Friday, February 28, 2003

Twas not my intention to blog today but I stumbled across a couple of links today that I thought were interesting or at least might be interesting since I didn't have to to read them in-depth. The first one is from Time Asia which has a rather expansive coverage of current events in Korea, including an interview with President Roh. On the topic of politics our new Minister for Planning and Budget is our former Vice Minister. Nice to see for once they got in someone with practical background in this field. Yesterday afternoon we met in the auditorium for a farewell speech by outgoing Minister Chang Seung-Woo and then we reconvened a bit later for the welcome speech of our new minister Mr Park Bong-Heum. Even with my limited Korean I thought it was a good welcome speech and this was confirmed by my work colleague who told me he emphasised our need to work as a team for the greater good and his support of 'circle' activities such as the brown-bag meetings and creating a good working atmosphere for the staff. Very encouraging. He even came round to all the offices today to shake hands and say 'hi' to everyone.

The Korea Times has a line of the new Cabinet members. Notably four women have got ministerial positions for Justice, Health and welfare, Environment, and Gender equality portfolios. It remains to be see of the course the changes that will happen in each ministry. There is much speculation at this date but most expect that more important issues will see changes in the ministries delayed for a little while yet....hopefully until after I renew my contract.

The second bit of news of interest I read today was Harvard University's plan to create a 'blogoshpere'. Apparently some hot-shot blogger by the name of David Winner (could have gotten that wrong) has headed over there to help set this thing up. If successful it could be the pioneering case for other universities to follow in the near future. His work in this field can be followed at this address and at this address. I hope Stanford gets on board. Perhaps one day my blog page could be a highly respected source of information and opinion on Korea's economic and political development...or more realistically, maybe not. But it would give more people easy access to find out that my weblog page is NOT a vital or respected source of information and has dodgy opinions (and translations on occassion) that should be rapidly rejected.

Society Column
Anyone who's anyone this weekend is *obviously* going to the going away party of one my friends this Saturday night in Itaewon. The theme is some kind of thugs and gangsters deal, maybe girlz in da hood. I've been told to don hip hop jeans, white joggers, a bandanna and big hoop earrings. So if anyone see a scrawny little white girl trying to look way too cool for her clothes this weekend, you know who it is.

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

The President, the Dictator and the Deadly Flying Missle



President-elect Roh, newly showered and in a fresh change of clothes (phew) was today inaugurated as President of the Republic of Korea. He has outlined his major policy directions in his inaugural speech focusing on his vision of a more participatory government. And notably the Sunshine Policy will now go under the rubric of the "Peace and Prosperity Policy" but no significant change to the policy itself is evident. President Roh's entry into the Bluehouse is not likely to be easy. Pressing issues await his attention.

First and foremost is Monday's test fire of a missle into the East Sea/Sea of Japan by North Korea. This is not likely to sit well with Japan which has already noted its intention to boost its own forces if NK resumed such tests. The timing is particularly succint given the presence in SK of both Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Kiouzumi and Secretary of State Colin Powell for the inauguration. Indeed it would perhaps be niave to think the timing was anything other than well-planned. When it comes to brinkmanship NK seems to be proving that it has few peers.

Of course all this politics is impacting on the South Korean economy. The global uncertainty of the possibility of US war with Iraq, resultant high oil prices and the US economy's slow recovery is limiting Korea's ability to ensure its own growth. No surprises then that the Ministry of Finance and Economy is planning to front-load the budget. I'm not sure about the effectiveness of this move as MOFE has been 'front-loading' its budget for at least the last two fiscal budgets. Surely an even allocation over the fiscal year, especially given the poor prospects for a quick recovery in US, would be a more sustainable and prudent approach. It would also, I think, enhance stability in an already nervous market to show even-handed policy implementation rather than short-term notice of stop gap measure for short-term economic boosting. And certainly the market is feeling the brunt of current international events. The KOSPI stands at 592.25 down 24.04 points, under the important 600 mark (it used to be the important 700 mark a few months back).

Further damaging to the economy is the recent SK Corporation scandal over stock price manipulation. The head of SK has been arrested. But given the frequency of these events and the reluctance of Chaebols to initiate imperative reforms, I doubt this will be the last Chaebol scandal to hit the news.

Phew! And finally, I want to briefly mention about the Daegu Subway tragedy. One thing that stung a little in reading the papers was the noted fact that in the area of public safety, Korea has a very poor record. The department store and bridge collapses in the mid-1990s, the accident on the Daegu Subway line construction, not to mention other lesser accidents that have occured during Korea's rapid construction. Its lamentable that in times of economic prosperity and development these accidents still occur and more so because the safety procedures existed but obviously were not known or used. People are being duly arrested for negligence but I'm not sure what is happening with the crazy who did this. I heard one report saying the spokesman of the families and friends of the victims calling for the death of the negligent parties but I sincerely hope that will not be the case. Culpable yes, a threat to society in the future, no. It can only be hoped that the notable outcome is enhance safety procedures and awareness, implementation of adequate safety facilities and exits, exercises in emergency situations for staff and education for the public on how to act and deal with these situations in the future. From such tragedy needs to come greater awareness and conviction to not let it happen again.

Sports News


The weekend was spent at Peongchang which is vying for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was beautiful with heaps and heaps of snow. It was my first time skiing and I had a great time. No broken bones or anything and I owe it all to my good friend Daniel who took the time to teach me and Sung-Joo the basics so we could enjoy our skiing trip. Thanks!

Friday, February 14, 2003



Happy Valentine’s Day to all

The above picture comes from the Korea Herald. By my count President-elect Roh has now been in the same outfit for four days. Stinky! Not to mention the underlying questions about a man’s ability to govern a country if he doesn’t even have the scruples to keep himself attired in clean clothes. I just hope his underwear isn’t on a similar count.

Enjoy the day and gorge on chocolate as much as possible.

Wednesday, February 12, 2003



After the last lengthy entry I decided to keep this one a lot shorter and less serious. It seems that the North Korea feels neglected over US pre-occupation with Iraq but there is no need to think that US is not closely monitoring the situation despite the differences of opinion between Washington and Seoul.



Also, have you noticed that not only has president-elect Roh taken to wearing traditional Korean clothing but it seems that he has been in the very same outfit for about three days now, according to the photos. Maybe he did a massive photo shoot of himself in different locales and poses in one session to get the photo taking out of the way.

Monday, February 10, 2003

Korea? I think I read about that place somewhere

Dealing with North Korea and the on-going crisis continues to be featured in most international papers. Indeed, it would be impossible to keep up with all the coverage and opinions being recorded over this matter. I hope that I can at least cover a few of the basics here to give a holistic picture of what's going on.

If you don't support a regime you wouldn't give them food to enable them to hold onto power. However, if you don't give food aid you are responsible for the starvation of the masses and branded as using food for political means - a great big no-no. Afterall the developed world condemned Somalian warlords for using food to gain and maintain power. In Iraq the western world is being criticised and blamed for the death of countless victims because of sanctions that, although designed to weaken the power of Suddan, ultimately also bring death to the masses. And in Korea too the debate goes on as to whether or not to keep supplying food aid during the time of nuclear crisis. The great irony here being that South Korea, thanks to its protectionist agricultural market, has plenty to spare for its hungry neighbour. But of course, by offering the surplus to the North, SK would also be supporting the repressive regime governing the country. A sticky dilemma (weak pun intended).

This kind of food politics is a critical issue in poverty stricken countries such as the North. Political power can be harnessed through food and repression enforced more effectively through control of aid and food supply channels. The overtaking of which by aid agencies comes to threaten the ruling party and sovereignty of the nation. Such concerns of sovereignty in matters of food do not occur in developed countries but are major polticial concerns in the poorest of nations. (so I've read). This complicates the crisis between such disparate forces such as US & co and Iraq or NK. The US party has the ability to severely weaken countries through food politics but simultaneously has a moral duty to feed the poor extraneous to poltical concerns. A tricky matter when the two are inextricably linked.

But more specifically to matters in Korea. In US, Rumsfeld has repeated comments to the effect that the US can have a showdown with two countries at once which has done nothing to reduce tension. But then again, the US stance is to get the North to reduce the tension by backing down not for US to reduce tension. In the latest, bombers are on alert in Guam and there has been some build up in the Pacific of forces. The bottom section of the transcript linked above also pertains to comments regarding food aid and political maneuvering.

As the transcript also notes, a critical aspect of the stance toward NK is the alliance between US and South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. China is not so keen to play a big role in this issue given its opposing interests in backing or at least tolerating the North and fostering its inchoate relations with US. Japan is getting a case of the heebiejeebies and threatening to deploy 'self-defense' forces if NK decides to fire a missle anywhere near or at Japan. And South Korea's recent spat of anti-US sentiment has prompted North Korea to try and divide the alliance even further. Russia also seems reluctant to back US too much and doesn't support the idea of a UN resolution.

In domestic politics in SK the big news is the scandal over the North-South Summit in 2000. On the sideline, the controversy surrounding this issue has also caused Kim Dae-jung to be labelled the 'lamest of lame ducks'. Predident-elect Roh will undoubtedly pursue the case as it doesn't affect him and makes him look open and reformist to see that the truth comes out. The greater issue though it the effect this case will have on the popularity of the 'Sunshine Policy', a cornerstone of Roh's election win. The revelation of such bribery should be the fatal blow to a policy which has now proven itself a failure. The Sunshine Policy has led to nothing. In North Korea, it seems that money alone talks. The checkbook diplomacy behind the summit led to advance in family reunions and the agreement to build road and rail links, not the Sunshine Policy. And in light of the nuclear crisis it would seem that the policies chances of doing anything remotely productive at this time are extremely slim.

And off the topic, it seems that Lee Hoi-Chang, who recently narrowly lost the SK presidential elections has taken a spot at the Hoover Insitutue located at Stanford University and Chung Moon-Jung who pulled out of the presidential elections in the run up has also taken a spot at Stanford, at the Institute of International Studies. This will surely boost the credentials of Korean studies at Stanford and therefore is excellent news for me as I am due to take my position as a graduate student at Stanford in September.


Thursday, February 06, 2003

North and South Korea have linked up. This historically significant has occurred amidst the furor raging between Pyongyang and US. If war breaks out it would seem a bit pointless that SK blocked all the tunnels only to pave a road to make access between the two nations easier. But as the article informs us, the Sunshine Policy will not be stymied by such a bagatelle as US troop buildup and a heightened nuclear threat. Ahhh, so reassuring in a very non-reassuring way.

Just a token entry as I have been busy today.

Monday, February 03, 2003

The stand off between North Korea and US continues. At present South Korea is sending a delegation to US on behalf of President-elect Roh to try and sort out some of the differences that exist between these two parties. Essentially it seems that little progress can be made to establish peace and security on the peninnsula during this period of crisis until South, US and other "allies" agree amongst themselves how to deal with the North. The fragmentation of policy and opinions among those affected by the current crisis is delaying any real progress that could be made now to ease tensions.

In light of this, the gulf between US and South seems aptly highlighted by this new South Korean history text which portrays Kim Il-Sung and his role in the Korean resisitance against the Japanese in a more favourable light than before. While the US demands a strong front the South is revoking decades of censure and criticism against the North through these little yet significant acts. The Sunshine policy continues to go against the crux of the US's argument for mroe stick and less carrot for the North.

The Chinese New Year (설날) fell on February 1st this year. This gave us a Friday to Sunday break - hooray! My plan was to read and rest up and perhaps fit in something cultural. As it turned out I caught a horrible cold ruling out any possibility of me leaving the house for the duration of the holiday. In the end I did much more of the reading and resting part of the plan than anticipated. The upside being that one of the books I read - Catch-22 - was absolutely brilliant! This book shakes your mind and makes you reassess the way you think and perceive but does so in a way that makes you laugh and leaves you feeling that you were better for having read that book. At least that is how it made me feel. I will not part with this book for the duration of my life and hope to re-read it on a semi-regular basis (perhaps a biennial event along with Count of Monte Cristo). Before reading this book I heard rumors that it was not good, not funny and difficult to read. Those people are not people I ever intend to get book reviews from again.

Completely off the track. Do you remember as a kid watching Monkey Magic in Australia, or anywhere else in the world? By chance today a Korean kid tried to explain the story of Monkey Magic to me. In Korea it is called (using Chinese characters, so I guess the name is the same in China) Hsi Yu Chi which in English means Journey to the West. I checked it out at an online bookstore and found a two volume book transliterated in English of the story of Monkey Magic. Cool!


Currently reading:

"Hell" by Yasutaka Tsutsui