Table of Contents
- Korea Focus - April 2014 - TOC - Politics 1. Looking Forward to Change in North Korea 2. Park’s Declaration in Dresden Should Spur Inter-Korean Cooperation and Exchanges 3. President Park Can Resolve ‘Comfort Women’ Issue 4. Concerns about Japan’s Moves to Revise Apology for Wartime Sex Slavery
- Economy 1. Hyundai Motor’s Most Challenging Rival is Samsung Electronics 2. Geun-hyenomics and Abenomics 3. No More Delay in the Complete Opening of Rice Market 4. Moves to Raise Wages in the United States, Japan 5. Shipping Industry in Critical Condition
- Society 1. Family Reunion is Not Disposable Card 2. A Judge’s Agony over Reunification 3. One Year of Female President, One Year of Ordinary Women 4. [DEBATE] Abolishment of the Resident Registration Number System
- Culture 1. Kansong, DDP, Dongdaemum Market 2. The Reason Why Dolsot Bibimbap is One of the World’s 25 Best Foods 3. For ‘Arirang’ to be Sung Together 4. Daeboreum and St. Valentine’s Day 5. Hongdae Celebrates Rock-N-Roll Party on Kyung-Rock Day 6. Human Cultural Asset, Entry Barrier Too High
- Essays 1. Korea’s Response to the Changing Regional Order in Northeast Asia 2. Success Formula for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games 3. Korean Wave Seen through K-Pop and Drama Search Trends 4. Preservation and Utilization of UNESCO World Heritage Monuments and Sites in Kaesong
- Features 1. ‘Mothers in Korean TV Dramas are Awesome Strategists’ 2. Profiles of Glass Ceiling Breakers
- Book Reviews 1. Living as a Migrant in Korea 2. Origin of the Country Name ‘Daehan’
- Interview 1. Kim Yuna: “It’s all over and that’s the end… When Mao cried I felt a lump in my throat too.”
- COPYRIGHT
- Looking Forward to Change in North Korea - Park’s Declaration in Dresden Should Spur Inter-Korean Cooperation and Exchanges - President Park Can Resolve ‘Comfort Women’ Issue - Concerns about Japan’s Moves to Revise Apology for Wartime Sex Slavery
Looking Forward to Change in North Korea
Baik Tae-ung Associate Professor of Law, William S. Richardson School of Law University of Hawaii
The international news media’s reporting on North Korea these days can be largely divided into three categories. The first portraiture depicts the North as a threat to peace in Northeast Asia, with its nuclear arms program and missile launchings. Obsessed by its “military first” policy, Pyongyang is probably proud of the attention given to military parades in Kim Il-sung Square and its nuclear and missile activities. The second rendering is a nation in dire need of humanitarian assistance to ease its chronic food shortages that began in the 1990s. Although it may seem paradoxical for the world community to provide humanitarian aid to a state under United Nations sanctions, many international organizations are actually engaged in assistance programs.
The third profile is a human rights violator. Most recently, the news media focused on a report by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry that concluded the North’s human rights violations constitute crimes against humanity which should be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague for prosecution of the perpetrators, including the its supreme leader. The U.N. Human Rights Council is set to take actions on the report in May so North Korea is set for another round of negative attention.
In the meantime, occasional humanitarian events such as the February reunion of separated families seem to blur assessments of North Korea-related developments. Deals on security issues, including the nuclear problem, tend to overshadow the agenda related to humanitarian aid and human rights.
And talks on humanitarian issues disappoint those who want to apply pressure on Pyongyang in connection with its nuclear and human rights questions.
Under the prevailing international circumstances, in which the Western powers are driving North Korea into a corner taking issue with its widespread violation of human rights, the South Korean government appears to be taking a rather ambiguous stance. It is apparently at a loss whether to apply pressure or pursue dialogue with the North and distance itself from the hardline approach of the international community.
The Korean peninsula is in a grave situation. North Korea with its nuclear devices and South Korea joined by U.S. forces with state-of-the-art arms are locked in a precarious confrontation, with multilateral talks for denuclearization stalled for many years. It is indeed frustrating that, with humanitarian assistance and security issues intermingled, even the doors for indispensible philanthropic aid for North Korean people remain firmly shut. Meanwhile, North Korean authorities are allegedly engaged in indiscriminate assaults and torture of civilian suspects, even disregarding its own legal procedures. This sort of law enforcement and abuse of power will undoubtedly lead the North Korean populace to turn their backs on the ruling elite.
What should we do at this critical juncture? First, in order to ameliorate inter-Korean relations, we should try to create momentum for practical dialogue on pending issues. In doing so, let us not commit the fallacy of looking at only one side of the North Korea issue. There is no reason we must keep the doors of dialogue closed due to the various problems surrounding the regime. The long-stalled sixparty talks on the North Korean nuclear question should be resumed, along with the debate on security cooperation in Northeast Asia.
I also propose that the South make bold moves to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea. With regard to the North’s serious human rights problems, I propose the South offer to make sincere cooperation to improve the human rights situation in the North, instead of criticizing for the sake of criticism. Unless the two sides start open-hearted dialogue, the Korean nation will have no future. The North will have to change eventually. I call for wide-ranging dialogue and full-scale negotiations to spur change in North Korea.
[ The Hankyoreh, March 10, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Park’s Declaration in Dresden Should Spur Inter-Korean Cooperation and Exchanges
Editorial The JoongAng Ilbo
President Park Geun-hye clarified her vision on the unification of North and South Korea in her address at Dresden University of Technology on March 28, during her visit to Germany. Introducing a comprehensive, step-by-step method for the promotion of inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, she proposed that the two Koreas open joint offices in Seoul and Pyongyang to translate her vision into action. In a city that symbolizes the success of German unification, the South Korean president detailed her ideas to have Korean reunification yield a windfall for all concerned parties. Dresden, a former East German city which had been demolished by Allied carpet bombing during World War II, has risen to a cultural, educational and economic center of Europe after the reunification of Germany. To build the foundation for Korean reunification, President Park called for the removal of “four barriers,” that is, military confrontation, mutual distrust, social and cultural gaps between the two Koreas, and North Korea’s isolation from the international community. She stressed that unification is not achieved simply by merging two territories and two systems, seemingly intent on dispelling Pyongyang’s possible suspicion that her “unification bonanza” outlook might be linked to unification by absorption. She could possibly mean that what matters is the true integration of the two Koreas through exchanges and cooperation.
Park offered practical activities to promote inter-Korea cooperation: 1) regular reunions of families
divided between the North and South and aid for pregnant women and infants; 2) creation of a joint agricultural complex in North Korea to introduce large-scale cooperation projects based on rising mutual trust, investments in transportation, communications and infrastructure, and development of underground resources in the North; and 3) inter-Korean exchanges in historical research, culture and the arts and sports toward restoring a common national identity for the divided nation.
The president did not mention lifting the sanctions that the South imposed against the North on May 24, 2010, in the wake of the torpedo attack on the naval vessel Cheonan which killed 46 of its crew. This may be due to North Korea’s recent provocative acts of launching ballistic missiles and its unabated insincerity toward denuclearization. Yet, her assurance of support from international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank for each of the three proposed areas of cooperation and exchanges draws our attention. Sustainability can be guaranteed when the international community becomes involved in such inter-Korean cooperation projects as infrastructure investments and construction of joint industrial complexes.
It is now up to North Korea to respond. The first step should be the opening of joint cooperation offices. Pyongyang is urged to respond positively to President Park’s proposal without taking any action to further aggravate bilateral relations, refraining from slander against Seoul, and take joint steps to explore a new path toward cooperation and exchanges. The two Koreas could begin constructing a common economic community by laying the groundwork of mutual trust step by step.
[ March 29, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
President Park Can Resolve ‘Comfort Women’ Issue
Ahn Yin-hay Professor, Graduate School of International Studies Korea University
“Go the full monty!” said a Japanese pundit when I asked him about a solution to the Seoul-Tokyo relations that have soured. It seems to the Korean people that the Shinzo Abe administration won’t budge an inch as it lurches toward the far right-wing in Japan. In defiance of warnings from Korea, the United States, and China late last year not to honor a bastion of historical distortion, Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine to pay respects to the Japanese war dead, including convicted Class A war criminals from World War II, who are interred there. Washington’s advice to try to improve ties with Seoul is also falling on deaf ears. Perhaps, Abe may have already crossed the Rubicon. Soon after, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called for a review of Japan’s apology for the enslavement of Korean women in military brothels during World War II, suggesting that it may need to be revised. The apology, issued in 1993 by Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, acknowledged imperial Japan’s mobilization of Korean women to work as sex slaves for its soldiers and expressed remorse. On August 15, 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued a similar statement that also acknowledged and apologized for Japan’s aggression and colonial rule.
However, Japanese politicians are not masking their desire to distance themselves from Murayama and Kono, who held the top two elected posts in Japan. They have derided Korea’s position with
statements such as “Poor Korean women volunteered to make a a living,” and “Japan wasn’t the only country that mobilized wartime sex slaves.” In effect, they are attempting to argue that the testimonies by 16 Korean victims of imperial Japan’s military sex slavery were exaggerated and that there are no official documents proving the Japanese government’s responsibility.
However, one on-site document after another has been dug up, bearing witness to the imperial Japanese Army’s mobilization of wartime sex slaves. What are they going to review and verify? Why is Japan doing this?
Every March we remember our patriots who fought for independence from Japanese colonial rule. On the anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement of 1919, we worry about the health of the surviving victims of imperial Japan’s sex slavery as senior Japanese officials try to undermine the Kono Statement and call Japan’s mobilization of “comfort women” was a “fabrication.”
In a keynote speech to the 25th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 5, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se demanded resolution of the issue of comfort women, calling it “an issue of universal human rights and an unresolved question that still haunts us today.” He also called for U.N. member states’ attention to the human rights abuses in North Korea.
Earlier, in an open debate at the U.N. Security Council in January, participants used terms such as “comfort women” and “enforced sex slaves.” All this shows that the Japanese government can no longer ignore responsibility for imperial Japan’s wartime atrocities. It should rectify its distorted view of history and make reparations for the victims.
Japan has three major foreign policy objectives. First, Japan wants to recover its former northern territories, which are currently controlled by Russia. It also is at odds with China over the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyudao Islands as the Chinese call them) and with Korea over its unfounded claim to Dokdo Islets. Second, Japan has not made its voice properly heard in the international community, despite being the second-largest contributor to the annual U.N. budget after the United States. It now wants a permanent seat, alongside Germany, on the U.N. Security Council. Third, Tokyo needs to make tangible diplomatic achievements. One way is to normalize relations with Pyongyang, which is ostracized by the international community. Among these policy aims, the Abe administration will probably give priority to improving ties with Pyongyang, a relatively realistic task, to avoid a drop in domestic approval ratings.
During a visit to North Korea, as a member of an all-female delegation in September 1992, I met with North Korean victims of imperial Japan’s sex slavery. We arrived in Pyongyang after crossing the border through the truce village of Panmunjom, the first time for South Korean civilians. We were warmly welcomed by North Korean women. While boasting about their “happy lives” in the North, the former “comfort women” recounted with tears their miserable experiences at Japan’s frontline barracks. One of them even rolled up her skirt and showed us a sword cut on her abdomen. Here is a suggestion: Let former sex slavery victims in both Koreas, who still vividly remember the brutality of Japanese soldiers, gather together. Let them share their sad memories and console each other.
In addition to reunions of families separated by the Korean War, the two Koreas should be ready to cooperate with each other in resolving the issue of “comfort women.” Seoul and Pyongyang should join hands to admonish the Japanese government for turning away from historical facts, so that Tokyo can no longer behave ruthlessly to the victims of imperial Japan’s crime against humanity. South Korea’s female president is in a better position than anybody else to persuade all parties concerned to put their heads together to find a solution.
[ Dong-A Ilbo, March 7, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Concerns about Japan’s Moves to Revise Apology for Wartime Sex Slavery
Editorial The JoongAng Ilbo
Tokyo is moving to deny the 1993 “Kono Statement,” which acknowledged, and apologized for imperial Japan’s mobilization of Korean women to work as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II.
Testimonies of victims of the wartime sex slavery served as the framework for the statement issued by then Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono. On February 20, before a House committee hearing, the current chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said, “It will be desirable to further review the testimonies from the academic perspective and we will consider launching an expert team for that purpose.”
Suga went further than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who earlier refuted the international community’s denunciation of Japan for the wartime sex slavery, saying, “We’ll level-headedly argue, based on facts, against other people’s vilification of Japan, which is based on misinformation.”
Through the Kono Statement the Japanese government admitted that the imperial Japanese Army was directly and indirectly involved in installing and operating wartime brothels and mobilizing “comfort women.” Based on five-day interviews with 16 victims in Seoul, it also acknowledged that the victims were coaxed or coerced into sex slavery, sent to brothels, and controlled against their will.
But some far-right Japanese politicians have persistently questioned the “legitimacy” of the Kono Statement, arguing that there are no official documents that prove the Japanese government’s responsibility and that the victims’ testimonies are dubious. Buoyed up by such nonsensical arguments, the Abe administration plans to have experts verify the authenticity of the victims’ testimonies ― an inhumane and brazenfaced decision that rubs salt into the victims’ wounds. The Kono Statement, as well as the “Murayama Statement” of 1995, has been the mainstay in the Seoul-Tokyo relations. Then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama also acknowledged, and apologized for, Japan’s aggression and colonial rule in a separate statement issued on August 15, 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.
Nonetheless, Abe has sought to discredit the Kono Statement following his earlier attempt to downplay the Murayama Statement by saying, “The definition of aggression has yet to be established in academia or in the international community.” This is an anti-historical attitude that contradicts his cabinet’s proclaimed position inheriting the historical views of preceding administrations. The Abe government should bear in mind that its denial of the Kono Statement means a rupture in Seoul-Tokyo relations.
[ February 22, 2014 ] www.koreafocus.or.kr
- Hyundai Motor’s Most Challenging Rival is Samsung Electronics - Geun-hyenomics and Abenomics - No More Delay in the Complete Opening of Rice Market - Moves to Raise Wages in the United States, Japan - Shipping Industry in Critical Condition
Hyundai Motor’s Most Challenging Rival is Samsung Electronics
Lee Chul-ho Senior Editorial Writer The JoongAng Ilbo
On his return from the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States in January, Kim Do-hoon, president of the Korea Institute of Engineering and Technology, reported a “tremendous change.” What drew his attention were not flexible display screens vaunted by Korea Inc. Nor was it China’s rapid gains in catching up with Korea. He said the most impressive event was watching a Samsung Galaxy Gear wristwatch operate a BMW i3. It was an example of both fusion and competition between the auto and information communication technology (ICT) industries.
One of the glamour stocks in the world these days is Tesla Motors, a U.S. maker of electric cars. The company’s stock price rose five-fold last year, and another 70 percent during the first two months of this year. The surge has occurred despite a battery fire in a Tesla car four months ago.
Tesla Motors, established 10 years ago, has yet to produce its first annual profit. Its cumulative sales are a meager 23,000 units. Yet, its market capitalization stands at $31 billion, half that of General Motors, which produces 10 million vehicles a year. Nothing better explains the stellar growth than the fact that Tesla is an icon of innovation.
Entrenched automakers have had electric cars. But they kept them as minor pieces of their product lineup. They did not want their markets for gasoline- and diesel-powered cars to be disrupted. Hence,
they did not attempt to maximize the performance of their electric cars.
Tesla, which copied nothing but the exterior of the conventional car, upended their business strategy. Its car has a lithium-ion battery pack that makes its performance comparable to high-end sports cars. It has a 17-inch touch screen on the center of the fascia to control all of the car’s functions. It has turned an automobile into a moving ICT machine.
Nowadays, electronic parts account for about 40 percent of the cost of an automotive vehicle, twice as much as 10 years ago. Some warn that cars will have an increasing number of glitches as more electronic parts are embedded. But all one needs to do is to look at high-end cars.
When it comes to a flagship car priced at more than 100 million won, the value of electronic parts is more than 50 percent of the total cost. They account for 60 percent in the case of a hybrid car and 70 percent of an electric car. Rupert Stadler, chief executive officer and chairman of Audi AG, was quoted as saying at the CES that automotive innovation now is mostly ICT-dependent. Stephen Hwang, president of UL Korea, said of his CES observation, “Hyundai Motor’s real adversary is neither Toyota nor Volkswagen. Its adversaries are Samsung Electronics and LG Chem.” It is like cell-phone manufacturers having found their real enemy not in Nokia but in Apple, whose iPhone disrupted the market. Hwang said that automakers have relied on mechanical engineering to improve mileage and speed during the past 100 years and that the next 100 years will be a period of competition with ICT and chemical engineering. In other words, Samsung’s sensor and control technologies and LG Chem’s battery technology will be critical in the manufacture of automobiles.
Until recently, an automobile has mostly been a means of transportation between cities. But the GSM Association believes that it will soon become a means of convenience for intra-city transportation. When the day comes, it will no longer be a product owned by an individual and kept in a garage when not in use. Instead, it will turn into a driverless ICT device, which, continuously on the move, will get to the nearest client with the help of network communication, map out an optimal route to his destination and transport him. Around the corner is the commercialization of an operating system developed for such a device.
Now the question is who dominates the new ecological system of automotive transportation. Among the top contenders are Google and Amazon. Google’s robotics division has acquired several companies to develop robots for courier service. Amazon has promised future deliveries by drones.
Both Google and Amazon are attempting to develop a dominant network for the new kind of courier service.
Who knows if Samsung and Hyundai will be reduced to the status of supplier to Google or Amazon? Victims may not be such industrial giants alone. Forced out of work could be millions of taxi, bus and truck drivers and couriers.
The CES has left much to think about. Domestic news media may have been awed by flexible screens. But experts appeared to have found disturbing implications about Google and Amazon, which, creating their own new ecological systems, are seeking to encroach on the auto markets. A foreign periodical called on its readers to forget about Apple and Facebook, claiming that Google and Amazon are the most formidable business enterprises. This warning can hardly be ignored.
[ March 3, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Geun-hyenomics and Abenomics
Kim Jong-soo Editorial Writer The JoongAng Ilbo
Last June, Japan was enthused by “Abenomics,” believing that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic plan would be the panacea to end underperformance and deflation that has hobbled the nation over the past two decades. Part of Abenomics was to increase the money supply and expand fiscal spending. To wit, Abe had no qualms about replacing the governor of the Bank of Japan, who did not seem to be totally committed to the plan.
The new BOJ governor started quantitative easing, promising to provide an unlimited money supply, and the government increased expenditures on public works despite its huge fiscal deficit. When the yen consequently dropped almost 30 percent against the U.S. dollar, Japan began to have high expectations about a recovery. Stocks rose, the property market began to awaken, and forecasts of higher growth followed. No wonder Abe’s popularity soared.
Since its inauguration, the Park Geun-hye administration had been riddled with missteps in personnel appointments and scandals involving some of those close to the president. Even worse, the administration’s economic policy was confusing. The concept of its overarching aim, a “creative economy,” defied easy comprehension.
The administration also promised to expand opportunities for employment, provide more welfare
benefits, democratize the economy, and push for deregulation and fair competition. But the pledges lacked coherence. Even worse, some of them conflicted with each other. Simply put, the Park administration did not have a clear-cut vision to achieve its goals. No wonder, some Koreans, envying Japan of Abenomics, demanded their government’s own version, or “Geun-hyenomics.”
After wasting a year with trials and errors, President Park introduced a three-year plan for economic innovation at her New Year news conference. It called for restructuring government-invested corporations, pushing for a creative economy and boosting domestic demand. Although it gave the impression of having been worked out in haste, the plan presented a specific growth target and more concrete steps than preceding initiatives.
When she addressed the nation on the first anniversary of her presidency on February 25, President Park was even more specific about her plan for balanced growth. She promised to improve the economic fundamentals by correcting what was abnormal in economic activities, restore economic vitality through a creative economy and boost domestic demand through deregulation. In other words, Park said that her administration would cure the nation’s economic malaise and put the economy on a path to stable and sustainable growth. Expectations about her plan were high, as she pledged to get herself directly involved in implementing it. Geun-hyenomics was finally fleshed out.
On the other hand, Abenomics began to flounder at the outset of this year. A weak yen, which raised the prices of imports, helped Japan pull itself out of deflation. But exports did not grow as much as expected and growth stalled. Moreover, Japan’s desire to keep the yen weak faced an obstacle when the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to reduce its own quantitative easing, or bond purchases, roiling emerging economies. The impact of an enlarged money supply and increased fiscal spending, two of the three “arrows” of Abenomics, has dissipated. They were designed to address the symptoms of Japan’s economic malaise and, by doing so, keep the Japanese economy from falling any further. Worse still, momentum for structural reform, the third and most crucial arrow, has stalled before lift-off.
Restructuring was sure to cause pain and thus invite resistance. So far deregulation is behind schedule and labor reforms have yet to be introduced. When the consumption tax is levied in April, as scheduled, growth that is barely revived may be smothered.
Geun-hyenomics does not contain any short-term boosters, such as increases in money supply and fiscal spending. Instead, its policy goals are promoting structural reform and improving the economic fundamentals.
The Park administration intends to consolidate the economic foundation for the nation through reforms on government-invested corporations, fiscal spending, the tax system and the labor market. It also aims to change economic activities by pushing for a creative economy and deregulate to foster new growth engines in the service sector, which will help boost domestic consumption.
Unlike Abeonomics, which places structural reform in mid- and long-term plans, Geun-hyenomics intends to shoot its arrows simultaneously. Of course, execution, not the soundness of the plan, is paramount. None of the three strategies and 15 core tasks in President Park’s economic plan appears easy to implement.
Government-invested corporations that are already targeted for reform and the labor market, which also needs reforming, are certain to put up resistance. A rough road is ahead for deregulation as well.
The setback to structural reform in Japan suggests how hard it will be for the Park administration to push for similar reform and improve the economic fundamentals. Geun-hyenomics will be little different from Abenomics if it wavers simply because its job is hard to do. Success will depend on the president’s commitment and leadership in implementing her economic plan.
[ February 26, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
No More Delay in the Complete Opening of Rice Market
Choi Won-mog Professor of International Trade Law School of Law, Ewha Woman’s University
Under the principle of the World Trade Organization, it is necessary for each member nation to open its market and import all agricultural products with or without tariffs. But in 1993, Korea gained a grace period in opening its rice market. Under a minimum market access agreement, it promised to import, at 5 percent tariff, up to 4 percent of its annual rice consumption by gradually increasing the fixed amount for the next 10 years, instead of opening its rice market completely. In 2004, the agreement was extended another 10 years with further commitment to increase the import amount.
The grace period ends on December 31 this year, but the government has yet to decide whether to open up the rice market completely and begin tarriffication, a process in which non-tarriffs are converted into “bound” tariffs, or import taxes that have a limit. The process should begin now.
The required rice imports have risen to about 400,000 tons from about 225,000 tons in the mid-1990s. Opponents to a totally open rice market argue that Korea should be able to continue to have fixed imports. They are inspired by WTO members who have insisted on temporary agreements being honored until the current Doha round of WTO negotiations is concluded. However, the exception granted to Korea was made during the completed Uruguay Round. The opponents’ demand is little different from someone who has not done his homework but insists on being treated the same as those who have.
The opponents also claim another postponement is warranted as compensation for the hardship inflicted by the minimum market access. Their argument is similar to a borrower who does not want to pay the principal because he has made all the scheduled interest payments.
Maintaining the status quo would breach WTO regulations and prompt all kinds of trade pressure by rice exporters. The WTO would surely rule against Korea, most likely in about one year and a half, and give Korea two to four months to take corrective action. The WTO ruling would not be favorable to Korea in terms of tariff rates on rice imports and modes of rice imports, and it would undermine trust in Korea. Also, trade partners would impose penalties totaling billions of dollars. In short, Korea, with its prestige severely damaged, would subject itself to trade retaliation and an unfavorable type of tariff conversion.
One solution would be to obtain an exemption. But this would be an unrealistic alternative, because Korea would have to accept a huge increase in minimum rice imports. Such is the case already seen with the Philippines, the only WTO member apart from Korea that still has a closed rice market.
Korea already is at a loss over the bulging amount of rice it is obligated to import. It would be suicidal to increase the minimum market access yet again. If it has common sense, the Korean government will liberalize the rice market and take the initiative in determining the tariff rates. But the government is delaying any action as farmers’ organizations pressure for trade protection. The National Assembly also has stayed silent, although it is aware that delay in opening the rice market without any recourse, not trade liberalization itself, would hasten the fall of rice farmers. Each of them will have to be held accountable.
[ Chosun Ilbo, February 19, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Moves to Raise Wages in the United States, Japan
Lee Joo-myung Editorial Writer The Asia Business Daily
In his State of the Union address on February 28, U.S. President Barack Obama called on Congress to increase the minimum hourly wage by 39 percent, from the current $7.25 to $10.10. In separate action, he promised to issue within a few weeks an executive order that would force federal government suppliers and contractors to pay the targeted $10.10. “It (wage hike) will give businesses customers with more money to spend. It doesn’t involve any new bureaucratic program. So join the rest of the country. Say yes. Give America a raise,” the president said. After delivering the address, he visited a Costco outlet, apparently to showcase the retailer’s wage policy. The company, whose founder is an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party, pays less to its executives and more to its employees than its rivals do. Its average wage is $20.89 per hour, 65 percent higher than Wal-Mart’s $12.67. Yet, it has been maintaining high rates of growth.
In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been calling on the business community to raise salaries since he took power in late 2012, hoping fattened wallets will help end the nation’s persistent deflation. Business organizations were cool to the idea last year, but have turned around to accommodate it this year. Among them are Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and the
Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Hirosama Yonekura, chairman of Nippon Keidanren, was quoted as saying on February 28 that wage increases were important for a virtuous business cycle. Yasuchika Hasegawa, chairman of Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives), also said in a television interview on March 3 that wage hikes are needed to stimulate consumer spending. He was responding to a demand for an across-the-board increase in the basic pay, the first in five years that Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) had made ahead of this year’s “spring struggle.”
Apparently, political motives are behind the moves of Obama and Abe. Obama wants to regain support from the middle and lower income classes when he says an increase in the minimum wage is needed to address the problem of income gaps. Abe wishes to allay popular discontent over an increase in the consumption tax when he calls on businesses to raise wages in return for lower corporate tax rates. Koreans are not familiar with a nation’s leader spearheading higher wages. Yet, a wage increase may have a greater positive impact on the economy in Korea than in the United States or Japan.
Since the 2008 global financial crisis, real wages are assumed to have either remained more or less the same or fallen by a small margin in Korea. But household debt has soared to 1,000 trillion won, the savings rate has plummeted and consumers have been tightening the strings of their purses. Moreover, the portion of incomes for wage earners in the national wealth is declining as savings by corporations are on the rise. Without reversing these trends, it will be difficult to raise the nation’s growth potential to the level desired by the government. Sustainable growth also will be in jeopardy. To strike a balance between domestic consumption and exports, wages, which account for two-thirds of household incomes, must be raised.
Wages are the foundation for the meaningful life as well as the survival of most people. They are also part of the production cost on the one hand and sources of domestic demand on the other. Moreover, curbing wage increases as a means of reducing costs risks the danger of deflation. Thinking outside the box can forestall such a danger. Businesses, large corporations with huge savings in particular, will do well to raise wages in addition to expanding investments.
[ February 10, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Shipping Industry in Critical Condition
Huh Seung-ho Editorial Writer The Dong-A Ilbo
The tide turned in favor of the Allied forces when the German Navy crumbled in 1942-43. It was a critical event in the Second World War. When the United States shipped troops and war supplies across the Atlantic to Europe, Germany deployed its U-boats in a desperate effort to sink the U.S. convoys. But after the U.S. Navy seized control of the sea routes, Germany found it impossible to block the tsunami of the U.S. military might.
It was the same in the Pacific theater. In 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor to secure access to its bases throughout Asia and the Pacific. The United States, rapidly building up its naval force, won the Battle of Midway in 1942, repelling the Japanese advance and seizing the offensive in the Pacific.
Alfred Mahan, a U.S. naval officer and geostrategist, said that countries with great naval power will have a great worldwide impact. He defined sea power as comprising a strong navy and commercial fleet. Thus, oceanographers call commercial vessels the “fourth armed force� after the army, the navy and the air force. No powerful country regards its commercial fleet in business terms alone.
It may not be well known, but the Korean commercial fleet is the fifth largest in the world after the Greek, Japanese, Chinese and German fleets. The maritime transportation industry is also the fifth
largest dollar earner in Korea after the petrochemical, shipbuilding, auto and semiconductor industries, with 92 percent of its earnings coming from non-Korean trades. Moreover, Busan is the fifth busiest container port in the world after Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Korea may take pride in its status as a maritime transportation powerhouse. Yet, its shipping industry is in critical condition.
Hanjin Shipping, the largest shipping company in the nation, is being taken over by the Korean Air Group. In an effort to resuscitate the moribund Hyundai Merchant Marine, the second largest shipping company in the nation, the Hyundai Group has put its companies on the block ― Hyundai Securities, Hyundai Asset Management and Hyundai Savings Bank, which are valued at 3.3 trillion won. STX Pan Ocean, the third largest, is in court receivership. With the change of ownership, the fourth largest shipping company, Korea Line Corp., barely came out of court receivership in November.
Since 2008, Korean shipping companies have been selling off their assets ranging from wharf facilities located in and outside of Korea to containers. Yet, 70 of the 160 shipping companies have either closed down or undergone the change of ownership. The reason is simple. Cargo volume has dwindled in the wake of the global financial crisis. It is a hardship not only for the Korean shipping industry but for the entire shipping industry around the world.
The hardship is different from the management crises of the Tong Yang Group, Woongjin, or Ssangyong Engineering and Construction. It is called a systemic risk, an extraneous shock engulfing the entire industry. An escape is found only in a global recovery. Until then, shipping companies have to grab market share or perish.
Commercial ships are huge. The dead weight of a container ship is 100,000 tons and that of a bulk carrier is 300,000 tons. Their surface is as wide as several football fields. Their prices are astronomical. As such, it often takes more than 10 years to cash in investments on them.
The systemic risk to the shipping industry is too wide and too deep for private financial institutions, such as commercial banks, to manage. As such, policy lending is supposed to stand by. However, Korea Development Bank and other lenders are not doing a proper job.
China has raised $53 billion to bail out its ailing shipping companies. Denmark, Germany, India, France and Japan have set aside huge amounts of money for similar purposes. They are aware that
they will lose their market shares if they stand idly by. Advanced nations differ from developing countries in addressing the systemic risk. Advanced nations take pains to skirt subsidy regulations of the World Trade Organization while developing countries tend to be not so careful.
President Park Geun-hye made an election pledge to create a financing company for the shipping industry. But she fell short of honoring her promise when her administration decided to set up a shipping industry guarantee fund, which would be denied the lending function.
One year has passed since the decision was made. But the administration has yet to establish the proposed fund. Yoon Jin-sook, a former minister of oceans and fisheries, tried in vain to create the fund. Little help came from the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Little support came from the president, either.
Now, Rep. Lee Ju-young, a powerful four-term lawmaker, has been designated for the post of minister of oceans and fisheries. But can he be said to be influential if he cannot create the proposed fund? It does not matter if he is a white cat or a black cat, as long as he helps keep the Korean shipping industry from crumbling. It will be of no use to establish the fund after the industry collapses.
[ February 17, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
- Family Reunion is Not Disposable Card - A Judge’s Agony over Reunification - One Year of Female President, One Year of Ordinary Women - [DEBATE] Abolishment of the Resident Registration Number System
Family Reunion is Not Disposable Card
Kim Jin-ho Senior Reporter The Kyunghyang Shinmun
In Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju County, Gyeonggi Province, there is a vast public cemetery for former North Koreans. Occupying a scenic vantage point where the Han River merges with the Imjin River to flow into the Yellow Sea, the cemetery is named Donghwa Gyeongmo Park. With terraced and plain graves it feels more like a cozy park than a burial ground. But, when it was first opened in 1993, the cemetery seemed rather out of place amid empty fields.
Today, with the Paju campus of the Gyeonggi English Village and Heyri Art Valley nearby, this area is quite crowded with visitors on weekends. The cemetery is only for those who were born north of the DMZ and their immediate family members. This may be a kind of special privilege afforded to former North Koreans after living away from home for many decades, but it should not be considered an undue special treatment for them.
Some 2.8 million North Koreans migrated to the South in the wake of liberation from Japanese colonial rule or during the Korean War. According to the 2005 census, 161,605 first-generation North Korean refugees had family members in the North. Of them, 71,480 remained registered with the Korean Red Cross as of last month. Recent defectors from North Korea totaled 26,000 at the end of 2013. Considering that the nation’s multicultural family members have already reached 800,000, former North Koreans form a tiny minority in our society.
In 2004, reunions of separated families from South and North Korea hardly erupted into a sea of tears. One newspaper headline called them “Dry Family Reunions.” There were few reunited parents and children so the reunions mostly involved siblings and relatives. They shed tears for 10 minutes or so, and then chatted in a lively atmosphere, exchanging their family photos.
Of course, there was also a reunion between a mother in her 90s and her son, but even a painful longing becomes fossilized after more than half a century. The elderly mother from the South, suffering from dementia, sat in a wheelchair with her sunken eyes. Her son from the North moaned with an aching heart as his mother looked at him with a blank look.
The Korean Red Cross rejected a proposal by its North Korean counterpart to hold a preparatory meeting for family reunions in October 1956. Then, in August 1971, the first conference between the South and North Korean Red Cross was held before the Joint Declaration of the governments of both Koreas on July 4, 1972, but the first reunion of separated families was not conducted until 1985.
With national division now past 60 years, the heartrending stories of dispersed families have been fossilized into anecdotes, but authorities of the two Koreas continue to haggle. For decades, they have argued about letter exchanges, family reunions and hometown visits, but their conclusions always depended on their immediate political needs. After the Participatory Government of President Roh Moo-hyun succeeded the People’s Government of President Kim Dae-jung in 2003, the South-North reunions of separated families no longer attracted overwhelming media attention. Newspapers downplayed the frequent reunions with a few photos. Some even cynically commented that “inter-Korean talks between authorities are rewards for rice aid and family reunions are for fertilizer aid.” People with no family members or close relatives across the border became indifferent or critical about the low-profile attitude of South Korean authorities in negotiations with the North.
In their recent talks, the first in seven years, the government authorities of both sides again had political motives, but it was not bad for a first step. Although they barely found a point of agreement, I think this can be a stepping stone for bigger strides. Family reunions at Mt. Kumgang will be resumed after an impasse over four years. The North quietly shelved denunciations of a joint U.S.Korea military drill. This is probably their conclusion drawn amid international isolation which followed the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the execution of Jang Song-thaek as well
as the nuclear test in February last year. Regardless of the North’s intentions behind its “broad-minded decision,” what is important is that the ball is now in the South’s court. Efforts are needed to find ways to resolve the long overdue issues, including the realization of regular family reunions, confirmation of the whereabouts of separated families and exchange of correspondence. Consideration could also be given to placing the proposed DMZ International Peace Park within easy distance to the family reunion facilities on Mt. Kumgang.
The leaderships in both Koreas will only add to their mistakes if they attempt to use cross-border family reunions as a disposable political card. It is a time-old, anti-humanitarian crime, isn’t it?
[ February 18, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
A Judge’s Agony over Reunification
Chang Jin-young Attorney at Law Kangho Attorneys at Law
Lee was born in 1933 in Tangjeong-myeon, Asan County, and South Chungcheong Province. He was attending Seongnam Middle School in Seoul when the Korean War broke out in June 1950 and immediately volunteered to join the army. His family soon lost contact with him. Lee’s father died in December 1961, about 10 years after Lee went missing. With no way to find out whether he was alive or dead, his family could do nothing about his inheritance until they finally filed a missing person report in 1977 and Lee’s siblings and mother divided up his inherited property the following year. But one of Lee’s brothers later discovered that his sibling was living in North Korea and after 54 years of separation, the brothers reunited in Yanji, China, with the help of a broker.
However, North Korean authorities learned about the reunion and tortured Lee. He died in 2006. Soon after Lee died, his daughter escaped from the North and arrived in the South in June 2009. She erased the missing person report on her father by providing proof that Lee was still alive in 1961 when his father died. Then she filed a lawsuit against Lee’s brothers to restore her father’s inheritance.
Lately, as more and more North Korean defectors arrive in the South, we can easily find similar contested inheritance cases. Furthermore, some North Korean residents send their deputies to the South and file lawsuits to claim their inheritance. Blood ties and financial interests have proven
powerful enough to break through the frozen ties between the two Koreas. As President Park said, reunification can be a “jackpot” for some people but it can be a bolt out of the blue for others, as in the case of Lee’s brothers.
In preparation for disputes over property inheritance, which is expected to occur frequently with the increase of inter-Korean exchanges, the government enacted the “Special Act on Family Relations and Inheritances between South and North Korean Residents” in 2012. Under South Korea’s civil law, a person can claim inheritance within 10 years of the violation of their right to inheritance. But whether this provision applies to North Koreans, is unclear. Regrettably, the Special Act on Family Relations and Inheritances between South and North Korean Residents does not mention any deadline for a North Korean resident to file an inheritance claim.
Since private exchanges between families in North and South Korea have been severed since national division, North Korean residents have been unable to exercise their right of inheritance. Therefore, applying the equal 10-year time limit to North Korean residents is tantamount to denying their right of inheritance after all. Then, should the limit be lifted for North Koreans only? Or, should it be seen impossible to grant exceptions to North Korean residents because the expiration date is intended to stabilize legal relations among inheritors after a 10-year period? The trial court in the case of Lee’s daughter ruled that North Koreans should be allowed to exercise their right after the 10-year period because imposing the same time limit as South Koreans with no consideration of the unique historical circumstances of national division can practically deprive North Korean inheritors of their rights. Finally, the court held up the plaintiff’s hand so that she could reclaim her father’s share of property inheritance. The ruling offers glimpses of the judge’s profound consideration and agony over the unique circumstances of national division and the basic rights of families who have suffered from long separation. An unprepared reunification can be a disaster, not a jackpot, for the nation. Now, the civil society, the administration and the National Assembly should take up the topic proposed by the judge who ruled this case.
[ Hankook Ilbo, February 19, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
One Year of Female President, One Year of Ordinary Women
Kim Min-ah Editorial Writer The Kyunghyang Shinmun
The recent episode that happened at the Republic of Korea Air Force Academy is more ridiculous than a comedy routine. For those who don’t know the details, here is a summary. The Air Force Academy, which is scheduled to hold a graduation ceremony on March 27, decided to give the President’s Award to the second best of the class, a male cadet, instead of the top cadet, a female. What was the reason? It’s because the female cadet had low grades in the physical fitness test and military science, according to the academy.
When this stirred up a controversy over gender discrimination, the superintendent of the academy explained, “The female cadet received a poor evaluation on her self-development and efforts to do her best until the end.” If this was true, they should have made her ineligible for awards. However, the academy planned to give her the Prime Minister’s Award. She is not qualified for the President’s Award, but is qualified for the Prime Minister’s Award? It’s obvious that the superintendent of the academy drummed up the absurd explanation in a fluster. In the end, the academy has reversed its decision and now plans to present the President’s Award to the female cadet. If this kind of incident happened only at the Air Force Academy, we may have dismissed it as a one-off event. However, the Korea Military Academy is adding to the absurdity: it
has decided to raise the importance of military science, military training, and physical education and discipline while reducing the importance of general education.
The academy explained that its aim is to improve the combat power of elite officers, which cannot help but cause controversy because the changed criteria will be disadvantageous to female cadets, who usually have higher grades in general education. Furthermore, the change came after female cadets graduated as the top of the class in 2012 and 2013. No wonder the decision raises skepticism.
The Korea Military Academy also abolished the system of ranking schools after it had evaluated the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs for universities. The abolishment happened to come after Sookmyung Women’s University ranked top at the 2012 ROTC summer training and Sungshin Women’s University did at the winter training of 2012–2013. Is this also a coincidence?
Today is the first anniversary of the inauguration of the first female president in the history of the Republic of Korea. It is indeed an extraordinary event that a woman reached the top elected post. But whether this will improve the quality of life for the majority of women is another issue. This is why I look back on what kind of things happened to Korean women in the past one year.
First, the notorious scandal of Yoon Chang-joong, a former presidential spokesman, comes up to my mind. He accompanied President Park to the United States, her first official trip abroad, and became embroiled in a sexual harassment case. In an effort to explain, he even insulted Korean women collectively by suggesting the cultural acceptance of certain behavior was different in Korea.
The second episode involved Yoon Jin-sook, a former minister of oceans and fisheries. Despite strong objections from both the ruling and opposition parties, President Park went ahead with appointing Yoon as a cabinet minister, insisting that she was like “a pearl in the sand.” While in office, she was the target of constant disputes about her qualification, and she eventually had to step down after an oil leak off the coast near Yeosu.
As a result, among the 18 cabinet ministers, the number of women went down from two to just one (Minister of Gender Equality and Family Cho Yoon-sun). Apart from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which is generally supposed to have a female minister, the current administration has no female cabinet minister. Even in Italy, which is known for its male-dominated political culture, half of its cabinet ministers, including the minister of defense, are women.
Third, the Korean history textbook of Kyohaksa Publishing Co., which passed the authorization review under the support of the government, rubbed salt into the wounds of victims of Japan’s World War II military sex slavery by saying, “Korean comfort women often ‘followed’ Japanese troops whenever they moved.” The victims, who are now more than 80 years old, had to visit each school to stop them from choosing this textbook. The problematic description was finally revised but left bitter feelings in the hearts of the victims. Fourth, Lee Jin-han, then second deputy chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and currently head of the Western Branch of the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office, was suspected of sexually molesting female reporters at a year-end party. But an investigation only resulted in a warning. He didn’t even get disadvantage in personnel affairs. Sexual assault is one of the “four major social evils” that President Park has been urging to root out, but he was given indulgence.
For ordinary Korean women, the past one year has been an exhausting year. President Park is stressing “normalization of abnormality” as a major policy objective of her administration. Is it normal or abnormal for the military to put a strain on opportunities for women instead of expanding them? Is it normal or abnormal to have no woman at all on the senior presidential staff and have even fewer female aides now than at the outset of this administration?
It is hard to understand why President Park ignores these problems when she has rolled up her sleeves to create jobs for women suffering from career disruption. While praising the “power of Korean women” when Kim Yuna and Lee Sang-hwa wins medals and admiring “triumphant female power” in examinations for college entrance and higher civil service on one hand, Korean society applies discriminatory criteria to women on the other. This is not right. If a woman can become president but not the top cadet, we cannot call this a normal country.
[ February 24, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
[DEBATE] Abolishment of the Resident Registration Number System
[PRO] Han Sang-hie Professor, Konkuk University Law School
[CON] Lim Jong-in Dean, Graduate School of Information Security, Korea University
Since the massive leakages of personal information from credit card companies, there has been a heated debate about resident registration numbers. Amid reports that the administration and the National Assembly are considering alternative measures, the debate has boiled down to abolishing the use of the ID number system to prevent further personal information leaks versus preserving the system and strengthening safeguards against leaks.
[PRO] Anxiety Can Be Resolved by Removing the Cause
The resident registration number has become an enemy of privacy. According to a survey, there have been about 374 million cases of leaked personal information to marketing, loan fraud, debt collectors and blackmailers, and private detective agencies since the resident registration numbers began to be stored in computer networks in 1991. The first case involved 150,000 people, whose registration information was leaked to threatening debt collection agents.
The government has only devised stopgap measures. Whenever leaks occur, officials only try to apply
ill-prepared alternatives such as restraining indiscreet collection of resident registration numbers or encouraging the use of an alternative number. However, the continuing leakages of resident registration numbers prove the futility of these measures. Furthermore, these alternatives are absolutely irrelevant to recovering the resident registration numbers and personal information that already have been leaked. At this very moment, these numbers are being used in smishing, spam and advertisement texting.
We are living in an environment full of worry that someone may be using our ID numbers in a crime or immoral behavior. This brings us to the desperate need to comprehensively review the current resident registration system. This system was originally created to track down spies and subversive elements. It has now become a universal key that enables any spies or impure elements to easily fake their identity.
Some say that the change of resident registration system may cause social confusion. Over the past 10 years, however, 240,000 resident registration numbers have been changed as have 1.2 million names, which are much more important than resident numbers in social relations. Nevertheless, the changes did not lead to social or administrative chaos.
Actually the abolishment of resident registration numbers would not be disruptive or costly. We already have other numbers for administrative purposes: driver’s license number for traffic administration, passport number for immigration, employee number for companies, and account number for banks. We only need to remove resident registration numbers from their database, and maintain unique numbers where needed.
Of course it is clearly necessary to connect multiple databases for administrative purposes. For this, an individual identification number is necessary but this requires three conditions. First, the number should be in a different type of system than the resident registration number. Second, a minimal number of databases should be linked and the individual identification numbers should be used only for this purpose. Third, this number should be restricted to government use only.
Again, too many resident registration numbers have already been leaked to the wrong hands and they have turned into a kind of virus that is invading our daily lives. The numbers are now merely cheap products that provide guaranteed profits to some wicked greedy traders. It’s like to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen, but it’s still much better to lock it than doing nothing.
[CON] Definitely Necessary for Public Service, the System Needs Modernization
Every massive incident of personal information leaks has led to a controversy over whether the resident registration system should be abolished or not. Some people claim that the system must be discarded because it’s the remnant of the Cold War era that was originally designed to identify spies and that it’s a tool to monitor and control the general public.
With the crucial ID numbers of so many people leaked to wrong hands, it is definitely necessary to have a fundamental review of the system. But the discussion should begin with the constructive questions on whether this system is still necessary and whether it is needed for the efficient management of the state and security and to improve people’s rights and welfare.
To this end, it is necessary above all to differentiate the system in general and its mechanism. As a resident registration system in general, it is a fundamental and essential system that enables the proper operation of national welfare and democracy by guaranteeing the smooth implementation of public services and the government’s major administrative functions such as taxation, welfare, medical benefits, insurance, pension, and elections. Thus, it seems impractical to demand the abolition of the system in general.
As for its mechanism, the resident registration number starts with the date of birth and reveals too much about other personal information ― gender, age and region. The second problem is that the numbers are used too extensively. The government initially intended to have the numbers used only for public and administrative services, not general purposes. The leaks have involved credit card companies and banks that were using customers’ resident registration numbers but did not have the means to protect the information.
This historic limit of the resident registration system originates from the technical and institutional limit in the late 1960s when the system was first introduced. In those days when there was no information processing technology and nationwide network, each district office had to manually create the numbers. And they had to include additional information, such as area code, in order to prevent duplication of numbers. Due to weak awareness of the importance of protecting personal information and lack of related regulations, it was impossible to control the use of the numbers for general purposes.
In order to overcome the shortcomings of the current resident registration system as a historical legacy, it is necessary to devise a new numbering system and institution based on up-to-date technology and legislation with a long-term perspective that even considers national reunification. To prevent leaks, random number combinations should be used, and only state agencies should be allowed to store the numbers for use in administrative affairs only. Also, individuals should be allowed to request a number change.
We are now able to create, save and manage as many different random number combinations as we want, and the general public has high awareness and demand of personal information protection. This is the time to modernize the resident registration system and to return the resident numbers to their proper place so they can be used for public administration only.
[ JoongAng Ilbo, February 22, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
- Kansong, DDP, Dongdaemum Market - The Reason Why Dolsot Bibimbap is One of the World’s 25 Best Foods - For ‘Arirang’ to be Sung Together - Daeboreum and St. Valentine’s Day - Hongdae Celebrates Rock-N-Roll Party on Kyung-Rock Day - Human Cultural Asset, Entry Barrier Too High
Kansong, DDP, Dongdaemum Market
Lee Hong-koo Advisor to the JoongAng Ilbo Former Prime Minister
Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) was recently opened where Dongdaemun Stadium once stood. The stadium had long been a part of Koreans’ lives so many people had watched the construction with curiosity and expectation for several years. The opening coincided with a special exhibition of the Kansong Art Museum’s collection, tracing back in time for glimpses of the Korean community. The magnificent silver building, which resembles a spaceship, is the outcome of our nation’s efforts over a generation to become part of the mainstream world history and to ride the waves of globalization at the very front. Costing 484 billion won and using state-of-the-art technology that seamlessly connects 45,133 pieces of aluminum, it now symbolizes our nation’s status as a next-inline cultural and technological powerhouse. More than anything else, the decision to retain Zaha Hadid, one of the best architects of our times, as the designer shows how globalized and cosmopolitan Seoul has become. Hadid was committed to creating harmony and dialogue with the building’s surroundings with a space of creativity and sharing. Indeed, her curvaceous architecture organically flows into adjacent areas like water. Hadid’s philosophy is pretty much in line with Korean society’s norms and sentiments. Her statement, “No matter how rich or poor you are, it is indeed something valuable to be able to communicate with one another in a great public space like this,” rings true.
In order to sustain an ethnic community, cultural continuity and solidarity must be preserved and reinforced continuously. At the heart of Seoul, the nation ’s capital for over 600 years, and in the middle of Dongdaemun Market, which actively serves customers from home and abroad, now stands DDP as the hub of public culture amid expectations to bring fresh vitality to our national solidarity. The special exhibition also marked the inauguration of the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation, a fitting companion to the DDP opening, which fueled people’s imagination of flying into the future.
Kansong is the pen name of Chun Hyung-pil (1906-1962), a legendary guardian of Korean culture during the Japanese colonial period, when he collected and preserved numerous ancient artifacts. Kansong believed that in order to protect the identity of an ethnic society which had fallen victim to an imperialist power it was of utmost importance to preserve and pass on its culture to future generations. In focusing on saving cultural relics, he felt they contained the souls and dreams of people. He was convinced that Korea would regain its sovereignty in the not so distant future, noting that Japan’s escalating military ambition meant an opportunity for Korea. Kansong proved that a clear mission would turn a crisis into an opportunity. In 1936 when Japan ’s imperialist aggression was at its peak, he purchased Hyewon Jeonsincheop, an album of genre paintings by Shin Yun-bok (1758-?, courtesy name Hyewon), from an antique dealer in Osaka, Japan. The next year, he purchased the world’s best private collection of Goryeo celadon from British lawyer John Gadsby who was leaving Japan as its Chinese invasion began in earnest. In the summer of 1940 when the Koreans were forced to change their names and use Japanese as the official language under Japan’s policy to destroy Korean national culture, Kansong succeeded in purchasing an original copy of Hunmin Jeongeum (Proper Sounds to Instruct the People), published in 1446 by King Sejong to promulgate the Korean script.
Kansong held fast to his belief that even under tough circumstances cultural preservation and communication with the people must persevere. His descendants and disciples have faithfully followed his example. Even in the early 1970s when the Korean political scene was extremely turbulent with the revisions of the Constitution to allow three consecutive presidential terms and then another extension, the Kansong Art Museum held important exhibitions every spring and autumn. Among them were the memorable exhibitions of landscape paintings by Jeong Seon (1676-1759, courtesy name Gyeomjae) in 1971, calligraphic works and paintings by Kim Jeong-hui (1786-1856, Chusa) in 1972, and genre paintings by Kim Hong-do (1745-1806, Danwon) in 1973.
In any civilization, marketplace is the center of social and economic activities where people come together. Dongdaemun (East Gate) Market has been at the center of modern Korean history for the past 100 years. After the Korean War ended, the makeshift houses along the Cheonggyecheon stream occupied by displaced people developed into Pyeonghwa (Peace) Market in the 1960s with a competitive edge in tailoring, and this complex grew into the largest apparel wholesale market in Korea in the 1980s.
After the 1990s, restoration of the Cheonggye Stream overlapped with the era of large shopping malls; Dongdaemun became a huge global market boasting 15 trillion won in revenue and more than 2.5 million foreign visitors annually. The place was visited by more than 1 million people daily, and it was where the younger generation experimented with venture startups. It became a special tourist zone where hallyu performances were held late into the night.
The Kansong Art Museum in Seongbuk-dong, Dongdaemun Market and DDP are all connected by the old Seoul Fortress Wall, which has been recently restored to its original shape. It seems that spring is here as we get ready to embrace our history and what the past has to offer while at the same time sharpen our creative senses dreaming of a harmonious community full of vitality and coexistence with our neighbors.
[ JoongAng Ilbo, March 24, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
The Reason Why Dolsot Bibimbap is One of the World’s 25 Best Foods
Ko Jeong-min Professor of Hongik University CEO of Korea Creative Industry Research Institute
Korea’s dolsot bibimbap, rice cooked in a stone pot and topped with vegetables, seasoned ground beef, a fried egg and other ingredients, has been listed among the “25 foods that you must enjoy before you die” by the Huffington Post, a leading American online news aggregator. Noteworthy is that “stone pot bibimbap,” not simple bibimbap, has been selected. The popular digital media’s author states, “The rice that crisps at the bottom of the stone bowl will make you happy for years to come.”
Bibimbap is known as a typical Korea dish. However, as shown in the survey results of the U.S. digital media, foreigners have found new attraction of this Korean dish. This is a new popularity factor which is totally different from the conventional promotional approaches for the dish, which focused on its nutritional value or color combination. For a person like me who is doing a study of the hallyu wave and cultural contents, the content of the Korean cuisine is always intriguing. That’s because what may strike the fancy of foreigners is something that Koreans have overlooked because they take it for granted.
Also, Korean food has come up as a new cultural item instantly associated with Korea as foreigners who have already become acquainted with Korea through movies and dramas tend to create images of Korea through its foods. As such, to maintain and develop the current craze for Korean culture overseas, the government policy to promote studies of Korean dietary culture and its globalization
should be sustained.
On the other hand, there is a prerequisite for the globalization of Korean foods: creating a database on Korean foods. The government and businesses have offered a variety of events to introduce Korean foods overseas. However, due to a lack of standard data, interpretations vary on the history and cultural value of the same foods. Moreover, while each of the nation’s nine provinces boasts unique culinary traditions of its own, promotional efforts have concentrated on a few dishes like bibimbap and bulgogi, grilled marinated beef.
The imbalance is a hindrance to making Korean dishes a cultural content of global appeal. Depending on its origin, cultural content may give rise to a variety of modifications and derivations. Therefore, reliable basic data based on authentic sources would help introduce the Korean cuisine in the global community with more diversified menus. Furthermore, such a database would help create stories about our foods. Stories would be useful for increasing understanding of our foods and their luxurious packaging to appeal to gourmets around the world.
Fostering professional human resources should accompany these efforts. After all, it is qualified chefs who will take up the tasks of developing and diversifying our foods and spreading them around the world, as well as identifying the archetypal Korean cuisine passed down from our ancestors.
I understand that there have been efforts to increase the diversity of Korean cuisine by discovering unknown local specialties and dishes originating from North Korea, which have been forgotten since the territorial division. Research and development in all fields require a great deal of time and efforts while it is difficult to translate the outcomes into immediate economic gains. Therefore, I believe that public organizations should take the lead in making long-term investments and building infrastructure so that the private sector can utilize it to promote the Korean cuisine around the world.
Today, the world is increasingly attracted to Korean cultural contents, including food, amid the surging wave of hallyu. It is the time to accelerate research and development at home to further improve the Korean cuisine and make the overseas craze for Korean foods sustainable. It is never too late. To open a successful second chapter in the long-standing effort to globalize Korean cuisine, research and development is a vital prerequisite.
[ Korea Economic Daily, February 28, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
For ‘Arirang’ to be Sung Together
Min Eun-gi Professor of Musicology Seoul National University
“Arirang” has once again touched off a controversy in Korea. The previous uproar was a response to China’s designation of the Korean folk song as its intangible cultural property. This time, the Korean Army banned the song, taking issue of its “subversive” lyrics. This indeed is an “age of ordeal” for the song. It is said that if one requests the song on a karaoke machine, the screen says the song has been deleted at the request of the Ministry of National Defense. The notice is said to appear not only on karaoke machines on the Army bases but all karaoke machines at commercial establishments.
The Ministry of National Defense reacted with a statement that some frontline bases made a mistake in the process of eliminating “Arirang” sung by North Korean singers from the song lists in their machines. In 2001, news reports that “Arirang” was included in China’s list of state-designated intangible cultural properties shocked Korea. At the time, some Korean news media labeled Beijing’s move as a pillage of Korean cultural heritage linked to the controversial Northeast Project, triggering outrage among the Korean people.
However, China also must have something to say. When a large number of people immigrate to another country, their culture also travels along with them. Culture transplanted from another country is localized naturally as it takes root in new soil. How long can Spain claim its ownership of the Latin American culture created by the Spanish who immigrated to South America? Culture spreads and
proliferates, as attested by the history of human civilization. If we looked at the “Arirang” sung by ethnic Koreans in Yanbian, China, from a broader perspective, we could probably have understood that it has become part of the culture of the Korean diaspora.
The Chinese government began appointing state-designated cultural properties in 2005, and prior to including “Arirang” in the list, it had already designated seven other cultural items of Korean origin, including hanbok (traditional Korean clothing), nongakmu (farmers’ dance) and neol-ttwigi (seesaw jumping). Would it be appropriate if China’s central government had included only the cultural assets of the ethnic Han Chinese in the list while excluding those of ethnic minorities, including the ethnic Koreans, recommended by local governments? If so, it might have kindled accusations of discrimination against the cultural traditions of the ethnic minorities. Anyway, the raging anger of the Korean public has led to a remarkable achievement: “Arirang” has been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The incident has also left a lesson that we should safeguard our own culture. Originally, “Arirang” was sung by people in sorrow. The origin of “Jeongseon Arirang,” one of the most popular versions of the folk song, dates back more than 600 years to when some loyal subjects of the fallen Goryeo Dynasty fled to the remote mountain village of Jeongseon, in Gangwon Province, and expressed their grief by singing the song. Their despair and sorrow is embodied in the lyrics, “Why do
you bother, when I want to live for just about five hundred years?”
Thereafter, whenever Koreans faced major trials, including the Japanese colonial rule and the national division following the Korean War, they sang “Arirang” to console their hearts. The song has thus accompanied the Korean people through their history of many vicissitudes, their sorrows and regrets embodied in its melody and lyrics. This is the reason why it is one of the most beloved songs of ethnic Koreans who live far away from their homeland.
However, the song faces a far different situation at home. It has no place in its land of origin, where few people have such sorrowful regrets any more amid economic prosperity achieved through desperate struggles. Nowadays, nobody sings “Arirang” and anyone who feels lonely or painful seeks comfort from a mobile phone. Finally, the government has come forward. Encouraged by the designation of “Arirang” as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the government has announced a string of measures to safeguard and
promote the song. Most notably, a museum dedicated to the song will be built and a series of massive events will be organized. However, culture cannot be preserved through government measures alone. Even if it is protected in such a way, it is no longer a living culture but a stuffed piece for a museum. “Arirang”
should be made more appealing to people of our days. It would be ridiculous to claim our
ownership of a song that we no longer sing. We need to create a contemporary version of the song which will make us feel overwhelmed with despair and sorrow of our days. Yoon Do-hyun and YB’s “Arirang”
was good, and so was the arrangement for an orchestra by a North Korean composer and
performed under the baton of Chung Myung-whun. If we name just one song that can strike a chord in the hearts people in both Koreas, it should be “Arirang.” Before we assert that “Arirang” is our song, we must keep the song alive. Let us sing “Arirang” ourselves and make it sung by the North Koreans, ethnic Koreans around the world, and foreigners as well. “Arirang” sounds best when it is sung in chorus.
[ Kyunghyang Shinmun, February 8, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Daeboreum and St. Valentine’s Day
Yu Seung-hun Curator Busan Museum
Tomorrow is St. Valentine’s Day as well as Daeboreum, and it is probably the first time that the two holidays fall on the same day since Koreans began to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day. This is not such welcoming news for the Day of the First Full Moon in the lunar year because many youngsters will probably recognize only St. Valentine’s Day. Daeboreum has been sliding down the list of favorite holidays, and this year it will lose even more of its shine because it coincides with St. Valentine’s Day.
On a day like this, one begins to give some serious thought to the fate of the traditional holidays that are waning in contemporary society. Holidays are celebrated every year and they entail seasonal customs. For example, on New Year’s Day you put on your new dress and bow to your elders wishing a good year, and on Chuseok you eat songpyeon, or the crescent-shaped rice cakes, and wish upon the full moon. Korea’s holidays are mostly related to agricultural events. Chuseok is “Thanksgiving Day” for offering newly harvested rice and fruit to thank the ancestors for the good crops.
Daeboreum was the highlight of such holidays. Modern Koreans think of the First Full Moon Day as the day you crack nuts with your teeth and drink ear-sharpening wine, but in the past it was the day when the village’s biggest festival was held. Well-known traditional folk games and community rites such as jul-darirgi (tug-of-war), daljip taeugi (burning the straw moon), chajeon nori (juggernaut
battle), and dangsanje (rituals for the guardian spirit) were mostly held on this day. These events were intended to wish for a good year. Eating rice mixed with five other grains also meant praying for good harvest so that the table would be laden with plenty of food.
Why were the rituals wishing for a good harvest concentrated on the Day of the First Full Moon? The lunar calendar was considered more important in the past and Daeboreum when you can see the first full moon of the year was holy. In the traditional sense, the moon stood for productive women and land, and the full moon especially symbolized fertility and abundance. Wishing for a good year on the full moon on Daeboreum must have been most effective. However, the lunar culture could not last forever.
The growth of capitalism meant that change was lurking in the way holidays were celebrated. In the course of rapid industrialization, the popularity of Daeboreum rooted in agricultural society dwindled. With the arrival of consumerism, it shrank in popularity even more. In a society promoting individual consumption, it was inevitable that the decline of the First Full Moon Day wishing for the community’s productivity and abundance took place. This is when St. Valentine’s Day stepped in. This is the day commemorating Saint Valentine, who was executed for marrying a couple, defying the Roman Emperor’s order. The saint who sacrificed himself became the guardian angel of love among the young generation. As soon as St. Valentine’s Day was introduced in Korea, it became the top February event. Today’s St. Valentine’s Day has a different meaning from what it originally meant. It is now painted with layers and layers of sweet taste and emotional storytelling. The whole setup about giving sweets like chocolate and candies to the man you love and confessing your love to him appealed to the young female population. Are love and sweets the same in that you know what it is but you fall for it anyway? Everyone probably knows that confectionary companies are pulling the ropes behind all the storytelling.
There is consensus that society must also accept customs and conventions fabricated by the corporate sector. It is based on the claim that denying these profit-oriented customs and commercial holidays will not allow a full understanding of modern capitalist culture. True as it may be, it is still difficult to accept. Time changes everything including culture, but isn’t it the people that create culture? If so, people can always intervene and make proactive changes just as the corporations intervened in creating holidays.
The value of Daeboreum can shine even more brightly in today’s society. Femininity, productivity, abundance and well-being of the community are all virtues people seek today. In the rural community today, they are trying to bring back life to Daeboreum by burning the straw moon and performing other community rituals. When Daeboreum and St. Valentine’s Day coincide again, I wonder which day people will remember. Curiosity is getting the better of me.
[ JoongAng Ilbo, February 13, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Hongdae Celebrates Rock-N-Roll Party on Kyung-Rock Day
Han Hyeon-woo Staff Reporter The Chosun Ilbo
February 11 was the Kyung-Rock Day. In Hongdae, this is what the birthday of Han Kyung-rock, a member of Crying Nut, is called, and it is one of the top three holidays in the neighborhood, the other two being Halloween and Christmas. No one knows exactly how the name Kyung-Rock Day came about, but it just so happened that over 300 musicians, including underground bands, singers and others related to the industry, got together for a drink on his birthday. This year’s Kyung-Rock Day party was held at a beer pub in Hongdae at 8 p.m. on February 11. The 150-seat pub has been the site of the party since 2011. More than 300 people came this year. Half of them ended up standing. Kyung-Rock Day isn’t just a simple birthday party; it is more like a music festival in which numerous indie musicians perform on the spot. This year at 9 o’clock sharp, Han started off his party with an opening remark, “Let’s party until we drop dead,” and this was immediately followed by Crying Nut’s performance. Other groups such as Galaxy Express, Lowdown 30, Jo Tae Jun, Seedless Watermelon Kim Dae-jung, Yubal’s Picnic, Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio, kim kanji x ha heonjin, and Tatles followed singing three to four songs each and collaborating with other teams on the spot. The lineup was as spectacular as that of any other rock festival. Lowdown 30’s Yun Byeong-ju, the
Monotones’ Cha Seung-woo, and Chang Kiha and the Faces’ Jeong Jung-yeop jammed together, and Lee Hyeon-song of the Koxx who was on leave from military service teamed up with Guckkasten’s Lee Jeong-gil. Pop music critic Kim Jak-ga, who attended the party, said, “Kyung-Rock Day is probably the only gathering in which the hottest musicians dating back to the first generation of indie bands hang out together. There is even a joke that you have to be invited to this party to be considered a serious indie musician.” The highlight of the party that evening was when Crying Nut and Galaxy Express each played Sanulim’s “Gaegujangi.” It was almost like a battle between the old band Crying Nut, which debuted in 1996, and Galaxy Express, currently the hottest band in Hongdae.
This party is known to have started in the middle of the 2000s, when the four members of Crying Nut were relieved of their military duties. The scale increased steadily and in 2009 they borrowed the entire Club Ta. Then they began to rent out the more spacious Hongdae pubs. This year, the place was decked with acoustic equipment and instruments resembling those of professional performance halls. The expenses of the party usually run north of 3 million won, and this is solely paid for by Han Kyung-rock. He sends out invitation text messages to his acquaintances, “Let’s party till we go broke,” and he himself goes out of his way to pay for the whole thing. He just smiles, “It’s only once a year.”
At 1 a.m., the police arrived. By then, the shops in the vicinity had complained many times about the loud music coming from the third-floor pub. Crying Nut has a notorious history of being interrupted when it performed “Run the Horse” in a wooden building in the United States. The police were afraid they would literally bring down the house. The first official program of the day ended at around 2:30 a.m. The survivors moved to another bar that played music and filled up their glasses waiting for the day to dawn. On the morning of February 12, Han Kyung-rock left a message thanking the party attendees along with a selfie of himself drinking beer alone.
[ February 13, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Human Cultural Asset, Entry Barrier Too High
Noh Jae-hyun CEO of JoongAng Books
My childhood memories of the New Year’s Day overlap with the plump face of the Korean singer Kim Serena. In those days, only a few families in the neighborhood owned TV sets, and when we went to one of those fortunate households, leaving manners behind, the TV room would be already full of neighbors reeking with the smell of their feet. A New Year’s Day special program without Kim Serena was just unimaginable. Although the songs Kim sang, including “Seongju puri,” “Kkot taryeong,” “Sae taryeong,” “Kapdori and Kapsuni,” and “Kkaturi taryeong,” may have digressed from the original form of the traditional Korean music, her songs still carried the faint smell of the gugak, I believe. Someone has to carry the torch. Fusion gugak bands that have suddenly sprouted are probably assuming a similar role. That is why the young gugak singer Song So-hi who sings the classical tunes in a TV commercial for smartphones appears adorable.
However, good fabric makes a stylish dress and creative sources make a fun movie. The same goes for traditional culture including the native music. Korea’s Cultural Heritage Protection Act was legislated in 1962. Professor Jeon In-sam of Chonnam National University who is also the isuja, or graduate, of Kangdogeunje Heungboga (Song of Heung-bo in Kang Do-geun Style), commented, “After Korea was liberated from the Japanese colonial rule, most of the great gugak singers went hungry. They were recognized for their talents thanks to the Cultural Heritage Protection Act and
could carry on the tradition.� The so-called “human cultural treasures,� or the holders of important intangible cultural assets, are valuable and are truly the living human treasures skilled in traditional arts. Thanks to these gurus of Korean traditional culture, the world community is aware of Korean culture and respects the nation. A bit of financial support seems disproportionately small in comparison to their great contributions. However, the succession course of important intangible cultural assets starting with isuja, going on to assistant instructor and becoming a master is like two sides of a coin; on one hand there is the bright side of preserving traditional culture, but on the other hand there is the dark side of excluding the cultural talents that failed to obtain official recognition.
This may not apply to all cultural heritage items, but in certain categories requiring individual skills once you are recognized as the master then you can enjoy status befitting a king. If you are the assistant instructor then you devote your whole life under your master who is the holder of a particular skill. However, no matter how talented you are if your talent is not designated as an important intangible cultural asset, there is no student following in your footsteps and you have to go at it all alone.
A good example may be Madame Choe Jeong-rye, an expert in Jindo ssitkim-gut (Soul-cleansing Rituals of Jin Island), who could not become a master. Even though the academic value of her skills was amply recognized due to extensive shamanistic dance in the choreography, she was overshadowed by the excellent dance and artistry of the late Park Byeong-cheon. There was only one reason for denying her the master status. You could not have two masters of one heritage item. Does this make sense?
Since two years ago, the Cultural Heritage Administration has executed a plan to improve the system for designation and accreditation of intangible cultural properties without differentiating between numerous schools of the traditional arts. For example, as for pansori which has five major operas or madang, namely Chunhyangga (Song of Chun-hyang), Heungbuga (Song of Heung-bu), Simcheongga (Song of Sim Cheong), Jeokbyeokga (Song of Red Cliffs) and Sugungga (Song of the Undersea Palace), there are different schools for each piece using different ways of singing and narrating, and the government would not designate masters for each school.
Why not? It was concerned that only those schools that were recognized would be succeeded and the schools that were not would become extinct. This would mean that the rigid succession culture of
prioritizing certain skills only would prevail. But the Cultural Heritage Administration’s plan was criticized for neglecting the unique artistry of each school that has accumulated over the generations. Ryu Chun-gyu, head of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Division, said, “We decided to accept different schools after having listened to the public opinion as well as the opinions of related experts.” Each school that has accumulated different idiosyncrasies for over a century in pansori music must naturally be accepted, but the administration’s earlier claim needs to be given some thought.
There is a big event in the traditional dance category that everyone is holding their breath for. It is the accreditation screening for the master of important intangible cultural assets No. 92 and 97. They are taepyeongmu (Dance of Peace) and salpuri (Exorcism Dance), respectively, and the judging is slated for the second half of this year. It is to decide who will succeed the thrones of legends such as Kang Seon-yeong (taepyeongmu) and Lee Mae-bang and Kim Suk-ja (salpuri). All eyes are on who will get the honor among the candidates. There is cutthroat competition expected and some people are already concerned about the aftermath. One traditional musician said, “If someone asked me to be on the judging panel, I would just say no. I will not be able to handle the pressure.” The competition among the potential masters is fierce in some categories because the entry barrier is just too high. Even though it is the same traditional dance, Jang Geum-do and Jo Gap-nyeo, the experts of bare-handed salpuri dance, have no power and no disciples because they are not masters.
Since 1964, a total of 131 items have been designated as important intangible cultural assets. In contrast, China belatedly conducted a survey on its intangible cultural assets in 2005, and from 2006 to 2011 it designated 1,218 items as “national non-material cultural assets” and another 7,109 items as “provincial non-material cultural assets.” It seems anything worthy of mention was all registered as cultural heritage. Of course, Korea does not want to give away the title too freely, but I think it is about time that we opened the doors a bit wider. The life of culture lies in its diversity and it seems that the current practice honors only one chosen king and the others are not treated properly.
[ JoongAng Ilbo, February 5, 2014 ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
- Korea’s Response to the Changing Regional Order in Northeast Asia - Success Formula for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games - Korean Wave Seen through K-Pop and Drama Search Trends - Preservation and Utilization of UNESCO World Heritage Monuments and Sites in Kaesong
Korea’s Response to the Changing Regional Order in Northeast Asia Rhee Sang-woo President New Asia Research Institute
The regional order of Northeast Asia in the 2010s is returning to that of the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The Western powers and Japan are displaying the same degree of concern about China as they did some 120 years ago, acting independently or collectively in pursuit of self-interests. Their perception of Korea also hardly differs from that of the past. And we feel a strong sense of déjà vu from domestic politics, which is driven by partisan interests that obstruct a survival strategy. This study will review the changing regional order and look for viable steps for the nation to cope with the volatile situation.
I. Unchanging Pattern of Big Power Diplomacy Over the past century, there were revolutionary changes in the way people live and their values. As science and technology advanced exponentially, mankind’s way of life underwent tremendous changes. Revolutions in communications and transportation expanded the scope of everyday life to global dimensions. Tens of millions of people cross national borders everyday and the whole world is connected under a single economic system where production and consumption transcend national boundaries. Changing lifestyles changed the values of people. Once physical safety and material wealth were ensured, human dignity and freedom from the arbitrary will of others became high priorities.
But there is something that has not changed. The human desire for power, wealth and respect remains unchanged, keeping nations in constant struggles for dominance over others. In the community of nations, abundant national wealth and strong military power are still considered the best means to guarantee happiness.
Some loftier thoughts also have developed during the past century. The concept of all humans being equal is now universally accepted as is global citizenship (the notion that everyone is a member of humanity while being the subject of a specific state), as well as concern over basic human rights and the perception that the world is a single community. These ideals have ignited dramatic moves to create a unitary global community with stronger international bonds than any consultative body of
sovereign states has attained over the past four centuries or so.
The persistent endeavors to realize universal values of humanity, however, are instantly withheld when there is a clash of essential interests between individual nations. They quickly revert to selfish behavior to protect their own interests. The “Westphalian system” still remains valid in the 21st century as the basic framework of international political order, and diplomacy of great powers essentially aims at maximizing their self-interests. When we seek to analyze the operating principles of the international order in the 21st century, it may therefore be easier to use the analytical method that had been applied to the past imperialist era.
II. Northeast Asian Order in the 19th and 21st Century Imperialism reigned over the world from the late 19th century through the early 20th century. It was a period when Western powers with military and economic might encroached on underdeveloped parts of the world and expanded their colonies.
Until the time of Emperor Yongle (1360-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, East Asia was the center of the world and China was at its pinnacle. But, in the mid-15th century, the first major transition in human civilization began; China and East Asia declined and Europe took the mantle.
The Industrial Revolution multiplied the productivity and military strength of Western nations, and at the outset of the 19th century, these nations began competing to take control of China and its peripheries. By overwhelming China through the Opium Wars, Britain established a beachhead in Hong Kong and attempted to advance into the Asian continent in collaboration with Japan, but collided with Russia which was advancing southward. The Western powers, using Japan as their vanguard, repelled China from Korea through the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, and then stopped Russia’s southward thrust through the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Britain and the United States bore 60 percent of the cost for the war between Russia and Japan, and recognized Japan’s rule over Korea.
The Cold War, which started at the end of World War II, ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, giving the United States an unequivocal victory. The world order was reorganized into a unipolar system solely led by the United States, which attempted to build a world community of freemarket democracy with its formidable military and economic power. This American dream was frustrated by the resistance of the Islamic world and the rise of China. Five centuries after the first
major transition of civilization that ushered in the Western world, the second transition has begun with the decline of the West and the waning of America’s global supremacy.
The decline of the West was started by the so-called paradox of development. The rise of Western civilization 500 years ago was pushed by civil rebellion in which ordinary citizens challenged the authority of absolute monarchs. However, as the people consolidated the democratic system and demanded welfare provisions that exceeded the state’s capacity, national power weakened. Foreign policies lost the driving force as in the case of the United States which, despite its economic superiority, was compelled to reduce its defense spending. During the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, on the other hand, the emperor’s supreme power suppressed the productive capacity of people and pushed the country backwards, eventually accounting for a mere 2 percent of the world’s GDP. China thus became too weak to resist the aggression of Western powers to make it their quasi-colony. China later underwent three revolutions to rise to a member of G2 in the 21st century, challenging America’s global leadership.
The Qing Dynasty was overthrown in a revolution spearheaded by Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek of the Nationalist Party, but China failed to be reborn as an independent modern state amid internal confusion and imperialist aggressions. The Communist Party of China launched a second revolution and succeeded in founding the People’s Republic of China under one-party totalitarian rule in 1949. The communist dictatorship, however, failed to achieve economic development until Deng Xiaoping initiated a third revolution in 1978 to introduce a socialist market economy system. China has thus become a strong and prosperous country. In 2010, China replaced Japan as the world’s No. 2 economy. The ascent has spurred a military buildup, making China the No. 2 military power as well. At the 2013 China-U.S. summit, Beijing proposed a new Group of Two (G2) superpower relationship with Washington to lead the world together.
The international order in East Asia 120 years ago was basically a confrontational structure with Russia thrusting southward and the British-U.S. coalition deterring the Russian move. The United States, having accomplished its control over North America, was turning its eyes toward Asia. Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft wanted to use Japan as their stepping stone into China. Britain signed alliance agreements with Japan in an attempt to frustrate Russia’s southward move and China’s rise as a regional power. All nations acted to maximize their national interests. With British
and U.S. support, Japan waged wars against Russia and China, aiming to become the leading power in East Asia. In reward, the two Western powers conceded the Korean Empire to Japan.
In the 21st century, the international order revolves around the United States and China. On the strength of its national prestige regained after five centuries, China is demanding that the United States respect its hegemonic ambitions in East Asia. Meanwhile, the United States is seeking to prevent China’s regional dominance by urging Japan to resist China. Washington is assuring Tokyo, its World War II adversary, of its leadership role in Asia and is strengthening its alliance to have Japan help offset the weakened effect of its foreign policies.
The current international order in East Asia resembles that of 120 years ago, except that China is stronger and Russia is weaker. Further complicating the situation, the Republic of Korea is a much stronger state than the Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk).
III. Changing Ways of Pursuing National Interest The goal of international power politics in the 19th century was territorial expansion, which was considered the best way to increase national wealth. Military power was the most important means of securing new colonies as well as achieving other national interests and self-defense. When a nation’s military power was deemed insufficient, it was supplemented through alliances. Therefore, diplomacy was essentially aimed at expanding alliances and breaking up rival alliances.
By the 21st century, the concept of national interest and the means of pursuing it have changed. The dramatic development of science and technology increased the destructive power of weapons by astronomical proportions, barring a decisive victory in an all-out war. Even the winner would suffer unbearable damage. Therefore, nations try to evade full-scale conflict, choosing to fight limited wars.
As industries continued to develop, division of labor deepened among nations and markets were globalized. Economic power has replaced military power as a vital means of pursuing national interests. In the formation of alliance, a like-minded ideology was added as an important element in choosing partners to jointly expand spheres of influence.
Robert A. Scalapino, an eminent scholar of East Asian politics, in 1970 defined the four elements considered by the United States in its alliance strategy: ideological compatibility, strategic interest,
economic interest, and viability. The same applies to the strategic environment of the 21st century.
The United States maintains its far-reaching dream of making the world a community of nations sharing the same democratic ideology. So it sets forth liberal democracy as the primary condition for forming an alliance. In East Asia, Japan and South Korea meet this condition. China, too, has the principle of allying with nations that share its socialist ideology. With nations that do not share the same ideology but have common strategic and economic interests, China forms “strategic partnership,” a step lower than alliance. This is because China also dreams about creating a new order under its influence.
China does not recognize the universality of liberal democracy. It accept the tenet of equality for all members of society but rejects universal voting. China asserts the latter is inappropriate because it caters to populism and undermines the efficiency of government. Chinese leadership believes in meritocracy, which entrusts power with the party composed of members chosen for their ability. They believe that this system best guarantees both the equality of people and the efficiency of government in the circumstances of the 21st century. China thus maintains alliance with North Korea, a socialist state.
IV. Dawning of the G2 Era An identical operating principle applies to the international order of the 19th and 21st centuries. The United States promotes alliance with Japan and South Korea on the basis of free democracy. Washington seeks to counter China’s challenge with alliances with nations sharing democratic ideology as well as common economic and military interests.
China has a burning desire to shed its humiliation of national suffering over the past two centuries and recover pride. China, once the center of the world, wishes to restore its dominance in East Asia at the least. Therefore, the recovery of all the territory that China had owned before its defeat in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894 is imperative to Beijing. As the first step, Beijing identified the area inside the islands stretching from Kyushu, Japan, through Taiwan, west of the Philippines and north of Indonesia, as an integral part of Chinese territory. It has declared “anti-access (A2)” and “area denial (AD)” for this zone, particularly to the United States, and made containment of repercussions from neighboring countries a diplomatic priority.
Well aware of the impossibility of a full-scale war with the United States, China would not seek
territorial expansion by military force. Yet, it requests the United States to accept a G2 relationship under which they consult as military equals on maintaining order in East Asia. Beijing needs Washington’s cooperation to build a strong nation, hence the care not to explicitly confront the United States. Still, China with its dream to restore the prestige it had enjoyed in East Asia before 1894 would not like to see the United States advance directly into this region. The new relations mean adjustment of these seemingly conflicting aspirations as the two superpowers attempt to manage East Asia jointly.
In this century, diverse ways of pursuing national interest have emerged with a variety of military, economic and ideological means employed to achieve national objectives. In military affairs, strong nations only need nuclear arms to deter all-out wars, plus quick deployment forces to win limited and unconventional wars and impose their will on the defeated. On the economic front, there have appeared various ways to demonstrate power, such as controls on science and technology, cutting off supply of resources and rearrangement of trading systems.
National egotism never changes. In the 21st century nations seek to optimize their national interests by utilizing all means available, just as they did in the 19th century. In East Asia, competition between strong nations prompts the reshaping of international order. As the content of national interests evolves, so do the means of attaining them.
V. The Future of East Asian Order 1. China’s Dream The rise of China has long been expected. And it was also anticipated that for East Asia, China’s rise would mean a return to the regional order of 120 years ago. In the early 20th century, Liang Qichao dreamed of China’s revival in his novel, “The Future of New China.” Lin Yutang also described today’s China in a novel written 90 years ago. Their visions were passed to the governments of the Nationalist Party and Mao Zedong’s Communist Party, and began to be realized through Deng Xiaoping’s reform to be inherited by his successors. China dreamed of becoming rich and strong, and reclaiming suzerain authority in East Asia.
We are concerned about the rise of China because it involves the desire to recover suzerain control
over neighboring countries, including Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Horizontal cooperation has no place in the Chinese sense of order; it only believes in strong centralized control. This applies both to the domestic and international orders. Peaceful order in Chinese understanding means an order created and maintained by China to ensure peace for all neighboring states under its control. Lee Kwan Yew has pointed out that the Chinese have never abandoned the idea that a strong center is the essence of peace and development. His conclusion is that there is no possibility that China will adopt Western-style democracy of equal participation. This applies not only to domestic politics but international order as well.
Futurologists predict that China will match the United States in GDP by 2020 and emerge as the world’s top military power by 2050. If and when these predictions come true, the international order in Northeast Asia will shake under a “no war, no peace” relationship between China and the United States.
2. Reemergence of Japan
Japan is a constant variable in the East Asian regional order. As Britain and the United States used Japan as their vanguard in advancing to East Asia with an open-door policy toward China in the 19th century, the United States will naturally decide to use Japan as it tries to check the rise of China in the 21st century.
Japan has been restrained by the United States from enjoying the status of a strong state commensurate with its national power. But the situation is changing as Washington seeks Tokyo’s role for the containment of China. Japan has been given the chance of reemerging as a strong normal state through the intermediate process of exercising “collective self-defense.” Given its advanced level of science and technology and economic capabilities, Japan can promptly increase its military capacity to second place in the world, and it has actually started the process. The big question is what will happen to Korea and Southeast Asian nations when Japan, in collaboration with the United States, attempts to become the leader of Asia. Will the clock of history turn back to the 1930s? How can we keep Japan in check when it seeks to realize its dream of rebuilding the “Great East Asian Sphere of Coprosperity” that it gave up upon its defeat in World War II?
After all, the international order in East Asia will be managed under the framework of power balance and competition between the U.S.-Japan alliance and China.
3. Possibility of Multilateral Cooperative System
The imagined confrontation between the U.S.-Japan alliance and China would not allow any one side to secure decisive superiority. If Russia comes to the aid of China, the structural balance will be impossible to break.
In the temporal environment of the 21st century, cooperation is inevitable even between states that are at odds. Nations have to take joint actions to cope with a situation that disrupts international stability. Economic cooperation is unavoidable for all nations, which are also required to collaborate on environmental protection and measures to reduce climate change. These needs will lead to arrangements for regional cooperative bodies. Multilateral forums such as the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program are necessary to resolve specific problems.
An East Asian version of the European Union may be hard to expect but a consultative body with limited responsibilities and loose organization can emerge to defuse any confrontation between superpowers in the region.
VI. Policy Suggestions The international order around the Republic of Korea is being reorganized. To cope with the changes, we should first grasp the reshaping that is taking place in the region. And then we should clearly define what we absolutely must keep. Then we should work out the principles for our practical approaches and make strategic and tactical choices.
1. Trends in the Reshaping Order
1) The Age of G2 The rise of China is a reality. China will continue to pursue the realization of the “Chinese Dream� with an unwavering desire to become a strong, rich country respected by all nations. National wealth will be accumulated through rapid economic growth with aggressive implementation of state capitalism and the socialist free-market system. Military buildup will continue uninterrupted to foil any threats and the one-party meritocracy will be maintained to demonstrate the supremacy of China’s political ideology over those of surrounding nations.
The United States will continue to pursue its vision of creating a global democratic community,
consolidating ideological alliances with Japan, Australia and other states sharing common political ideals to retain its leadership in Asia. Washington will sustain its “pivot to Asia” and “Asian rebalancing” initiatives. With its missionary sense of purpose to globally propagate the liberal democratic ideology of universal human dignity and freedom, the United States will not leave Asia under Chinese control.
The U.S. military, economic and ideological leadership over the world will perhaps be maintained until the end of the current century and China’s second place will also be retained as long as there is no major internal confusion. The G2 era under shared leadership of the United States and China will last long in Asia.
2) Diversified Sources of Power All-out war between superpowers is virtually impossible because of nuclear weapons. However, various forms of limited and unconventional warfare will continue to take place. As for smaller nations, the immense military might of the United States and China will remain insurmountable barriers to launching hostile actions. In the global environment of the 21st century, where the levels and scales of science and technology, industrial production and consumer markets differ among nations, economic power will function as a greater factor of influence than military power.
Unlike when an absolute monarch or a dictator could decide the course of a nation, consent of the people is essential in national decision-making in a democratic age. So, ideological leadership will also serve as a significant factor of influence in external relations, especially in the formation of alliance between nations. Value alliance will emerge as an essential element in the establishment and operation of international order.
3) Diversification of Orders The Westphalian system, which provided the basic order for sovereign states in Europe over the past 400 years, served as the framework of international security depending on the size of individual nations’ military forces. Since the latter half of the 20th century, an economy-based order unattached to the security order has emerged in the international community. An ally in the security order became a serious contestant in the economic order and reverse cases appeared. The “Asian paradox” involves South Korea and China, which are close partners in the economic order but remain in quasi-hostility in the security order. Conversely, Korea and Japan have a virtual security alliance while competing intensely in the economic order.
Human rights order and environmental order are also being established in the international community along with communications-transportation order and public safety order. These orders, having diverse norms, principles and compositions, are turning the global community into a multitiered complex system.
2. Unalterable Values
In the 21st century, human beings will continue to seek to realize their dreams through their nations. The creation of a single political order for the whole world remains a utopian ideal, and it is an unchangeable fact that individuals’ rights, freedom and property can be protected only when their country is strong. In the reshaping Asian order, what is the fundamental value that we Koreans want to keep in our voyage on the ship named the Republic of Korea?
1) Strong, Independent Nation In reaction to the national shame of being colonized by a neighboring country, Koreans have the primary vision of building a strong and independent nation. In other words, the most important value pursued by all Koreans is constructing a nation that is strong enough to be able to defend itself and reject any interference from the outside.
Can we possess sufficient national power to deal firmly with those strong nations around us? A nation with small territory and small population can be equipped with military force powerful enough for self-defense when it is armed with strong determination. So, it is the ardent wish of Koreans to have sufficient military power to deter foreign aggression, which is strong enough to inflict unbearable damage on any invaders, if not attack other nations.
2) Affluent Nation Over the past half century, Korea achieved rapid economic development that amazed the world. Korea’s gross domestic product, reaching US$1,300 billion, ranked 15th among world nations (26th in per capita GDP). Once a foreign aid recipient, Korea has become a donor nation. But, there still are many people in absolute poverty and a large number of jobless youths.
Koreans dream of building a rich country with everybody enjoying affluent living. To achieve this, the nation should secure many kinds of resources which are in growing demand as industrialization progresses and explore overseas markets to sustain the largely export-oriented economy.
3) Mature Democracy Despite numerous tribulations, Korea has achieved democratic rule to be ranked 27th in the world in terms of the degree of democratization. If the guarantee of human rights is considered the goal of democratization, the nation has come a long way since the democratic reform of 1987. However, the representative process and party politics still reveal immaturity, hurting the efficiency of government. So, there is strong demand from the people to make a country with stable democratic politics and mature governance systems.
Amid the reshaping international order, Korea should coordinate its foreign policies to achieve these values. External relations should be steered in ways to attain policy objectives in management of relations with neighboring states, choice of alliance partners and defining Korea’s place in the international community.
3. Three Factors Affecting Policy-making Process The state is affected by three major factors in policy making ― logical and strategic considerations, general sentiment of the people and personal interests of those directly involved. What is most important is a reasonable strategy to select the right action to connect national objectives to the given circumstances. But national strategies are often dictated by public sentiment rather than logical thinking. As seen in the ongoing conflict between Korea and Japan, mutual distrust between the two peoples lead to emotional outbursts, which prevent their governments from making reasonable strategic choices.
Further confusion is inevitable if decision-makers are swayed by individual or group interests. If the opposition party rejects good government policies solely to check the ruling party, unreasonable policies are produced to inflict serious harm to national interest. Refined techniques are needed to adjust the three major factors in a policy-making process.
4. Desirable Choices
Assuming that deep-rooted competition and limited cooperation between China and the United Nations will continue to dominate the regional order in East Asia, and considering the strengthening U.S.-Japan alliance and North Korea’s possible surprise actions, South Korea will have to take the following course of action to maximize the values pursued by its people:
1) Strengthening Value Alliance between Korea and the United States Korea faces direct security threats from China while there is none from the United States. Therefore, alliance with the United States is crucial for maintaining security and independence.
To strengthen the Korea-U.S. alliance, Seoul needs to make Washington feel the necessity of the alliance. A bilateral alliance is sustained when there is concurrence of expectations. The United States wants an ally that is ideologically compatible, strategically beneficial and economically cooperative, while being strong and stable. When Korea meets these four conditions, its alliance with the United States will remain stable and comprehensive.
Korea is a liberal democracy, so it deserves value alliance with the United States. Situated between continental China and the ocean, Korea is strategically valuable. Economically, Korea is the secondmost important trading partner of the United States in Asia, after Japan. Militarily, Korea is the eighth strongest in the world with sufficient capacity for self-reliance, which poses no great burden on the United States. In view of these objective conditions, Korea is a qualified partner for comprehensive alliance with the United States.
Korea is not capable of defending itself alone against China, Japan or Russia. Its security has to rely on U.S. military support. Besides, Korea needs political support from the United States for its growth into a mature democracy, which is aligned with America’s desire for worldwide spread of liberal democracy. Construction of affluent Korea absolutely requires U.S. cooperation. Korea’s trade volume with China is greater than that with the United States. But U.S.-Korea trade is superior in terms of quality because U.S. imports and exports are mostly technology-intensive products.
China now regards Korea as an equal sovereign state. However, if Korea ends its alliance with the United States, Beijing could be tempted to treat Korea as a small dependent nation. This may be the same with Japan and Russia. Reasonable judgment directs us to make unreserved efforts to maintain the Korea-U.S. alliance as a top priority.
2) Conducting Complex Diplomacy toward China and Japan Reasonable judgment also tells us of the need for an alliance with Japan. Japan is one of the closest allies of the United States, our trusted ally. Japan and Korea have the common objective of keeping China in check and Japan’s cooperation is essential when we have to deal with an emergency situation
in North Korea. Japan furthermore shares the ideology of liberal democracy with us and the two countries’ economies are tightly linked.
The legacy of the unfortunate past history makes it difficult for Koreans to shed bitter feelings toward Japan and build friendly relations. The general sentiment of Koreans deters genuine cooperation with Japan. The two peoples are too far apart on historical and territorial issues and questions related to the colonial period to resolve them expeditiously. Under these circumstances, alliance with Japan is unthinkable.
We have to seek multi-tiered approaches based on reasonable judgment to resolve our negative emotion to accept the necessity of cooperation with Japan. On the stage of international politics characterized by a new multi-level complex order, Korea needs to conduct “complex diplomacy” to address different aspects of bilateral ties. In military affairs, for example, it is desirable for the two governments to conclude the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSMIA) and the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) to lay the foundation for mutual cooperation. The two countries should explore closer ties in economic and cultural fields to offset inadequate cooperation in military affairs. Global issues such as the environment and human rights also call for active collaboration. All unresolved bilateral problems might well be left to the civil sector for solution over a long period of time so as not to adversely affect cooperation at the diplomatic and military levels. A “virtual alliance” is something Korea and Japan should seek to establish.
Relations with China also require multi-tiered approaches. Korea should clarify that its military buildup poses no threat to China and provide a convincing explanation about the necessity of maintaining military alliance with the United States.
Despite ideological difference, Korea and China need to develop amicable relations based on mutual respect as “the closest neighbors” in economic and cultural affairs, avoiding unnecessary clashes.
3) Building a Strong, Affluent Nation The only way for Korea to survive in the reshaping order in East Asia is to become a small but strong nation with advanced diplomatic skills.
Having relatively small territory and population, Korea cannot subdue any of its neighbors by force, but it can possess deterrent power that no nation can ignore. When a small country is equipped with proactive deterrence capability, it can prevent aggression by any stronger adversary, which will fear
massive retaliation.
Another way of survival is to reinforce diplomatic capabilities to take advantage of the powers of stronger nations. To this end, government-to-government diplomacy, public diplomacy and privatelevel diplomacy should be promoted in concert, preferably under the direction of a central coordinating body, so as to adroitly respond to changing circumstances. It is advised that the “diplomatic reinforcement project� initiated in 2010 should be given further emphasis to produce highly capable diplomatic manpower and operate an effective policy research system that combines the capabilities and functions of private and public research institutes.
[ Diplomacy, No. 108, January 2014, Korean Council on Foreign Relations ]
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Success Formula for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games Oh Jun-beom Researcher Hyundai Research Institute
Joo Won Senior Research Fellow Hyundai Research Institute
Baek Da-mi Researcher Hyundai Research Institute
I. Introduction With the close of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the next host country’s efforts to successfully stage the games will intensify. The 23rd Winter Olympic Games will be held in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, South Korea, from February 9 to February 25, 2018.
In general, whether an Olympiad is a success depends on various tangible and intangible variables such as higher international recognition of the host country as well as the host city, heightened national solidarity and pride, improved athletic ability, and economic gains. This report focuses exclusively on economic aspects. In its “Economic Impacts of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang” (Issues and Tasks, 2011), the Hyundai Research Institute estimated that the Pyongcheong Winter Olympics would add 64.9 trillion won to the Korean economy. The estimate represented the total tangible and intangible factors combined. Expenditures were excluded. However, this report includes expenses and revenues incurred before and after the games.
Most host cities of the Winter Olympic Games have been far from the demographic or economic centers of their countries. (See Appendix 1) Accordingly, the cost for construction of facilities and infrastructure to stage an Olympiad has been relatively higher. After the games, host nations and cities are typically stuck with facilities that are not used year-round and cause enormous maintenance costs. Therefore, there is a growing concern over the possibility that the balance sheet on the Pyeongchang
Winter Olympic Games in 2018 might end up in the red.
Against this backdrop, this study examines the expenditures and revenues of recent Winter Olympics, and explores the preconditions for making the Winter Olympiad an economically successful sporting event. It looks at major expenses and revenues incurred by previous Winter Olympiads held in Nagano, Japan (1998), Salt Lake City, the U.S. (2002), Turin, Italy (2006), and Vancouver, Canada (2010), respectively; it also reviews the policies implemented by these host cities before and after their Olympiad. Based on these findings, this report also explores what will be the prerequisites to make the Pyeongchang Games a success in economic terms.
II. Expenditures and Revenues of Winter Olympics Host Cities During the preparation phase, an Olympic host city needs to secure funds to finance the construction of facilities and infrastructure. Facilities construction involves sports arenas, accommodations, media villages, etc., and infrastructure construction involves social overhead capital such as expanded transportation and energy capacity. In general, the private sector, national government and host city finance the required construction. In terms of economic benefits, investment in construction boosts productivity, value added generation and job creation for the local economy. And naturally, spending
by the national teams, officials, media personnel, etc. create a windfall.
The expenditures and revenues that are incurred during the Winter Olympics refer to the earnings and expenses generated from the operation of the games. Operating costs primarily involve salaries, facilities management, transportation, and the opening and closing ceremonies. Operating income mainly includes sponsorship, ticket sales, profits from trademark rights, and subsidies (support funds) from the International Olympic Committee and the host country’s government.
During the post-Olympic period, spending is mainly toward the maintenance of fixed capital investment facilities, such as stadiums, accommodations, media village, etc. Increased name recognition of the host city often brings more tourists and subsequent spending, thus stimulating the economy and creating jobs. In most cases, admission fees to facilities represent only a negligible part of the post-Olympic revenue.
The most costly Winter Olympics has been the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan. The city spent $5.78 billion on the construction of facilities (based on the dollar value of 2013) and $20.52 billion on the infrastructure development. That is five times more than subsequent Winter Olympics on average. Facilities construction is the main reason for a post-Olympic financial headache and Nagano is strapped with the largest post-games deficit. Far less has been spent on facilities construction since the Nagano Olympics ― $2.9 billion by Vancouver, $1.97 billion by Salt Lake City and $1.37 billion by Turin.
As for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, the initial cost estimates by the Russian organizing committee slightly exceed the levels of spending since the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympiad. Pyeongchang forecasts its spending will not be markedly more than preceding host cities. But most estimates have fallen short of meeting actual expenditures, so the final spending estimates of the Sochi and Pyeongchang Olympics will likely be higher than expected.
In fact, the Russian government spent so heavily on the Sochi Olympics that it may have broken Nagano’s record. Russian opposition politicians Boris Nemtsov and Leonid Martynyuk estimated that Moscow allocated approximately $14.8 billion to operating expenses and $35.2 billion to infrastructure construction.
The operating expenditures and revenues officially announced by the organizing committee of each Winter Olympics mostly remained balanced. Operating expenditures showed an upward trend from 1998 to 2010. Operating expenses for the 1998 Nagano Games amounted to $1.36 billion and those for the 2010 Vancouver Games reached $1.88 billion. Estimations of total expenditures for both Sochi and Pyeongchang are relatively low. However, taking the findings of previous studies into consideration, these two Winter Olympics are likely to prove costlier than anticipated.
It is rare for a host city to suffer heavy losses in operating revenues and expenditures. Operating income tends to be adjusted to operating expenditures and both factors are incurred only in the Olympic year. Also, the International Olympic Committee helps the host city secure certain levels of income. Nagano and Salt Lake City record a surplus of $6 million and $7 million, respectively, in terms of the dollar value of 2013. Vancouver kept income and spending in balance but Turin posted a $4 million deficit.
Two years after their Winter Olympics, the number of visitors to Salt Lake City increased dramatically but the influx tended to drop in Nagano. The trends continued in both cities. When the total number of visitors each host city attracted after hosting the Winter Olympics is expressed in an index format (the hosting year at 100 points), the index for Salt Lake City soared from 113.0 points five years before the 2002 Winter Olympics to 118.2 points five years after the games. Unlike Salt Lake City, the indices for Nagano dropped slightly from 104.2 points to 97.9 points during the same period, although the number temporarily rose between 1996 and 1997, before the games.
As for the indices of incoming visitors for skiing, Salt Lake City saw the index rise from 98.7 points to 130.0 points during the cited 10-year period. Conversely, the indices for Nagano dramatically fell from 145.1 points to 67.5 points during the corresponding period. The negative growth index for the Japanese city seemingly resulted from prolonged economic slump throughout the 1990s, which significantly dented spending on ski trips. The number of skiers rose during the Olympic year but the city has failed to attract heavy traffic to its ski resorts ever since.
II. Promotion Policies for the Winter Olympics of Nagano and Salt Lake City 1. Success of Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City is regarded as one of the most successful host cities in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. It reaped higher profits by making the most of existing facilities and exerting postgames efforts to foster tourism and encourage the local sports industry to use Olympic venues.
Among the 11 venues for the 19th Winter Olympics, only three were newly constructed: the Utah Olympic Park, the cross-country ski resort, Soldier Hollow, and the indoor speed skating rink, Utah Olympic Oval. Eight arenas underwent major renovation for use at the games and instead of building an Olympic Village for the athletes and media workers, the dormitories at the University of Utah were used. These steps were instrumental in averting overruns on construction spending.
The Salt Lake City government has generated sustainable profits from the post-games use of facilities in collaboration with the sports industry. As part of this effort, the city successfully stabilized facility
management by relocating the headquarters of the U.S. speed skating national team to the area. It also actively promoted the Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, which specializes in sports medicine, and publicized itself as the best-suited place for athletes to strengthen physical endurance by taking advantage of its geographical location at a high altitude. Salt Lake City’s sports training facilities and successful attraction of tourists have contributed to revitalizing the local tourism industry as well as the local economy as a whole. After the Winter Games, facilities for summer sports and leisure activities were built under the ski jump tower at the Utah Olympic Park, enabling visitors to enjoy sporting activities all year round. The city also succeeded in converting sporting facilities into tourism resources. For example, the Utah Olympic Park allows visitors to ride a bobsled or steer a skeleton sled on their own.
2. Failure of Nagano
In contrast, Nagano is widely regarded as an unsuccessful host city. Failing to consistently generate income from its Olympic buildup, its excessive facility investment has resulted in a financial burden.
With the ratio of newly built sports facilities already very high, the city excessively spent on social overhead capital. It built four out of the five indoor venues that were needed to stage the Winter Olympics. The curling arena was the lone exception. The city also constructed a stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies, and the facilities for ski jump and cross-country events. In addition, hefty spending was directed toward social overhead capital construction during the five-year preparation period. It included the high-speed rail lines and highways. The amount was equivalent to nearly 14 years worth of SOC projects.
The city government of Nagano had difficulty in generating sustainable profits because its post-games facility use was mostly limited to the local population. The Olympic Stadium is used as a baseball park and the Olympic Village has been converted into a municipal housing complex. The rest of the Olympic facilities are also used mainly by local residents: an indoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, and a multi-use hall. A limited number of facilities, such as M-Wave, an indoor sporting arena, the Nagano Bobsled-Luge Park (also known as “Spiral”) and the ski jump tower, are used for competition and training. They generate only a modest amount of revenue. Nagano’s failure in developing unique and competitive tourism resources had a negative impact on the growth of the local tourism industry and the local economy as a whole. Although the Olympic
Legacy Tour program and Zenko-ji, one of the three most magnificent Buddhist temples in Japan, are considered the city’s major tourism resources, the temple tour is not a large money-making business and the tour of Olympic sites is not attractive enough to encourage prolonged visits. Nagano only keeps ice sports facilities in place but lacks tourist attractions like a ski resort, where people can regularly visit.
Nagano has been viewed as a failure as an Olympic host city in that it was not able to develop specialized industries, such as tourism, by utilizing its infrastructure built for the Winter Olympics. It is even said that the road network provides visitors with convenient access to neighboring locales instead of bringing them into the city.
IV. Implications
The keys to the economic success of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games lie in four factors: keeping preparation expenses in check, minimizing fixed facility investment, enhancing postgames use of facilities, and maximizing the influx of tourists.
First, host cities of previous Winter Olympics tended to spend more money in the preparation stage than originally planned. Beginning with the 18th Nagano Winter Olympics to the 21st Vancouver Winter Olympics, host cities had an average cost overrun of 62 percent. Keeping this in mind, Korea’s central and provincial governments must tightly control spending to avoid excessive costs.
Considering that Olympic preparation costs usually come from taxes paid by the general public, cost increases may lead to tax hikes. Therefore, government agencies including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and related local government agencies need to strictly consider if any increase in preparation costs is justifiable. If an increase is deemed inevitable, any changes in the budget plan and the entire decision-making process should be made public to ensure transparency. If problems arise later, the responsible entities should be held accountable.
Second, it is necessary to drastically curb investments in fixed facilities, of which post-games use has yet to be determined. Unlike Summer Olympic sports, the majority of Winter Olympic sports are not so popular and undertaken only in the winter, which makes the post-games use of Winter Olympic facilities relatively infrequent. As a result, previous host cities had to deal with a huge financial burden that arose from the post-games operating costs of fixed facilities. To prevent such potential pitfalls, competition arenas should be built in a way that allows easy dismantling. Also, newly constructed accommodation facilities need to be designed in ways to make them available for rent or conversion.
Third, it is necessary, from now onwards, to create an agency responsible for the post-games management of Winter Olympic facilities and draw up and implement a roadmap. The agency’s main tasks should be to hold cost factors in check, explore possible post-games utilization of facilities, and secure profitability based on a thorough cost-benefit analysis on alteration of facilities. It is desirable to place the agency under the umbrella of a finance or budget-related cabinet ministry so that it can operate independently from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as well as the Pyeongchang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
It is also necessary to devise a practical roadmap based on rigorous assessment of the post-Olympic utilization of fixed facilities. It should be coupled with a time schedule for various phases: demolition
and restoration, downscaling of facilities, change of use, and continued maintenance.
When seeking ways to use Olympic venues after the games, non-economic factors should be excluded in establishing potentially profitable, specific and feasible criteria. If Olympic venues are to be converted to community culture and sports facilities, they need to be properly downscaled in consideration of the host city’s potential population growth, income levels, age demographics, and use of leisure time. If some facilities need to be maintained for future training of winter sports athletes, the amount of costs to be shared and agencies responsible for facility maintenance should be specified. These agencies might include sports-related organizations, the central government, local autonomous bodies, etc.
Fourth, economic benefits resulting from enhanced public recognition as a host city of the Winter Olympics should be maximized by enlarging tourism infrastructure and developing tourism products. With a few years to go before the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Korea should launch vigorous marketing campaigns to bring more visitors from abroad. Fortunately, the number of foreign tourists, especially that of Chinese ski tourists visiting resorts in Gangwon Province, has increased since Pyeongchang was named the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics in July 2011.
More fundamentally, it is necessary to promote Gangwon Province, where Pyeongchang is located, as a world-class tourist destination by developing new tourism resources and Winter Olympics-related sightseeing programs, and building transportation infrastructure to provide easier access to tourist spots. Pyeongchang’s heightened recognition should lead to hosting internationally famous theme parks such as Disneyland, developing tour programs to Mt. Kumgang in North Korea and the DMZ area, and increasing maritime leisure facilities. It is also necessary to upgrade the tourism infrastructure in Gangwon Province by means of both improving its transportation network system through an early implementation of the National Traffic Network Plan and improving existing lodging facilities through the attraction of private investment.
[Appendix 1] Host Cities of Past Winter Olympic Games
[Appendixâ…Ą] Study on Olympic Budgets
This study compared budget estimates to actual expenditures. Budget estimates are included in the bid file submitted to the International Olympic Committee by each candidate city that wants to host the Winter Olympics. Actual expenditures refer to the total costs of hosting the games that are computed after the games. Costs include the expenses of running the games by the host city’s
Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and expenses for Olympic-related activities contained in the non-OCOG budget, from which infrastructure building costs are excluded.
The study revealed that the percentage of budget overrun at recent games against their budget estimates averaged 61.8 percent. Turin recorded the highest cost overrun, while Vancouver recorded the lowest. The analysis conducted by Flyvbjerg and Stewart (2012) showed a significant difference in budget estimates and actual costs of hosting all Winter Olympiads since 1960.
[Appendix 3] Recent Increases in Winter Tourist Arrivals in Korea
The number of winter tourists visiting Korea has sharply increased after Pyeongchang was chosen in July 2011 to host the 23rd Olympic Winter Games. The number of tourist arrivals in Korea in winter (from December of the previous year to March of the relevant year) rose to 3.41 million in 2013 from 1.92 million in 2006. During the corresponding period, the number of Chinese visitors to Korea also increased from 240,000 to 920,000. The proportion of Chinese visitors against the total number of inbound tourists in Korea also more than doubled to 27 percent from 12 percent. For the 2013 winter season, the number of visitors from the greater China region and Southeast Asia reached approximately 1.5 million, and their share in the total number of inbound tourists surpassed 40 percent.
In particular, the number of tourists from the greater China region to ski resorts in Korea has sharply increased since 2011. During the Lunar New Year’s holiday, the number of Chinese tourists from the greater China region (mainland China, Hong Kong and Twain) who made accommodation reservations at the 14 ski resorts in Gangwon Province hovered over 10,000 in 2010 and 2011, but
has doubled to some 20,000 since 2012.
<References>
1) Hiroshi, Toki, “Sports and Regional Development: Case of the Nagano Winter Olympics,” presentation at the summer symposium of the Korean Association for Local Government Studies and the 13th Korea-Japan International Seminar on Local Government, 2004. 2) Lee, Won-gi, “A Study on the Post-Games Utilization of Olympic Support Facilities: With Focus on the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games,” mimeograph, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 2013. 3) Han, Gil-su and Kim, Sang-woo, “Evaluation of Support Projects for International Sporting Events,” National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, 2012. 4) Hyundai Research Institute, “Economic Effects of Hosting the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics,” Issues and Tasks, 2011. 5) Choi, Chris, “Legacy of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics: Strategy for the Post-Games Management of Facilities,” Korean Tourist Policy, No. 48, 2012. 6) Agha et al, Considering legacy as a multi-dimensional construct: The legacy of the Olympic Games, Sport Management Review, Vol.15, 2012. 7) Banmossy and Stephens, “Utah Image and Awareness: The Post-Olympics European Study,” working papers, 2003. 8) Bondonio and Campaniello, “Torino 2006: An Organizational and Economic Overveiw,” OEMERO working paper n.1, 2006. 9) Chappelet, “From Lake Placid to Salt Lake City: The Challenging Growth of the Olympic Winter Games Since 1980,” European Journal of Sport Science, Vol. 2(3), 2002. 10) Flyvbjerg and Stewart, “Olympic Proportions: Cost and Cost Overrun at the Olympics 1960-2012,” Saïd Business School working papers, 2012. 11) IOC, Olympic Games: Legacies and Impacts, 2013. 12) ____, Fact Sheet the Olympic Winter Games, 2013. 13) ____, Report of the IOC 2014 Evaluation Commission, 2014. 14) ____, Report of the IOC 2018 Evaluation Commission, 2018. 15) Pilipenko, “The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics ― the cost-benefit analysis and ways to improve the project efficiency,” Pan-European Institute, 2013. 16) PWC, Global Summary of the Impact of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games on British Columbia and Canada 2003 to 2010, 2011. 17) Ralston et al, “What are the Economic Impacts on a Nation Hosing the Olympics,” USSR working paper, 2008. 18) Zimbalist, Andrew, “Is It Worth It? Hosting the Olympic Games and Other Mega Sporting Events is an Honor Many Countries Aspire to ― But Why?” Finance & Development, 2010. 19) Nagano Economic Research Institute, “Legacy of the Nagano Olympics: Economic Effects and Changing Regional Structure,” 1999.
[ Weekly Economic Review 14-08, No. 579, February 21, 2014, Hyundai Research Institute ]
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Korean Wave Seen through K-Pop and Drama Search Trends Lee Ji-hong Analyst, LG Economic Research Institute
Kim Min-hee Senior Consultant, LG Economic Research Institute
The word hallyu, or the Korean Wave, dates back to the 1990s. It first appeared when Korean pop idol groups became popular in China. Robust exports of Korean pop music and TV drama series ensued after “Winter Sonata” and “Jewel in the Palace” (a.k.a. “Dae Jang Geum”) took overseas viewers by storm. “Jewel in the Palace” has been exported to about 90 countries since it was first broadcast in 2003, underscoring the hallyu boom. It has earned 22 billion won (approximately 20 million) and generated an estimated 110 billion won in knock-on effects. In the late 2000s, a new music genre called “K-pop,” centered around young idol groups, spread beyond Asia to Latin America and Europe. Rapper Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video of 2012 hit more than 1 billion views for the first time on YouTube, becoming a global megahit. This further encouraged the spread of K-pop. With a new interest also increasing in TV entertainment programs besides music and dramas, more Chinese and Indian agencies are importing Korean entertainment program formats. Hallyu stars are so busy performing overseas that the term “celebrities’ airport fashion” has become a household buzzword. The meaning of hallyu has been stretched to more sectors, including “K-food” and “K-medical services.”
The economic ripple effect of the Korean Wave has been significant. The personal, cultural and recreational services balance of payments has recorded a surplus for two consecutive years and the number of inbound tourists increased over the past five years. Based on a study of foreigners’ interest in the K-pop and dramas, types of typical hallyu contents, this report examines changes in hallyu and their impact. We compared the level of interest in hallyu among nations and correlations between foreigners’ interest in Korea, their visits to Korea and their purchase of Korean goods.
I. Korean Wave Seen through Search Results 1. Soaring Interest over the Past Decade
Online viewing of K-pop music videos and Korean soap operas has been climbing steadily. Immediately after Korean singers release new albums, their fans around the world view YouTube videos and post messages. Sometimes, reaction is faster overseas than at home. For dramas, many people access streaming services and search for information on them. The volume of online searches can gauge the degree of interest in hallyu abroad. While it is difficult to determine if the search traffic is positive or negative, patterns of interest and key search words can be compared.
Using Google Trends, which account for 89 percent of the global search engine market, we analyzed the number of searches for K-pop and Korean TV serials over the past 10 years. For K-pop we calculated the number of clicks for 123 Korean pop singers/groups who received prizes at major music awards in the past decade. For TV drama serials we analyzed the search traffic of 274 out of some 500 works that have been broadcast since 2000. As with the K-pop, we concluded that the combined number of clicks for these selected pieces represent the worldwide interest in Korean TV dramas.
The combined number of clicks for the K-pop and soap operas shows that overseas interest in the Korean Wave has shot up over the past five years, though its rate of increase has slowed slightly. With dramas leading the initial surge in the 2000s, there were not many clicks for K-pop until the middle of the decade. But clicks rose sharply after 2009, when overseas tours of Korean idol groups began to increase. But their boom slowed down somewhat in 2013. Interest in Korean dramas rose drastically after 2009. The clicks slowed down in 2012, but have recently rebounded.
Dramas led to more clicks in the fourth quarter of 2013 mainly due to the popularity of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heirs,â&#x20AC;? which
featured many hallyu stars. This drama was so popular that it was posted on overseas streaming sites in real time while being broadcast in Korea, prompting thousands of messages.
There is a generation gap in the fandom between the K-pop and dramas. While K-pop music gets more clicks from younger people who enjoy the Internet, dramas are popular among older generations who watch video recordings or TV broadcasts. Therefore, the number of clicks for dramas can possibly be underestimated to a certain degree.
To examine the characteristics of each singer or drama, we selected those with a significant number of clicks. The analysis involved 37 singers and groups who enjoyed high popularity in any year between 2004 and 2013. Many of them continued to have large numbers of clicks for several years. The overall total rose sharply between 2008 and 2010. But the increase rates have slowed since 2010, with the nominal total falling slightly in 2013.
Whenever we discuss the need to keep the hallyu flame alive, we inevitably mention a heavy bias toward certain K-pop genres. Results of overseas poll surveys about the sustainability of hallyu have pointed out an uncharacteristic uniformity of contents. This is also corroborated by the genre characteristics of the singers/groups who have received large numbers of clicks. A comparison of the number of clicks before and after 2010 revealed that the post-2010 trend still favors dancing singers. Out the 26 singers/groups who received large numbers of clicks in 2013, 24 were idol dancing singers/groups. Overall, 27 idol dancing singers/groups of the total 37 singers/groups in the main
music genres were in the spotlight.
In a similar way, 55 out of 274 TV dramas that have had large numbers of clicks in certain years over the past 10 years were analyzed. Interest stagnated slightly in 2012 but a sharp upturn followed and carried over into 2013. <Table 2> While the search trends for dramas and music are similar, there is a big difference between their patterns. K-pop singers/groups continuously receive clicks by releasing new songs. In contrast, dramas rarely maintain their popularity through many years. However, some Korean dramas featuring popular hallyu stars continue to draw viewers abroad several years after they are first aired in Korea. Indeed, drama series such as “Full House” (2004) and “Palace” (2006) have constantly attracted clicks over the years. Trendy dramas like miniseries are also gaining popularity overseas, as they are posted in real time on streaming sites. But in case of some period dramas or daily serials favored by older generations, they become popular only when they are broadcast on TV or their videos hit the market. So, there is a time difference between when they are broadcast in Korea and when overseas clicks increase.
2. Interest in Hallyu Content Remains High
The clicks on Google are off their peak but the current state of hallyu cannot be defined by the number of clicks alone. For example, some countries like China, where hallyu is booming, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have easy access to Google and fans in some other countries have access to Korean cultural content through local search engines. The actual number of clicks could be larger, considering that many people use search words in their own languages, while we analyzed searches basically done in English. (In our study of dramas, we also analyzed searches done in Chinese and Japanese, in view of the keen interest in Korean soap operas in China and Japan.)
We have so far analyzed the trend of interest in Korean popular culture abroad over the past 10 years based on the number of clicks. Now we are going to look at some data from which we can understand the relative level of interest in the Korean Wave.
Dramas are mainly accessed through video sites like YouTube or sites providing streaming services. In case of K-pop, mostly dance music performed by idol groups enjoys high popularity overseas. Their concerts involve both acoustic and visual appeal, which explains why many people take interest in their music or performance videos as well as in their music itself.
For a relative analysis, we compared YouTube videos of K-pop and Korean dramas to those of Japanese and Chinese music and dramas. (We used Webometric Analyst 2.0, a program that automatically collects data of Web, YouTube and Flickr.) To determine the reactions that Korean, Japanese and Chinese music and dramas are receiving, respectively, we calculated ratios of messages, and “likes” and “dislikes” on the videos collected. The “ratio of messages to K-pop music” refers to the ratio all messages to total clicks for K-pop-related videos. Therefore, a high ratio of messages means a high ratio of messages to clicks for K-pop videos.
However, some messages may have nothing to do with the videos, or they can be either positive or negative. For an index that can overcome limits of messages, we compared the ratios of “likes” and “dislikes” to the total number of views. By nation, the ratio of “likes” on K-pop and messages on Korea was higher, while that of “dislikes” was lower. This shows that K-pop videos received more positive responses than Japanese or Chinese music videos.
K-pop videos hit 700 million views, far outdistancing J-pop (400 million views) or C-pop (200 million views) videos. This shows that Korean music is getting more favorable responses than Japanese or Chinese music in all aspects ― clicks, messages and “likes.”
Korean soap operas had less impact than K-pop and prompted fewer messages. But they received more â&#x20AC;&#x153;likesâ&#x20AC;? than their Japanese or Chinese counterparts. On the back of the high popularity of Kpop and TV dramas, overseas fans also took keen interest in the related entertainment industry. Anybody who is interested in Korean pop culture may obtain information about their favorite performers through the websites of entertainment agencies, the starsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; private blogs, or social media.
We looked at how many websites have links to the official sites of major entertainment agencies and social media networks like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. For a relative comparison, we studied the sites of Korea’s leading entertainment agencies, global album makers like Universal Music and Warner Music, Japanese firms such as Avex, Amuse, Universal Music Japan and Warner Music Japan, Chinese firms such as Yuehua and Huayi Brothers, and Hong Kong enterprises like Emperor Entertainment Group and Media Asia. However, it wasn’t possible to install hyperlinks to the websites of YG and JYP, two leading Korean entertainment agencies.
The size of the circles represents how many sites are linked. More links indicate a company frequently updates information, posts interesting information, or features many popular stars. <Figure 4> shows that Korea’s entertainment companies are getting less attention than global enterprises like Universal Music and Warner Music, but more attention than those in Japan, Hong Kong and China. It also shows which countries’ sites have links to Korean agencies’ sites. Data analysis indicates that sites in various countries like France, Indonesia, Spain and Thailand have interest in Korean sites.
II. Correlations between the Korean Wave and Related Industries
Overseas interest in Korean pop culture is not limited only to cultural contents, but has expanded to Korea itself as well as Korean businesses and industries.
In 2012, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry surveyed 300 major service and manufacturing companies to evaluate the “economic effects of the Korean Wave and their benefits for Korean businesses.” Some 82.8 percent of the respondents offered positive views, saying, “The spread of the Korean Wave has helped create a favorable image for Korea and Korean goods.” Also, 51.9 percent attributed their increased sales to the Korean Wave. Sales increased conspicuously in services industries, including culture, tourism and logistics. In addition, manufacturers of foods, electronic appliances, cosmetics, cars and clothing, in that order, have boosted sales thanks to the Korean Wave.
Based on the click volume for Korean pop culture over the past decade, we categorized countries into three groups: six mature markets where the Korean Wave has spread far and wide, five growing markets where interest in the Korean Wave is growing, and five incipient markets where interest in the Korean Wave has emerged in the past two or three years. And we looked for correlations between the number of clicks for hallyu in each country and the number of its citizens visiting Korea, and between Korea’s exports of major consumer goods and interest in the Korean Wave in respective countries.
1. More People Experience Hallyu and Visit Korea
The most quoted indicator when we discuss the impact of the Korean Wave is the balance of payments in personal, cultural and recreational services, which comprises audio and video services that are closely related to exports and imports of music, broadcasting and video contents, and the other services. The indicator remained negative after 1990, and fell further after 2000. But in 2010, when the Korean Wave began spreading in earnest, the balance of payments improved and posted a surplus in 2012 and 2013.
In audio and video service balance of payments, the service spending (imports of audio and video contents) has remained flat since 2007, while the service revenue (exports of audio and video contents) has increased consistently to post a surplus in 2013.
With the number of foreigners visiting Korea increasing thanks to the Korean Wave, the travel balance of payments, as well as the personal, cultural and recreational services balance of payments, has been positively affected. According to overseas surveys conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism twice in 2012, 58.1 percent of the respondents who had experienced Korean pop culture wanted to visit Korea. Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tourism revenue has been increasing continuously thanks to the growing number of inbound tourists. The rising tourism revenue is highly correlated with surplus in the personal, cultural and recreational services balance of payments.
To determine correlations between the Korean Wave and the number of foreign visitors to Korea, we analyzed the level of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest in Korean pop culture in each country and the number of
visitors to Korea from those countries. The level of interest in the Korean Wave was estimated based on the number of clicks for the aforementioned K-pop singers/groups and dramas with high viewing rates, and the number of inbound tourists based on Korea Tourism Organization statistics.
As a result, a linear relationship appeared between national levels of interest in hallyu and the number of tourists visiting Korea from respective countries. That is, more tourists came from countries that have higher numbers of web searches for hallyu content. Also, in regions where hallyu has already spread broadly, high correlations appeared between the number of visitors to Korea and searches for K-pop, rather than Korean soap operas. This suggests that in regions where Korean dramas are already well known, K-pop refreshed peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest in hallyu after their interest in soap dramas had somewhat dwindled. Hallyu-related tourism peaks while interest in hallyu is growing. In this regard, we expect to see tourism revenue increase through the spread of hallyu in countries where the wave is about to spread and its influence is to grow.
The quantified correlations between hallyu and tourist arrivals can be found in diversified tourism programs based on hallyu content. For example, hallyu-related drama filming locations have become new tourist attractions as many hallyu fans visit Korea to see places where their favorite dramas were filmed. Likewise, with the K-pop gaining popularity, urban districts clustered with entertainment agencies have emerged as tourist hotspots.
2. Hallyu Content Boosts Interest in Korean Goods Pop starsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fashion, hairstyle and even their personal electronic gadgets attract attention. Right after a TV program or drama is aired or celebrities are exposed by media, their personal accessories like bags or clothes make it to the top of the word search charts. This phenomenon also occurs abroad. Overseas hallyu fans pay close attention to what K-pop stars wear, what cosmetics they use, and what bags or
smartphones they carry. A surge in sales of goods advertised by hallyu stars, of course, has a lot to do with this phenomenon. According to 2012 data of the Korea Chamber of Commerce Industry, “Vinegreat Drink-Hong Cho,” advertised by the girl group Kara, took the largest share of vinegar drinks in Japan, and “Seoul Makkeoli,” advertised by actor Jang Keun-suk, doubled its target of export to Japan in 2011. Similarly, exports of “Kiss-Myun” noodle, advertised by idol singer and actor Park Yoo-chun, to Japan, China, New Zealand and Russia have increased. Chinese visitors bring K-pop stars’ photo spreads to Korean department stores to find identical items featured in the pictures. They even show interest in Korean furniture, daily necessities and small electronic appliances, as well as fashion items.
How does the interest in Korean pop culture affect the exports of Korean goods? According to a 2012 survey by the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, small and midsize exporters noted that music and dramas, among other hallyu content, have an effect on 42 percent of their total sales. A $100 increase in the export of cultural products leads to $412 in exports of consumer goods or $395 in exports of high-tech products, the Korea Exim Bank speculated in 2012.
In examining the correlation between searches for hallyu content and exports of consumer goods, we focused on 12 goods ― cosmetics, beverages, tobacco, clothes, jewelry, leather goods, furniture, refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, cars and mobile phones. We found that there was a high correlation between an increase in exports and the dissemination level of hallyu.
For instance, significant correlations existed between cosmetics and hallyu in most countries where the craze for Korean pop culture began spreading and where its influence was growing. In some of the countries where hallyu had already spread far and wide, there were high correlations between beverages, clothes and electronic appliances, in addition to cosmetics, and the search volume for Korean pop culture. There were more distinctive correlations between K-pop and exports than between dramas and exports.
As was found by various earlier studies, the effect of hallyu on the export of cosmetics turned out to be enormous in most countries â&#x20AC;&#x2022; regardless of the level of interest in hallyu. Sales of cosmetics soared in China and Southeast Asian nations after hallyu stars were recruited as models for cosmetics. Exports to these regions have increased consistently since 2000, with the annual increase rate reaching 30 percent recently.
Foreignersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; keen interest in Korean cosmetics and clothes is closely related to major tourist destinations in Korea; there was a surge in clicks for typical commercial districts like Myeong-dong
and Dongdaemun Market. In a poll conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2012, foreign visitors cited Myeong-dong, Dongdaemun Market, ancient palaces, Mt. Nam Tower, and Namdaemun Market, in that order, as their favorite places in Seoul.
We analyzed relations between the interest in hallyu and tourism and exports in various time periods. First, we compared changes in growth rates of inbound tourists from, and exports to, hallyu-friendly countries with those of Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entire tourism and exports. From 2009 to 2013, the number of inbound tourists increased 13.9 percent, 5.3 percentage points higher than the average increase rate of 8.6 percent in the previous five years. During this period, the increase rate of tourist arrivals from most countries where the influence of hallyu was growing or had spread widely was higher than that of all tourist arrivals in Korea. But this was not the case with most other countries where hallyu was introduced recently. Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s average growth rate of exports stood at 11.4 percent in the 2009-2013 period, down 2.2 percentage points from 13.6 percent in the previous five years. But the exports of goods showing high correlations with hallyu grew 15.8 percent, from -0.5 percent to 15.3 percent, in contrast to overall slowdown in exports. Exports to most regions where hallyu has widely spread has been on the rise since 2009.
III. Conclusion
Korean popular culture, mainly K-pop and TV dramas, has been spreading far beyond Asia to North America, Europe and even Latin America. Interest in the Korean Wave has impacted various sectors, including related businesses and industries. In this report, we discussed that there are high correlations between the growing interest in K-pop and dramas and the increasing number of inbound tourists and growth of exports. We believe that the Korean Wave not only plays a role as cultural content but has direct and indirect influence on creating positive images of Korean products and Korea itself in the global community.
Recently, with the increase in searches for K-pop and dramas apparently slowing down somewhat, there have been voices of concern about the sustainability of the Korean Wave. A review of search trends on Google shows that K-pop is still led by idol groups and a considerable number of dramas rely primarily on the popularity of hallyu stars rather than unique and original storylines. Despite the widespread contention that K-pop and dramas have recently expanded their influence in the world, they have yet to spread more extensively beyond Asia and the Pacific. Google data also show that the popularity of K-pop and dramas remains confined to specific regions. This is why we are worried that interest in the Korean Wave in those regions might ebb soon, depending on their domestic policies economic situations.
Therefore, more efforts are needed to see K-pop and dramas diversify their genres to make the overseas enthusiasm for Korean pop culture more sustainable. It is necessary to expand the genres of hallyu by drawing on overall Korean culture, including traditional arts, fashion, cuisine and language, enhancing their synergistic effects to introduce more attractive aspects of Korea to visitors who arrive after experiencing K-pop and dramas.
[ LG Business Insight, February 19, 2014, LG Economic Research Institute ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
Preservation and Utilization of UNESCO World Heritage Monuments and Sites in Kaesong Park Sung-jin Researcher, Archaeology Division National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage
I. Introduction Kaesong was the capital of the Goryo Dynasty from 919, the year after its foundation, to 1394, when the newly founded Joseon Dynasty moved the capital to Hanyang, present-day Seoul. During this period, Kaesong was the epicenter of political, economic and cultural life in Korea. As the selfproclaimed successor to the Old Joseon (Gojoseon), Goguryeo and Goryeo dynasties, the North Korean regime has expended considerable energy to protect Goryeo-era cultural remains in Kaesong. In the same context, it has made efforts to preserve the historic sites and monuments of the Old Joseon and Goguryeo dynasties in and around Pyongyang.
A group of ancient tombs from the Goguryeo period in North Korea was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004. And the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong were added on June 23, 2013, following an assessment and recommendation by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) a month earlier.
The inscribed heritage in Kaesong consists of 12 historical monuments and sites. They include the royal palace site of Manwoldae; Kaesong Chomsongdae, an astronomical observatory; the old fortress walls of Kaesong; Namdaemun Gate of the fortress city of Kaesong; Koryo Songgyungwan, the state institute for higher education; Sungyang Sowon, a private Confucian school; Sonjuk Bridge, where Jeong Mong-ju, a loyal subject of Goryeo, was assassinated; Phyochung Monuments, two steles honoring Jeong Mong-ju; the Mausoleum of Wang Kon, founder of the Goryeo Dynasty; Seven Tombs Cluster; Myongrung Tombs Cluster; and the Mausoleum of King Kongmin. (Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Note: Romanization of place names follows the official North Korean style, which was used in the nomination form submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.) In its assessment report, ICOMOS specified North Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposals for the conservation and utilization of these monuments and sites in detail. The report explained legal modifications and repairs needed for heritage inscription and suggested ways to promote inter-Korean cooperation concerning
the Kaesong heritage sites. As such, the report is a valuable reference for possible joint efforts in the area of cultural heritage between the two Koreas.
This paper will review the inscription process of Kaesong monuments and sites as well as heritage conservation in North Korea on the basis of the nomination paper and accompanying evaluation reports. It also will scrutinize the condition of the inscribed monuments and sites to determine the legal and administrative environment for preserving the cultural relics in the Kaesong area as well as those around North Korea. Finally, measures for the conservation and utilization of the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong will be suggested.
II. World Heritage Inscription of Kaesong Monuments and Sites 1. Process for Inscription
The Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong, North Korea, were nominated for the World Heritage Tentative List in May 2000 and inter-Korean consultations ensued on the final steps for inscription. The consultations included a joint academic conference in Kaesong in November 2005, where participants suggested joint excavation of the Kaesong relics in order to expedite the inscription process. Later, the 17th South-North ministerial meeting produced an agreement to cooperate in the endeavor and jointly preserve and manage historical monuments and sites in Kaesong. A letter of agreement on comprehensive cooperation was signed in Kaesong in January 2006.
The next month, the North proposed joint excavation of the Koryo Royal Palace (commonly called Manwoldae) located at the foot of Mt. Songak, with a four-year work schedule starting in 2007. In January 2007, North Korea submitted its application to UNESCO for inclusion of the Kaesong monuments and sites in the World Heritage List. However, the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee deferred inscription and made three requests that North Korea compile a thorough inventory to prove the outstanding universal value of the heritage in Kaesong; redraw the boundaries for the historical monuments and sites to distinguish their cultural and natural environment; and designate a buffer zone to protect the heritage from potential threats.
In 2011, North Korea submitted a revised nomination form to UNESCO along with supplementary papers, but processing was delayed for a year due to â&#x20AC;&#x153;incompleteâ&#x20AC;? paperwork. A technical assessment team from the ICOMOS conducted a survey of the Kaesong monuments and sites from September 26 to October 1, 2012. It released an assessment report on May 13, 2013, along with recommendation
for inscription. The World Heritage Committee recognized that the Kaesong heritage “testifies to the transition from Buddhism to neo-Confucianism in East Asia and to the assimilation of the cultural, spiritual and political values of the states before Korea’s unification under the Goryeo Dynasty.” The inscription of the Kaesong relics was UNESCO’s second recognition of North Korea’s cultural heritage, following the Complex of Koguryo Tombs, which gained World Heritage status in 2004.
2. Examination of Documents Submitted for Inscription The ICOMOS technical evaluation report contains a general explanation of North Korea’s nomination, its conservation plans and the opinion of the ICOMOS based on its examination of
documents submitted by North Korea and its own survey of the heritage sites. Therefore, the report will be a useful source of information when the two Koreas start joint projects related to the heritage sites in Kaesong.
The report describes the history the Kaesong area, its geography, the current conditions of the historical monuments and sites, and matters related to their management and protection. It notes: “Within the mountain-ringed basin of Kaesong City and extending into the foothills to the west, the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong comprise an ensemble representing the ruling base of the Koryo dynasty (918-1392) with its associated tombs. The ensemble embodies the political, cultural, philosophical and spiritual values of the capital of the unified Koryo state as it transitioned from Buddhism to Confucianism, through the geomantic layout of the city, palace and tomb complexes, the urban defense system of walls and gates, and educational institutions.”
According to the report, the property consists of 12 components, five of which are separate sections of the Kaesong City Walls, forming parts of the triple-walled Koryo defense system. This included the innermost Palocham Wall of 896, within which the palace was later built; the Outer Wall built in 1009-1029 to surround the city, connecting the mountains that protect it according to geomantic theory (Mt. Songak, Mt. Puhung, Tokam Peak, Mt. Ryongsu and Mt. Jine); and the Inner Wall of 1391-1393.
The other seven components are the archaeological site of Manwoldae palace and remains of an astronomical and meteorological observatory; Namdaemun, the main southern city gate in the Inner Wall; Koryo Songgyungwan, a state institution for educating public officials; Sungyang Sowon, a Confucian academy built on the site of the home of Jeong Mong-ju (1337-1392), a Koryo minister whose assassination marked the overthrow of the dynasty; Sonjuk Bridge, where Jeong was assassinated, and Phyochung Monuments, steles commemorating the loyal subject of Koryo; the Mausoleum of Wang Kon, the first king of Koryo, with associated Seven Tombs Cluster and Myongrung Tombs Cluster; and the Mausoleum of King Kongmin and his Mongolian-born wife.
These historical monuments and sites are protected by the state under the Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on the Protection of Cultural Properties (1994) and its Regulations (2009), and administered by the National Bureau for Cultural Property Conservation (NBCPC). All except the Seven Tombs Cluster and the Myongrung Tombs Cluster are designated as “national treasure sites”; these two are protected as “preservation sites,” below the level of national treasure sites. The buffer zone is protected under the Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on
Environmental Protection (1986) and the Forest Law of the Democratic Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republic of Korea (1992). The urban land within the buffer zone is administered under the Land Law (1977) and the Law on City Management (1992).
The ICOMOS report revealed that the Law on Protection of Cultural Properties and the Regulation for the Implementation of the Law on Protection of Cultural Properties would be amended and the Guidelines for Protection and Management of the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong would be approved and implemented in September 2013 to ensure protection of historical relics in the buffer zone and the traditional houses located immediately northwest of the Namdaemun Gate as contiguous properties.
According to the report, management of the serial property components as a whole is overseen by the Kaesong City Cultural Heritage Preservation Committee, which includes heads of the institutions that are involved in the implementation of laws and polices related to protecting cultural properties in Kaesong. Individual property components are managed by the Cultural Preservation Department of the Kaesong Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Committee.
The management plan for the heritage sites was prepared by the Korean Cultural Preservation Center (KCPC), as authorized by the National Bureau for Cultural Property Conservation (NBCPC), and was approved by the North Korean government on January 15, 2011. The plan, which comprises 5and 10-year objectives, was drawn up in consultation with the Kaesong City Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Committee and the Kaesong City Cooperative Farm Management Committee.
The management plan provides that: - Building heights will be controlled on the basis of sightlines between key elements of the nominated heritage and natural contours; - The original alignment of ancient roads in Kaesong city will be preserved; - The visual harmony in form and color of buildings will be controlled; - The layout of waterways and volume of water flowing in the vicinity of the heritage sites will be controlled; - New development will be prohibited in the surrounding natural landscape around Mt Songak, Mt Jine, Mt Ryongsu, Mt Puhung, etc., that demonstrates geomantic (feng shui) relationships with individual historical monuments and sites; - Any unnecessary and obtrusive structures or facilities will be removed and the natural landscape recovered as much as possible by promoting forestation where appropriate;
- Factory construction will be prohibited in the urban area; - Tourism management and interpretation plans will be developed; and - Management and supervision systems will further be developed to clearly define responsible authorities and organizations.
The ICOMOS report and other data reveal the firm intent of the North Korean government to preserve the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesongâ&#x20AC;? as an ancient city and the distinct standards of the ICOMOS on this matter. Especially, the plan to restore ancient roads and waterways will require extensive and systematic excavation projects across the city. No ancient maps or construction blueprints are available, unlike the case of Hanyang (present-day Seoul), the capital of the Joseon Dynasty. This suggests that the North Korean government may initiate large-scale underground surveys. Considering its pronouncements on height limits, construction restrictions and ban on development in the surrounding areas, North Korea presumably has decided to suspend expansion of the city. The plan to promote forestation and restore natural landscape seems to reflect the scant forest resources across North Korea.
III. Present Condition and Preservation of Kaesong Heritage Sites The Special City of Kaesong borders Kumchon and Tosan counties to the north, Kaepung County to the west, Changpung County to the east, and Paju of South Korea to the south. Cultural relics are found throughout the city, from the urban center to the fortress walls on the periphery, as well as outside the walls. A total of 154 items of cultural properties are in the administrative districts of Kaesong, Kaepung and Changpung; they are classified into tombs, political and defense relics, palace sites, Buddhist and Confucian relics, and others.
Kaesong and Pyongyang, the old capitals of the Goryeo and Goguryeo dynasties, respectively, are rich with ancient cultural monuments and relics. Tomb sites are especially prominent in Kaesong because royal families throughout the 500 years of the Goryeo period built cemeteries around the capital city. Since Buddhism was the state religion, the royal family and the aristocracy established numerous Buddhist temples around the city. Military facilities, including defensive walls, and remains of government offices with diverse functions distinguish historical sites in Kaesong from those in other areas.
Yi Seong-gye declared the founding of a new dynasty at his house, Mokchongjon, in Kaesong before moving the capital to Hanyang. But his son, King Jeongjong, returned to Kaesong and used it as the seat of government for seven years. Kaesong was thus at the center of the transition from Goryeo to Joseon, and from Buddhism to Confucianism, which was one of the reasons cited for its World Heritage designation.
With their inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong will be managed in accordance with international standards. Even before the inscription, North Korean authorities appeared to have taken extra care in protecting historical relics in the ancient city. Kaesong is presumably an exception in the North, where cultural properties generally are exposed to adverse environments. Nevertheless, the foundation terrace of the main palace structures at the ruins of Manwoldae was determined to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;in the danger of immediate collapseâ&#x20AC;? in a joint survey conducted by South and North Korean experts in 2011. In the case of the Koryo Songgyungwan, which has been converted into the Koryo Museum, the ancient academy building
faces threats of damage. Also, the adequate exhibition space is detrimental to the preservation of artifacts from a long term point of view.
North Korean authorities seem to be aware of these problems. Nomination of Kaesong historical monuments and sites for the World Heritage List included a promise to construct a new museum by 2015 and restore the ancient school building to its original shape. When the North builds a new museum in Kaesong and repairs the ancient academy building, it may need the help of South Korean experts who have experiences of international standards in this field.
The tomb of King Kongmin of the late Goryeo era, which served as a model for royal graves of the Joseon Dynasty, draws much acclaim for its outstanding aesthetic and historical value. But its stonework was severely damaged due to massive robbery during the Japanese colonial period. North Korea made much effort to restore the tomb to its original state, but a lot of concrete was used for repair, causing structural problems. If Kaesong is reopened to tourists from South Korea and abroad, sufficient measures should be taken to protect the tomb and ensure maximum safety to visitors.
IV. Future Actions for Preservation and Utilization 1. Building Foundation for Stable Inter-Korean Exchanges
The most important matter in protecting cultural properties in North Korea is ensuring that systems based on international standards are implemented. Since 2000, inter-Korean cooperation projects have included programs involving preservation of historical relics, with South Korean experts allowed to inspect historical monuments and sites in the North and North Korean counterparts consequently grasping international methods of cultural heritage research and preservation.
However, inter-Korean cooperation was tapered after 2008 and has been frozen since 2011, amid worsening relations between the two Koreas. Considering the periodic swings in South-North relations, however, there is a chance the exchanges will resume eventually. Accordingly, efforts should be made to pave the way for stable and sustainable exchanges and cooperation with the past successes and failures in mind.
First, the South Korean government needs to establish an effective monitoring system for cultural properties in North Korea. The need for such a system was recognized by the National Assembly, civic groups and the Cultural Heritage Administration. Noteworthy is the agreement between the two
Koreas to set up a “South-North Joint Committee for Cooperation in the Social and Cultural Areas” under the summit declaration on October 4, 2007 between South Korea’s President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-il. When the declaration is put into practice, interKorean cooperation in cultural heritage also will be upgraded to produce concrete outcomes.
Cultural authorities should now try to foresee possible issues related to preservation of North Korean cultural heritage in the future. At present, all inter-Korean cooperation projects are undertaken with authorization by the Ministry of Unification. This ministry, lacking expertise in cultural affairs, has examined the feasibility of any new inter-Korean projects concerning cultural properties with the advice of the Cultural Heritage Administration and academic experts. As for the the Cultural Heritage Administration, which also seeks experts’ help in individual projects, needs to strengthen its own monitoring and management systems on North Korean cultural properties in anticipation of the reopening of inter-Korean exchanges.
The purpose of preparing an official management system for cultural heritage in North Korea is also to forestall possible conflicts among business entities in the South that are interested in projects in the North. If an explosive increase in cooperation projects occurs, the need for consistency in South Korean policies and effective coordination among different business entities cannot be overemphasized.
In order to draw up preventative plans on excessive use of resources, a joint consultative body should be formed by the Unification Ministry and the Cultural Heritage Administration. In addition, a comprehensive cooperative network should be organized with government (central and provincial) and private (the media, academia and religious circles) sectors to combine their capabilities in exploring policy orientation on inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation related to cultural heritage. This cooperative system can also play important roles in screening exchange projects, allotment of official funds, drawing up of detailed programs and assessment of outcomes.
Most urgent is creating a government-level research and management function for the construction of a sustainable and comprehensive database system with all the materials obtained in the course of inter-Korean exchange projects related to cultural heritage in the past.
When such a database system is operated, overlapping of projects can be prevented in cultural heritage management. By having academic experts and specialists conduct thorough screening of all materials available, dissemination of inaccurate information on North Korean cultural properties can also be
deterred and the people’s general awareness of inter-Korean cooperation and exchange projects will be increased. It may be proposed that a new organization called “North Korean Cultural Heritage Research Center” be created to take charge of policy development and promotion concerning cultural properties in the North.
2. Development of Inter-Korean Cooperative Projects
As mentioned above, historical relics in Kaesong have been relatively well preserved. North Korean government recognized the value of the two historical cities, Pyongyang and Kaesong, as its link to ancient dynasties. With the inscription of the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong on the UNESCO World Heritage List, an upgraded preservation environment will be applied to the World Heritage monuments and sites as the North affirmed in the nomination process.
Noteworthy is the plan to build a new museum by 2015 to replace the Koryo Museum, which is currently housed in the old compound of Koryo Songgyungwan. North Korea plans to restore this ancient Confucian academy compound to its original state. Damage caused by its conversion to a museum has been pointed out by South Korean experts and tourists who have visited the museum. The decision seems to have been prompted by concerns expressed by the ICOMOS as well as North Korean experts. Legislation on the protection of cultural heritage was passed in November 2012 and then, in September in 2013, guidelines were established for the protection and management of the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong.
The ICOMOS report noted that the cluster of traditional houses located northwest of the Namdaemun Gate outside the Kaesong heritage area will also be placed under strict protection and control. Inscription of Kaesong’s historical monuments and sites on the World Heritage List will lead to the application of international standards in the preservation and investigation of historical relics in the broader area around the city. Concerned individuals and organizations in the South are required to recognize the changes and adjust their plans accordingly, if they seek to participate in projects in Kaesong in the future.
The new Guidelines for Protection and Management of the Historical Monuments and Sites in Kaesong will have significant influence on inter-Korean cooperation projects. Kaesong and the adjoining Kaepung County have 26 of the 193 national treasure-level historical monuments and sites in North Korea, which have so far been confirmed by the South. National treasures of North Korea have been designated under standards different from those applied by South Korea’s Cultural Heritage
Administration. Hence, the two Koreas need to set up unified standards for the classification of their cultural properties. 3. Problems in North Korea’s Cultural Property Designation
South Korean cultural administration authorities should most urgently grasp the North Korean system of cultural property designation. The data available in South Korea on North Korean cultural properties is not official government information from Pyongyang. It is mostly from people who participated in past inter-Korean cooperation projects. Few projects involving cultural properties have been conducted by authorities of the two Koreas. Consequently, there is no guarantee the data available in the South is accurate.
For example, the nine-story stone pagoda at Pohyon Temple, which was known in the South as National Treasure No. 142, was in fact National Treasure No. 7. (Its stone marker still has No. 142.). Several items that are known in the South as the North’s designated cultural properties are not included in the list, or have different serial numbers. Among them are Chamo Mountain Fortress, National Treasure No. 38; Tokhwa-ri Tombs, No. 161; Yujom Temple Bell, No. 162; Anyangam Rock-carved Buddha Triad, No. 177; Kosong Onjong-ri Rock-carved Standing Buddha, No. 178; Seven-story Octagonal Stone Pagoda in Chongnung Temple, No. 184; Hwasong-dong Altar, No. 188; Samsong Temple, No. 189; Great Tomb in Yonggang, No. 190; Singye Temple, No. 191; and Yongtong Temple, No. 192.
Koryo Songgyungwan, known as National Treasure No. 127, had the serial number 234 on its stone marker, indicating that a different numbering system could have been used. These discrepancies can lead to difficulties in promoting cooperation projects and also cause serious problems for individual researchers.
Government officials and private researchers in the South may be able to find solutions through mutual adjustments. Yet, it is worrisome that unclear data on North Korean cultural properties is released to the public through the media. Such unreliable information may prompt distrust and skepticism about the value of North Korean cultural properties among the South Korean public. When inter-Korean relations improve enough to allow cooperation projects, securing correct information on the North’s cultural assets will be the first and most important step to study and protect them. Now that Kaesong’s historical monuments and sites have been named World Heritage, North Korea
should open all of them to academic survey. At the same time, its cultural property designation system should be upgraded while the broader area around the World Heritage sites should be spruced up with misinformation on artifacts corrected. These measures are necessary for future inter-Korean cooperation for preservation of heritage sites in the Kaesong area. To set the stage for joint efforts, academics and experts from both Koreas should meet to exchange opinions and formulate an agenda. Then a joint committee for preservation of World Heritage monuments and sites in Kaesong should be formed along with a joint research center.
The inter-Korean joint research center could establish extensive repair and restoration programs on the basis of data collected through investigations of all historical monuments and sites in the Kaesong area. Furthermore, facilities in the nearby Kaesong Industrial Complex invested by South Korean businesses could be used for the training of manpower for cultural heritage preservation and management in Kaesong and across North Korea. South Korean experts can provide technical training on a host of areas, including preservation and restoration of traditional houses, conservation treatment for ancient relics of various materials, up-to-date technologies for archaeological excavation and survey, and precision measurement of relics with 3D scanners. This would be useful for raising awareness of joint efforts for heritage conservation and developing common objectives between the two Koreas in the future.
These programs are conceived for mid- and long-term implementation. An immediate task is to start work on cultural properties that need urgent surveys for preservation and restoration. The joint excavation and survey of the Koryo Royal Palace (Manwoldae), for example, began in 2007 but has remained suspended due to the deterioration of relations between the two Koreas. The main seat of the Goryeo Dynasty for 500 years, Manwoldae has historical value comparable to Wolseong (Moon Palace) in Gyeongju, Anhak Palace in Pyongyang and Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul. Suspension of excavation work causes serious damage to the site. South and North Korea started a joint survey of the Goryeo palace in an effort to have Kaesongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural treasures inscribed on the World Heritage List. Therefore, it is the first project to be resumed. If and when Kaesong is reopened to tourists from South Korea, excavation sites at Manwoldae can be included in the tour program. The two Koreas should further pursue cooperation for the restoration of Koryo Songgyungwan and conservation of the tomb of King Kongmin along with the installation of facilities to enable the viewing of its murals. Hurung and Cherung royal tombs of early Joseon years located in Kaepung Country should also be jointly surveyed for their inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Joseon Royal Tombs, which were inscribed on the list in 2009.
[ North Korean Studies Review, Vol. 16, No. 3, 2013, Institute for the Study of North Korean Life, University of North Korean Studies ]
www.koreafocus.or.kr
- â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mothers in Korean TV Dramas are Awesome Strategistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; - Profiles of Glass Ceiling Breakers
‘Mothers in Korean TV Dramas are Awesome Strategists’
Jeong Sang-hyeok Staff Reporter The Chosun Ilbo
“After the near-collapse of the world’s financial system has shown that we economists really do not know how the world works, I am much too embarrassed to teach economics anymore, which I have done for many years. I will teach Modern Korean Drama instead.”
This seemingly solemn avowal is actually the opening of a nine-page online lecture written by Uwe E. Reinhardt, an economics professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. The lecture, which the 76-year-old professor posted on his university website in January, is titled “Introductory Korean Drama.” Reinhardt, a German-born Canadian, is a self-professed “Korean drama expert,” having watched many Korean dramas since 2008.
On February 7, the day of our scheduled telephone interview, New Jersey received up to 30 centimeters of snow. “It is the perfect day to just sit back and watch Korean dramas, but unfortunately the power’s still out,” Reinhardt said. He then went on to explain how he came about writing the lecture. “I was attending a conference in Taiwan in 2012, and I got together with some Korean participants. We were talking over soju and the subject of Korean drama came up, and I gave an impromptu lecture about it on the spot. I expanded on the content, fleshed it out further and wrote the lecture as a sort of ‘gift’ to people.”
The mock lecture Reinhardt wrote half-jokingly generated a lot of buzz among Korean students in the United States, and soon Korean netizens caught on. – You’re an economist. Why do you analyze Korean dramas? “Korean dramas often feature an uncle who falls victim to a scam by a con artist or sometimes even a friend, leading the protagonist’s family to lose their entire fortune. This teaches us that we should be prudent about where we invest our money.” – Why are you so drawn to Korean dramas? “Korean actresses are amazingly beautiful. It would be economically more cost-effective to watch Korean dramas than go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. In particular, I thought the actress Go Hyun-jung was absolutely stunning in ‘Queen Seondeok.’ Her charisma and facial expressions on screen were superb. If Meryl Streep were to play the part, I think she would have been just average at best.” – When did your love of Korean dramas start? “My wife is Chinese, and around 2008 we were watching a Chinese news program. A Korean drama aired right after and we happened to watch it. It was like heroin. They always ended when things were heating up, tantalizing viewers and making it unbearable to wait for the next episode.” What deepened Reinhardt’s addiction to Korean dramas were historical dramas, such as “Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin,” “Dae Jo Yeong,” “The Great King’s Dream” and “Queen Seondeok.” “Korea fought for its independence and defended itself against other nations, such as the Ming and Qing dynasties of China, the Khitan Empire and Japan. Korea is a nation with a dramatic history. There have been controversy surrounding Korean dramas for distorting historical facts, but the inherent nature of drama means that it does not always adhere strictly to facts and there is room for arbitrary interpretation.”
Like a true Korean drama buff, Reinhardt pinpointed the clichés often found in Korean dramas. From the outset, the mothers in Korean dramas invariably disapprove of whomever their child is dating. They lie down in bed in their street clothes, sighing and moaning, “Aigooh, aigooh.” In a desperate bid to separate the young lovebirds, the mothers try to send their child off to study in America or even follow them hoping to catch the two lovers doing something “naughty.” Even the Korean naval commander, Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who employed ingenious strategies and defeated the huge Japanese fleet with just 13 ships “would stand in awe before the strategic cunning of a modern Korean-drama mother.”
The Korea that Reinhardt sees in these dramas is a society that is suffocating under stress. People in Korean dramas are so stressed out — from work, marriage, love relationships — that they need to run to the hospital to seek help, but stress relief methods portrayed in Korean dramas conform to a standard pattern. The cash-strapped “go to a sidewalk noodle shop to eat ramyeon and drink plenty of soju. Wealthier people go to a ritzy bar, where they seem to be the only customer, and drink expensive scotch or cognac by the bottle.” One common thing is that the next morning they drink gallons of honeyed tea as a hangover cure. Reinhardt has been eating kimchi for 35 years, and points out, “In Korean dramas, no daughter-inlaw can make kimchi as well as her mother-in-law does. The implication of this is that Korean kimchi must have gotten linearly worse and worse generation after generation. But Korean kimchi today is still so good that it regularly beats the German sauerkraut (fermented sour cabbage) in the International Fermented Cabbage World Cup series.” He added laughing, “I would like to compile statistics of how many times white lies — usually the cause of conflict — appear in Korean dramas.”
[ February 10, 2014 ]
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Profiles of Glass Ceiling Breakers
Shin Jeong-seon and Eon Bo-un Staff Reporters The Chosun Ilbo
The announcement by POSCO (then Pohang Iron and Steel Company) in October 1990 to hire women employees created a nationwide uproar. It marked the Korean steel giant’s first formal recruitment of women for full-time positions. Previous hiring had been confined to contract jobs, mostly as librarians and data processing assistants. Three years later, Samsung followed suit, which led to extensive media coverage across the nation. Choi Eun-joo, one of POSCO’s first female recruits in 1990, rose to an executive position in March last year, while Kim Jeong-mi, the executive director in charge of fashion division of Samsung Everland, became the conglomerate’s No. 1 female executive in 2011 after having started her corporate career in 1993. Since Korea’s first female president Park Geun-hye took office in 2013, the nation has seen a string of women reaching top positions for the first time in diverse sectors. The traditionally male-dominated sectors such as transportation and construction now have females at the helm of Korea Airport Corporation, Korea Rail Network Authority and Korea Railroad Corporation.
This article looks at the experiences and personal lives of 20 glass ceiling breakers who have reached top leadership positions in business, banking, prosecution, and arts organizations in the past couple
of years. ◊ Rise at 6 a.m., Make 30 Phone Calls a Day, and Read 3 Books a Month
Many of these women get up at 6 a.m. (9 respondents). The popular notion that women tend to lag behind men in networking skills is groundless. They have an average of 769 contact numbers stored in their cell phones, with Kwon Seon-joo, chairwoman and CEO of the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), at the top with a whopping 3,000 numbers. Most respondents said they make or receive a total of some 30 phone calls a day. They have four days of vacation on average each year. As for off-days, eight respondents said they walk for exercise and six focus on housework.
All of these professionally successful women were unanimous in emphasizing the importance of good health. While resting less but working harder than others, they were all keen on managing their health. Eighteen respondents exercise more than twice a week. Eighteen respondents also said they have neither been hospitalized nor had any surgery. None of them smoked, but they tended to be moderate drinkers, consuming two glasses of wine or soju. Taking a walk or reading were the most cited hobbies. Cho Hee-jin, assistant prosecutor general of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, receives weekly piano lessons as she hopes to “become somebody useful for her parish church.” Choi Yeon-hye, president of the Korea Railroad Corporation, said she loved to travel by train. ◊ Daughter’s Moral Support: ‘Mom, do your best, and I’ll do my best.’
Fourteen of these women have two children. Their own families and in-laws assisted in child rearing. Sohn Byung-ok, president of Prudential Life Insurance Korea, said, “My work is my life. In my case, the balance between work and family is not exactly 50:50 on a daily basis, but it is almost so when seen from the long-term perspective of my career. If you want to pay enough attention to your children’s school entrances and graduations, you need to work hard on other ordinary working days.”
Sohn recalled that the most critical moment in her career was when her husband was diagnosed with cancer. “I was ready to quit my work but my husband stopped me, saying, ‘You will work hard and I will fight hard for my health.’ His words of encouragement still mean a lot to me,” she says. Her husband died three years ago.
Most of these women called work-family balance “an endless struggle.” Choi Eun-joo, senior vice president of POSCO A&C, said she worked overtime into the night the day before she gave birth to her daughter. “I am the one who knows best when my daughter will be born,” she said. Her hands were swollen every morning by the time she was at her office because she had washed tens of cloth diapers, boiled them, and hung then on the laundry line. She didn’t want to use disposable diapers for her daughter. When her daughter grew up, Choi told her, “I suppose I will be unhappy if I stop working. But I will have to quit my work if you don’t do well in school. So, please work hard.” Her daughter replied, “Mom, then keep working and make lots of money. Let’s do our best together.” Her daughter entered Seoul National University’s College of Nursing with the highest exam scores this year. Chairwoman Kwon Seon-joo of IBK also said, “I used to read books while standing, with my baby on my back. Doing housework and not falling behind in competition at work, everyday was a struggle.” ◊ Persistent Prejudice: ‘How can a man serve a female boss?’
Entering a male-centered organization was far from easy. Kim Young-ran, a former Supreme Court judge, says, “I heard later that when I was appointed a judge for the department of three-judge consensual judgment, the male judges did not like the idea of working with me.” Her appointment embarrassed not only her male peers but also the support staff, who asked, “How can we serve a female judge?” Assistant Prosecutor General Cho Hee-jin also recalls that she was bothered by her colleagues complaining, “An increase in the number of women staff results in weak organizational performance.”
They also have experienced other types of discriminatory remarks against women. IBK Chairman Kwon said, “About 25 years ago when all employees were cleaning up the offices, a male colleague who was then team manager said to me that I should instead go home and wash the sauce jars.” Executive Director Kim Jeong-mi of Samsung Everland said, “I just had to laugh it off when they said I was pretty good in every aspect, but I still fell short in one thing ― my height.” ◊ Fear of Organization: ‘What would happen when a woman is in charge?’
The cohort of No. 1 women in Korea agrees that one of the most common prejudices they have had
to confront is that “this job isn’t for a woman because no woman has been placed in charge of it.” The secret of breaking the glass ceiling has been logical persuasion. Song Yeon-seon, general manager of Ibis Ambassador Seoul Insadong Hotel, said she gave a presentation focusing on three reasons, including her sales record, to persuade those who opposed her appointment on the grounds that “women are supposed to place priority on family rather than work.” She eventually succeeded in convincing them.
Choi Eun-joo of POSCO A&C had to ask for a one-on-one meeting with her boss, who was skeptical about “women’s untested ability and aptitude,” when she sought to move into another department. Lee Mi-ae, who heads the Daegu International Airport Office, is the first female branch head of the Korea Airports Corporation. “There was a time when women were excluded from any serious consideration for appointment because airport operations involve security and prevention of terrorism, which were typically regarded as men’s fields.” ◊ A Woman’s Worst Enemy is a Woman? It’s Men’s Anti-feminist Cliché While most of these prejudices have been disproved, an age-old notion still persists that “a woman’s worst enemy is a woman.” Five of the 20 respondents agreed. Among them was Cho Hee-jin, assistant prosecutor general, who said, “This phenomenon actually occurs as a structural defect of our society where women are not recognized as mainstream members.” Seong Shi-yeon, artistic director of the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra and the nation’s first female conductor of a public orchestra, said the rivalry between women is not a problem unique to Korea. “In Germany I have seen female orchestra members even hating to sit next to each other.”
The majority of the women leaders believed, however, that the assumption of hostile rivalry between women is largely a biased view embedded in the male-dominated social structure. Kim Young-ran, former Supreme Court judge, said, “A very limited number of positions are available for women, instigating competition. It is a saying that eloquently represents the unfavorable environment of women.” Suh Young-gyeong, the first female deputy governor of the Bank of Korea, said, “Conflict of interests is not a problem confined to a certain gender.” Kim Yang-sook, the first female master in the 133year-long history of Seoul Station, the symbol of and a gateway to the capital, also remarked that the notion was derived from “male chauvinism to alienate women and encourage rivalry among women.”
[ February 2, 2014 ]
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- Living as a Migrant in Korea - Origin of the Country Name ‘Daehan’
Living as a Migrant in Korea
Kim So-yeon Staff Reporter The Hankook Ilbo
“We All Leave Home” By Kim Hyeon-mi, Dolbegae, 236 pages, 13,000 won
Thant Myint-U, 44, left Myanmar 15 years ago. He lived in Korea as an unregistered migrant worker for a long time before he finally gained refugee status four years ago. He met his wife, a Myanmarese woman, through an online chat site and hopes to return to his home country and lead a humble life when political conditions stabilize there.
It has been over six years since Ha Yeong-ran, an ethnic Korean from China, married a Korean man. Though she has no difficulty in speaking Korean, she has always led a withdrawn life. Koreans are very ethnocentric and they oftentimes looked down on or pitied her for no reason when they heard her alien accent.
The United Nations defines migrant as an individual who has resided in a foreign country for more than one year. Only 30 years ago Korea was typically known as a country of origin but in the 2000s it became a country of destination for migrants. With foreign migrants becoming a common sight, Korea’s diehard monoculturalism has given way to multiculturalism, which began to take root after the government announced a policy of “conversion to a multiethnic and multicultural society” in
2006. Still, in view of our society’s traditional stress on being pure blood and not acknowledging differences, whether or not it understands foreign migrants is another matter. “Discussions in Korea about multiculturalism were translated into policies about multiracial families who are equated with the vulnerable class, and this in turn has produced cultural violence perpetually locking them into a marginalized position,” says Kim Hyeon-mi, an anthropology professor at Yonsei University, who has researched migrants since 2003.
This book includes the narratives of migrant wives, ethnic Koreans from China, unregistered migrant workers and refugees that Professor Kim has encountered over the past 10 years. With the subtitle “Living as a Migrant in Korea,” the book analyzes the realities and backgrounds of migration as well as the lives of the migrants, and explores ways toward true social integration.
The author reminds us that Koreans went abroad during its postwar industrialization period as migrant workers and similarly foreigners are now migrating into Korea for work. The nation’s economy has become white collar and there is a constant shortage of labor for cheap, manual jobs. Small manufacturers and service companies have no other choice but to hire foreign workers. Due to Korea’s demographic crisis arising from low fertility rate, population aging and gender imbalance in the marriage market, many Korean men have married women from China and Southeast Asia. Foreign migrant workers were mobilized as quick, easy fixes to the crisis in Korean society and they have remained in the shadows of dangerous, outdated conventions. In the foreword, the author said, “In order to make our society more democratic, we should be able to listen to the voices of foreign migrants.” The author’s main argument is laid out in the last chapter, which describes mutual respect and recognition of different cultures as the ideals of multiculturalism. According to the book, the discourse on multiculturalism in Korea had little to do with educating Koreans and raising their awareness because it originated from the policies and institutions aimed at controlling and managing the migrant labor force. Therefore, in order for democracy to continue to spread in Korean society, “bottom-up multiculturalism” is needed. In other words, our society should learn to live in coexistence with attention to the migrants’ inherent emotions and value systems. So long as neo-liberalism persists, anyone at any time by any means can leave the comforts of home behind and become a migrant.
[ February 22, 2014 ]
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Origin of the Country Name ‘Daehan’
Yu Seok-jae Staff Reporter The Chosun Ilbo
“Daehan Minguk, the Birth of the Nation’s Name” By Lee Seon-min, Nanam Publishing House, 204 pages, 12,000 won
Many people may imagine that on August 15, 1945, when Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule, crowds in the streets shouted, “Hurrah, Republic of Korea!” (Daehan Minguk, manse!) But this is far from the truth. Surprisingly enough, in June 1948, Seo Sang-il, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, reported the following during a regular session at the National Assembly: “There is a lot of controversy regarding the name of the country. Daehan Minguk (Republic of Korea), Goryeo Gonghwaguk (Republic of Goryeo), Joseon, Han….” In the first draft of the Constitution drawn up by Yu Jin-oh, Article I read, “Joseon is a democratic republic.” The committee finally decided that the newborn Korean state would be called “Daehan Minguk” (Republic of Korea) with 17 votes, or 63 percent of the total, supporting the name. As such, popular beliefs are oftentimes under-researched.
This book is part of a series about modern Korean history published by the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. It analyzes in great depth how Korea came to have its current name, a subject that has rarely been studied.
In 1897, when he proclaimed the establishment of the Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk), King Gojong first used the name Daehan, or “Great Han,” which was intended to include the ancient Three Han States of Mahan, Jinhan and Byeonhan. They ruled the southern part of the Korean peninsula in the early part of the first millennium before the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla consolidated their rule. After the March First Independence Movement in 1919, Daehan Minguk was adopted as the nation’s official name when the provisional government was set up in Shanghai, China. This was intended to give consistency to the name Daehan and at the same time denote that the nation’s sovereignty was transferred from the king to the people by using the character min, meaning people. The book emphasizes that anyone who thinks lightly of the name Daehan is unaware of the weight of the history that defines our lives today.
[ January 25, 2014 ]
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- Kim Yuna: “It’s all over and that’s the end … When Mao cried I felt a lump in my throat too.”
Kim Yuna: “It’s all over and that’s the end … When Mao cried I felt a lump in my throat too.”
Seong Jin-hyeok Staff Reporter The Chosun Ilbo
“When I arrived at the rink to warm up, she [Mao Asada] was doing her routine. I watched it on TV and when she cried at the finish, I felt a lump in my throat, too.” Though she had just missed out on her second successive Olympic gold medal, the “Figure Queen” was calm and collected. She was not overly concerned with the judging controversy. Rather, she seemed sorry that Mao Asada, her rival since her junior days, had come away with no medal at all.
Kim Yuna, 24, met the press on February 21 at Korea House in Adler, Sochi, and revealed her feelings about her silver medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics and retiring from competitive skating. As might have been expected, Kim named Asada as the skater she will remember most. “Surely no other skaters have competed with each other under such constant comparison. We were rivals for over 10 years. But we will probably never compete with each other again,” Kim said.
Asada lost to Kim at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 and came away with the silver medal. She returned to the Olympics this year looking to secure the elusive gold that she so earnestly desired. But due to poor performance in her short program (55.51 points, 16th place), she fell too far to recover.
She had personal best (142.71 points) in her free skate and finished sixth overall with a combined score of 198.22 points. “Unlike myself, I don’t think Mao will be retiring straight away. I don’t know if I can say this … but she has had a rough time. On many counts,” Kim said.
Ending her 17 years of competitive figure skating with a silver medal at the Sochi Olympics, Kim Yuna expressed hope that people would remember her. “The Olympics have just ended and I think I need to rest now. I have to think about what I’m going to do in the future. I want to take it easy,” she said with a laugh.
Q. How do you feel now that the competition is over? A. For now, I’m relieved that it’s all over. I’m happy that I finished both my short program and free skating without making a mistake.
Q. What did you talk about with your mother? A. Our accommodation [outside the athletes’ village] was really bad. So I came to the athletes’ village in the middle of the competition and my mother was not with me. We only communicated via Kakao talk [text messages]. Since there was so much talk about the scores, we said things like “It’s all over now, so let’s not get too upset,” “let’s enjoy the freedom,” and “we’ll just think that they gave the medal to someone who wanted it more desperately than me.”
Q. Did you sleep alright? What were your thoughts before you fell asleep?
A. After the competition yesterday, I did some interviews and had my doping test. For various reasons I came back to my room late and didn’t get much sleep. I couldn’t quite believe that everything was over. I felt lighthearted and comfortable.
Q. Why do you think you felt so light of heart? A. I can live now without fear of competitions, and the training … Especially after the Vancouver Olympics, I had a hard time physically preparing for competition. There were a lot of restrictions on my life as an athlete. I am happy that I can break away from all that now.
Q. What were some of the toughest restrictions? A. In the past I was worried about putting on weight, but these days I don’t gain weight easily so I found myself eating a lot of meat on purpose to develop muscles. I had to be careful about what I ate. When training on my days off, I would suddenly get oversensitive if something didn’t feel quite right. I was always stressed about injuries. There were a lot of little things I had to worry about.
Q. You lost as far as score goes, but do you think you were behind in ability? A. I didn’t see the other competitors’ performances properly. Even if I refused to recognize the results, that wouldn’t change anything. I have no regrets. Now that it’s over, my mind is blank. Q. Did you know the other competitors’ scores before you went on the ice?
A. Roughly. I heard that everyone made a few mistakes. But the scores were high overall. At other times that would have worried me a lot, but this time it didn’t. It was really the end, and that’s all I could think about. Q. There’s quite a fuss about the scoring in Korea. A. There’s always a lot of talk about biased scoring at any competition. I have no regrets and no thoughts on the matter. I am satisfied that everything is over, and I am satisfied with the fact that I did well.
Q. The look on your face after finishing the free skate — what did that mean? A. I don’t remember what expression I made. I had been tense, but the first thought that came to mind was “Ah, that was tough. It’s over now.”
Q. What made you think your free skate scores would be lower than usual? A. I never thought my free skate scores would be low. I didn’t count on a high score either. I had sensed the mood after the short program. If you have high expectations, then your disappointment is that much greater. Many times I did not get the scores I expected no matter how well I skated. Before the competition I imagined slipping to second place, so I was not that surprised. It was not my sole goal to win the gold medal. I didn’t really feel anything.
Q. Do you have any plans to run for IOC committee member? A. I’ll have to think about it some more.
Q. What does figure skating mean to you? What did you learn from it?
A. I think it was my fate. While preparing for the Olympics, I thought to myself the results are important but the process is important too. On the tangible side the results are important, but there are many things I learned and felt during the process. I must be getting old.
Q. How would you like to be remembered as an athlete?
A. Rather than remembering me as the Vancouver Olympics gold medalist and the Sochi Olympics silver medalist, I would like people to remember that there was a skater named Kim Yuna.
Q. You have made a lot of fans happy.
A. I have a lot of fans of all ages. I did well sometimes and not so well at other times, but they have always supported me, and for that I am grateful.
[ February 3, 2014 ]
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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 979-11-5604-076-7
Publisher Yu Hyun-seok Editor Lee Kyong-hee Editorial Board Kim Hak-soon Visiting Professor, Korea University Shim Ji-yeon Professor, Kyungnam University Kim Yong-jin Professor, Ajou University Hyun Jung-taik Professor, Inha University Hahm In-hee Professor, Ewha Womans University Sonn Ho-chul Professor, Seogang University Kim Gyun-mi Deputy Editor, The Seoul Shinmun Kim Hoo-ran Senior Journalist, The Korea Herald Peter Beck Korea Represetative, Asia Foundation â&#x201C;&#x2019; The Korea Foundation 2014 All rights reserved.