Table of Contents
- Korea Focus - November 2013 - TOC - Politics 1. Quest for a New Political Landscape 2. Neighbors’ Approval Should Come before Japan’s Military Expansion 3. Pyongyang Should Remove Suspicions about Resumption of Nuke Activities 4. Nagasaki Shipyard and Hashima Coal Mine
- Economy 1. Two Faces of Chinese-funded Investment Boom in Jeju 2. How to Lower Korea’s Corruption Index 3. Wrong Diagnosis of Economic Realities 4. Evolution of Korean Medical Market 5. Let’s Prepare for Era of Homo Hundred
- Society 1. A New Strategy for Globalization 2. Why Have We Become a ‘Community of Fear’? 3. Those Who Cannot Press the ‘Del’ Button 4. Japan’s Ama, Jeju’s Haenyeo 5. Era of ‘Menbung’ and Reality TV Shows
- Culture 1. Hangeul Day Celebrated as Public Holiday Again 2. Korea as the Asian Hub of Opera 3. Regret over Modern Korean Architecture 4. The Memory of 2002 and Recollection of 2013 5. Royal Seals and State Seals 6. Haeundae’s Enthusiasm for the Humanities
- Essays 1. Korea-Russia Relations and the 2013 G20 Leaders’ Summit 2. Image Management for North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un 3. Strengthen the Social Ladder for Upward Mobility
- Features 1. World Cultural Heritage Attesting to Japanese Invasion 100 Years Ago
- Book Reviews 1. Samgyetang Not Found in Old Literature 2. Kim Jong-un in Transition from Politics of Provocation to Politics of Development
- Interview 1. Jo Jung-rae: “China is in disarray? It’s just a Western-biased nonsense.”
- COPYRIGHT
- Quest for a New Political Landscape - Neighbors’ Approval Should Come before Japan’s Military Expansion - Pyongyang Should Remove Suspicions about Resumption of Nuke Activities - Nagasaki Shipyard and Hashima Coal Mine
Quest for a New Political Landscape
Lee Hong-koo Advisor to the JoongAng Ilbo Former Prime Minister
A quarter century has elapsed since we ended authoritarian rule and achieved democracy. But few of us today are free from skepticism about the nation`s democratic political order, which has been eroded and bogged down in a murky quagmire.
Why has democratization failed to progress since the massive populist movement of June 1987? The blame can be traced to the lack of strategic contemplation and action plans for institutionalizing democratic politics. The stark truth is that the current 19th National Assembly exhibits few signs of political maturity beyond that of the 13th National Assembly, which was formed in 1988 under an amended Constitution and electoral systems sparked by the prodemocracy movement a year earlier.
Of course, Korea is not the only country that has experienced trials and tribulations while institutionalizing democracy. The “Arab Spring� in the Middle East has now been virtually swept along by wild desert winds, while Spain and Greece, with longer histories of democratic systems than Korea`s, are mired in political and economic upheaval.
Moreover, the United States, a role model of advanced democracy, has exposed a shameful muddle of divisive politics, raising questions across the world about the efficacy and sustainability of democracy. Still, Americans remained calm during the recent stalemate between the White House
and the House of Representatives that led to a shutdown of many government services. They had faith in the rules of politics. That is, issues will be dealt with in compliance with constitutional processes and ultimate judgment will be rendered in the next elections. Such an American episode has great implications for us.
To our embarrassment, Korea`s political experiment over the past 25 years has received compliments from abroad as an exemplary case of democratization, probably because of an assessment that Presidents Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung sowed politics of compromise. In particular, Roh was elected with 36 percent of the votes, the lowest level ever in Korea`s direct presidential elections, and had to lead a minority administration against an overwhelming opposition majority in the National Assembly. The acute situation compelled him to seek compromises, which he managed well enough for a smooth start to his administration.
He preceded the “standard-bearers of democracy,” Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung. The former Kim was elected by strategically merging three political parties, and the latter by forming a political alliance. Playing a key role in both instances was Kim Jong-pil who, with a minority force, skillfully maneuvered to mark an age of “three Kim politics.” Exercising shrewd political stratagem and compromise within the bounds of the Constitution, the trio helped fortify democratization initiated in 1987.
However, after the 2002 presidential election, all aspects of the Korean politics, ranging from economic and social to ideological areas, began to show increasing polarization rather than compromise and centrism. As the country became stuck in the middle-income trap, unable to elevate much farther than $20,000 per capita, widening income disparity triggered social insecurity. Even a virtual revival of anti-class and anti-imperialist sentiments erupted, creating an ominous environment that resembled the fierce prodemocracy struggles of the l970s and early l980s. Meanwhile, popular vigilance against the totalitarian North Korea has waned and there have been instances of radical political activities defying the constitutional order.
At this critical juncture, when fundamentals of the hard-won 1987 democratic system are menaced, one cannot but conclude that countermeasures so far taken by political parties and leaders in both the governing and opposition camps have been very disappointing. Leading to such a negative conclusion are, among other issues, recent controversies involving Lee Seok-ki, a progressive party leader charged with insurrection, the National Intelligence Service implicated in a slander campaign against the opposition candidate in last year`s presidential election, and leaks of confidential minutes of the
2007 inter-Korean summit talks.
In order to put Korean politics on normal democratic tracks, more is needed than legislative measures like the incapacitated National Assembly Advancement Law. For the defense of the Constitution and assurance of responsible governance, the ruling and opposition political parties need to implement reform themselves and jointly create a new political landscape that demands insightful leadership for integration and compromise.
The ruling party led by the president must stake their political lives on a solemn promise with the people to completely terminate political interference, under whatever pretexts, by the state intelligence agency and other power apparatuses and move to the center from the right of ideological spectrum, even at the risk of losing support from ultra-conservative forces.
On the other hand, the opposition, which has claimed itself as the defender of democracy and constitutional politics, must sever its ties with radical forces defying the spirit and rules of constitutional order and clarify its position on North Korea. By so doing, the opposition needs to move to the center from the left of the ideological axis, replacing the backup of ultra-leftist forces with more stable support of the center-right strata and thus better prepare for assuming power in future elections.
This year marks the inauguration of the sixth president since the 1987 democratization. In light of the worrisome reality that various challenges of political entanglements and confusion overshadow the outlook of Korea`s democratic politics, now is the time for both the ruling and opposition parties to strive together to create a new political landscape in an unvarnished attempt to assure the nation`s healthy political development.
[ The JoongAng Ilbo, October 7, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Neighbors’ Approval Should Come before Japan’s Military Expansion
Editorial The Chosun Ilbo
The United States and Japan agreed on October 3 to revise the Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation by next year. This will be the first change to their bilateral security guidelines in 16 years.
In Seoul where he attended this year`s annual Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting held recently, Admiral Samuel Locklear, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, told American journalists about the possibility of debate on changing Japan`s constitution to gain security cooperation needed to maintain peace and stability. He referred to the Shinzo Abe government`s efforts to revise Japan`s “peace constitution.”
Adm. Locklear also touched on the “importance of information-sharing and trilateral relationships” between Korea, the United States and Japan. “In an increasingly sophisticated world, a combat world, information is so important to success, when systems are being developed by rogue nations such as North Korea,” he said. “It`s important that we work together to use the capabilities that we have, to use them together in the most efficient way.”
Referring to Japan`s exercise of its self-defense right, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel also said that the United States can help Japan only if it is to rebuild its national security. In a meeting in Seoul, Hagel sought President Park Geun-hye`s opinion on how to handle “historical issues” between
Seoul and Tokyo. He raised the question when he talked about how to lay a fresh security framework between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.
In response, Park said she fully understands the importance of cooperation between the three countries, but “Japan has not shown any sincere attitude” toward historical issues, and “on the contrary, has kept rubbing salt into wounds” of neighboring countries.
Washington regards the historical conflict between Seoul and Tokyo as relatively less important than the ongoing process of reestablishing a new security order in Northeast Asia. The United States is thinking of a new strategy to prepare for nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, which will soon threaten the U.S. mainland, and the rise of China, which is trying to vie with the United States for hegemony in the East Asia and the Pacific. The United States envisions a trilateral alliance of Seoul, Washington and Tokyo playing a key role in its strategy.
The Seoul-Washington alliance and the Washington-Tokyo alliance would form two sides of a security triangle envisaged by the United States. The third side of the triangle, the Seoul-Tokyo alliance, is currently in the worst condition. Seoul and Tokyo share fundamental values, such as free democracy and market economy, calling each other a friend. But their relations have deteriorated so much that they cannot even hold a summit.
Since it began two wars simultaneously in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s, the United States has been suffering a serious financial crisis. To lessen its own burden, Washington will likely keep trying to expand Japan`s military role. Now is the time for Seoul to think seriously about the situation the United States is facing and what policy it should formulate to respond to a change in the U.S. security strategy.
Before agreeing to a new trilateral security framework, Seoul should seriously review the common goal of the three countries and differences in their national security interests. As the prime mover of the trilateral cooperation, Washington should no longer remain a spectator in the Seoul-Tokyo conflict. It should clearly tell Tokyo the minimum historical obligation that it should fulfill and explicitly warn against any activities that defy its obligation.
Washington would end up sowing seeds of discord in the trilateral framework of cooperation if it pays little attention to gaining approval and support from former victims of the Japanese imperialist ambitions before it approves Japan`s military expansion due to the current and future security
concerns.
The trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo cannot be promoted by the Korean government`s actions alone. It needs public understanding and support. We should also think hard to find a way for Seoul-Beijing relations not to be harmed by our security cooperation with the United States and Japan. We are now at a crucial juncture at which a new framework of Korea`s present and future national security and unification is being laid.
[ October 4, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Pyongyang Should Remove Suspicions about Resumption of Nuke Activities
News Commentary Yonhap News
North Korea has resumed its nuclear activities, many observers point out. “38 North,� a web journal devoted to analysis of North Korea run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, speculated that the North resumed the 5MW gas-graphite reactor at Yongbyon late last month. The reactor is capable of producing plutonium for a nuclear bomb annually. The web journal based its speculation on commercial satellite photos taken on August 31.
Based on the same satellite images, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the U.K. concurred. The International Atomic Energy Agency also speculated that the North took steps late last month to resume the Yongbyon reactor. Besides, the North expanded the uranium enrichment facility there. After analyzing satellite images taken recently by Google Earth, the Institute for Science and International Security in the United States confirmed that the North`s uranium enrichment facility has been expanded.
Nobody should disregard the speculation by international think tanks, which are monitoring the North`s activities, raising the possibility of the North`s resumption of nuclear facilities. Such observations are raising serious concerns in the international community. In early April, the North stated that it would resume the Yongbyon nuclear facilities, including the uranium enrichment facility
and the 5MW graphite moderated reactor. The North has never recanted this statement. And now suspicions are rising about its resumption of nuclear facilities.
Before it seeks to restart six-party nuclear disarmament talks in cooperation with China, North Korea should remove suspicions about its nuclear activities and accept international inspections of its nuclear facilities. If the North has already resumed nuclear activities, it means that Pyongyang has no sincerity toward denuclearization. The six-party talks are meaningless under these circumstances.
In return, the international community will implement tough policies against the North. The U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in March this year bans any type of nuclear activity by North Korea. The resumption of nuclear facilities will force the Security Council to adopt further sanctions.
Another concern is the possible leaks of radioactive materials from these facilities. Nobody can rule out that a massive accident like the one at Chernobyl could occur at Yongbyon, given the age of its reactor. Such an accident could cause large casualties and an environmental disaster to the entire Korean peninsula and neighboring countries.
On August 29, Pyongyang urged both Seoul and Washington to make a “policy decision” to create an atmosphere in favor of dialogue and a peaceful environment. Recently, it agreed to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex jointly operated by the two Koreas and sought the resumption of crossborder tours to the Mt. Kumgang resort area. Currently, Pyongyang is apparently focusing on launching a charm offensive toward Seoul and attempting to galvanize inter-Korean economic exchanges, while refraining from mentioning about its nuclear weapons.
On September 12, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said, “Thanks to persuasion by the international community and the South Korean government`s consistent policy, the North is recently refraining from creating tension but seeking dialogue with various countries.” But the government should think about whether it is too naïve and self-complacent. In the past, the North surreptitiously continued nuclear arms development while participating in the six-party negotiations.
The government should not rule out the possibility that the North is still continuing nuclear development behind its charm offensive. On its part, North Korea should abandon its nuclear ambitions as soon as possible. By adhering to nuclear arms development, the regime is inviting its own isolation and economic sanctions from the international community. Under such circumstances, the North`s economic development naturally faces limitations.
The North should give up on its nuclear weapons and pursue economic development by boldly opening up its doors. This is the only way for the isolated communist state to improve the miserable human rights situation of its people and solve food problems, and ease tensions on the Korean peninsula as well.
[ September 13, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Nagasaki Shipyard and Hashima Coal Mine
Song Pyeong-in Editorial Writer The Dong-a Ilbo
Japan`s modernization began after uprisings in southern regions led to the collapse of the shogunate in Edo, present-day Tokyo. Choshu Domain and Satsuma Domain took the lead in the overthrow of the shogunate. Choshu was on the southernmost tip of Honshu and it was part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Satsuma was part of Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu. Many relics of Japan`s early modernization are found in various locations in Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture.
The Japanese government has recently decided to recommend 28 industrial heritage sites in those places for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Of these historic sites, Yahata Iron Works and Nagasaki Shipyard are the most famous. They are mentioned even in Japanese school textbooks as representative industrial facilities during the Meiji period.
Yahata Iron Works is still operated by Nippon Steel Corporation and Nagasaki Shipyard by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. There used to be an undersea coal mine beneath Hashima Island, an artificial island southwest of Nagasaki Port. Alongside Nagasaki Shipyard, the mine was owned by Mitsubishi.
Nagasaki Shipyard and Hashima coal mine were where drafted Koreans were forced into hard labor. At the shipyard, about 4,700 Koreans took part in building warships during the Pacific War. Of them, some 1,600 perished when an atomic bomb was dropped there in August 1945. At the coal mine on
Hashima, called the “Prison Island” of no escape, Koreans were forced to work 12 hours a day in pits 1,000 meters below sea level. A total of 122 Koreans, including those who drowned while attempting to escape the unbearable conditions, died there.
Korea`s Foreign Ministry has protested the Japanese government`s decision, contending, “They are not suitable as World Heritage sites that are supposed to memorialize universal values of mankind.” But its protest fell on deaf ears.
In recommending its modern industrial sites in Kyushu and Yamaguchi for the UNESCO World Heritage List, Japan put up a slogan that they were “the vanguard of modernization in non-Western world.” The modernization of the West also had a dark side, such as exploitation of workers by capitalists. But the Western countries exploited their own people. Japan`s modernization involved the exploitation of Koreans and Chinese. Japan should have expressed regret over the pain it caused its neighbors at least once ― from its heart. [ September 23, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
- Two Faces of Chinese-funded Investment Boom in Jeju - How to Lower Korea’s Corruption Index - Wrong Diagnosis of Economic Realities - Evolution of Korean Medical Market - Let’s Prepare for Era of Homo Hundred
Two Faces of Chinese-funded Investment Boom in Jeju
Oh Seung-ho Editorial Writer The Seoul Shinmun
A commercial bank executive, a friend of mine from Jeju, told me early this year, “I`m worried Chinese are buying up land in Jeju Island. I wouldn`t mind if they were Korean nouveau riche.” He said the news media should pay attention to the purchases, but Chinese investments in my home province were of little concern to me at the time.
I had another opportunity to hear a similar negative reaction when I went home during the chuseok holiday. While drinking soju with an elementary school friend of mine, I asked, “What is it like for Chinese to buy a lot of land here?” He said, “It is wrong to permit permanent residency to the Chinese who are investing in real estate.” He said they were buying land because the immigration policy grants permanent residency to those who spend 500 million won or more on real estate and hold it for at least five years.
I regard it as a matter of course for the people of Jeju to be concerned about large-scale land purchases by outsiders, including foreigners. At the same time, I believe that xenophobia, though weakened significantly, fuels their criticism about the boom funded by Chinese investors.
During the first eight months this year, more than 1.83 million foreign tourists visited Jeju. Seventynine percent of them, or 1.46 million people, were Chinese. Chinese tourists visiting Jeju, who totaled
a mere 100,000 annually a decade ago, surpassed the 1 million mark last year. The surge has been driven by the nation`s visa waiver for Chinese tourists, the immigrant investor program and the craze for Korean pop culture.
Ethnic Koreans holding U.S. citizenship are the leading group of foreign land owners in Jeju. They have claims totaling 3,711,081 square meters, or 0.56 percent, of the island. They are followed by Chinese with 2,221,538 square meters, or 0.13 percent of the total.
Since it set its sights on becoming a free international zone 10 years ago, Jeju has moved toward its goal. In August, the net influx of people into the island province accounted for 0.1 percent of its population, ranking second in the nation after Sejong City with 0.45 percent. During the month, 5,784 people arrived and 5,176 departed, resulting in a net influx of 608. The population reached the 600,000 mark on August 12, 26 years after it passed the 500,000 mark. Jeju expects its population will reach 700,000 by 2021.
Chinese investments in Jeju are expected to accelerate. Projects awaiting investments are a Chinatown resort by Guang Group, a healthcare town by Greenland Group and a maritime tourism complex in Seongsanpo by a locally incorporated Chinese developer.
One problem with foreign investments is that they do not lead to an increase in income for native residents. Although it may be a premature complaint, the Jeju residents say they are earning little from the legions of Chinese tourists. The tourists rush to duty-free shops run by large corporations. Luxury products targeting wealthy Chinese tourists cannot be displayed at the airport duty-free shop, where each shopper is limited to US$400 in purchases.
The mushrooming mom-and-pop travel agencies, fiercely competing, cannot create quality jobs. New jobs cannot be confined to cleaning and maintenance at motels and selling goods at nondescript small shops. Jeju should encourage foreign direct investments in high value-added industries if it is to invigorate its local economy.
[ October 11, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
How to Lower Korea’s Corruption Index
Chung Soung-jin Former Minister of Justice Professor Emeritus at Kookmin University
In its 2013 report on corruption in Asia, Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy ranked Korea as the eighth most corrupt country in an index of 17 major nations. Korea`s ranking appeared to be the worst in 10 years, according to the report issued in July. It seems quite surprising that Korea fared worse than not only Australia and the United States but also Malaysia and Thailand.
As we all know, the Germany-based watchdog Transparency International (TI) has published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) every November. Last year, Korea was ranked 45th among 176 countries with a score of 56 out of 100. Korea was also ranked as the 27th least corrupt country out of 34 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The nation`s ranking and score in TI`s CPI have fallen or stagnated since peaking between 2008 and 2010. In particular, it is now lagging behind not only Africa`s Botswana and South America`s Chile but also Taiwan.
Historical records show that British traveler and writer Isabella Bishop, who visited Korea in the late 19th century, lamented the widespread corruption among members of the yangban (nobility) class at that time. It is widely believed that the Korean government has made steady efforts to prevent corruption since the 1960s. Then why is our country still given such low evaluations on corruption prevention by the international community?
The Corruption Perceptions Index is known to be reasonably based on interviews and surveys of domestic and foreign experts, analysts and entrepreneurs in a country. Judging from my personal experience in anti-corruption affairs and campaigns, I can speculate that two major factors are behind Korea`s fall in global anti-corruption rankings.
First, it is believed that the Korean government paid comparatively less policy attention to our society`s anti-corruption issues during the Lee Myung-bak administration from February 2008 to 2013. In Transparency International`s CPI, Korea`s score rose from 5.0 out of 10 in 2004 to 5.6 in 2008, but slid to 5.5 in 2009 and 5.4 in 2010 and 2011 before edging up to 5.5 in 2012. Its CPI ranking also fell from 39th in 2009 and 2010 to 43rd in 2011 and 45th 2012.
According to a report on government sector corruption, released by the Korea Institute of Public Administration early this year, 72.4 percent of business executives and self-employed people in both 2011 and 2012 thought that public sector corruption had worsened from the previous year. The negative sentiment exceeded expectations.
After Lee Myung-bak became president in 2008, an independent anti-corruption policy body was merged into the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. In the final years of Lee`s administration, several cases of corruption involving the president`s close aides emerged. Lee himself granted a pardon for convicted business executives. A scandal erupted over his plan to build a postretirement private residence in Naegok-dong, southern Seoul. All those incidents may have negatively affected the international community`s perception of the Korean government`s anti-corruption endeavor.
Another possible factor behind Korea`s fall in global anti-corruption rankings is the receding civic willingness and efforts to spread social awareness and consensus on anti-corruption issues. In March 2005, the government of Roh Moo-hyun and the nation`s political, business and civic leaders signed the so-called Transparent Society Pact, vowing to create a nationwide anti-corruption system. Such an exhibition event was no longer viable over the past years.
Moreover, anti-corruption activities attracted less attention as the succeeding Lee administration prioritized economic efficiency and devoted itself to diplomacy at Group of 20 meetings. Civic activism dwindled as leading participants in anti-corruption campaigns aged or became elected officials. Amid the society-
wide call for job creation and economic recovery, anti-corruption campaigners may have been perceived as close to anti-business forces or groups stressing wealth distribution.
Economic vitality and corruption prevention don`t clash with each other. Anti-corruption activities can be conducted in a way that respects corporate economic activities but roots out tax evasion and bribery in compliance with the constitutional spirit. The majority of people probably want to see such activities that fight corruption and promote a clean society. Local courts are now handing down increasingly heavy sentences in corruption cases. The presidential prerogative of pardon, which tended to be abused after the inauguration of a new government, appears to be restrained in accordance with public sentiment.
With prosecution reform and introduction of a special inspector system now under serious deliberation, the rule of law is expected to be more firmly entrenched in Korean society. I just humbly wish to Korea`s CPI ranking start to climb steadily next year.
[ The Dong-a Ilbo, September 5, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Wrong Diagnosis of Economic Realities
Lee Doo-won Professor, School of Economics Yonsei University
President Park Geun-hye recently expressed her regret that the National Assembly`s downward adjustment of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Act would restrict the National Tax Service`s access to the unit`s data on large cash transactions. She also bemoaned parliament`s long inaction on the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. The president may have expressed her frustration out of the belief that these laws are indispensable to economic recovery.
Listening to her remarks, however, I couldn`t help but question the president`s awareness of our economic reality. Many people agree to a certain extent on the need to revise the FIU law. But is it true that the National Assembly`s passage of the original revision bill on the FIU law would help the government crack down on underground economic activities and boost its tax base?
If the parliament had passed the original amendment bill on the FIU law without modifications, National Tax Service investigations would have increased, boosting the government`s tax revenue in the short term. But tax probes are not very effective in exposing the underground economy and tax revenue increases cannot be guaranteed over the long term. Korea`s extensive underground economy is closely related to its employment structure and an unusually large number of self-employed individuals. Furthermore, cash transactions are still more preferred in Korea than in Western advanced countries.
According to conclusions reached through empirical analyses, the policy goal of normalizing the underground economy to reap more tax revenue can be best achieved through a combination of tax rate cuts, deregulation and inducements for transparent transactions. In other words, carrots such as tax relief and deregulation are more effective in cracking down on the underground economy than sticks, such as tax investigations.
The best example of policing the underground economy and tackling tax evasion was the so-called August 3 Measures, an emergency presidential decree enforced in 1972. At that time, President Park Chung-hee showed tolerance toward the sources of underground funding in a bid to bring Myeongdong`s loan operations into the open. He also revised regulations to open the way for private moneylenders to set up non-bank financial institutions. As a result, the measures helped ease capital shortages of small and medium-sized enterprises, though temporarily, and paved the way for the nonbank financial sector.
It is groundless to say that tax investigations would dramatically increase tax revenue. A fundamental increase in tax revenue can only be achieved through robust economic growth. This was proven during the Lee Myung-bak government. The Lee government lowered income and corporate tax rates amid accusations of favoritism for the rich, but tax revenue nevertheless increased. As far as the incumbent government`s perception of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act is concerned, the priorities appear to be misguided.
It is important to induce investments from foreigners. But what`s more urgent is to prevent overseas flight of large Korean conglomerates. Samsung Electronics Co. announced in late July that it will spend 24 trillion won (US$22.35 billion) in capital investments by the end of this year. But the company plans to invest only 3 trillion won at home, with most of the remainder earmarked abroad. At Hyundai Motor Group, too, its overseas output has already exceeded its domestic production by a wide margin.
Against such a backdrop, a series of economic democratization bills passed by the parliament over the past six months have further dented investment sentiment of local conglomerates. The government should shift its policy focus from several trillions of won in fresh foreign investment expected from the passage of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act to domestic conglomerates` huge cashable assets. It should first map out ways to induce the conglomerates to spend their cash at home.
[ The Chosun Ilbo, September 3, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Evolution of Korean Medical Market
Tchoe Byong-ho Chief Editorial Writer The Maeil Business Newspaper
Living organisms evolve while adapting to their environment. Speciation occurs when their evolution occurs in different environments. Similarly, markets react more sensitively to environmental changes. The medical market is no exception. Primitive medical markets of early mankind have taken different paths, depending on regions and nations, in their evolution up to the modern era.
A great number of health scholars worldwide have dreamed of and proposed ideal medical markets. But there is no ideal model from the viewpoint of evolution. Korea`s medical market has evolved quite differently from the European medical market, which is highly admired by many health scholars. In Europe, public hospitals constitute the mainstream medical market. But private hospitals dominate Korea`s medical market.
In an advanced medical service market, patients are referred in stages to family doctors and tertiary hospitals. But such a system only nominally exists in Korea. Patients here can freely choose any hospital of their choice anywhere and anytime. Hospitals can freely enter and exit the medical service market. The Korean medical service market has developed in a way that benefits both patients and hospitals. As a result of free competition, patients are flocking to large hospitals and some areas have no hospitals.
The fierce market competition has elevated the level of the nation`s medical services, with doctors` capabilities becoming advanced and modernized. In order to survive, neighborhood clinics have also upgraded their services, secured state-of-the-art technologies and expanded their service to skin care and weight loss.
Public hospitals are struggling with accumulating deficits, as they have failed to pace with the changing environment and neglected the demands of consumers. Such circumstances have led to the controversial shutdown of the Jinju Medical Center in southeastern Korea. Small and medium-sized hospitals that previously were the backbone of the medical service market have been converted into long-term care or special hospitals. Spine and joint hospitals have sprung up everywhere recently, subjecting patients to unnecessary surgeries in some cases.
With the medical service market now nearly saturated due to a lack of entry barriers for medical institutions, fierce territorial disputes have erupted. Oriental medical clinics are pushing to use modern medical equipment, while Western medicine practitioners want to use instruments similar to herb doctors` needles. Internal medicine doctors are already intruding into the traditional turf of surgeons by taking advantage of state-of-the-art medical imaging equipment and minimally invasive techniques. Oriental and Western medical doctors are also at odds over the development of new medicine based on natural substances, one of the government`s most ambitious research and development projects.
Korean hospitals also are attracting more and more patients from abroad who seek medical services ranging from plastic surgeries and physical checkups to complex operations. But they do not seem to be satisfied with foreign patients visiting from abroad.
Therefore, Korean hospitals have rushed out to explore foreign markets. Their overseas push recalls Korea`s aggressive export drive during the 1970s and 80s. The nation`s previous governments had regarded the medical service industry as one of the new growth engines. Under the incumbent government, the medical service industry is being reborn as one of the core industries for a creative economy.
But the medical service market`s evolution towards liberalization and industrialization has often suffered setbacks due to ideological controversy surrounding the adverse effects of privatized health care. The ubiquitous health, or U-health, service system, which is designed to offer online diagnosis and treatment services to remotely located patients, has been opposed by organizations of doctors.
The integration of medical information has been delayed due to concern over leaks of personal information.
Korean medical corporations` overseas inroads have been undermined by their status as a non-profit entity. Foreign hospitals` entry into the local market has yet to materialize, as the issue has been stuck in the framework of privatized health care. With the nation`s medical sector locked in a fierce debate on market opening and closure, it may fall prey to China`s rapidly evolving medical sector.
After all, the Korean medical market has displayed both strengths and weaknesses in its own evolution. Generally, the strong points tend to be invisible and the weak points visible. The strong points should not be destroyed under the pretext of making up for the weak points. Internal conflicts and enthusiasm within the Korean medical service market should be guided to evolve in a desirable direction.
The profit-seeking commercialization of medical services should be strongly regulated to prevent distorted services. Public hospitals should jettison their traditional service paradigm and evolve in a way that promotes public values and sharpens their competitiveness in specialized fields. All the shackles that hinder enthusiasm and challenges in our medical service market should be eliminated. Our medical market should ceaselessly continue to evolve.
[ Seoul Economic Daily, September 16, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Let’s Prepare for Era of Homo Hundred
Park Yong-hyun Chairman Korea Industrial Technology Association
The average South Korean can expect to live 81 years, the 17th longest in the world, according to the latest life expectancy data released by the World Health Organization. The nation`s average life expectancy was 72 years in 1990, meaning the figure has increased by about five months annually. If the rate is projected, Korean babies born 50 years from now would be expected to live an average of 100 years, opening an era of “homo hundred” here.
At present, senior citizens aged 65 and over make up 12.2 percent of the Korean population. The ratio is expected to top 20 percent by 2026. In 2050, four out of 10 Koreans will likely be senior citizens. The era of homo hundred is no longer a vision of the distant future.
Then what is our reality? Korea`s poverty rate for the elderly is over three times higher than the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries. Only 14 percent of Korean baby boomers approaching 60 say they are well prepared for post-retirement life. The state`s social security system and funds are not sufficient. The forthcoming era of homo hundred could turn out to be an era of old-age poverty.
We are now living under an “80-year life clock.” In other words, we are employed in our 20s and work until age 60 before enjoying our post-retirement life for 20 years. Now our life clock should be
readjusted for the homo hundred era. Embracing the concept of “double cropping in life,” senior citizens in their 60s should actively pursue a second career.
Accordingly, a new social consensus should be reached to encourage such a trend. Retired senior citizens should be viewed not as a “social burden” but as a “national asset.” We should create a new social atmosphere and system to help the retirees start their second career. Public works projects that are intended to help impoverished elderly people cannot be a fundamental solution.
According to a recent survey of senior citizens, 59 percent of people aged between 55 and 79 said they want a job. The elderly people who played a leading role in Korea`s rapid economic development decades ago are credited with the know-how and experience of overcoming hardships. In particular, retired scientists and technicians who have accumulated outstanding skills and knowledge are able to help cement the foundation of corporate competitiveness and invigorate the creative economy.
For example, the Korea Industrial Technology Association (KOITA) has operated various programs to utilize the expertise of retired technology specialists, such as “Techno Doctors” and “Senior Technical Leaders` Club.” The independent non-profit association helps more than 100 retired scientists and technicians of high caliber find employment at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) every year. About 80 retired specialists land consulting jobs. More than 40 percent of the SMEs that participate in the KOITA programs have reported tangible outcomes in technology commercialization, improvement of research and development capability, and cost reduction.
In August, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) established the “Retired Scientists and Engineers Center (RSEC)” in a bid to systematically manage and utilize retired technology specialists of high caliber. The number of Korean scientists and technicians aged 60 and over reaches about 6,000, while approximately 15,000 researchers older than 50 are working for private companies. The local science and technology sector has begun preparations for the aging society and the era of homo hundred. Such a development is welcomed by the domestic industrial circles, which have difficulties in recruiting researchers with a master`s degree or a doctorate.
The RSEC operated by KOITA on behalf of MSIP manages an integrated database on retired college professors and private and public sector researchers. The center will serve as an intermediary to offer assistance to anybody, anywhere and anytime, by forming networks with universities, public institutions and other organizations, and establishing regional bases nationwide. Moreover, it will exploit and provide information on a variety of jobs and business projects in cooperation with about
30,000 corporate research centers supported by KOITA.
The center will be in charge of allocating government budgets to subsidize personnel and operating expenses and lead scientists and technicians to form their own cooperative associations and create job opportunities by themselves. In the future, the center will further expand its operational areas. For instance, it will push to engage in open innovation by running an “idea platform,� which will collect and relay ideas from experienced specialists. It will also participate in the provision of research and development expertise to developing nations, thereby contributing to offshore operations and exports of SMEs.
The center`s activities will lead to more and better jobs at SMEs, helping to ease young people`s reluctance to enter schools of natural sciences and engineering, and reducing their unemployment. Population aging should not be feared. It should be gladly embraced and engaged wisely. It`s a blessing for us all. Celebrating the launch of the Retired Scientists and Engineers Center, we hope that the government, enterprises and people unite to better prepare for the forthcoming era of homo hundred. The new era should be greeted as a blessing.
[ Korea Economic Daily, September 13, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
- A New Strategy for Globalization - Why Have We Become a ‘Community of Fear’? - Those Who Cannot Press the ‘Del’ Button - Japan’s Ama, Jeju’s Haenyeo - Era of ‘Menbung’ and Reality TV Shows
A New Strategy for Globalization
Yeom Jae-ho Professor of Public Administration Vice President, Korea University
A while ago, “Goddess of the Workplace,� a TV drama series about non-regular office workers with popular actress Kim Hye-soo cast in the lead role, captured a big audience.
As contract employees, non-regular workers are paid for hours worked. They are paid less than regular workers and denied fringe benefits given to regular workers. With no retirement age set for them, their greatest wish is to become regular workers. In the drama series, however, regular workers envy non-regular workers for the freedom they enjoy as freelancers. They value freedom from organizational restraints and regulations more than their economic advantages.
In the past, unmarried women in their late 20s fretted about being regarded as misfit. Now many unmarried women, putting work before marriage, feel self-confident as career women. They prefer remaining proud singles to getting married to take care of their husband and children.
A change in perception transforms our lives and brings forth innovation. The 21st century has witnessed a great many social changes. Every aspect of our society, from organization to labor, industry and culture, is changing. A change creates problems, which, in turn, demand a solution. Those who fail to think outside of the box and find a solution will be distressed. A solution, when offered by an innovator breaking the mold, is a bolt from the blue like the egg of Columbus.
It is the kind of a change in perception with which Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, changed the world with his smartphone. He applied the existing technology onto what people wanted rather than developing a new technology. A social demand, rather than technological development, leads to a change. That is why efforts are being made to blend together humanities and technology.
Kodak developed a digital camera first, and Nokia developed an early smartphone. The problem is that, stuck in a conventional frame of mind, they failed to read the changing times and shifting attitudes. As a result, they were passed by in the market.
The Park Geun-hye administration is calling for a “creative economy,� that can upgrade and restructure the business paradigm of the nation`s industries. It has benchmarked Israel`s business environment for start-up ventures and is taking note of Israel maintaining a global competitive edge in technology and exporting technology to Silicon Valley in California.
Under Park`s initiative, government officials are trying to turn Korea into a global leader in information and communications technology (ICT). The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning is pushing for Korea`s presence in Silicon Valley and other ICT research and development sites around the world.
This strategy is similar to one pursued by Nokia. But when I visited Finland several years ago, I heard experts expressing concerns about Nokia`s global strategy. At the time, the company dominated global mobile phone markets and generated more than one-third of Finland`s gross domestic product.
Nokia sought to conduct R&D operations not just in the United States and Europe but also in India and other places where the labor costs were low. But its huge investments were not focused well enough. Technology being developed in Finland was leaked to foreign countries, hurting the Finnish economy.
In light of Nokia`s experience, Korea needs a change in perception to lead technological development; it may be more effective to set up R&D centers at home rather than abroad.
Korea is considered one of the most advanced countries in the world in ICT. Young foreigners often say they feel they are in the future when they visit Korea. They say that with its clean and safe urban environment, a 24-hour society, and diversity that helps foreigners live comfortably, Korea represents
a livable future.
Now, Korea can bring in world-renowned ICT experts and corporations and combine their technology with its own to lead the world in cutting-edge technology. Korea may build ICT R&D parks, be it in Songdo or Saemangeum, and provide the infrastructure for a variety of “living labs� to create new social demands. In short, the nation is now capable of pushing for inbound globalization as well as outbound globalization. As Kim Jae-chul, chairman of Dongwon Group, has proposed to look at the world map upside down, Korea`s social paradigm could be reshaped through changes in perception in diverse fields.
[ The Dong-a Ilbo, September 17, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Why Have We Become a ‘Community of Fear’?
Lee Kyu-youn Editorial Writer The JoongAng Ilbo
“Live octopuses are of Chinese origin.” So read the menu at a restaurant in Jung-gu, central Seoul. Until a short while ago, “thin-legged octopuses of domestic origin” had been the restaurant`s key selling point, but it had to change its marketing when a rumor claimed live local octopuses were contaminated by radioactive water leaking from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
The radioactive water supposedly had flowed into mudflats on the southern and western coasts of Korea. But actually it would take several years for any radioactive-contaminated water from Japan to reach the Korean coastline. No contaminated seafood products of domestic origin have been found so far. Yet, fear grips families at the dining table.
In a certain sense, fear is a shield for survival. The fear one feels at the sight of a predator naturally triggers an instinct to flee. Fear is not an enemy. But excessive fear is different. It causes conflicts in a group or in a nation. It is a source of stress threatening the mental health. Some people may be critically hurt by an excessive fear.
The latest fear about seafood products is overblown. Sales have plummeted at sushi restaurants and fish stores although the tuna was caught in the South Pacific and no pollack has been imported from Japan. All seafood products of domestic origin are also swept into the sphere of fear. The prime
minister and ministers are visiting fish markets to drum up purchases and government officials are encouraged to dine at seafood restaurants. But consumption is not picking up despite safety assurances from the government and experts.
Far more powerful is a network of fear created by unsubstantiated rumors. Falling prey to the network are 600,000 people working for the fisheries industry, who have become speechless. The fear was triggered by a report in July that Japan kept the leakage of contaminated water a secret. The Internet overflowed with unconfirmed information. Netizens criticized the government for the mistakes it has made and found fault with quarantine and inspection measures.
Should the government and the institution for quarantine and inspection be held solely accountable for the fear and its damage? Fear about food is not unfamiliar in our society. We have been scared of U.S. beef, duck and chicken, and dried milk. When a fear about food is on the verge of being overcome, another monster rears its ugly head and inflicts major damage. Why are we vulnerable to food scares? A psychiatrist, a sociologist and a scholar of communication have been invited to a virtual round table.
“Koreans live so hard. Their brains are just as tired. A study shows that people feel more fear when their brains feel exhausted. They take a problem seriously when they may well respond to it calmly. An excessively sensitive response dulls the reason. Drinking boilermakers or smoking is no less harmful than eating contaminated seafood.” (Professor Yoon Dae-hyun, a psychiatrist at Seoul National University Hospital)
“Koreans are secularists. Under the Confucian influence, there are exceptionally many people in Korea who believe that death means an end to all. As such, they have immense concern about health. They are sensitive to food safety. Added to this are the long-lasting slump, unemployment, fierce competition for admissions to university and other types of social instability, which produce so much fear.” (Kim Mun-jo, a sociology professor at Korea University)
“Advances in information, communication and media have a great impact (on fear). SNS is a tool used to push information to one side. Through this, uncorroborated information and groundless rumors spread widely at a click. People are hit by a message of fear while the government and the mass media are at a loss. Counter-messages come too late if they are ever made.” (Ahn Min-ho, a professor at the School of Communication and Media, Sookmyung Women`s University)
The three experts have different views. But they have one thing in common: They feel excessive fright is a communal problem that is attached to the psychological instability of the modern times and the Korean people`s value system. If fear is triggered by an incompetent government and the weak system of quarantine and inspection, the instability, speeding and secularity that are residing inside us are the powder keg of fear.
Fear about seafood will disappear sooner or later. But it will be followed by another scare. The civil society and the mass media will have to develop the ability to dampen fear. Individuals will also have to develop skills to separate truth from fiction. The forest stands quiet when it has many trees so deeply rooted that they cannot be easily swayed by winds.
[ September 13, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Those Who Cannot Press the ‘Del’ Button
Choi Byeong-jun Popular Culture Editor The Kyunghyang Shinmun
I frequently watch the MBC program, “I Live Alone.” It`s probably because many people around me live alone. According to the latest census conducted by Statistics Korea, one-person households totaled 4,142,165 in 2010, the second largest group after some 4.2 million two-person households.
The number of one-person households was 1.64 million in 1995, 2.26 million in 2000 and 3.17 million in 2005. The steady increase will likely continue and another new high will be seen in the next census in 2015. Has the family structure ever undergone such a profound change in the past? Probably not.
First, those who remain single have increased in number. Many of my friends care little about getting married. They simply choose to remain single and that is now accepted as an individual`s right. It cannot be said that remaining single is desirable or not desirable. It is a trend.
Unlike in the past, people are not deemed lonesome just because they live alone. In a networked society, one can connect to other people at any time and any place. Until a while ago, two or more people had to sit down at the same time for Internet chatting. But social network services have removed physical constraints. It is not necessary to communicate at the same time. A person can leave a message and pick up replies later.
Labor and consumption are different from what they used to be. It was difficult to live alone in the age of agriculture. A farmer could not work in the field at any time he pleased. When the time came for transplanting rice, even small children had to help. He had to tend to irrigation immediately when rain poured down, regardless of the time of day. A farmer living alone could not easily find any help. As such, he would have been considered an unfortunate person.
What is it like in the modern times? All that a person needs is a computer. He can work anytime at home. There is no such thing as an agricultural off-season. He can work more than a hunter-gatherer or a farmer did. The evolutionary biologist William Hamilton says although worker bees cannot reproduce because they only have a half set of genes it is genetically beneficial because they care for the queen bee`s young offspring. Facetiously enough, today`s family structure is becoming similar to the honeybee system.
Many of those living alone impulsively shop online. We find many people around us shop as a hobby. They are the type of people demanded by the modern economic system. Its mantra is “Work! And Consume!” What is the problem with consumption, which is revitalizing the economy? What does it have to do with the family?
The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman criticized consumerism in that individuals choose to buy goods at reasonable prices as a cure for their loneliness, paying attention to themselves alone. He said that these individuals are men and women, both young and old, with no social bonds, and these people weaken social bonds though they may lubricate the wheels for economic growth.
Quite a few married people live alone, too. According to the 2010 census, some 540,000 people lived alone though they were married. In the past, married men left for construction work in the Middle East and found work on ships. Married men living alone now are different. They sacrifice their family life to send their children abroad to attend school.
Koreans are not unique for their fervent desire to provide a good education for their children. Ulrich Beck and his wife, Elizabeth Beck-Gernsheim, said children became the last-remaining, irrevocable, unique and primary objects of love. The reason, they said, was that children remain even if partners separate. Zygmunt Bauman also said childrearing is a consumer`s biggest expense, costing more than travel around the world or a decent residence.
It is inconceivable that “everyone is born with his own rice bowl,” given the fierce competition for
survival. If so, is the one-person household a new type of structure in the age of the post-nuclear family? The dictionary defines a family as a group of people affiliated by consanguinity around a husband and his wife. A minimum of two persons is needed to constitute a family. A one-person household cannot be a family.
People who live alone may appear to be comfortable. But I believe the family will gain greater importance in the years ahead. One may have numerous Internet friends and talk with people on the other side of the globe. But nothing can be as easily broken as relations on the network. A “friend” can be thrown into the wastebasket by simply pressing the “del” button.
Modern men and women are linked to numerous people, but their social bonds are weakening. The easier it becomes to establish relations online, the more important offline bonds will become. A person starts to establish relations in a family. The last that can push the “del” button on me are members of my family.
[ September 22, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Japan’s Ama, Jeju’s Haenyeo
Bae Keuk-in Tokyo Correspondent The Dong-a Ilbo
A craze for ama (women divers) is sweeping Japan these days. What sparked the fever was “Amachan,” a popular TV drama series that has been aired on NHK since April this year. The drama is about a high-school girl who fails to adapt to school in Tokyo and goes to a fishing village in Iwate Prefecture, northeast Japan, where her mother was born. There she becomes a diver following in the footsteps of her maternal grandmother.
The heroine, called ama-chan, achieves national stardom by chance but when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurs on March 11, 2011, she returns to her native town and becomes a symbol of regional revival. Each episode of the highly popular series has recorded over 20 percent in audience ratings. As a result, Kuji City in Iwate Prefecture overflows with tourists and there are even young women in their 20s who wish to become divers. “Ama-chan” is leading the revival of Iwate Prefecture, which was heavily damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
However, the traditional center of Japanese women divers is Toba and Shima cities in Mie Prefecture, where nearly half of Japan`s 2,174 women divers live. With the drama series becoming such a big hit, the local government of Mie Prefecture is exerting every effort to revive its “ama culture,” expecting it will breathe a new life into the area`s slumping economy. As part of the effort, it invited about 10 foreign correspondents based in Tokyo for a tour on September 5-6.
Korea and Japan are the only countries in the world where female sea divers are found. Therefore, not only European journalists from Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy but those from China and Vietnam also couldn`t contain their surprise to see female divers skillfully collecting marine products from the sea without any special equipment. Some curious journalists even jumped into water by themselves with cameras to capture those scenes.
At ama-goya, a spot close to shore where they sit around after work to take a rest and have a chat (bulteok is the name of similar spots in Jeju), the divers were bombarded with questions about how they became divers and what their lives were like. Marketing to take advantage of the unique culture also seemed intriguing to them. A shrine named Ishigami-san (Honorable Stone Goddess), for offering prayers for peace and well-being of female divers, draws endless streams of women from all over Japan, because the goddess is believed to grant at least one wish of all female visitors. Amulets with stars and grid-like patterns are popular souvenirs.
Mie Prefecture`s invitation to the foreign correspondents also seemed to be aimed at promoting its ama culture worldwide, ahead of its inscription on the UNESCO`s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In response to a proposal by Korean female divers in 2007, the Japanese divers participated in the effort to attain the listing. They all believed that inscription on the UNESCO list would be essential for preservation and transmission of their age-old traditions that are in danger of extinction.
“Women divers maintain their survival skills from the immemorial past just as they were,� said Yoshikata Ishihara, director of the Toba Sea-Folk Museum, and foreign correspondents nodded in approval. Ishihara added that Japanese female divers learned to wear white cotton outfits while working with Korean divers from Jeju Island in the 1900s. Until that time, he explained, Japanese female divers had worked in the water with their upper bodies exposed.
Female divers of the two neighboring countries united for the UNESCO designation with a shared sense of crisis that their time-honored traditions might disappear for good. Japan`s traditional female divers totaled 17,611 in 1956, but plummeted to about one eighth, or 2,174, in 2010. Moreover, most of those who continue to practice their skills are now in their 60s and over. This is because few young women want to become divers and the supply of abalone, an expensive seafood item, has rapidly decreased due to sea pollution and the rising ocean temperatures.
The situation is not appreciably different in Korea. Female divers on Jeju Island, called haenyeo, once numbered 30,000, but as of this year there are only 4,800 of them. Recalling the 1930s, when Jeju`s women divers waged anti-Japanese activities, it feels as if we are living in a completely different age to see them banding together with their Japanese counterparts. The joint inscription of the culture of female divers of the two countries on the UNESCO list will adorn a meaningful page in the history of bilateral exchanges, following their joint hosting of the 2002 World Cup.
Women divers of both countries are already solidifying their grassroots bonds by dispatching congratulatory delegations to each other`s festivals. Their moves show that Korea-Japan relations certainly have more sides than the diplomatic front which remains frozen.
[ September 9, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Era of ‘Menbung’ and Reality TV Shows
Kim Sun-young Popular Culture Critic
In reviewing entertainment TV programs of the first half of this year, one keyword that shouldn`t be missed is “travails,” or gosaeng in Korean. From the clumsy childcare diaries on “Daddy, Where Are We Going?” on MBC to the wild-nature exploration on “Rules of the Jungle” on SBS, the scope of travails featured by popular reality shows is quite extensive. Lately, amid a spate of entertainment shows playing up celebrities undergoing “extreme travails,” the prefix saeng has been added for the new coinage, “saeng-gosaeng.”
The conventional meaning of saeng is “unnecessary” or “undergoing for no clear reasons.” But the way it is used now suggests an extreme degree of hardship as in the case of “saeng-jiok,” meaning “living hell.” As a matter of fact, the degree of hardship displayed is becoming increasingly harsher, as seen in “Barefoot Friends” on SBS, dubbed a “real-life hardship variety show,” or “Final Adventure” on MBC, claiming to be the “champion of hardship reality shows.”
When MBC released “Sunday Night – Real Men” spotlighting celebrities undergoing grueling military training, SBS began airing “The Heart Beats” deploying famous stars in extremely dangerous fire fighting scenes. Finally, in “Time Expedition, Let`s Go,” a program on tvN, celebrities are asked to reenact the lives of servants in the Joseon period.
There is nothing new about TV shows featuring celebrities experiencing all types of difficulties. Stars
behaving foolishly or becoming the butt of jokes has been a standard of comedy shows. However, in the past, stars` hardships were a one-off event. On today`s celebrity reality shows, they have evolved into sagas and quickly taken root with powerful content. Especially, there is the need to scrutinize today`s reality entertainment shows as they deal with celebrity sagas in a very similar style. This also has to do with the ever-intensifying degree of hardship.
For example, the latest reality shows commonly feature celebrities driven into a state of “mental breakdown” (“menbung” in popular jargon) at the very beginning. In the first episode of “Barefoot Friends,” the all celeb members of the expedition team, realizing they have been left in the middle of a faraway desert, ask in dismay, “Where are we? Why are we in a desert?” It is only the prelude to a long suffering journey.
“Real Men” made its debut with a cast mostly in their late 30s who have rejoined the military. They suffer menbung when they first encounter the army officer in charge of them. “The Heart Beats” also premiered with the faces of stars being paralyzed with fear and anxiety when they face a hell-like scene of fire. Subtitles wish that “God have mercy on these men.” These opening episodes naturally lead to installments about the mental restoration of the cast members.
It is not a simple coincidence that these programs uniformly share expressions such as “a fierce battle with oneself” and emphasize the reinforcement of mental strength. The shows claim to pursue a specific spiritual value. They seem to be temporary remedies for our era of “mental breakdown,” declaring there is a way out, no matter how hard the situation, if you just think clearly.
Of course, the more dangerous the situation becomes, the more emphatically mental power is stressed. “Real Men” and “The Heart Beats” call for particularly stronger mental power. According to the producers of these two shows, individuals can have stronger mental power when they put the interests of their organization ahead of their own. The point is that, when people become one mind through solidarity and unconditional obedience to the organization, they can overcome an emergency situation.
Even Sam Hammington in “Real Men,” who had not understood Korean military culture, and Cho Dong-hyuk in “The Heart Beats,” who had resisted harsh regulations, could eventually be born again as faithful members of their teams. They realized that “my colleagues can be sacrificed just because of me” and that “I must persevere to protect my beloved family and community.” At the end of their saga they have become the type of “real man” and a “hero” that their organization wants.
These images look familiar to us. Looming behind them are the shadows of industrial workers who toiled with the “hungry spirit� to spearhead Korea`s fast growth during the era of economic development. In this sense, TV shows highlighting travails appear to be tailor-made for the current era, when a state of crisis is stressed to trumpet grand national unity.
[ Kyunghyang Shinmun, September 21, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
- Hangeul Day Celebrated as Public Holiday Again - Korea as the Asian Hub of Opera - Regret over Modern Korean Architecture - The Memory of 2002 and Recollection of 2013 - Royal Seals and State Seals - Haeundae’s Enthusiasm for the Humanities
Hangeul Day Celebrated as Public Holiday Again
Lee Dae-ro Chairman National Association of Korean Development
Hangeul, the native Korean alphabet, is one of the best writing systems in the world. However, it remained in obscurity for hundreds of years after it was invented by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, in the 15th century. During the reign of King Sejong and thereafter, efforts were made to promote the writing system, but it did not receive due recognition for nearly five centuries, from the years under the tyrannical ruler, Prince Yeonsan, to the demise of Joseon in 1910.
During the reign of King Gojong, Joseon`s 26th ruler who proclaimed the Korean Empire to shed Chinese influence, Ju Si-gyeong, one of the early modern Korean linguists, and other people tried to spread the use of Hangeul briefly, but as Korea lost its sovereignty to Japan, the Korean script almost disappeared. Fortunately, in 1926 under the Japanese colonial rule, the Korean Language Research Society designated October 9 as Hangeul Day, and after Korea regained its independence, the nation started to use its own writing system officially.
In 1946, when Korea was under the U.S. military rule, Hangeul Day was declared a public holiday, and as the movement calling for the use of Hangeul spread, it was adopted for official documents and textbooks. However, in 1990, Hangeul Day was dropped as a public holiday. Through efforts by Hangeul advocacy groups, October 9 became Hangeul Commemorative Day in 2005 and then a public holiday again in 2012. We should pay close attention to preserve this day and not allow it to
be diminished once more.
Hangeul is our nation`s pride and self-esteem, and is credited with helping pave the way to a better life. It is a tool for cultural creation and a weapon for cultural competition. Since the colonial period, Hangeul Day has served as a foundation and driving force to guard our writing system. Under colonial oppression, Koreans reinforced their determination to increase national strength and regain independence by safeguarding their own script, and nurtured aspirations for independence. Hangeul Day helped to encourage national spirit as well as endeavors to standardize the vernacular language, spelling system and Romanization, and publish dictionaries.
After liberation, textbooks and official documents were published in the Korean script. Thanks to a campaign to promote the exclusive use of the native script, which is easy to learn, illiteracy has been virtually eliminated, serving as a basic tool in achieving fast economic growth and democratization. Based on those achievements, we have created our own culture, which is now reaching out to the world in the name of hallyu. I am proud of and grateful to Hangeul, King Sejong and Hangeul Day.
The reason why we advocated the reinstatement of Hangeul Day as a public holiday was not to enjoy another day off. It was intended to help achieve cultural flourishing and contribute to the cultural development of humanity by finding ways to make better use of our ingenious writing system, as well as expressing appreciation to King Sejong and those who worked to safeguard the writing system. We should reflect on that we have failed to use our script appropriately, even though it is one of the best writing systems in the world and one of our nation`s most treasured cultural assets.
Now, we have to use our language and writing system more correctly, and also find ways to take advantage of our highly versatile writing system to make money and lead a better life. Hangeul is a scientific writing system. It facilitates digital speech recognition and automatic translation and interpretation. If we could use all of the 28 letters King Sejong invented initially and utilize the orthography of that time, it would also be highly useful in learning foreign languages.
With the return of Hangeul Day as a public holiday, the Digital Hangeul Museum has been dedicated amid expectations that it will become a center for the development of our writing system. Despite the widespread efforts to promote Hangeul and put it into better use, English signboards have become increasingly common in Korean streets and hybrid words mixing foreign and Korean vocabulary are ubiquitous. It all depends on us how we can further refine our writing system and boost our national strength. Let`s celebrate the day and rejoice together.
[ The JoongAng Ilbo, October 9, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Korea as the Asian Hub of Opera
Oh Hyeon-hwan Deputy Editor, Culture and Leisure Desk The Seoul Economic Daily
“Go East, Young Diva” was the title of the article in The New York Times` opinion pages taken from the International Herald Tribune Global Agenda 2011, published on December 2, 2010. For the past four centuries, Italy has been the center of world opera, but Korea is emerging as a strong player and students may as well study opera in Korea where the action is; there are about 120 private opera companies, shows are staged in every city, and there is at least one Korean opera singer in major productions overseas.
Many opera festivals have dotted the calendar throughout the world since the beginning of this year to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the births of two opera gurus, Verdi and Wagner. Korean singers are performing in some of them to rave responses from the audience. Samuel Youn (Youn Tae-hyeon) played the Dutchman in “The Flying Dutchman” at the Bayreuth Festival, which is known as the mecca of Wagner`s arts. The first Asian to play the role last year, he got the part again this year, receiving praise such as “hero of Bayreuth.”
Kwangchul Youn was the bass soloist at the Requiem Concert commemorating the bicentenary of Verdi`s birth. Attila Jun (Jeon Seung-hyeon) performed as the bass singer of “The Ring of the Nibelung” at the Bayreuth Festival, and tenor Wookyung Kim performed Macbeth in the Verdi opera at La Scala, with the crowds feverishly cheering each of them.
What would becoming the center stage of opera mean for Korea? Currently, there are approximately 5,000 Korean students who are studying music in Italy. The number goes up to 40,000 if those in Germany, the U.K., France and the United States are included. The benefit is obvious; it would be a boon to the local conservatories. China, with rising income, has begun to send students overseas as more are learning classical music. It is also likely that people will visit Korea to enjoy operatic performances. The tourism industry will benefit.
There is also an indirect impact on enhancing Korea`s national status and brand value. Italian luxury brands undoubtedly received positive influence from the high-class music genre. Japan, with its higher national income, has fewer opera companies and offers fewer shows. China still has a long way to go because it still lacks the political freedom, which provides the soil for flourishing arts and culture. Claims are being made that Korea stands a chance at being the Asian hub of opera, albeit not a global one.
However, that would come with a price. Opera is a comprehensive form of music in that not only singers but other elements of beautiful modern arts are involved, including chorus, drama, orchestra, ballet, lighting, acoustics, formative art, and stage art. It requires a hefty budget, but an opera is performed for no more than four days; even in the leading nations, 80 percent of the budget is financed with central and local governments` support as well as corporate donations, and the other 20 percent is covered by the ticket proceeds.
Up until the 1997-98 Asian currency crisis, business companies and chaebol`s support led the growth of Korean opera, and that is how private opera companies possessed higher finesse than state-owned companies. The crisis dampened the mood, and the private opera companies withered with the absence of deep-pocketed sponsors. It is time that business companies stepped up again to create another Korean wave, namely K-opera. There is a strong argument that all industries in the age of creative economy must integrate with the cultural sector to make a leap forward.
According to the Dong-yi section of the “Records of Wei� in the Sanguozhi, one of the four great histories of ancient China, Dong-yi, or foreigners to the east of China (thus Koreans` ancestors) were known to enjoy drinking, dancing and singing in communal rituals like mucheon, yeonggo and dongmaeng, performed to the heavens. Pansori, the traditional Korean narrative song, also hints at the trace of the singing culture coursing through their veins. It may well be as good a time as any for Koreans to exert efforts to create the Asian hub of opera in this culturally enriched age.
[ September 16, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Regret over Modern Korean Architecture
Kim Hyon-jeong Orthopaedic Surgeon Seoul Metropolitan Dongbu Hospital
After a four-day summer camp stay at a traditional Korean house, elementary school students were asked to fill out a questionnaire. One of the questions asked what they liked best about the hanok. What do you think their answer was? Was it the tall gate in front of which a visitor would have called for a servant to inform the master he was there to see him? Was it the raised floor of the main hall or the lattice doors covered with mulberry paper? Did they like the fireplace best in which you could practically burn everything?
It was none of the above. The favorite part of the traditional Korean house according to the children was the eaves. They extend from the deep corners of the roof, slope gently downward and tilt ever so slightly upward like the hem of a skirt. The children actually wanted to take the eaves and hang them over their verandas in apartment buildings.
Surprisingly, the children had an eye for architecture. Eaves were designed to keep out both extreme heat and cold by providing a shade against the sun high up in the sky in the summer and by letting in the warmth of the sun at a lower altitude in the winter. The heated air inside rises upward and is trapped under the eaves, keeping the house warm. The eaves are wonderfully designed to keep at bay, circulate, or trap heat according to the altitude of the sun throughout the year.
I had a chance to visit the new city hall building in Seoul. The first impression I had upon entering the shiny glass building was that I had set foot inside a conservatory. Indeed, plants were lining up against the walls adding to the humidity in the air. The second impression I got when I got off the elevator at the destined floor was I felt trapped. There were office entrances at both ends of the elevator hall but a visitor cannot go anywhere until someone comes out with a card key to the doors.
I could not for the life of me find the fire escape. Maybe they were beyond the glass doors. What was I to do in case a fire broke out? I was panicking in the hallway like a claustrophobic patient waiting for someone to receive me.
I heard some horrendous news about the building. In wintertime, snow froze on the curved rooftop and it slid and fell like ice bombs threatening the safety of pedestrians and cars below. It was proposed that heating cables be installed on the roof. What nonsense when we need to conserve energy? Why hadn`t they thought of building the roof flat? Wait, there is more. In the monsoon season, rainwater leaked. You were lost for words watching the pictures of little buckets and trash cans in the building lobby catching the rain droplets from the ceiling.
Hello? The Seoul City Hall? You have got to be kidding me. A 300 billion won disaster, right?
We see a lot of buildings encased in glass walls. The so-called curtain wall design, popular throughout the world, is suitable for high-rise buildings and is known to be a big cost saver. However, most of such buildings are not heat-efficient and I wonder whether they fit in Korea. Another thought crossed my mind and that is people seem to tear down perfectly fine buildings to build new ones all too frequently.
In the early 1980s, I watched a tall building go up in my neighborhood on my way to and from school. The steel frame rose higher and higher, and many years of hard work went into completing the building. It is none other than the KEPCO building in Samseong-dong. I was sorry to hear that they are going to get rid of the 30-something-year-old sturdy building and in its place build a high-rise complex including a 100-plus-storey skyscraper.
Animals build shelters for themselves, houses that meet their needs. Fortunately, they have no irresponsible politicians or self-complacent architects who design on impulse not paying any heed to the actual users. I wonder if our descendants hundreds of years later will comment on the remains of our houses, “Did they really live in such houses back in the 21st century? No eaves, the windows
hardly open, and no ventilation whatsoever. How pathetic!� Maybe we need to think like the children who spent their camp days in a hanok.
[ The Hankyoreh, September 5, 2013 ]
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The Memory of 2002 and Recollection of 2013
Lee Ki-cheol Sports Editor The Seoul Economic Daily
It was October 1, 2002, in the middle of the Busan Asian Games. It is still vivid in my memory that, for the first time in history, North Korea`s national flag was raised and its national anthem played at the gymnasium of Pukyong University. Ri Song-hui (then aged 24) won North Korea`s first gold medal at the games with a world record in the women`s 53kg weightlifting. The North Korean national anthem was played a total of nine times during the Busan Asiad.
Before the games, the South Korean government had gravely warned that cheering for North Koreans holding their national flag would be unlawful. Therefore, I was embarrassed as well as intrigued to see the official display of North Korea`s national flag and anthem. I still vividly remember the tearful eyes of the young North Korean female cheerleaders at the awards ceremony.
Eleven years later, on September 12, 2013, South Korea`s national flag was hoisted and its national anthem played in North Korea. On this day, the “Republic of Korea,� South Korea`s official name, was displayed along with its national flag, Taegeukgi, in the North Korean capital for the first time since the division of the two Koreas. The historic incident occurred at the entrance ceremony of the 2013 Asian Cup and Club Weightlifting Championships, held at the Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyongyang.
South Korea`s national anthem was played on September 14, when Kim Woo-shik, 19, won the gold medal in the men`s junior 85kg weightlifting. Although it was not a major sporting event that attracted global attention, the young athletes made significant achievements that even our heads of state, politicians and businessmen felt short of accomplishing during their visits to the North. South Korean national anthem was played six times during the games. “Whenever our national anthem was played, all of our team members sang along loudly,” said Jeon Chang-beom, captain of the South Korean team.
North Korea reacted extremely sensitively to South Korean national flag and anthem in the past. As the host of an Asian qualifier for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, North Korea even gave up its home advantage by holding a match with South Korea in Shanghai, China, instead of Pyongyang, in 2008. It was because of their negative feeling toward the South Korean national flag and anthem. But the North showed a different attitude at the weightlifting championships.
“Upon hearing the announcer address our state name as Namjoseon in the North Korean style, we demanded it be called the Republic of Korea. Our request was accepted and they never repeated the same mistake again,” said Jeon. The Korean Central Television (KCTV), which covers the entire territory of North Korea, broadcast Kim Woo-shik`s game and awards ceremony for 15 minutes, beginning at 11 a.m. on September 15. Even though the South`s national flag was not seen in closeup, the first few bars of the national anthem were heard dimly for about seven seconds.
These changes in North Korean attitude may be interpreted as the flutter of a butterfly`s wings. Kim Jong-un, first chairman of the National Defense Commission, who fell in love with basketball while he was studying in Switzerland, invited Dennis Rodman, a retired American professional basketball player, and even allowed him to hold his baby daughter as a gesture of hospitality. Recently, North Korea`s International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Chang Ung publicly expressed his support for South Korea's effort to secure another seat in the sports governing body.
Considering how important sports can be for propaganda and governance in the communist state, the implications of North Korea`s recent moves are as remarkable as the two Koreas competing as a single nation in the 1990s. As steady exchanges in sports between East and West Germany helped lead to their unification and ping-pong diplomacy brought about a diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and China, sports have been efficient means in overcoming political and ideological barriers.
North Korea may ban hoisting the South Korean national flag and playing its anthem again. But we should not just wait for the North to change, doing nothing. As Kim Woo-shik shed beads of sweat without knowing he would have our national anthem played in North Korea, it is time that we prepared ourselves to grasp chances to improve inter-Korean relations. Hence our politicians and government officials should prove themselves better than a 19-year-old weightlifter.
[ September 24, 2013 ]
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Royal Seals and State Seals
Son Seong-jin Chief Editorial Writer The Seoul Shinmun
The state seals and royal seals of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) were both used by the royal family, but they differed in many respects. The king used the state seal, called guksae, for diplomatic and administrative documents. The royal seals, called eobo, referred to ritual seals that were used in ceremonies in the palace for events such as weddings and investitures, or rites for bestowing official or posthumous titles on kings and queens.
Not only the kings and queens but the crown princes and princesses received royal seals; those of the kings and queens were housed at the royal ancestral shrine after their death. The seals of the kings and queens were called bo, meaning “treasure,” while those of the crown princes and princesses were referred to as in, meaning “stamp.” These royal seals were made of silver or copper and gilded, or of jade.
The state seal was made of gold and the king of Joseon received the seal from China in recognition of his royal authority. Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, received the state seal, engraved “The Seal of the King of the Joseon State,” from the Ming Dynasty. After the demise of Ming, the king of Joseon returned this seal and received a new state seal from the Qing Dynasty. This was the only state seal the king of Joseon used until Gojong proclaimed the Korean Empire in 1897.
Gojong declared himself the emperor and produced several state seals. The state seal of Joseon had various names, including oksae (literally “jade seal”), gugin (state stamp), saebo (seal treasure), daebo (great treasure), eosae (royal seal), geumbo (golden treasure), and geumin (golden stamp). The state seals were kept at the Secretariat for State Affairs (Sangseowon) under the responsibility of the chief royal secretary. Oksae actually meant a state seal made from jade, but the name was also used for all state seals.
The imperial seal of Qin Shi Huang, which was made from the famous jade disc of He (He Shi Bi), is the first known state seal in history. The first state seal of the Republic of Korea was officially introduced on May 1, 1949, a year after the founding of the republic. Five state seals have since been made, the fifth and the last amid controversy over being a “fake.”
It is regrettable that the old royal and state seals have been poorly managed. According to an undated inspection by the Board of Audit and Inspection, all state seals of Joseon, including the first seal named “The Seal of the King of the Joseon State,” were lost between 1971 and 1985. The only extant state seal of the Joseon Dynasty is “The Seal of the Emperor,” a state seal of the Korean Empire, which was discovered in 2009.
A total of 366 royal seals were produced during the Joseon period, of which 323 remain. Most of the 43 missing royal seals are believed to have been lost during the Korean War. The National Palace Museum of Korea keeps 316 royal seals, with the seven others housed at the Korea University Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The seal of Queen Munjeong, wife of King Jungjong of the Joseon Dynasty, reportedly will be returned from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The seal was carried away from Jongmyo, the royal ancestral shrine of the Joseon Dynasty, by an American soldier during the Korean War. It has a clear inscription of “The Treasure of the Queen of King Seongnyeol the Great,” referring to Queen Munjeong`s official title while she was alive. Hundreds of thousands of our artifacts are estimated to have been looted or taken out of the country in the turmoil of war. The return of this royal seal is a valuable outcome of persistent efforts for their repatriation.
[ September 23, 2013 ]
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Haeundae’s Enthusiasm for the Humanities
Uh Soo-woong Assistant Culture Editor The Chosun Ilbo
A recent news brief said three local autonomous bodies, including the Haeundae District of the Busan Metropolitan City, have been designated as the “cities of the humanities” by the Ministry of Education. Under a “project to popularize the creative humanities,” Haeundae District will be awarded 70 million won in annual subsidy, along with Yeongju city of North Gyeongsang province and the Gwangsan District of the Gwangju Metropolitan City, beginning on September 1.
The news reminded me of an event named “A Book to Change District Governance,” hosted by the Haeundade District Office about a month ago, where I participated as a moderator. I initially declined the invitation but the person in charge at the district office insisted that I should “take responsibility for the problem I had created.” Then, I recalled that he asked a year ago if his district office could creatively apply the content from “Power Classics 101,” serialized in this paper, to its humanities program.
The event organized by the Haeundae District Office seemed a bit unique. While it has become quite common among local autonomous bodies to invite authors to give lectures on classics or the humanities, I had the impression that this district office`s enthusiasm for the humanities has reached a serious level. Bae Deok-gwang, head of the district office, explained the enthusiasm.
First, Haeundae has a division in its district office that cannot be found in any other local government, namely, the “Humanities Team.” The official name of this team is “Humanities and Social Capital Team” under the Global Civil Society Section of the Administrative Management Department. The team consists of a team leader and five staff members; they have had a hectic time since the team was set up on July 1, 2012.
Above all else, the team has worked to enact the “Ordinance of the City of the Humanities” for the first time in the country. It provides legal grounds for the construction of necessary infrastructure and various administrative and financial support programs to promote the humanities. Residents of this district have been offered a variety of humanities programs almost every week during the past one year. They include the “Haeundae Plan” aiming to read 100 classics in the humanities, “Forum on the Opening of Global Civic Society through the Humanities,” the weekly “Humanities Tours,” “Humanities for Seniors,” “Humanities Seeping into Everyday Life,” “Humanities Promenade of the East and the West,” “Humanities on the Road,” “Humanities for Healing,” etc.
Professor Choe Jin-seok of the Department of Philosophy, Sogang University, made interesting remarks at the event “A Book to Change District Governance.” He said that a country has different stages of development that are guided by various academic disciplines ― law and economics at the early stage, management at the next stage, and the humanities such as philosophy, archaeology and anthropology determining creativity at the last stage to cross the threshold to being an advanced society.
Then, Professor Choe quoted Steve Jobs (1955-2011), the founder of Apple, saying, “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.” And he added that George Soros, a worldrenowned investment guru, holds a doctorate in philosophy and was a student of Karl Popper, who is recognized as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century.
The reality in Korea thus far has been that the humanities are mostly considered a source of inspiration for the self-development of individuals and reflection on the meaning of life. However, Haeundae and Professor Choe are looking ahead to the next step. They believe that the humanities will save businesses and the nation from a critical moribund state, not the other way round. They expect the humanities will go beyond teaching us about metaphysical truth to enrich our creativity for life and help us make a leap toward an advanced society. I hope their enthusiasm will bear fruit.
[ September 2, 2013 ]
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- Korea-Russia Relations and the 2013 G20 Leaders’ Summit - Image Management for North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un - Strengthen the Social Ladder for Upward Mobility
Korea-Russia Relations and the 2013 G20 Leaders’ Summit Shim Kyong-wook Senior Research Fellow Korea Institute for Defense Analyses
Significance and Outcomes of the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg At the G20 Leaders` Summit, held on September 5-6, 2013, in St. Petersburg, Russia, the participants pledged their joint commitment to realizing sustainable and balanced growth and to creating quality jobs. The heads of state gathered at the summit emphasized that their highest priority is “fostering growth and creating more jobs” and they are fully committed to “taking decisive action to return to a job-rich, strong, sustainable and balanced growth.” It was a gratifying moment for the Putin government as it had been striving to demonstrate its capabilities at home and abroad by successfully hosting the G20 Leaders` summit, following the APEC Summit in Vladivostok in 2012.
The Korean media also placed extraordinary attention to the summit for several reasons. First, Korea was keenly interested in different positions the United States, Russia and China would present on Syria because cooperation or conflicts among these powers would directly impact the debate on security of the Korean peninsula. Second, President Park Geun-hye was making her debut in multinational diplomacy. As the first female president in East Asia, Park displayed Korea`s global leadership and also conducted “sales diplomacy” through bilateral meetings with the leaders of Germany and Italy, among other nations. She successfully debuted in foreign affairs by demonstrating her ability to negotiate conflicts of interest between developed and emerging countries by presenting reasonable solutions.
The Korean media also gave full coverage to the bilateral meeting between Park and Putin, which followed Park`s summit talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in May and Chinese President Xi Jinping in June this year. At their first meeting on September 6, the leaders of Korea and Russia spent most of their limited time on bilateral economic cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Their topics included the Trans-Siberian Railway, the modernization project of Rajin Port in North Korea, development of a North Pole shipping route and ports in the Arctic Ocean, Russia`s settlement of its economic cooperation loan, and a free trade agreement between Korea and Russia.
During the meeting, President Park explained the principles of her administration`s trust building
diplomacy for the Korean peninsula and its initiative for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia. She called upon Russia`s cooperation in nuclear disarmament of North Korea. President Putin strongly encouraged Korea`s participation in the development of the Far East, expressing his hopes for the role of Korean businesses in the future.
From Korea`s perspective, the Putin government`s Northeast Asia development projects, which focus on the Russian Far East, are of great importance. Above all else, Korea`s involvement in the development of the Russian Far East, known as the world`s last remaining repository of natural resources, holds critical value as a strategic reserve to ensure prosperity on the Korean peninsula. Korea also needs to bring to its attention the military and strategic value of the Russian Far East as the area is well within Korea`s combat radius. Should China or Japan intend to demonstrate their military prowess or apply pressure in time of emergency on the Korean peninsula, they will have no choice but to consider contingencies and check against Russia`s military movements in the Far East.
In particular, the waters near the Maritime Province of Siberia, or Primorsky Krai, and Sakhalin further north, that are connected lengthwise to Korea`s East Coast, are areas that can never be overlooked by Korean security strategists. Furthermore, in this era of aviation and space exploration in the 21st century, the Far East can serve as a strategic corridor for Korea to expand military options, thereby pursuing local superiority. This is all the more reason why Korea has to be more vigorously involved in developing the Russian Far East.
Since he came to power in 2000, President Putin has been consistently implementing an aggressive “new eastern policy,” targeting development of the Far East and Siberia. He has been pushing ahead with the development of Sakhalin and Siberia, based on stronger cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries. He went so far as to write off 90 percent of North Korea`s US$11 billion dollar debt in June this year in order to support the Kim Jong-un regime`s soft landing and to quell security concerns on the Korean peninsula. In particular, President Putin, now in his third term, was becoming impatient with the results of “balanced growth of underdeveloped regions” that were falling short of his expectations even after he established the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East to push his eastern initiative.
The Park Geun-hye government had already responded to Russia`s hope for Korea`s participation in the region`s development by announcing a “new northern policy” on May 21. Against this backdrop, the latest meeting between the two leaders in St. Petersburg served as an opportunity to reaffirm President Park`s commitment to Russia`s projects to develop Northeast Asia, thereby brightening the
outlook for positive bilateral cooperation.
Suggestions for Successful Bilateral Summit in Seoul Another outcome of the Park-Putin meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders` Summit in St. Petersburg is that they discussed President Putin`s visit to Korea within this year. If realized, it would be Putin`s second state visit to Korea since 2005, and be an opportunity to follow up on mutual interests discussed in September. Economic issues would top the agenda, including cooperation in the development of the Far East, resumption of free trade negotiations, and development of an Arctic shipping route.
However, with the military balance between South and North Korea being severely shaken due to the North`s nuclear armament, it is paramount for Seoul and Moscow to build a stronger security consensus through the upcoming summit talks in Seoul. This is because cooperation between the two countries over the Far East development will end up being a mere house of cards unless peace and security are guaranteed on the Korean peninsula. Moreover, some Koreans express concern over Korea-Russia bilateral relations. They criticize that, despite remarkable growth in bilateral exchanges over the past 22 years since the normalization of diplomatic ties, “Russia is invisible in Korea`s fourpower diplomacy” and “the cooperative agenda is merely being rehashed while lacking tangible achievements.”
While bilateral exchanges in trade and commerce have been growing at an even and steady pace, the quality of trade has not seen as much improvement. This is demonstrated by the drop in the market share of Korean IT products in Russia. Moreover, the general perception of Korea among the Russian population does not appear to be improving. A recent survey has revealed that the Russian people are taking an increasingly compassionate position towards North Korea. Considering these challenges, the government must work harder than ever to lead the upcoming summit talks to a success. In this regard, it should consider the following matters.
First, since Putin became president in 2000, Russia`s voice over Northeast Asia and the Korean peninsula has grown continuously. Putin successfully returned to power in 2012 as a third-term president thanks to the public`s desire to revive a “strong Russia” and nostalgia for charismatic leadership. With his term guaranteed until 2018 with a constitutional amendment, his policy towards the Korean peninsula, placing the highest priority on practical interests, will take a much more aggressive turn to push for more tangible, mutually beneficial outcomes.
Second, in the era of duopoly of two superpowers by the United States and China, Russia would rather play a strategic balancer role than “side with China” and stand against the United States who was the world`s sole superpower. At the latest G20 Leaders` Summit, Russia alongside with China opposed the hard-line stance taken by the United States and Western European countries over the crisis in Syria. However, while Russia`s relationship with China is based on mutual assistance targeting a multi-polar global order, Russia will not find the sudden rise of China desirable, either. Some Russians at home, who are anxious about China`s possible rise as a strong military power, are even pointing out the need to keep China in check.
Moreover, although Russia is strengthening solidarity with China in response to the U.S. pivot to the Asia-Pacific and its efforts to enhance missile defenses in the region, the United States` emphasis on Asia may actually bring about reflective benefits for Russia in terms of keeping China`s surge at bay and reducing Europe`s missile defense system. Thus, if Korea has a full grasp of Russia`s strategic concerns surrounding the “China dilemma” and acknowledges its potential to play the role of a balancer, the Park Geun-hye government may be able to expand its diplomatic radius around the trustbuilding process on the Korean peninsula.
Lastly, the government has to acknowledge that Russia`s contribution to security on the Korean peninsula cannot be as great as that by the United States and China. In fact, Russia`s role amid the rising tension on the peninsula, which was sparked by the sinking of the naval craft Cheonan in 2010 and then further escalated when North Korea conducted its third nuclear test, was relatively small. Nevertheless, what is more important to us is our strategic insight to understand Russia`s stature, more specifically its weakened position with one foot inside and another outside of the region.
Considering the Kim Jong-un regime`s dependency on China and China`s monopoly of influence on the regime, could Korea pay more careful attention to what Russia has to say regarding security on the Korean peninsula? With the United States and China being the only two superpowers of the world, it may be the time for the Park government to start proactively embracing Russia`s intention to raise its voice in the region so that it will become a practical supporter in realizing peace on the Korean peninsula.
[Editor`s Note: This article contains the author`s personal opinion and does not represent the official position of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. ROK Angle, a web journal for overseas opinion leaders and Korea experts, can be accessed through the institute`s homepage, http://www.kida.re.kr/eng/.]
[ ROK Angle, October 11, 2013, published by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses ]
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Image Management for North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un Byun Yeong-wook Assistant Editor, Photo Desk The Dong-a Ilbo
I. Introduction Twenty months have passed (as of August 31) since Kim Jong-un inherited the mantle of power in North Korea, following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong-il. In this period, the North has released a torrent of news photos of its new leader for domestic and international viewing. Such photos are produced under state control using a handful of selected photographers and are intended to serve political and diplomatic purposes.
Photos already used in North Korean media are released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) to foreign news agencies, which disseminate them worldwide. Among the initial recipients are the Yonhap News of South Korea, which transmits the photographs to South Korean print and broadcasting media, as well as international news agencies such as the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and the Reuters. The fact that the same photos aimed at North Koreans are being seen internationally calls for close attention and analysis of their content.
The photos of the top leader are an important medium of political communication. Yet, little effort has been made to research them or to study the North`s personality cult and system of idolatry. The low interest displayed in South Korea is due to mistrust about any material emanating from the North and the academic community`s desire to distinguish reality from political propaganda.
This study assumes that the North Korean regime uses its mass media as the basic tool in managing the image of its supreme leader as it copes with the changing internal and external circumstances. It is practically impossible to measure the photos` effect on North Koreans. But close scrutiny of the pictures provides clues about the image-making methods of North Korean authorities and their objectives.
The social function and significance of the North`s so-called “No. 1 photographs� will be first examined along with the visual images and the structure of visual communication being used to justify the hereditary rule by the Kim family.
II. Theoretical Background 1. Peculiarity of the Birth of the Kim Jong-un Rule
Kim Jong-il`s sudden death in December 2011 created an immediate crisis in North Korea. With the establishment of a monolithic ideological system in the 1970s, Kim Jong-il`s own rise to power was laid out well beforehand. However, the succession process for Kim Jong-un was not completely solidified. Therefore, North Korea faced a strategic challenge to maintain its system between Kim Jong-il`s death and his son`s accession as its new paramount leader.
The preparation for Kim Jong-un`s ascension was only three years in the making before he was called upon to take the helm. In contrast, his father was groomed through a series of appointments spanning two decades. Kim Jong-il took control of the ruling Workers` Party`s organization and propaganda divisions in 1973 and joined the Political Bureau the following year. In 1980 Kim Jong-il became a standing member of the Politburo and a member of the Central Military Commission of the Workers` Party, thereby gaining the official status as the next ruler of the North internally and externally. He then became first vice chairman of the National Defense Commission in 1990, the supreme commander of the People`s Army in 1991, marshal of the DPRK in 1992, and the chairman of the National Defense Commission in 1993, a year before his father died.
Kim Jong-un, on the other hand, was tapped as the next leader in January 2009 but did not assume any official title for 21 months until he was named vice chairman of the party`s Central Military Commission with the rank of general and a member of the Central Committee. Kim Jong-il was already 38 years old when he became the heir apparent, but Kim Jong-un was only 28 years old when his father opted for his youngest son to succeed him.
The steady progress in positions held by Kim Jong-il enabled the North Korean media to gradually increase his exposure. But the short incubation of Kim Jong-un prevented an accumulation of political achievements to legitimize his ascent as the third-generation ruler from his family. This created an immense task to the personality cult operatives under trying conditions.
Second, Kim Jong-un`s physical features resemble his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, rather than his father. Kim Jong-il appeared in the North Korean media for the first time when the Rodong Sinmun, the Workers` Party newspaper, published a picture showing him seated in the leaders` stand during the
6th Workers` Party conference on October 12, 1980. But he never appeared on the front page of the Rodong Sinmun as a leading figure until the death of Kim Il-sung. He waited three more years to claim the image of the supreme leader in the mass media.
In contrast, Kim Jong-un appeared in the media as soon as his father died although he was only about half the age of his father when he took the reins of power. Kim Jong-un`s young age suggested strong energy and vitality as well as a lack of political experience and achievement. This meant he needed a different type of image management compared to his father`s.
Third, North Korea is now in the age of globalization. Major events in the North are reported outside the country and its leaders cannot but be conscious of the country`s place in the international community. North Koreans are exposed to South Korean TV dramas and foreign movies, developing a different sensibility. Their widened perspectives demanded a different method in introducing their new leader. Whoever was responsible for image management must have labored over constructing a new framework for the young Kim. In North Korea where the media is fully under control of the governing power, what methods its propagandists used to formulate the identity of the new leader can be a subject of academic scrutiny.
2. Importance of ‘No.1 Pictures’
North Korea`s communication textbooks call the pictures of the top leader “image photographs” but they are more commonly known as “No. 1 photos,” according to North Korean defectors. It is in the same vein as the so-called “No. 1 roads” that were built for the exclusive use of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, and “No. 1 train” for the supreme leader. In the North, mass communication is not distinguished from propaganda as it mixes myths with history. Society accepts the use of journalism for political ends.
Under this system, the No. 1 pictures are used to promote social stability. During the Kim Jong-il era, group pictures with the supreme leader were called “souvenir pictures of love” and those who were in the pictures took them as great gifts from the “dear leader.” These photographs, put in frames and hung on the walls of private homes and offices, could act as tickets to military promotions or civilian transfers to better workplaces.
Accordingly, the No. 1 pictures have to be treated with extra care. For example, when folding newspapers, the crease should not run across these pictures. When the weekly Literature Newspaper
printed a 25cm x 18cm picture of Kim Jong-il in the center of the front page, they folded the left and right sides of the paper vertically toward the picture in the center for delivery instead of the conventional horizontal fold in the middle.
Two incidents exemplify the extraordinary feelings that North Koreans have toward “No. 1 pictures.” The North Korean delegation to the University Games in Daegu, South Korea, in 2003 complained bitterly to South Korean authorities when they spotted a street-side placard with their No. 1 picture on it exposed to rainfall. According to the June 2006 edition of pictorial magazine Choson, a nineyear-old girl, Yu Hyang-rim, died when she dashed into her burning home to save the picture of Kim Jong-il. Her school was renamed Yu Hyang-rim Elementary School with a bronze statue of the girl erected on its grounds.
The style and size of No. 1 photos in North Korean newspapers changed around 1967, when Kim Jong-il took charge of publishing and media businesses, the North`s main propaganda channels. The photos became larger and were more frequently displayed. Only a small number of photographers were allowed to take them. The No. 1 pictures assumed increasing importance in portraying the greatness of the supreme leader with minimal differences between the Kim Il-sung and the Kim Jongil eras.
A new trend began in 2008, after Kim Jong-il reportedly suffered a stroke. To ameliorate suspicions about his health and his grip on power, the North Korean media used far more photos and video images of him than before. Actually, Kim did not particularly increase the number of his “on-site guidance” tours to military units and industrial sites but his propagandists released his photos and video clips in larger volume. The Rodong Sinmun once filled all its eight pages entirely with the pictures of Kim Jong-il and there were days when pictures of the leader occupied all but a few columns in the newspaper. Such a deluge of photographs continued up to Kim`s death.
III. Subjects and Methodology of Research 1. Subjects of Research
This study focuses on the image emphasized for Kim Jong-un and the manner in which it is conveyed to the public. The former explores the content of visual images that are used to stabilize the rule of the new leader and the latter analyzes the stylistic characteristics of his pictures.
2. Methodology of Research
Pictures officially released by North Korean authorities were examined to define their strategic objectives and the role of the mass media in bringing Kim Jong-un to the center of the North`s political stage. All 599 pictures published by the Rodong Sinmun between January 2012 and May 31, 2013 were analyzed.
1) Types of Pictures No. 1 photos can be divided into nine categories: portraits, souvenir photos with foreign guests, meetings with foreign guests, group photos with soldiers or civilians, photos of two VIPs (Kim Jongil and Kim Jong-un), public events, public addresses, on-site guidance tours, and the leader with children. These nine types represent the image-making agenda for the top leader.
2) Frequency of Exposure The frequency of exposure has been measured by the number of Kim Jong-un`s pictures published in the Rodong Sinmun in a given period of time.
3) Number of People in Pictures Photos of Kim Jong-un very often show him with more than 100 people, sometimes on more than 10 occasions in a single day. The number of people in each picture was counted because it can be considered an indication of his closeness to ordinary North Koreans.
4) Focus Pictures were analyzed by the depth of field.
5) Dimensions of the Primary Figure Shots were classified by the dimensions of the leader`s image: close-up, medium close-up, waist level, medium range, knee level, full frame, and seated.
6) Expression Kim Jong-un`s facial expressions are divided into positive, neutral and negative.
7) Line of Sight Pictures show the leader either looking at the camera or in other directions.
IV. Results of Research 1. Collective Identity and Freshness
Of the total 599 pictures analyzed, group photos with soldiers, civilian adults or children numbered 191. These pictures were taken during Kim Jong-un`s visits to military units or attendance at massive public events. For example, he took pictures with all of 20,400 military personnel who participated in Kim Il-sung`s 100th birthday parade in Pyongyang in April 2012. He also posed with 19,000 children at a youth event two months later. On each occasion, 20 group pictures were taken and all of them appeared in the Rodong Sinmun the next day.
With high officials in the front low excluded, a total of 128,982 people appear in the aforementioned 191 pictures published by the Rodong Sinmun between January 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013. The pictures contain at least one member of some 2 percent of all households in North Korea, which has a population of 25 million. People in these souvenir photos had various occupations. They included soldiers, construction workers, bureaucrats, artists, youth corps members and plain citizens. These pictures have demonstrated Kim Jong-un being a “people`s leader.�
These large group pictures graphically depict the leader at the center of unity and solidarity. Frequent displays of such group pictures indicate North Korean authorities` efforts to emphasize that the young leader is in the very center of the country. The proportion of group pictures with soldiers and civilian citizens increased to 29.2 percent from the average 17.2 percent in the past and the percentage of photos of massive public events from 8.8 percent to 27.5 percent, suggesting that Kim has tried to increase the people`s awareness of him in the early days of his rule. In 48 percent
of his published pictures, Kim`s face looks bright and self-confident in contrast to his father, who usually had a grave demeanor.
Kim Jong-un`s attendance at the parade marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers` Party (October 10, 2010), the funeral of Kim Jong-il and the celebrations of Kim Il-sung`s birth centenary were broadcast live. There were no live broadcasts of Kim Jong-il activities. The parade on Kim Jong-il`s birthday in 2012 and the rally marking the 100th day after his death were also broadcast live. North Korean TV gained the ability to broadcast live during the 1970s, but it was not used after a mishap: soldiers` bayonets passed across the head of Kim Il-sung because of incorrect positioning of a camera during a military parade. The live broadcasting of Kim Jong-un`s public appearances not only means technological advancement in the North but it may also indicate a degree of relaxation in its media policies.
The Associated Press of the United States was allowed to open a bureau in Pyongyang on January 16, 2012. Its correspondents have since been permitted to cover events attended by Kim Jong-un from a certain distance. Two North Koreans, Pak Won-il and Kim Kwang-hyon, work for the AP as resident members of the bureau. The Rodong Sinmun began PDF service of its content on February 17, 2011, for simultaneous perusal around the world. Kim Jong-un has now gained global exposure of his image.
Kim`s wife, Ri Sol-ju, accompanies her husband in his meetings with foreign VIPs and various public events. She appears in Western dress on such occasions. An official portrait photo of Kim Jong-un in a suit and necktie has been released to the international media, unlike his father and grandfather whose photo-realistic portrait paintings showed them in the Mao suit. It seems that Kim Jong-un`s preference for Western attire for his official portrait is intended to stress that he is basically not against Western culture.
A recent commentary in the Rodong Sinmun said that “in this age of information, new information and new materials are ceaselessly produced and spread across the world via radio, television and the Internet without any obstruction.� North Koreans can now watch what is happening in the international community and how the world reacts to occurrences in their country. North Korean authorities are conducting international public relations activities based on analysis of international media reports about their country.
2. Maximizing Prominence of the Leader in Realistic Expression
As observed above, North Korean propagandists publish numerous pictures of Kim Jong-un in order to portray him as the center of unity and solidarity and to depict the oneness of the leader and common people. What differentiates the current propaganda from that of the past is the high frequency of the display of his pictures in the media. During the one year and five months, or 516 days, covered by this study, the Rodong Sinmun published an average of 7.58 pictures of Kim per week. This dwarfed the weekly average of 1.32 pictures of Kim Il-sung and 3.92 pictures of Kim Jong-il published during their respective rules.
When Kim Jong-il`s illness became known to the outside world in 2008, the Rodong Sinmun carried dozens of political pictures every day, including those of Kim Jong-il, in a departure from its usual practice. The regime needed to convince the public that Kim was recovering to quell speculation about his ability to fulfill his responsibilities. Kim Jong-un has made on-site visits to dispense guidance and attended massive public events ceaselessly to impress the people of his youthful existence.
V. Conclusion French philosopher Olivier Reboul said that contemporary political power tries to prove itself with rhetoric about its rationale. Regardless of their style, contemporary political systems that require popular support to justify their legitimacy mount utmost efforts to persuade the public.
Kim Jong-un, unlike his father, rose to power in a compressed process of transition after a very short period of preparation. He is now under pressure to solidify his leadership in a limited time. To address this problem, North Korean leadership is applying both methods of continuity and discontinuity to the image management strategies of the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il era. Taking full advantage of
media control by the state and the party and using his youthfulness and vivacity that differentiates him from his predecessors, Kim Jong-un is on an active path of image making. His pictures in the Rodong Sinmun handled exclusively by the “political report team” of the newspaper are the products of meticulous strategies of the North`s propaganda experts.
One foremost strategy is appearing in the media as many times as possible. This is compared to the near absence of Kim Jong-il`s pictures in the party newspaper during the three years following his father Kim Il-sung`s death in 1994. Unlike his father and grandfather, Kim Jong-un never avoids the mass media. Departing from his father`s “negative communication” with the people, the young leader prefers “positive communion” with them. His pictures capture his youthful and healthy facial expressions against clear backgrounds. Live broadcasts of his activities offer real-time images, which had previously been avoided for security reasons. Kim`s image strategists are using his young age as an advantage rather than disadvantage.
Kim Jong-un is trying to construct an image as a leader who is friendly with the people and likes to communicate with them. He was smiling in pictures taken shortly after his father`s funeral, and there have been increasing scenes of Kim making bodily contact with the public. Since he was first shown locking arms with soldiers on a visit to the 105th Tank Division in January 2012, pictures of him making similar physical contacts with people have been frequently published. He is obviously practicing the “Arm in Arm, Shoulder to Shoulder” slogan of the Juche (independence) revolution.
The Rodong Sinmun carried a picture of Kim Jong-un chatting with visiting U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman with a cola can in front of them. This may be the result of his experience of studying abroad as is the release of his official portrait photo taken in a Western suit and the picture of his wife wearing a gold pendant and other accessories. But these exposures could also suggest a deliberate effort to improve his image in the outside world.
In closing, the author believes that this study is significant in that: first, it offers a glimpse into the internal communication in North Korea in the Kim Jong-un era; second, it foresees the possibility of the new leader trying to secure legitimacy through a psychological approach via the mass media instead of coercive methods; and third, it provides empirical data about the image politics in the communist state, thereby contributing to the advancement of related academic research.
[ North Korean Studies Review 2013, Vol. 16, No. 2, Institute for the Study of North Korean Life,
University of North Korean Studies ]
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Strengthen the Social Ladder for Upward Mobility Lee Jun-hyup Research Fellow Hyundai Research Institute
1. Importance of Social Ladder
In a society that has a solid ladder for upward mobility, its members can contribute to economic and social dynamism and enhance the potential for growth and social integration. When the middle class, the backbone that bolsters economy and society, is also firm and thick, social conflicts are tempered and economic development is promoted.
Surveys conducted by Statistics Korea in 2009 and 2011 show a noticeable decline in general confidence in upward social mobility. In 2009, 45.2 percent of the respondents felt the possibility of climbing the social ladder was high if individuals made strenuous efforts, but only 37.0 percent felt the same in 2011. Moreover, the percentage of those who felt their children`s generation would have a better chance of upward social and economic mobility declined from 61.8 percent to 49.2 percent.
This year, the national statistical agency conducted another survey to analyze reasons for the waning confidence and to identify ways to improve the situation. Telephone polling was done on August 1319. It had a maximum sampling error of plus and minus 3.08 percent from a 95 percent confidence level. Refer to the <Appendix > for characteristics of the respondents.
2. Koreans` Awareness of Social Mobility
(1) Survey Results
Class Awareness: Compared with people in the rest of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Koreans tend to more likely feel they are in a lower socio-economic layer. There was a significant gap between Koreans who fit the OECD`s definition of middle class and those who think they are in the middle class.
To the question, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Which income class do you think you belong to?â&#x20AC;? 51.8 percent of the respondents said they belong to the middle-income class, 47.4 percent to the low-income class, and 0.8 percent to
the high-income class. Based on the OECD standards, however, 61.9 percent of the respondents belonged to the middle-income class, 7.3 percent to the low-income class, and 30.8 percent to the high-income class.
Changes in Class: The ratio of the respondents who said their social status dropped in the past year was 9.2 times higher than those who said their status rose. The negative assessment was especially prevalent among those who felt they were in the low-income bracket.
When asked, â&#x20AC;&#x153;How do you think your social status has changed compared with a year ago?â&#x20AC;? 20.8 percent of the respondents said they experienced downward movement and only 2.3 percent said they moved up, while 76.9 percent reported no change. Among those who considered themselves lowincome earners, 28.5 percent said their social status dropped, more than double the self-described middle-income earners who felt they had slipped behind.
Reasons for Lowered Status: The rising cost of living topped the list of reasons for perceived lower status (39.8 percent), followed by unemployment and income declines (29.4 percent), falling asset prices (17.5 percent), bigger debt payments (9.5 percent), and unequal opportunities (3.8 percent).
Higher living costs were cited by both the self-declared middle- and low-income groups. Those who considered themselves middle-income earners cited lower asset value (20.5 percent) and excessive debts (15.1 percent), both higher-than-average response rates, while those who saw themselves as low-income earners most often cited reduced income (33.6 percent).
Chances of Upward Movement: Three-fourths of the respondents said they feel that chances are low for individuals to move up the social ladder even if they try hard. This reflects a spreading perception in Korean society that ascending the social ladder is nearly impossible. The negative perception is especially widespread among those who regard themselves as low-income earners.
When asked, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What do you think is the possibility of individuals moving up the social ladder in Korea if they try very hard?â&#x20AC;? 75.2 percent of the respondents said the chances are low, while 24.8 percent said they are high. Among the self-perceived low-income group, in particular, the negative response rate reached 80.2 percent, higher than the 70.9 percent among the self-perceived middleincome bracket.
Reasons for Low Possibility of Moving Up: The respondents mainly blamed the low possibility of upward movement on the rising cost of living (35.7 percent) and unequal opportunity (28.2 percent). Other explanations were income decline (17.8 percent), excessive debt (10.7 percent) and asset price falls (7.6 percent).
(2) Characteristics of Koreans` Awareness of Social Mobility
Differences by Gender, Position in Household: Class perception was influenced by whether or not the respondents were the head of their household. Female heads of household were especially negative about the chances of upward mobility.
Female Heads of Household: This respondent group showed a higher-than-average rate in three areas: 1) placing themselves in the low-income bracket; 2) downward movement in the previous 12 months; and 3) pessimism in moving upward despite substantial effort. The negative response rate was particularly high among self-described low-income earners at 64.6 percent, compared with 34.1
percent who believed they were in the middle-income bracket.
Those who experienced downward movement in social class over the past 12 months reached 31.7 percent, far above the 20.8 percent average, with their negative replies on chances of upward mobility reaching 81.7 percent. The prevalent pessimism among female heads of household was likely because they are the breadwinner in a single-parent family. Their average monthly disposable income was 2.99 million won, substantially lower than the average of 4.32 million won, and their assets of 220 million won was far below the average of 410 million won.
Female Non-household Heads: This group showed a higher-than-average rate in perceiving themselves as middle-income earners, experiencing relatively less downward movement in social class, and feeling upward movement was possible if they tried hard enough. Fifty-nine percent of those in the group categorized themselves as middle class, higher than average and much higher than the self-perceived low-income earners (40 percent).
Because they live on the income of breadwinners, this group`s sentiment was relatively positive. (The average monthly disposable income of these households was 4.89 million won and their assets totaled 470 million won, both higher than average.) The male respondents showed similar class perceptions to the overall average regardless of whether they were household heads or not.
Differences by Age: There was a higher percentage of self-perceived low-income earners and downward movement in social class among older people. But they still thought there is high possibility of individuals moving up the income ladder if they try hard enough. On the other hand, those in their 30s saw little chance of social elevation although they experienced a relatively lower rate of dropping down the social ladder.
Under-30 Group: This group contained a high percentage of self-perceived middle-income earners, fewer cases of downward movement, and optimism in climbing up the social ladder, reflecting their remarkably positive class awareness. Few of them were responsible for earning a livelihood as they still were supported by their parents (only 25 of 217 respondents lived on their own), and had high hopes of moving up the social ladder by landing decent jobs. Their families` monthly disposable
income amounted to 4.82 million won, and their assets averaged 380 million won.
30-something Group: Only 12.0 percent of this group actually experienced downward movement in the previous 12 months, but their sentiment was quite negative: 80.2 percent said moving up is difficult even if they try. As they begin to detach themselves from parental support and raise their own families, they tend to feel the heavy burden of living costs. They also begin to pay educational and childrearing expenses.
In expenditures, 34.4 percent of this group cited food as the biggest cost burden, far higher than the overall average of 25.6 percent, followed by 25.6 percent who cited housing, also eclipsing the overall average of 20.1 percent. This generation entered the work force in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian currency crisis and the 2003 credit card fiasco, and fell into the â&#x20AC;&#x153;house-poorâ&#x20AC;? group as the property market plummeted in 2008. They have experienced difficulties in asset formation and become quite negative about the prospects of scaling the social ladder.
Their households` monthly disposable income was 4.2 million won, similar to the overall average of 4.33 million won, but their assets were 270 million won, lower than the overall average of 410 million won.
40-something Group: This group showed similar rates to the overall average in terms of self-
perceived middle- and low-income brackets, downward social class movement, and sentiment on upward mobility. These households` monthly disposable income and assets were 45.2 million won and 380 million won, respectively, similar to overall average levels.
However, the heavy burden of education costs and other childrearing expenses weigh heavily on this group. Up to 62.1 percent of the respondents cited educational and childrearing costs as their biggest burden, far higher than the overall average of 32.3 percent.
50-something Group (Baby Boomers): Although this group has very high levels of asset and income, 33 percent felt their social status had fallen in the previous year, easily exceeding the overall average of 20.8 percent. Their perception of the possibility of climbing up the social ladder in the future showed similar levels to the overall average.
Although their monthly average income of 4.78 million won and assets of 620 million won far exceeded overall average levels, concerns about having to leave workplaces and insufficient preparation for post-retirement life seemed to contribute to their self-perceived falls in social class. This is the generation who reached adulthood in the 1980s, a decade of high economic growth, thinking they could move up the social ladder if they worked hard enough.
60 or Older: A high percentage in this group identified themselves with the low-income bracket and cited steep and frequent falls in social class. Still, they thought there are high possibilities of moving up in social status if individuals try hard enough. The rate of self-described low-income earners in this group amounted to 70.3 percent, far above the overall average of 47.4 percent. The response rate of experiencing downward movement in social class also reached 40.6 percent, far higher than the overall average of 20.8 percent. This seems attributable to the lack of preparation for retirement.
On the other hand, the rate of respondents who saw high possibilities of ascending the social ladder if individuals try hard enough reached 33.7 percent, above the overall average of 24.8 percent, probably because this is the generation which also experienced high economic growth as young adults.
Job Quality: Attitudes toward social class had a linear relationship with job quality. Those who have regular jobs expressed positive sentiments, self-employed people experienced the biggest falls in social class, and those who engaged in non-regular work turned negative about the possibility of climbing the social ladder.
Regular Workers: This group showed a high rate of self-perceived middle-income bracket with 61.0 percent and a low rate of experiencing downward movement in social class with 14.9 percent. They
showed similar awareness of upward social mobility to the overall average.
Non-regular Workers: This group not only had a high rate of self-perceived low-income bracket (72.8 percent) but also displayed very deep pessimism, with 80.8 percent of respondents saying that moving up is difficult regardless of how hard individuals may try. This seems to be ascribable to the dual structure of Korea`s labor market, where part-timers and contract workers, or non-regular workers, find it difficult to move into full-time regular jobs regardless of their effort.
Self-employed: This group had a higher-than-average rate of respondents who experienced downward movement in social class over the past 12 months, with 27.2 percent, but their perception of the possibility of climbing the social ladder was similar to the overall average level.
Among those respondents whose household heads` incomes are high and their jobs stabilized, the rate of self-perceived middle-income bracket reached 84.8 percent, and the share of those who experienced downward movement in social class was a mere 9.0 percent. They also were confident about moving up the class ladder.
In contrast, among those respondents whose household heads had a low income and unstable employment, the rate of self-described middle-income bracket was 17.3 percent, and those who fell in social class amounted to 33.6 percent. Also, those who saw a low possibility of moving up the class ladder soared to 87.3 percent.
Household Income and Expenditure: Positive sentiment rose in tandem with surplus income. Respondents with extra cash expressed relatively high confidence in the possibility of moving up the social ladder, with 12.7 percent feeling they were on a lower ladder than before. This group largely defined themselves as middle-income class (69.7 percent). Conversely, 28.8 percent put themselves in the low-income bracket.
On the other hand, respondents from households with negative net income were generally negative on the possibility of moving up the social ladder, with 31.1 percent feeling they were on a lower rung than before. This group showed a low rate of self-described middle-income earners at 27.9 percent. A hefty 69.7 percent said they belonged to the low-income class.
Preparation for Old Age: Those who were better prepared for old age were more positive. Only 13.3 percent said that they had experienced downward movement in social class and they were upbeat about the possibility of moving up the social ladder. This group showed a very high rate of selfperceived middle-income class with 73.8 percent, and a low rate of self-perceived low-income class with 24.7 percent.
Among those who were poorly prepared for old age, 33.9 percent said they experienced downward movement in social class during the previous 12 months. They were also relatively negative about the possibility of ascending the social ladder. This group had a low rate of self-described middleincome class (24.7 percent) and a high rate of self-described low-income class (64.9 percent).
3. Policy Implications
In order to rebuild the nation`s middle-income class until it accounts for 70 percent of the total population, the No. 1 requisite is solidifying the social ladder for upward mobility.
First, in view of the fact that low job quality leads to negative perceptions, it is imperative to heighten the possibility of moving up the social ladder by reshaping the dual-structured labor market and improving overall job quality. Non-regular workers with low-quality jobs tend to have more negative perceptions about the possibility of climbing the income ladder than regular workers and self-employed people. When it becomes freer for workers to move between regular and nonregular jobs, their expectations for moving up the social ladder will also rise, making it easier for the society to elicit spontaneous efforts of individuals.
Second, in view of the fact that debt-ridden households tend to have weak sentiment, it is necessary to support their efforts to improve balance sheets by helping to ease their cost of living pressures. For those in their 30s, the government needs to help reduce their housing costs by expanding the supply of rental homes, providing financial support for first-time home buyers, and enhancing society`s responsibility for childbirth and childrearing. For those in their 40s to 50s, it is necessary to help ease their burden of educational costs by strengthening public education. For those in their 60s, it is necessary to help ease their burden of housing costs through increased supply of rental homes and enhance society`s responsibility for health services.
Third, in view of the fact that people who don`t have homes and are poorly prepared for old age tend to have negative class awareness, it is necessary to help them prepare for later years and build sufficient assets. The government should remove the blind spots in the national pension system and improve the retirement, housing and personal pension schemes. It also should try to stabilize real estate prices because real estate is the main asset of those in this age group. The government also should build a foundation to help the middle- and low-income groups realize their dream of home ownership.
Fourth, it is necessary to improve the class awareness of vulnerable households, including those led by female breadwinners, by strengthening support for them. The government should make vocational training available to equip them with the ability to move to better jobs. For those households without the ability to work, it ought to enhance the social protection system. Especially important is enhancement of public education and welfare to prevent poverty from stripping children in vulnerable families of their opportunities to move up the social ladder.
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- World Cultural Heritage Attesting to Japanese Invasion 100 Years Ago
World Cultural Heritage Attesting to Japanese Invasion 100 Years Ago
Lee Eun-ja Professor, Korean Studies Institute Pusan National University
From the top of Mt. Nam in the middle of Seoul, looking in the direction of Yongsan a vast treecovered district can be seen between skyscrapers. It is none other than the U.S. Army Garrison, the latest in a series of foreign troops who have occupied Yongsan, starting with Japanese soldiers during the Hideyoshi invasions of 1592-1598, then the Qing soldiers during the Imo Rebellion in 1882, and the Japanese again after their victory in the first Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.
When the Imperial Japanese Army Garrison was built in Yongsan after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the area rapidly transformed into a military town. The army was renamed the Japanese Korean Army in 1918 but the garrison remained in Yongsan. Following liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, the army base and facilities were handed over to U.S. forces. Thus, the area has become a tragic place that still remains out of Korea`s control 100 years later.
During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Yongsan was an important inland port. Most of the country`s goods ended up at the Han River ports of Yongsan, Mapo and Seogang. Yongsan port was where grains for taxes from Gyeongsang, Gangwon and Chuncheong provinces were collected. It was not only an important location in economic terms; it was vital to defense of the capital. During their invasions of the late 16th century, the Japanese occupied Hanyang (today`s Seoul) and took Yongsan as their headquarters. The Japanese troops who had been defeated in battles of Pyongyang and in
Hamgyeong Province were stationed there. Yongsan was also where the Japanese negotiated a peace pact with the Ming army, which had entered the war.
Home of Foreign Armies In October 1884, Yongsan was designated an area where foreigners could live and work. The first foreigners to move in were French priests. Under the Korea-France Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation of 1887, missionary activity was allowed and the French built a theological college in Yongsan in 1891 (now Sacred Heart Monastery and Sacred Heart Girls` High School).
Active steamboat traffic between Incheon and Mapo prompted Chinese merchants such as Tung Shun-tai to purchase their own steamboats and put them into service between Yongsan and Incheon. They also established their own wharf. The Japanese also were active at Yongsan, Mapo and Seogang as well as in Incheon, where grains from the Gyeonggi region were mainly traded.
In 1894, under the pretext of quelling the revolt by Donghak peasant army, the Japanese military established its headquarters in the Hyochangwon area of Yongsan and stationed forces in Mallichang Valley, the Hyochang-dong area, Dunjiri (now Itaewon), and Seobinggo. The soldiers stationed in Yongsan played a central role in the first Sino-Japanese War. A decade later, the Russo-Japanese War confirmed Yongsan`s role as a rail transport center and military base.
During the Joseon period, Yongsan occupied the area now known as Guyongsan (Old Yongsan) around Wonhyo-ro street. The area between the current Seoul Station and the Han River Railway Bridge was a sandy plain with no houses. But when the bridge was erected as part of the construction of the Seoul-Incheon railroad line, countless laborers swarmed into the area. Yongsan Station was opened in 1899, and when the transportation of cargo to Yongsan became possible with the opening of the Seoul-Incheon train line the following year, the area around the station, today`s Sinyongsan (New Yongsan), began to boom.
When the Russo-Japanese War broke out, the Japanese hurried to construct the Seoul-Sinuiju train line, establishing a temporary railway office in a building (approx. 13,000 square meters) on the eastern side of the Yongsan Station plaza, which had been put up in just one month. With six army battalions and numerous laborers dispatched to the construction site, the Sinyongsan area was as bustling as the American West during the gold rush. Railroad-related buildings were put up one by one, turning the area into a rail management center.
Start of Japanese Military Base Construction Under Article 4 of the Korea-Japan Protocol of 1904, the Japanese established the Imperial Japanese Army Garrison and notified the Korean Empire of its intention to take some 10 million pyeong (approx. 3,300 hectares) of land for military use. In 1906, not long after the end of the Russo-Japanese War and the establishment of the Japanese Residency-General, the Japanese began construction of military facilities on some 990 hectares of land stretching from Namdaemun (South Gate, or Sungnyemun) to the Han River. After forcibly relocating people living in the Itaewon area, they conducted large civil engineering works and built roads and army barracks to create a huge army base covering some 380 hectares.
In this way, Sinyongsan became the base for colonial rule. Today the War Memorial of Korea and the Ministry of National Defense stand where the Japanese armory, work area, cavalry regiment and field artillery division were located. U.S. forces were first stationed in Korea in September 1945, following the division of the country at the 38th parallel by the United States and the Soviet Union. They pulled out when the U.S. military government in Korea ended, but soon were back when the Korean War erupted in 1950.
The U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan occupied the former site of the Imperial Japanese Army Garrison and later the headquarters of the Japanese Korean Army. In other words, after the Korean War the U.S. army moved into the site in the middle of Seoul previously occupied by the Japanese army. Around the U.S. Army base a military town catering to the soldiers took shape. From the latter half of the 1950s, Itaewon changed into a thriving district that offered prostitution, entertainment and leisure to U.S. military personnel. The camp town gave rise to an underground â&#x20AC;&#x153;PX economyâ&#x20AC;? and accommodated the violence and popular culture of the American soldiers.
Aspects of the American military culture gradually seeped into urban Korean society. Western pop culture, introduced through shows on the Eighth Army Base, had an indelible influence on the local scene not only on the investment and production side but also distribution and consumption throughout the 1960s. Itaewon at the time was a unique place where American influence overlapped with fading social and cultural remnants of the Japanese colonial period.
The Yongsan garrison area will be returned to Korea in 2016 when the U.S. Eighth Army moves southward to Pyeongtaek. The project to relocate the base and turn the site into a park will begin at
the end of 2014, thanks to the passage of the agreement on Yongsan Relocation Program and the revised agreement on Land Partnership Plan by the National Assembly.
The main issue at this point is cleaning up pollution on the base. Inspection of the site is not possible under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). A colossal clean-up cost may be ahead for Korea`s national budget. According to reports by the news media and the Cultural Heritage Administration, of the 1,245 buildings on the Yongsan base, 132 are Japanese barracks in good condition.
The memorial tower erected by the Japanese army in honor of the victims of Manchurian Incident in 1931 and the Sino-Japanese War was converted into a memorial tower by the American army in honor of those who died in battle during the Korean War by changing the inscription. The Japanese army officers` residence was used as a residence for the Soviet representatives at the U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission and now serves as the office for the Joint U.S. Military Affairs Group-Korea. The Japanese soldiers` barracks, which has stars carved on the gables over the second-floor entrance, remains close to its original state and is now used as an office building by the U.S. Army. Other remaining structures of the Japanese Korean Army include bunkers, the residence of the head of the 20th army division and the garrison prison.
Yongsan is truly a world historical and cultural heritage site. The history of the U.S. military in Korea is the history of national division of the Korean people. The army base was originally the symbol of Japanese colonial rule. As the site is transformed into a park, we should all take an interest in how to turn a place of pain into one of peace through reconciliation and healing.
[ Kyosu Sinmun (Professors` Newspaper), September 10, 2013 ]
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- Samgyetang Not Found in Old Literature - Kim Jong-un in Transition from Politics of Provocation to Politics of Development
Samgyetang Not Found in Old Literature
Lim Ji-seon Staff Reporter The Hankyoreh
“Table Laden with Korean History” By Joo Young-ha, Humanist, 572 pages, 29,000 won
As the wind of “globalizing Korean food” blows harder we watch without surprise TV programs showing Korean celebrities flying to the United States to promote bibimbap. However, when asked about the origin of the local dishes, not many Koreans can answer. A book that has just been released delves into the historical background and transitions of the food and the culinary culture of Koreans over the past century while being careful not to be nationalistic.
The book was written by Professor Joo Yeong-ha, a folklorist and self-claimed culinary humanities researcher. On the afternoon of September 4, this reporter met Professor Joo at his Academy of Korean Studies office.
His office has two large pictures of Joseon era gentlemen. The one attached to the inside of the door shows a man in a traditional robe and hat, having a spoonful of rice that he has dipped in soup served on a small table with cabrioles. The other one, on the wall next to the professor`s desk, shows An Sun-hwan (1871-1942), who opened the famous modern Korean restaurant Myeongwolgwan (Bright Moon House) in 1903 and who led the industry in its heydays.
“I thought that the owner of Myeongwolgwan as well as the chief of Jeonseonsa, the palace office in charge of the king`s meals and banquets, would naturally be a woman,” Professor Joo said. “I assumed the founder of the Joseon Confucian Society by the same name was a different person. I later discovered that they were indeed the same person and a man at that. I put up the pictures as a reminder not to be prejudiced in any way in pursuing my studies.”
On one hand, his office was filled with old documents and historical records of Korea, China and Japan, looking very academic. On the other hand, the table of contents in his book looked very tasty; it made one`s mouth water looking at all kinds of food, including different types of tang (soup), noodles, bibimbap, dumplings, kimchi, fermented fish eggs, Korean pancakes and even California rolls.
“I contributed my food stories to a newspaper for half a year under the title ‘Food, A Hundred Years.` I did not just want to reprint them in a book. I had research material anyway and I wrote a whole new book,” said Professor Joo. The book took three times as much time as the column, and it finally was published a year and a half later. It could be called the result of his past 10 years` research. He wrote with the aim of describing 100 years of Korean food.
He divided the 100 years with the keywords “port opening,” “colonization,” “liberation” and “globalization,” and described how foreign foods were introduced after Joseon began trading with other countries. He also analyzed different types of restaurants such as gukbapjip, the oldest form of restaurant which served simple meals of soup and rice; yoriok, modern restaurants which were popular in cities after the ports opened up in the 1880s; and daepojip, or taverns, which attracted drinkers after Korea was liberated from colonial rule. And he highlighted the emergence of “things uniquely Korean” during the 1960s and 70s under the so-called development dictatorship and the mass production system of agro-fisheries products and foodstuffs.
The book is meticulous about providing references and evidence. Professor Joo said, “Korean food studies have been led by authoritative experts, and some unchecked facts have been handed down as true history. I wanted to identify the accurate sources, which will serve as a foundation for future research on Korean food history.” He possesses more than 1,000 volumes of historical records on food from around the world, and he has gone through more than 1,500 old Korean books.
Here are some examples of myths and wrong perceptions about Korean food, as pointed out by
Professor Joo. Many people think that King Yeongjo`s policy of impartiality (tangpyeongchaek) inspired the food named tangpyeongchae (slices of mung bean jelly mixed with vegetables and beef). This was even mentioned in some history textbooks.
Professor Joo set the record straight with simple literature analysis. He cited the Seongnam Magazine published in 1855 (sixth year of King Cheoljong`s reign) and the Gyeongdo Magazine, dated 1749, which describes the customs of Hanyang, the old capital of Joseon and present-day Seoul. He thus proved that the mung bean jelly dish existed far earlier than the policy with the similar name.
The second example is bibimbap. There is no mention in old literature about bibimbap that a diner has to mix himself. Old literature introduces bibimbap as a dish in which seasoned vegetables and rice are mixed together over a fire before it is served on the table. The type of bibimbap that is mixed with red pepper paste by the person eating it, according to Professor Joo, was introduced as a modernized version to be sold in restaurants.
Third, the word samgyetang does not appear in old literature, either. It came into usage after the 1960s when chickens were supplied in large quantities through chicken farms and when ginseng cultivation was liberalized. The ginseng was emphasized for marketing purposes, hence the popular dish name samgyetang (each syllable meaning ginseng, chicken and soup, respectively).
Professor Joo entered Sogang University in 1981, majored in history, and afterwards became involved in food studies as he began to work as a curator at the Mulmuone Kimchi Museum. He received a master`s degree in cultural anthropology with his research on kimchi. He then went to China to study the culture of ethnic minorities. He has written many books, including “Kimchi, Koreans` Food,” “Food War, Culture War,” “China, Chinese People, Chinese Food” and “Food Humanities.”
“Thinking that only ours is the best and forcing bibimbap, kimchi and the popular TV drama ‘Dae Jang Geum` (Jewel in the Palace) on foreigners is a trap one easily falls into when pursuing globalization,” said Professor Joo. “Promotion or globalization of Korean food should not be one-off efforts. We need serious research on food humanities.” The prolific scholar who can write up to 10,000 words a day said he will continue with his research on culinary history and write books.
[ September 9, 2013 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Kim Jong-un in Transition from Politics of Provocation to Politics of Development
Jeong Yeong-gyo Research Fellow JoongAng Ilbo Unification Research Institute
“North Korea-China Relations at Crossroads” By Kim Jung-ho et al., JoongAng Books, 352 pages, 20,000 won
Kim Jung-ho, a senior fellow at the Export-Import Bank of Korea, claimed in this recently published book that North Korea is transitioning from politics of provocation to politics of development. Kim Jong-un, first secretary of the Workers` Party of Korea, has engaged in provocations for the past year, but as his third-generation hereditary regime appears to have settled down, he is now attempting at politics of development to improve the North`s economy.
At the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers` Party, in March, Kim adopted the parallel policy of nuclear and economic development. He claimed that the policy allows more effective war deterrence and defence capabilities without increasing military spending, thereby making it possible to channel efforts into economic construction and improvement of people`s lives.
Cho Bong-hyeon, policy team leader at the IBK Economic Research Institute, said, “Attracting foreign investment is a must in order to succeed in programs such as Wonsan Port, Kalma Airport and Masikryong Ski Resort.” He added, “The value of Mt. Kumgang tourism has gone up since it can
rake in US$40 million a year.”
Li Zhonglin, dean of the School of Economics and Management at Yanbian University, said, “North Korea is using the abundant resources in the Changchun-Jilin-Tumen pilot zone that serves as the external gateway from the Rason special economic zone to reinforce cooperation with China and Russia.” Pyongyang`s thinking is that it would build its economy and solve food and infrastructure shortages. It plans to build an international logistics hub in the Rason Special Economic Zone and develop it into a world-class port city as well as an international trade center with multiple functions such as transportation, trade, investment, finance, tourism and service.
A claim was made as to how North Korea`s nuclear and missile development efforts were not detrimental to the overall economy. Professor Jang Hyeong-su of Hanyang University said, “Major components of Unha-3 rocket collected by the South Korean Navy were mainly manufactured within North Korea. We can only estimate the cost of North Korea`s nuclear/missile development by external standards; it is most likely that the economic burden is much less than the estimated $3 billion.” In other words, North Korean nuclear program is all the more dangerous because it is “cheap.”
However, whether North Korea can keep up with its nuclear program and maintain a stable regime at the same time is another matter. The most important determinant is Pyongyang-Beijing relations. Professor Hwang Ji-hwan at the University of Seoul said, “In their future bilateral relations, both countries face an ‘alliance dilemma,’ in which China does not want to become implicated with North Korea and North Korea does not want to be abandoned by China.”
[ The JoongAng Ilbo, September 25, 2013 ]
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- Jo Jung-rae: “China is in disarray? It’s just a Western-biased nonsense.”
Jo Jung-rae: “China is in disarray? It’s just a Western-biased nonsense.”
Lee Hyeon-ju Staff Reporter Hankyung Business Weekly
“China will be the G1 by 2016,” says Jo Jung-rae, a renowned South Korean author, in his latest novel “The Great Jungle” (Jungle malli). To back up this claim, he has collected more than 100 volumes of research material during the past two decades. In this sense, his latest novel may be an in-depth analytical report on China written in a literary format. This is why the Hankyung Business Weekly organized a special interview with Jo for its special chuseok edition. The interview was conducted by Lee Jong-woo, a stock market expert with a 25-year track record. He is currently the head of the Research Center at I`M Investment & Securities and book columnist. He is a big fan of Jo.
Lee: Your latest work on China must have required strenuous effort since China is vast in scale and is changing rapidly.
Jo: Depending on a writer`s fierceness to look into the country`s realities, China provides an infinite source of literary imagination. I have been through five stages of preparation for the novel. The primary resources were newspaper and magazine articles, which amount to 90 volumes. The second stage mainly involved analyses on China`s economic transformation from overseas sources. I carefully compiled them into 25 volumes, connecting the dots among disparate materials by marking with post-it stickers page by page. After studying these primary resources, I met key people to hear
their opinions. I visited POSCO to listen to their stories about running a trading company in China, for example. All these preparations, including five stages of data collection, took me 20 years. Then I organized the story in my head before starting to write. There was no other way. How can you move your readers without making such effort?
Lee: Did you say it took 20 years to write this novel?
Jo: The first inspiration came in 1990, when I visited China to do research for my earlier novel “Arirang.” I had been wondering how China could remain in good shape after the socialist system of the Soviet Union collapsed. I could see the reasons very clearly during my visit. The stores had surplus rice. They were full of goods. China had built material foundations as a result of reform and openness introduced under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping a decade earlier. Having reached the ability to fully feed its 1.3 billion people in just 10 years, I wondered what China would be like in the next 20 or 30 years.
Thinking that China`s transformation would be a major historic incident in the 21st century, I started to collect reference materials with great interest. China surprised the world by becoming one of the G2 countries in 2010, outperforming the mainstream economic forecast that it would join the ranks of advanced economies by 2050. Deng himself expected the country would become a major player in the world economy around 2030. China`s rapid rise hardened my resolve to write about the country. I have visited China eight times during the past 20 years, including the last visit two years ago.
Lee: What differences did you witness in China between your first and last visits?
Jo: In 1990, many roads in Beijing, not to mention small cities, were unpaved except those in city centers. I once drove some 360 kilometers toward Mongolia, but the road condition was so terrible that I could hardly remain seated. Back then, a mere 5 percent of all roads across China were paved. Today, you may say only 5 percent of all roads in the country remain unpaved. There were no highrise buildings of 50 stories or 100 stories at the time. In my novel I discuss the significance of China`s history spanning five millennia. To understand China of today, Koreans should throw away their prejudices against China. Many Koreans tend to underestimate China, saying, “China is a haven for fake goods,” or “It`s dirty.” When I ask Chinese people what they think are the strengths of Korean people, they say Koreans are smart and hard-working. When asked what they think are the typical shortcomings of Korean people, they say, “Koreans seem to have a huge ego” or “they think they are great.” These criticisms should be taken as a grave warning.
The Chinese manmandi (slowly) attitude, though often misunderstood as laziness, epitomizes the grand scale and the specific necessities embedded in Chinese culture. Up until the 1990s, it used to take 27 hours to travel from Yanbian to Beijing by train. This culture of endurance and patience resulted in their manmandi way. China`s huge continental scale provides an environment for relaxed thought and patient attitude. Perhaps manmandi should be a condition for survival on the continent. On the other hand, Chinese people are so agile when it comes to matters about money. How can we ever say they are lazy when they have become a G2 country four decades ahead of predictions? We should not ignore the fact that they have worked really hard to live better. Before Deng came to power, farmers comprised 85 percent of China`s population. Of them, 100 million became factory workers in the process of urbanization and industrialization under the reform and open-door policy. Thanks to China, the prices of running shoes and T-shirts remained steady in advanced countries for the past two decades. Another 250 million peasant workers (nongmingong) turned China`s unpaved roads into paved ones. In the massive urbanization process some 300 million rural people will become lowsalaried labor force. They are the driving force of Chinese economy. It is a pity that globally renowned academic gurus still regard China as a mere subject of enlightenment.
Lee: It is probably because of their Western-centric views.
Jo: Asians who have studied in the United States also tend to think from the U.S. point of view. In the West, democracy and direct vote are regarded as universal rules to be spread worldwide. But we must think what the Chinese people need from their viewpoints, not from those of Americans. I believe that very few of China`s 1.4 billion people support Western-style democracy. In the wake of the Great Leap Forward movement orchestrated by Mao Zedong, China faced enormous changes: first, the legal recognition of private property; second, the freedom of migration and marriage; third, the freedom of overseas travel and shopping without restrictions on foreign exchange. As they already enjoy these benefits, Chinese people believe the party will bring about even greater prosperity. They criticize corruption but they are also generous. Chinese people are optimistic beyond our imagination, which the West fails to understand.
Lee: China claims to advocate socialism but it is practically operating under capitalist principles.
Jo: In all matters other than politics, China is more capitalistic than any capitalist country in the world. It will become even more so in the days ahead. Chinese leaders have announced a policy to pursue economic growth based on domestic demand. Whereas Mao Zedong introduced economic
revolution, China has now embarked on an era of social revolution, which will have to be achieved by eliminating the polarization between the rich and the poor and corruption by bureaucrats. It is with great interest that we watch who would succeed in resolving these two problems. Chinese communism will then remain strong for another century at the least. I am sure of this.
Lee: Did you meet many Chinese while collecting reference materials?
Jo: First of all, I met with Korean businessmen who are running small and medium enterprises around Qingdao. For the past several years, Korean media have reported on the failures of Korean small and medium-sized firms that moved to China 10 to 15 years ago. I wondered why they have failed. Ha Gyeong-man in “The Great Jungle” is modeled after a real person, with only one syllable of his name changed. I found answers to my questions in this man. I believe his experience can be benchmarked by Korean small and medium businesses operating in China. After all, the key lies in affinity. You must be respectful toward people and their culture.
Lee: It seems the future strategies of Korean companies operating in China should be different from those of the past.
Jo: So far Korean companies have primarily been eager to make money, but they must change their attitudes now that China is building up solid economic foundations. China is not the only county where fake goods are produced. In Korea, Australian food imports are marketed as local products. There is only some difference in the extents and types of cheating. China has a huge number of traffic accidents, as I wrote in my novel, but when compared in terms of the ratio against the population, Korea has a higher rate. We cannot find the way as long as we believe we are nobler. We should be humble. It is also important to contribute to the host country. For example, Korean media outlets criticize global luxury goods companies that operate in Korea for failing to engage in charitable activities at year end. It`s exactly the same in China. Let`s say you have earned 1,000 won, and you are expected to donate at least 10 won to the local community. Ha Gyeong-man, who manufactures accessories in the novel, does exactly that. You should constantly try to make friends and prove you are trustworthy, saying, “We are not here just to make money, but we want to live with you as your brothers.” In the novel, Jeon Dae-gwang represents the first-generation Korean businessmen in China. He stands at the forefront after paving the way for others. Now young people in their 20s and 30s should be the heroes. My hope is symbolized by the marriage of Song Jae-hyeong, a handsome Korean man, and a beautiful Chinese woman. I tried to say that relations between Korea and China can last long when affinity between the two people continues to accumulate like the love of this young
couple.
China-bound exports have exceeded 26 percent of our total exports, while those to the United States and Europe have fallen below 16 percent, respectively. Japan`s portion has shrunken to 5-6 percent. The reason my novel explains why Sony collapsed is that China prefers Korea to Japan as its business partner as the technological gap between the three countries gradually narrows. Hallyu is an important factor behind this tendency. Mr. Kim Gu (1876-1949, president of the Korean Provisional Government, also known by his pen name Baekbeom) said, “I do not want our nation to become the most powerful nation in the world but a source of highly-developed culture, hence a model and example for other nations.” Indeed, the Korean Wave is now spreading as far as to Africa. Actually, the craze for Korean popular culture started in China with the TV drama series “Dae Jang Geum” (Jewel in the Palace). I had a chance to talk with physics students at the Chongqing University and they expressed admiration for storytelling skills demonstrated in Korean TV dramas. They are highly appreciative of Korea`s cultural sensitivity, calling us a small but strong nation. They wonder how come we excel in so many fields with a population of only 50 million. Throughout our history of 5,000 years, we have been invaded as many as 1,000 times but we have survived. I believe we have a strong desire to survive, which is engraved in our genes.
Lee: So far we have mainly exported capital goods to China. It seems our sales strategy should shift to consumer goods. How do you estimate the possibility?
Jo: We have infinite possibilities. I described China as a vast consumer market with 1.4 billion people in my novel, repeatedly saying there are chances to make big money in this market in the next 20 to 30 years. Jeon Dae-gwang launches a series of business ventures in the novel, and all of his business ideas are actually mine. While conducting research to prepare for the novel, I could see potential business ideas that could succeed in the Chinese market. Korean apparel manufacturer E-Land enjoys popularity among Chinese college students through its up-market approach. Back in the 1970s, Japanese businessmen used to say, “In Korea, we see money rolling around the streets.” They saw chances to sell numerous things here. Zojirushi rice cookers were an example. Now, China offers such chances. Particularly, there are many niches to be explored. Underwear, purses, the Ewha pear flower brand··· All these business ideas in my novel are my ideas. We can also sell our baby milk formulas in China. Actress Lee Young-ae, the heroine of “Dae Jang Geum,” may appear in the ads, encouraging young Chinese parents to grow their “little emperor” and “little princess” on Korean formulas. I can assure 100 percent success.
Lee: What do you think are the reasons Korea is comparatively stronger than Japan or the United States in consumer goods? Orion Confectionary, for example, has larger sales in China than in Korea. Korea also has an exceptionally thriving home shopping industry.
Jo: That is an area where we Koreans demonstrate our sensitivity. Also, once determined, we push through to put our thoughts into action and try to be friendly with Chinese people. Korean businessmen working in China speak Chinese fluently. Business people from other countries like Japan, the United States, Germany and France employ interpreters, which Koreans don`t need. Chinese people are very proud and think they are the center of the world. They have a strong desire to recover from their humiliating modern history of the past century. The party constantly educates the people about this.
Lee: Do you mean Koreans are better in understanding this?
Jo: Koreans are quick-witted and fast in localization. Hyundai Motor in China produces car models tailored for Chinese users based on local market surveys. These models are sold only in China. Kumho Buslines is another good example. It would take 30 years to connect provinces and towns across the vast Chinese mainland, so they need bus lines. Kumho began providing Korean-style coach service in this lucrative niche market. Chinese people are not particularly good at this kind of service. They don`t even announce three- or four-hour flight delays. In contrast, Kumho offers luggage porter service while operating coaches strictly on schedule even when there is only one passenger on board. They cannot but be impressed. That`s how the Korean bus liner took root in China`s passenger transport market.
You can also start up a business with small capital. For example, I would like to suggest opening a restaurant specializing in samgyetang (chicken soup with ginseng). Most Japanese tourists make sure to have this Korean local dish while on a visit to Korea. Ginseng is known worldwide for its health benefits, and Korean ginseng is the best in the world. China has thousands of different dishes but nothing equivalent to samgyetang. Taking advantage of the country`s vast land, you may grow free range the Korean native black-bone chickens and advertise you only serve special organic chickens that hopped and jumped around a lot of 33 square meters (10 pyeong) each. Once you have succeeded in a big city like Beijing or Shanghai, the restaurant will fast develop into a nationwide chain to rake in tens of millions of dollars within 10 years. In the novel, Ha Gyeong-man starts his accessory factory with $30,000 and in 12 years it turns into a cash cow worth $30 million. It`s a 1,000-fold jump!
Lee: Do you think China will beat the United States?
Jo: The IMF has forecast that China will become the G1 by 2016-2018. I confirmed this is a possible scenario when I saw workers from rural areas. Some 250 million peasant workers want to become salaried factory workers and will serve as low-cost manufacturing labor force for the next three years. When these people become regular salaried workers, they will join China`s new middle class. China`s human resources simply defy imagination.
Lee: Isn`t it too late now for Korean companies to make inroads into China?
Jo: I think there are also good chances in cosmetics and beauty care. A plastic surgeon appears as a lead character in my novel, reflecting the current situation in China. Of the 700 million Chinese women, 500 million want to wear make-up. It`s time to start.
Lee: Whenever I visit China, I bring Korean BB creams for gifts.
Jo: In the 1980s, we brought nylon stockings as gifts for women, and cigarette lighters for men. Chinese people have great trust in Korean food products. After the incident of melaminecontaminated infant formula in 2008, rich Chinese parents purchase Western imports from Hong Kong. If a Korean company sells safety-guaranteed products in China, it will succeed for sure. Some 30 million Chinese babies are bottle-fed, which means 100 times the size of the Korean local market. We must hurry.
Lee: What do you think about Korean young people going to China for study?
Jo: That is the right move. My grandson just entered middle school, and I recommended that he learn Chinese. Historically, Asia was the world`s strongest during the Qing Dynasty under Qianlong Emperor and the Mughal Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Given that it continues to progress like now, I assume Asia may grow even stronger than it was during those prime eras. To understand China, we should know its long history, including modern history. I discussed China`s history in my novel so my readers can understand the strength of its long history and the depth of its culture as the driving force behind the country`s recent development.
Lee: There are views that the United States will try to keep China in check.
Jo: Militarily, it is possible. China`s military power is only one-third of that of the United States. In this regard, there was a symbolic incident recently. The Japanese national flag was displayed during a recent U.S.-Korea joint military exercise. The Korean government gave a lame excuse that it was not initially aware of Japan`s participation. China must have suspected Korea`s sincerity about bilateral partnership, wondering whether Korea was taking part in preparations for invasion. That was probably the reason why Chinese people said Koreans “practice kung fu in a ceramics store.” I think this is a very important warning because by performing kung ku in a ceramics store you are apt to destroy everything. Instead of trying to hold any party in check, we should conduct equidistant diplomacy.
Lee: Do you have anything to say to young Koreans who avidly read Japanese writer Haruki Murakami`s new releases but never pick up your novels such as “The Taebaek Mountains” and “Arirang”?
Jo: They are not solely to blame. Rather, our government leaders are responsible for neglecting history education. I believe that no other nation in the world has such a sad history as ours. We come first, and the Jews second. There is a saying that those who don`t remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Those who do not know history are to repeat tragedies. We should know our past all the more because it was painful. When we feel the scars of history have been healed somewhat, we should spread salt upon them to feel the acute pain again. Writers take the role of spreading salt. By remembering history we can develop self-awareness and sense of identity.
About “The Great Jungle” (Jungle malli)
This is Jo Jung-rae`s first multi-volume novel since “Scarecrow`s Dance” (Heosuabi chum), which was released three years ago. It is a saga of business people from Korea, China, Japan, the United States and France, striving for success in China, which has rapidly transformed itself from the “world`s factory” into the “world`s market.” The novel begins at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, where Jeon Dae-gwang, a trading company employee, meets a Korean plastic surgeon Seo Ha-won who has left Korea after a major medical incident. Seo finds a new position at a Shanghai hospital thanks to a high-ranking Chinese customs official who supports Jeon Dae-gwang. Kim Hyeon-gon is a POSCO employee in China. He obtains a large-scale business contract in collaboration with Jeon, but the project collapses due to a power struggle among Chinese politicians. Kim is demoted to Xian, in western China, but manages to win a major international project there. Wang Lingling, a Chinese-American well known for her business acumen and stylish appearance,
plays a role in Kim`s success. Song Jae-hyeong, Jeon Dae-gwang`s nephew, studies business management at Peking University, but after meeting Li Yenling, he changes his major to history. These main characters, entangled in business partnerships, family ties and romantic relationships, represent human desires for wealth and power in post-reform China, which has turned into a â&#x20AC;&#x153;jungle.â&#x20AC;? The author looks into the driving force behind China`s formidable growth and asks what direction Korea should take.
[ Issue No. 928, September 9, 2013 ]
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Korea Focus is a monthly webzine (www.koreafocus.or.kr), featuring commentaries and essays on Korean politics, economy, society and culture, as well as relevant international issues. The articles are selected from leading Korean newspapers, magazines, journals and academic papers from prestigious forums. The content is the property of the Korea Foundation and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. If it is needed to reprint an article(s) from Korea Focus, please forward your request for reprint permission by fax or via e-mail. Address: The Korea Foundation Seocho P.O. Box 227, Diplomatic Center Building, 2558 Nambusunhwanno, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137863, Korea Tel: (82-2) 2151-6526 Fax: (82-2) 2151-6592 E-mail: koreafocus@kf.or.kr ISBN 979-11-5604-032-3
Publisher Yu Hyun-seok Editor Lee Kyong-hee Editorial Board Choi Sung-ja Member, Cultural Heritage Committee Hahm In-hee Professor, Ewha Womans University Hong Chan-sik Chief Editorial Writer, The Dong-a Ilbo Hyun Jung-taik Professor, Inha University Lee Charm CEO, Korea Tourism Organization Kang Byeong-tae Chief Editorial Writer, The Hankook Ilbo Kim Hak-soon Professor, Korea University Kim Yong-jin Professor, Ajou University Peter Beck Korea Represetative, Asia Foundation Son Ho-cheol Professor, Sogang University â&#x201C;&#x2019; The Korea Foundation 2013 All rights reserved.