A large number of the attendees were imprisoned during the government’s “war on crime” in 1990. People who attend the event have to pay a fee in the form of monetary gifts. The amount varies depending on the size of the organized crime group, and generally ranges from 4 million to 5 million won (approximately US$4,000 to US$5,000). When I attended these events, they often asked me to leave the room. I wasn’t particularly interested in what they were discussing behind closed doors. Learning about sensitive information would only put me in danger. I asked them, “Please do not tell me anything that the police do not know.”

The snowball effect applies to making connections in Korea. If you meet one person, you can easily befriend another through that person. This is because Korea is a society where personal networks are mostly based on regional or school ties. So it’s possible for an elementary school teacher and a gangster to be friends just because they are from the same hometown or they went to the same school, something that is unthinkable in the United States.

Once I got to know the bosses, I was introduced to their subordinate henchmen. Henchmen from 143

different gangs frequently hang out together in Korea, whereas in the case of the mafia in America, they usually don’t mingle with other organized gang members. So this kind of networking afforded me the opportunity to meet a diverse range of gang members and conduct research. I never asked the gangsters their names. They didn’t give me their business cards, either. Actually I knew their names, but I always addressed them as “hyeongnim,” which literally means older brother. If they have a nickname, I would put that name before hyeongnim. There was one gangster who spoke a little English. He pointed to some other gangsters and said, “Those guys over there have retired. But I’m ‘ing’ (the English verb form used to refer to a person who is still active in the field).” From that day, he became the “ing hyeongnim.” It wasn’t easy becoming friends with gangsters. They are an extremely macho group. They all drink and smoke, and every other word that comes out of their mouths is a cuss word. It’s only natural since threatening people is their forte. I needed to show them that I was like one of them. So at one point I even drank up to five bottles of soju. When we were having a drinking party, there was this gangster who didn’t like me. “Why did you come? I hate Americans,” he shouted, very much drunk, and sprayed water all over the place. A gangster sitting next to me handed me a water bottle and told me, “You spray water at that bastard.” But when I looked at the inebriated gangster’s eyes, it looked like he was about to kill me. The guy next to me kept pushing me to do it, saying, “Are you ignoring me or what?” I was in a double bind. What was I supposed to do? After agonizing for a while, I poured water over myself. Everyone clapped their hands at the sight and laughed. After that incident, the gangster came to like me.

I met police officers during the day, while at night, I socialized with gang members. On one occasion, I had lunch with a police officer, and a while later was picked up by car right in front of the police station and went to a lunch appointment with a gangster. Since I am well-acquainted with both police officers and gangsters, and in some aspects know even more about organized gang members than the police, police officers would constantly ask me for information. On the other hand, gangsters asked me to provide access to the police. I turned down the requests of both sides because I didn’t want to jeopardize my research.

As part of my dissertation, I drafted a questionnaire for the gangsters to answer. It included many sensitive questions, such as whether they had collusive ties with people in authority. Obviously, gang-

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sters didn’t like interviews, but I received answers from 20 gangsters from around the country. Unfortunately, the answers were not included in my dissertation for fear that the participants’ identities could be exposed.

Gang members asked me to hang out usually in the middle of the night, sometimes even calling me at two or three in the morning. They would say, “Jjonson, what are you up to? Let’s head to Busan.” I traveled all over the country with them, usually taking two- or three-day trips. I once went to Pohang in a new BMW 750. The speakers blasted out hip-hop music. I hadn’t slept for 48 hours and the sounds were dreamlike. With the gangsters, I rode big luxury cars, stayed at the finest hotels and sailed on fancy yachts. When I returned to America in 2012, I drove an old Honda. It seemed like a piece of junk compared to theirs.

Most of the gangsters I met had a lot of money. Criminal organizations in Korea operate on a system of meritocracy. Only the smart members are promoted from henchman to underboss, and eventually to boss. It’s difficult to survive in the organization if you’re not smart. During the past two years in Korea, I was an “inside outsider” in the organized crime world. Looking back, I think it was possible because I was a foreigner and because I wasn’t a police informant. A white guy speaking Korean would have piqued their curiosity. But it wasn’t just purely out of interest that they allowed me into their world. I believe that there was a certain level of trust between us. The oyabun once asked me, “Do you love me?” I answered, “Yes.” I still keep in touch with him, and he knows about this interview. I’m cautious that this interview could adversely affect the relationship I’ve built with oyabun and the many gangsters.

State Subcontracts Violence Dr. Jonson Porteux’s doctoral dissertation is titled, “Police, Paramilitaries, Nationalists and Gangsters: The Processes of State Building in Korea.” The following is a brief summary of his paper.

The state maintains a tense relationship with private enforcement groups, such as criminal organizations, while also establishing collaborative relations. This can be ascribed to the fact that the state is loath to directly using violence. This is the consequence of a transition to a democratic state. I devoted special attention to the so-called “private service companies” or construction thugs.

When the Korean government launched large-scale redevelopment projects during the 1970s and 145

1980s, forced evictions became the major source of income for organized crime groups. The state was, in effect, subcontracted violence to these private service groups. Witnessing the crackdown on the street vendors in Insa-dong in May 2011 confirmed such thoughts. The thugs hired by the Jongnogu district office started destroying the pushcarts belonging to the street vendors, which led to physical clashes, but the police only watched. One elderly street vendor, who was bleeding, approached a police officer and shouted, “Why aren’t you guys doing anything?” It’s true that the street stalls are illegal and that the vendors try to use the violent situation to their advantage in negotiations. But in America, crackdowns are the responsibility of the police. All the Korean police did was to try to “confine” the violence, to ensure that it didn’t spill over to other areas.

Hiring the service of private security companies does not necessarily mean that state power is corrupt and incompetent. The state clamps down on crimes, such as murder or larceny, where there is a victim, but pays less attention to such offenses as gambling or prostitution, where there isn’t a clear victim. The outsourcing of force was carried out in both the rightist and leftist administrations. The only difference was the de facto power behind the scenes. This is an inconvenient truth.

However, this is not a practice that is unique to Korea. Although differing in degree, it happens in just about any country. Korean prosecutors and police claim, “We have eradicated almost all the large mafia-type criminal organizations.” But what I witnessed tells a different story. Organized crime in Korea is much more large scale than is known. They operate surreptitiously to avoid detection by the authorities. Criminal organizations refrain from using violence against ordinary citizens. Otherwise state power will intervene.

[November 22, 2014]

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Publisher Yu Hyun-seok Editor Lee Kyong-hee Editorial Board Shim Ji-yeon Professor, Kyungnam University Lee Ha-won Director, TV Chosun Kim Yong-jin Professor, Ajou University Hyun Jung-taik Professor, Inha University Hahm In-hee Professor, Ewha Womans University Sonn Ho-chul Professor, Seogang University Kim Gyun-mi Deputy Editor, The Seoul Shinmun Kim Hoo-ran Senior Journalist, The Korea Herald Peter Beck Korea Represetative, Asia Foundation Jocelyn Clark Professor, Paichai University â&#x201C;&#x2019; The Korea Foundation 2014 All rights reserved.

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