This article in the Munhwa Ilbo Newspaper argues that the Korean Wave of today must evolve into the “Korean Dream” of tomorrow. Like the American dream of the 1950s and 1960s, Korea is in the position to influence how people around the world conceive of themselves and their societies by promoting a “Korean Dream,” an model for thinking and behavior. I suggest that Koreans have to take the full responsibility that comes with great influence and put forth a new vision of the world and the role of individuals that will have a positive impact. Such a dream must go beyond consumption to engage with spiritual issues and issues of sustainability. The concept of “Korean Dream’ was first introduced to me by the GPFF (Global Peace Festival Foundation” and I have been much impressed by their efforts to create a new model for activity by youth.
Today in Korea
Country Living Magazine: A New Trend in Korea
The magazine “Country Living” (정원생활) has taken on a new level of sophistication in its design and its content. In a word, “Country Living” presents an appealing image of rural life that is tempting to Koreans in their 30s and 40s. It is hard to imagine such an image of rural Korea previously, a place most Koreans wished to escape for the modernity of the big city (usually Seoul) but things are changing rapidly in Korea these days. Most magazines about country life tended to be rather drab descriptions of agricultural activities with older women in bright colored outfits.
Symbolic Meeting of Park Geun Hye and Han Myung-sook
The remarkable emergence of women as the critical political force in Korea is best embodied by the meeting on January 17th, 2012, between Representative Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the Grand National Party’s emergency committee, and Han Myeong-sook, chairwomen of the Democratic United Party. Needless to say, it is the first time that the leaders of two major Korean parties are both women.
The meeting was filled with no small degree of irony. Park is the treasured daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, well known for his efforts to suppress by any means his opponents. Han was one of the victims, spending two years in jail in 1979 for political reasons. Her husband spent 13 years in prison.
Cartoons and Education in Korea
The question on our minds is: what is unique about Korean education? Well Barack Obama spoke of Korean education several times in his 2011 State of the Union Address, but I did not have the impression that he had any concrete sense of what is unique about Korean education.
If you ask many Koreans, they will tell you that Korean education is a mess and many wish they could send their kids to the United States to escape from the land of forced memorization. But this story also doesn’t seem quite right. I meet many extremely well educated and thoughtful
“Establishing a Korean Tradition of Democracy to Inspire” (한국어)
“Establishing a Korean Tradition of Democracy to Inspire”
An essay arguing that Korea’s democratic tradition must be traced back over the last thousand years to properly have the depth necessary to inspire the world. We have mistakenly assumed that the Korean democratic tradition is a product of the 1980s, thus unnecessarily limiting its possible impact.
Emanuel Pastreich (이만열)
아시아인스티튜트
2012년 1월 15일
“전통의 재발견과 한국식 민주주의”
민주주의 발전이라는 주제를 갖고 아시아 각국을 바라보면 긍정적인 변화와 더불어 부정적인 변화도 동시에 나타나고 있음을 알 수 있다. 선거를 통해 최고 권력자를 선출하는 나라가 많아지는 현상은 긍정적이지만 정치에 깊은 관심을 잦고 참여 하는 시민들은 오히려 줄고 있다. 그 결과 2년에 한 번 정도 정치인을 상품으로 생각하고 선택하는 형식적 민주주의에서 그친다면 시민들이 정치에 대해 실질적인 영향을 미치지 못하고 의식이 있는 사람들이 정치를 하지 않는 악순환이 조성된다. 이런 현상은 현대 아시아에서, 그리고 전 세계적으로 나타나고 있고 민주주의 위기가 임박했다는 진단을 내릴 수도 있다.
Asia Institute Seminar with Noam Chomsky (December 3, 2011)
December 3, 2011
Emanuel Pastreich with Professor Noam Chomsky
Asia Institute Seminar
The Asia Institute with GPYC Korea (Global Peace Youth Corps)
Emanuel Pastreich:
Recently we have seen quite a bit reporting about a reengagement of the Obama Administration in East Asia and actions that are perceived as an effort to encircle and contain China. Most notable is the agreement to deploy 2,500 US Marines in Darwin announced during President Obama’s November visit to Australia. Well certainly reading through the New York Times you might think that the United States has surrounded China. But there is plenty of evidence that it is in fact the United States that is increasingly isolated from the world. We find increasingly that it is the United States that is difficult to get visas for entry and the United States that is isolated in the international community.
Korea’s Unique Tradition of Propriety: Godsend for the Network Society
Korea’s Unique Tradition of Propriety: Godsend for the Network Society
Emanuel Pastreich
January 15, 2012
In this age the complex relations developing between individuals outside of the workplace or the family, whether those that develop through on-line communications within organizations, or those found in social networks such Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, are having a profound impact on our society. Connections between people from vastly different backgrounds, who serve at different levels within organizations, can subtly, or bluntly, influence policy.
Almost all actions within social networks are legal, but the practice can be
“The Importance of Women for the Future of Korea” (essay)
I made this presentation at Korea’s Federation of Women’s Science and Technology Association’s “21st Century Women Leaders Forum.” I was invited by the chairman, Dr. Myungja Kim, who is a close friend. She served as the minister of the environment previously and has distinguished herself as one of the few scientists deeply engaged in the policy debate. I was the only man at the event and perhaps the only man to ever present at the forum. Most likely i was invited because of my recent article arguing that the next president of KAIST should be a woman.
Emanuel’s Photographs of Daejeon
As part of my work on the website “Daejeon Compass” I took numerous photographs of Daejeon to show just how beautiful a city it is. Here are a few selections for those who might be interested in this remarkable place. We miss is already after less than a year in Seoul.
“Korean Language Instruction in the United States” Korea IT Times (article)
Korea IT Times
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Red Alert: Korean Language Instruction in the United States
When I started studying Korean language at Harvard University, there were about 30 students in the class the first day. Twenty-two of them were Korean Americans and eight were non-Koreans. Within two weeks I was the only non-Korean in the room. The instructors of the class were Korean graduate students with no real training in how to teach Korean to non-natives. When the Korean Americans in the class were able to make simple