KOREA magazine [Jan. 2010 VOL. 17 NO. 13]

8/14/2019 KOREA magazine [Jan. 2010 VOL. 17 NO. 13]

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ISSN:2005-2162

www.korea.net

1JANUARY

2010JANUARY

2010

Korea Enters Donors GroupRiver Project Focus on Environment, Leisure

Opening a communicative space

between Korea and the world


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68 korea January 2010

The world is moving toward Ulsan, Korea!

Ulsan, the economic hub of Northeast Asia! Where global companies come to do business.

Tel : 82-52-229-3070~3073 ulsan.investkorea.org


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G a t e w a y t o K o r e a

Koreas official multi-language website has:


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06

PublisherKim He-beom,

Korean Culture and

Information Service

Chief Editor

Ko Hye-ryun

Editing & Printing

JoongAng Daily

E-mail

[email protected]

Design

JoongAng Daily

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced in any form without permission from Koreaand the Korean Culture and Information Service.

The articles published in Korea do not necessarily rep-resent the views of the publisher. The publisher is notliable for errors or omissions.

Letters to the editor should include the writers full nameand address. Letters may be edited for clarity and/orspace restrictions.

If you want to receive a free copy of Korea or wish tocancel a subscription, please e-mail us.A downloadable PDF file of Korea and a map and glos-sary with common Korean words appearing in our textare available by clicking on the thumbnail of Korea onthe homepage of www.korea.net.

Cover Photo

Bike paths are a key

cultural component of

Koreas four rivers res-

toration project.

06 Cover Story Korea Accepted to Donors Club Honing a Young Aid System

Climbing Into the Trenches

14 Diplomacy President Urges Immediate Action at Climate Summit Harper, Lee Tackle Range of Issues

18 Global Korea Multicultural Boot Camp for Future Military Brass Group Deploys Stars to Cure Worlds Ills

28 Green Growth River Project Focus on Environment, Leisure Green Market of the Future Is Hope of Planet, Business

34 Culture Korean Wave Crashes Upon Shanghai Shores Local Airline Gives the Gift of Understanding Great Art

The Crimson Ink That Once Fueled Korean Government

CONTENTS

2314 28


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January 2010 korea 5

54 Travel Walk Into Nature, and a Perilous Past Into the Woods: An Energetic Trek

Roads that Shaped Koreas History

Embarking on a Taste Adventure

60 People Salvation Through Cinema:Father Sebastian

Europe Through Diverse Eyes

66 Foreign Viewpoints Choosing the Right Approach :Phillip Raskin

JANUARY 2010 VOL. 17 / NO. 13

40 Korean Literature Writing After the Struggles End:Gong Ji-yeong

44 Korean Artist The Little Giant of the Opera:Youn Kwang-chul

48 Sports Bearing Nations Hopes, Jang and An Lift toVictory

Korea Takes Home Big Slate of AFC Awards

52 Korea through the Lens Somethings Fishy Year of the Tiger...

44 54

Travel

JANUARY 201VOL. 17 / NO. 1

erature


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Officials and experts in international development aid at-

tend the third annual Seoul International ODA Conference

in November. The meeting came only days before Korea was

admitted as a member of the Development Assistance Com-

mittee of the OECD. [KOICA]



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Cover Story | From Recipient to Donor

The world looks to Korea as it becomes the first non-G8country to chair the Group of 20 and steer economic policy

Cover Story | Korea at the G-20

IGREAMS

looks to Korea as it becomes the first non-G8o r i t fi -ir the Group of 20 and steer economic policyr r n s c n o

FIRMS




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Korea has joined an exclusive,multinational club for devel-opment aid, hoping toimprove its aid structure

and steadily increase its assistance toothers.

On Nov. 25, Korea became thenewest member of the DevelopmentAssistance Committee, an OECD bodyon development aid. It was regarded asthe culmination of Korea s transfor-

mation from a recipient of internation-

al aid to a donor nation.In a special session at the OECD

headquarters in Paris, the DACendorsed Koreas entry. With that,Korea joined 22 individual nationsplus the European Commission, theexecutive body of the EuropeanUnion.

Korea is now a member of all 25OECD committees, the second Asiannation to do so after Japan. It joined

the OECD in 1996 and began the pro-

cess of joining the DAC a decade lat-er.

Welcoming Korea to the DAC,Committee Chairman EckhardDeutscher said, We have had manyopportunities to observe Koreas greatprogress, as a nation, as an economyand as a provider of aid to the worldspoorest countries. Koreas joining ustoday has paved the way for a moreopen and inclusive Development

Assistance Committee.

Korea Enters Donors GroupNation finally accepted by OECD Development Assistance Committee


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Left: KOICAs senior director Jang Hyun-

sik stands next to the commemorative

stone before the construction work

began on the Korea-Camboida Friend-

ship Road. Top: The road was a detour

around Angkor Wat, the famous tem-

plex complex, so that vehicles wouldnt

damage the cultural heritage site by

driving through it. Middle: The Korea Ex-

pressway Corp. carries out construction

work. Above: The finished road.

Jang Si-jung, fourth from left, vice president of KOICA, and Sok An, third from right, deputy

prime minister of Cambodia, stand before the sign that commemorates the completion of the

Korea-Cambodia Friendship Road in May 2009.

The DAC, which calls itself the venue and voice of the worlds majordonors, serves as a forum for donatingnations to discuss issues regardingdevelopment aid and poverty reduc-tion. Founded in 1961, the DAC is anexclusive club, open only to nationswhose annual official developmentassistance the type of aid that pro-motes the economic development andwelfare of developing countries exceeds $100 million or whose annualODA is more than 0.2 percent of theirgross national income.

Koreas ODA surpassed $100 mil-lion in 1996, but its ODA-to-GNI ratiowas 0.09 percent last year.

Oh Joon, Koreas deputy foreignminister for multilateral and global

affairs, charted the countrys historyto highlight the significance of itsacceptance.

Since the founding of the OECDin 1961, Korea is the first country todevelop into a donor after decades ofreceiving international aid, he said.We depended on such assistance forour economic development and nowwere helping out others.

Oh also said the DAC membershipreflects Koreas will to provide aid to

countries in need under the interna-tional development system.

We are humbled by the realiza-tion of how much we owe to the world,Oh added. We believe it is our respon-sibility to pay back to the world by

sharing what we have gone through.The OECD also lauded Koreas

efforts to join the DAC and its mem-bers, which are all major donors.

This is happening in the middleof an economic crisis, remarkedOECD Secretary-General Angel Gur-ra, when many countries are holdingback. Korea is signaling the way for-ward, as it has done in many areas.

A delegation of experts from theDAC visited Korea in June 2009 for acloser look into the nations aid pro-grams. Based on their report, whichcomplimented Korea on its growingaid volume and strategies, the DACmembers threw their unanimous sup-port behind Koreas entry.

Before that, in August 2008, the

OECD conducted a special review ofKoreas development cooperation, andnoted Korea s positive steps to addresspressing issues, such as increasingODA, introducing unified assistancestrategies, and acquiring developmentknowledge and experience to sharewith others.

Upon its entry, Korea pledged toincrease its aid in relation to its grossnational income. from the current0.09 percent of GNI to 0.15 percent by

2012 and then by 0.25 percent by2015.

The average among the DAC mem-bers is 0.3 percent, and the level recom-mended by the UN is 0.7 percent.

By Yoo Jee-ho

[KOICA]


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Honing a Young Aid System

Anation doesnt have to be amember of the OECDsDevelopment AssistanceCommittee to provide aid,

of course, but helping within the con-text of DAC raises the donor nationsprofile in the international commu-nity and forces it to live up to thestandards of major donors, Koreanofficials have said.

Membership also carries symbolicsignificance. In the history of the

OECD, which was founded in 1961,Korea is the first nation to go from arecipient of aid to an emerging donornation. DAC membership validatesthis unique transformation.

But with membership comeresponsibilities.

Oh Joon, Koreas deputy foreignminister for multilateral and globalaffairs, pointed out that Korea mustwork to meet the committees aidstandards, both in terms of quantity

and quality of aid.Korea reached over US$100 mil-

lion in official development assis-tance in 1996, thus meeting the DACmembership criteria. Its ODA wasUS$803.8 million in 2008, and thegovernment estimates the f igure willreach US$900 million in 2009 andthen US$1.1 billion in 2010.

But its not the absolute amountthat Korea is concerned about. Only0.09 percent of its gross national

income was spent on aid in 2008, andthats well below the DAC average of0.3 percent and the UN-recommend-ed level of 0.7 percent. Korea aims toincrease the level to 0.25 percent by2015, a commitment that the DACtermed solid but that would still beshort of the committee standard.

Then theres the matter of improv-ing the makeup of Koreas aid. Ohsaid about 75 percent of Korean aid istied aid, in which a donor nation

asks recipients to purchase products

and services by companies of thedonor, even though cheaper alterna-tives may be available.

Oh said only about 10 percent ofaid from major donors is tied, andKorea plans to reduce the portion to25 percent by 2015.

In its special review of Koreasdevelopment programs in 2008, theOECD estimated that 98 percent ofKorean bilateral aid was either tied orpartially tied. The OECD said the fig-

ure was at odds with DAC recom-mendations and that significantprogress was required.

And as part of its mid-term aidstrategies, Korea plans to diversify itsdonation targets and expand assis-tance to Africa, a continent that haspreviously been overlooked.

The government figures show thatmore than 40 percent of Koreas bilat-eral ODA heads to Asia, compared toaround 14 percent for Africa. As

recently as 2002, aid to Asia account-ed for more than 75 percent of Koreasbilateral assistance, whereas less than3 percent of that went to Africa.

At the second Korea-AfricaForum held in November, Koreapledged to double its developmentassistance to Africa by 2012. In 2008,Korea contributed US$107.1 millionin ODA to the continent.

Korea has also said it would con-tinue to work with the International

Development Association, an organi-zation under the World Bank thatprovides interest-free loans and pro-grams for poor nations, and also withthe African Development Bank.

Domestically, Korea has toimprove its aid structure. The OECDhas said Korea has no overall law togovern its development cooperationand should introduce such legislationto clearly set out Koreas overall ODAobjectives and provide the legal basis

for a consolidated aid system.

Oh admitted that Koreas aidcooperation system is fragmented.The aid structure is built on two mainorganizations. The Foreign Ministryis responsible for the nations grantaid, while the Finance Ministry over-sees concessional loan policy. Thegrant policy is then implemented bythe Korea International CooperationAgency, or KOICA, and concessionalloans by the Export-Import Bank ofKoreas Economic Development and

Cooperation Fund, or EDCF.In addition, 30 other cabinet min-

istries, government agencies andregional authorities have beeninvolved in providing grant aid of

varying sizes.In its review in 2008, the OECD

said such a fragmented system, andthe resulting lack of coordination,creates inefficiencies. For instance,KOICA and the EDCF produce sepa-rate assistance strategies for a given

recipient, and the OECD suggested itwould be better to have a unifiedstrategy for each beneficiary.

A lack of unified strategies, par-ticularly at the country level, under-mines the coherence, efficiency andpotential impact of developmentactivities, the OECD report read. Afragmented approach also increasesdemands on over-stretched partnergovernments.

The OECD recommended that

Korea tackle this two-pillar systemand create a single entity with soleauthority over development coopera-tion objectives, policy and strategy.The OECD also said such an organi-zation could then produce a unifiedpolicy framework to lead and apply toall parts of the ODA system.

Oh acknowledged the problembut said it cant be fixed overnight.Currently the International Develop-ment Cooperation Committee under

the Prime Ministers Office holds

Unified assistance agency on the way to provide help across the world


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about two meetings per year to coor-dinate aid-related issues from differ-ent sectors. The Framework Act onODA, designed to strengthen the roleof this committee and improve con-sistency and efficiency of the aid pol-icy, is pending legislation.

Seol Kyung-hoon, director-gener-al of the development cooperationbureau at the Foreign Ministry,explained that five different legisla-tors had each drafted a law on reorga-nizing the aid structure since July2008, and on Nov. 23, the governmentcombined their measures into a singlelegislative draft and submitted it tothe National Assembly for review.

Under the act, Seol said the gov-ernment would bolster coherence

and coordination in creating andimplementing ODA policies, whilestill recognizing separate policies forgrant aids and concessional loans.

The International DevelopmentCooperation Committee wouldassume more responsibility in coordi-nation, Seol said. It only meets abouttwice a year, but under the new law, itwould hold sessions more regularly.

Seol and other aid officials havestressed that strengthening mecha-

nisms for evaluating aid performance

is also part of Koreas agenda toimprove its ODA structure. A state-ment from the ODA Korea Web site,operated by the Foreign Ministry,reads that Korea will also try to for-mulate an original Korean assistancemodel that transmits the countryssuccessful development experience

aligned to the recipient countrysnational development strategies.

Forming strong partnershipswith recipient countries as well asdonor countries is essential in increas-ing aid effectiveness, the statementsays. Active participation in policydialogues with recipient countrieswill be sought.

ODA officials at the Korea gov-ernment say the international envi-ronment related to development

assistance has changed. Thanks to

globalization, they argue, the mutualcooperation within the internationalcommunity in dealing with globalissues is now essential for the worldsecurity and prosperity.

Given this change, officials sayKoreas role has increased and thescope of its assistance has widened.

And since it may be difficult todramatically raise its ODA amountover a short period, Korea could con-centrate on other areas.

Korea could raise its visibility byfocusing on poverty reduction andsustainable development, a govern-ment official said. They are the mainchallenges of the international devel-opment cooperation today, andKoreas experience in poverty allevia-tion can serve as a model..

By Yoo Jee-ho

caption

caption

caption

caption

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

803.9

182.7

317.5

212.1 264.7278.8

365.9423.4

752.3

455.3

699.1

Koreas official development assistance (Unit: million U.S. dollars)

Source: Korea International Cooperation Agency, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

A young family in Ghana gets their water from

the well drilled by the Korean headquarters of

World Vision in November last year.

[NEWSIS]


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Students in Laos hold up textbooks provided by the Korea

International Cooperation Agency, or KOICA. The Korean

body has spent US$3 million since 2007 on purchasing text-

books for school-aged children there.

[K

OICA]


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Cover Story | Hidden Champions

Climbing Into the Trenches

Senegal is an African nationwith a painful history ofslave abduction and colonialrule by the French, and about

a third of its 12.5 million people livebelow the international poverty lineof US$1.25 per day.

But to this barren, dry land by theAtlantic Ocean, Korean volunteerworkers have brought water, andhope.

The Korean government fundedefforts to build a waterway across alarge green field. When the projectwas completed in June, kids could beseen playing in the water, and someadults were fishing. Local farmerssaw their first harvest with the newirrigation, and said the increased riceproduction led to higher income.Today, more canals are being createdin farm villages across Senegal.

The Korea International Cooper-

ation Agency, better known by itsacronym KOICA, has been helpingSenegal and other nations in need.This Korean agency is in charge ofimplementing the nations grant aidand technical cooperation programs.

KOICA has experts in variousfields, not the least of which is agri-culture. Min Hwang-ki is one suchexpert who has taught the basics toSenegalese farmers who didnt evenknow how to make compost.

It may seem as though our tech-nology may be of little use, Min said.But here, theres so much we cangive. We should do these things asmuch as we can.

Senegalese officials lauded KOI-CAs work, saying the agencys sup-port would help build a new Senegal.But its not just this African nationwhere KOICA has worked its magic.Its sent more than 1,500 volunteers to42 developing countries around the

world, including some of the poorest

nations such as Cambodia and Para-guay, under the World Friends Koreaprogram. KOICA set up a regionaloffice in Cambodia in 2003 to facili-tate its assistance there. It has 28regional offices in 27 nations overall.

Near the Cambodian capital ofPhnom Penh, Koica helped build anembankment 14 kilometers long. Theagency invested US$2 million in theproject, which started in 2007.

KOICA also paved a two-lanedetour around Angkor Wat, a majorpiece of Cambodian cultural heritageand a popular tourist attraction, sothat vehicles wouldnt have to drivedirectly through the site and riskdamaging it.

Established in 1991, KOICA wasset up following the enactment of theKOICA Act. According to the agencyWeb site, this law provided a legalplatform for Koreas grant aid pro-

grams, human resource managementand ODA policy implementation.

Programs under the act, the Website explains, include foreign workertraining programs in Korea, the dis-patch of experts and volunteersabroad, the sponsorship of develop-ment studies, the implementation ofemergency relief activities and theprovision of commodities, capitaland facilities. The law also allowsKOICA to support civic groups and

cooperate with multilateral bodies.KOICA was created at a time of

transition, when Korea was trans-forming from a beneficiary of inter-national aid into a donor. By the late1980s, Koreas technical assistance todeveloping nations was in full swing,and the nation formed the first groupof UNESCO Korea Youth volunteers.The Economic Development Coop-eration Fund was founded in 1987 tohandle concessional loans, and it

made its first loan the same year. In

1993, Korea surpassed US$100 mil-lion in ODA, the minimum requiredto become a member of the OECDDevelopment Assistance Committee.

KOICA wasted little time devel-oping aid programs. In 1995, it initi-ated the NGO support program andthe Korea Overseas Volunteer Pro-gram. A year later, Korea joined theOECD and began to push up itsannual ODA over the rest of the

decade.Grant aid is one of two types of

bilateral ODA, along with conces-sional loans. After joining the DAC,Korea pledged to increase its grantaid as a percentage of overall ODAfrom 70 to 90 percent to meet thestandard set by leading donors. Theonus now falls on KOICA.

But its not always about money.KOICA volunteers are an eclecticgroup of individuals from diverse

backgrounds, people who choose togo to countries in dire situations forone simple reason: They want tohelp.

Park Na-ri, for instance, teachesKorean language, music and arts at aCambodia school, after working forthe Korean-American EducationalCommission, which operates Ful-bright grant programs. The 41-year-old didnt mind the work then, butshe opted to do what I actually want-

ed to do, which was to share whateverI had with others.

Lee Eun-sook manages volunteersat KOICAs Cambodian office. Sheused to work at a Korean financialcompany, but shes spent the past fouryears in Cambodia, the first as a vol-unteer.

Lee said she wanted to get herselfout of my comfort zone and came toCambodia. She called the move thebest choice she ever made.

By Yoo Jee-ho

Pledges are well and good, but KOICA volunteers make them happen


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In an effort to fight climate changewhile pursuing economic devel-opment, Korea announced a planto establish a global think tank to

advocate low-carbon green growthstrategies at the world leaders confer-ence in Copenhagen, Denmark, lastmonth.

President Lee Myung-bak arrived in

the Danish capital city on Dec. 17 tomeet with world leaders at the annualclimate change conference. In his key-note speech, Lee said the world agreeson the need to reduce greenhouse gasemissions, and the Copenhagen confer-ence should focus on how to do so.

In the address, titled Taking ActionTogether, Lee promoted a me firstspirit, encouraging leaders to take action

voluntarily, citing Koreas recent moveto set its own emissions targets.

We all agreed that we must do this

because acting first is good for us andgood for the world, Lee said. Yes, Ibelieve a me first attitude is the fastestway to save our planet.

One of the key elements of thespeech was Lees announcement of hisplan to open the Global Green GrowthInstitute during the first half of nextyear. The president called green growth

Koreas new national vision, and said thecountry annually invests 2 percent of itsGDP in research and development ofgreen technology and infrastructure.

And I hope to share this with all ofyou, Lee said in the speech, delivered inEnglish. This is one reason why Koreawill establish a Global Green GrowthInstitute, or GGGI, during the first halfof next year. The GGGI will help all ofus share our experiences and know-howwith each other.

Lee said renowned experts at home

and abroad had already agreed to par-ticipate in the think tank. The BlueHouse said members of the institute willinclude Nicholas Stern, chairman of aclimate change institute at the LondonSchool of Economics; Thomas Heller, aprofessor emeritus of international legalstudies at Stanford Law School and headof the Climate Policy Initiative; Hal

Harvey, the chief executive of the Cli-mateWorks Foundation; and Eric Bein-hocker, a senior fellow at the McKinseyGlobal Institute.

The Korean presidential officeCheong Wa Dae said the think tank willopen five branches around the world by2012, with special attention paid toemerging countries in Asia to help themdevelop green growth strategies.

Lee also made official Koreas bid tohost the climate conference in 2012. The

Conference of the Parties of the United

President Urges Immediate

[YONHAP]


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Diplomacy


Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change, as it is officially known,takes place annually and the venuerotates among continents.

Asia will host the conference in2012, and Korea and Qatar are vying forthe opportunity.

The 2012 event will be the 18th con-ference, and up to 15,000 delegates from

192 member nations of the UN conven-tion are expected to attend to create anew climate plan. The Kyoto Protocol isdue to expire at the end of 2012. Theannouncement of the host wont bemade until the end of next year, butsources at Cheong Wa Dae said Den-mark and major Asian countries haveshown support for Koreas bid.

As the part of the me first attitude,Lee proposed a registry of nationallyappropriate mitigation actions.

This mechanism will internation-

ally recognize the voluntary targets setby developing countries and increasetransparency and also provide assis-tance so that they can achieve thesegoals, the president said. This will beone way to encourage countries to act

voluntarily.On Lees second day in Copenha-

gen, amidst a gloomy outlook for the

climate summit, Lee gave anotheraddress, urging leaders to take immedi-ate action. Although we may not agreeon everything today, this must not be anexcuse for no action, Lee said. We willcontinue to do our very best becausethere is no alternative to our planet. Thisis all we have.

While the climate summit endedwith almost no progress, Cheong WaDae said Lee played an important roleby promoting Koreas voluntary and

aggressive action to fight climate change

and pursue low-carbon green growth.Lee also played a role to mediatebetween advanced and developingeconomies on the issue, Kim Eun-hye,Lees spokeswoman, said.

Lee gave two addresses at the sum-mit, an unprecedented case for a stateleader, Kim said. Lees proposal of theNAMA Registry was reflected in the

draft of the summits declaration. Itestablished a meaningful starting pointto urge developing nations to join thegreenhouse gas emission efforts, whileadvanced nations will provide sup-port.

Lees message that there was noexcuse for inaction will be the basis ofthe global paradigm to save the planetfrom climate change and to move for-ward Koreas green growth strategy fur-ther in the future, Kim said.

By Ser Myo-ja

Korean President Lee Myung-bak, at the po-

dium, gives a speech at the recent climate

change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Action at Climate Summit

Diplomacy


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At a summit in Seoul Dec. 7, President LeeMyung-bak and Canadian Prime MinisterStephen Harper pledged their cooperationin hosting the Group of 20 summits next

year.The two heads of state discussed a wide range of

bilateral and global issues during the visit, including aKorea-Canada free trade agreement and the NorthKorean nuclear crisis, the presidential office of CheongWa Dae said.

At the joint press conference following the summit,Lee said the meeting with Harper took place at animportant time, since both Canada and Korea will hostthe G-20 next year. Gatherings of worlds advancedand emerging economies will take place in Toronto inJune and Seoul in November. Cheong Wa Dae also saidLee and Harper expressed their hope for an early con-clusion of negotiations for a bilateral free trade deal.The two nations have gone through 13 rounds of talkssince 2005.

The FTA is an issue that can be resolved by thetwo countries. That is why I believe we will soon reach

an agreement, Lee said during the joint media confer-

Harper, Lee Tackle Range of Issues

The leaders

coordinated

the G-20summits that

both countries

will host in

2010 and

discussed an

FTA and

North Korea.

ence. The Canadian leader said he, too,was very optimistic about the envi-sioned trade deal after what he called hisexcellent discussions with Lee.

The Korean president also spokepositively about the ongoing trade dis-pute between the two nations on Koreasimport ban on Canadian beef. The pres-ident said the issue is very sensitive tothe Korean people, but he believes in

principle that the two countries will beable to settle the matter. The situationis heading toward a resolution, nottoward deadlock, Lee said.

Canada has taken the issue to theWorld Trade Organization, where it hasbeen under discussion by a panel sinceAugust. Seoul and Ottawa are also hold-ing bilateral talks to discuss the ban. TheLee-Harper summit, the third of its kindthis year, also focused on the global eco-nomic crisis.

President Lee and I had excellent


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Diplomacy


Hungarian PresidentLaszlo Solyom visitedKorea at the invitationof President Lee

Myung-bak from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2,and during the summit the two lead-ers agreed to work together towardthe ratification of the Korea-EU freetrade agreement and to increaseexchanges and cooperation betweentheir two countries.

The meeting itself took placewith a state dinner on Dec. 1 at theKorean presidential residence,Cheong Wa Dae.

According to the presidentsoffice, Lee stressed that the trade lib-eralization pact will not only bringraw economic benefits, it would alsohelp balance growth among EUmember nations. Solyom agreedand promised his cooperation. Hun-gary will hold the presidency of the

EU Council in the first half of 2011.During the summit, Solyom also

said Hungary could be a base forKorean companies entering Europe,and sought Lees support for anincrease in investment, Cheong WaDae said.

This year marked the 20th anni-versary of the establishment of dip-lomatic ties between Korea andHungary. At the summit, Lee pro-posed to expand the bilateral

exchange of senior government offi-cials and stressed the importance ofboosting trade, investment, culturaland academic interaction.

Hungary was the first country inthe Soviet sphere of influence inEastern Europe to establish diplo-matic ties with South Korea. Theevent in 1989 offered Korea an earlyfoothold to advance into the region,Cheong Wa Dae said.

Among the socialist nations,

Hungary was the first to decide to

participate in the 1988 Seoul Olym-pics, said Kim Eun-hye, spokes-woman for Cheong Wa Dae.

Expressing satisfaction with thedevelopment of relations, PresidentSolyom proposed further coopera-tion in science and technology. Aplan to establish a joint research cen-ter was proposed, and Solyom alsorequested Korea open a cultural cen-ter in Hungary. President Lee said he

would seriously examine the mat-ter.

The Hungarian leader offeredhis support for Lees North Koreapolicy, particularly the grand bar-gain proposal to resolve the nuclearcrisis, Cheong Wa Dae said. Globalefforts for Koreas successful hostingof the Group of 20 summit next yearwere also discussed.

During his stay in Korea, Solyom visited historic sites in Gyeongju,

Gyeongsangbuk-do Province andinspected environmental institu-tions on Jeju-do Island. He also vis-ited the National Assembly andSamsung Electronics.

By Ser Myo-ja

Hungary Could BeKorean Base in EU

[NEWSIS]

[NEWSIS]

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper,

left, holds a press conference with Korean

President Lee Myung-bak during his visit to

Seoul in early December.

President Lee Myung-bak, right, walks

with Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom.

discussions on global issues, such as theG-20 meetings next year, Harper said,adding that Canada will host the sum-mit in Toronto from June 26-27.

Lee also praised the contributionsmade by the past three rounds of G-20summits in Washington, London andPittsburgh to the international commu-nitys efforts to fight the global financialmeltdown. Noting that the G-20 sum-

mits next year will be venues for globaleconomic cooperation in the post-crisisperiod, Lee sought Harpers coopera-tion to prepare appropriate agenda,Cheong Wa Dae said.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, theCanadian leader said he would commithimself to similar goals.

Lee and Harper also vowed to makejoint efforts for the denuclearization ofthe North, and the Canadian leadershowed support for Lees grand bar-

gain. By Ser Myo-ja


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Multicultural Boot Camp

ProvidedbytheKoreaAirForceAcademy


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Global Korea


Five foreign cadets at the Korea Air Force

Academy trade war-stories about cadet life in

Korea in front of campus barracks in Cheon-

gwon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do.

The four men are from Thailand and the fe-

male cadet is from Japan. From left: senior

Worawat Warawong, junior Reiko Kagiyama,

junior Supachai Jirasirichote, sophomore Je-

sada Chomdara and freshman Thawatchai

Thongsangkaew.

for Future Military Brass

Global Korea


20/68


The influx of foreigners into

Korea has not just limiteditself to tourists, expats andmarriage migrants living here;

Korean military academies are embrac-ing the extent of globalizations reachby training cadets from other coun-tries.

Even though the history of entrust-ing foreign cadets with military educa-tion and training programs in Korea isnot that long, many foreign cadets arestriving to seize opportunities to get

Korean military trainings and learnabout Korean culture.

Currently, there are a total of 13foreign cadets being educated in threeacademies.The Korea Military (Army),Naval and Air Force academies havesix, two and five foreign cadets, respec-tively.

Each of the academies said foreigncadets are elite would-be officers whohave the potential to become militarydiplomats for making close ties between

Korea and their homeland after they

return to their country.I think I have a greater advantage

than other air force cadets in Thailandsince I have been able to experienceKorean lifestyle and its culture. I amconfident that I have learned and knowmore about other culture than my fel-low Thai cadets, said Worawat Wara-wong, a Thai cadet in his final year atthe Korea Air Force Academy. I believetraining programs here made mestronger mentally and physically. It

also developed me into a better manand helped me think properly.

By AirThe Korea Air Force Academy,

which is located in Cheongwon-gun,Chungcheongbuk-do, has been accept-ing cadets from Thailand and Japansince 1994 and 2002, respectively, intotraining programs. Currently, there arefour Thai cadets in each grade and oneJapanese junior.

The origin of the program was inJune 1991 when four-star General HanChu-sok, Air Force Chief of Staff at thetime, visited Thailand and received a

verbal request from a local Air Forcecommander to accept Thai cadets intoKorean training programs. The follow-ing month, an air force attach at theThai embassy in Korea made a formalrequest.

A year later, the Ministry of Nation-al Defense gave the approval to accept

Thai cadets. The first Thai cadetentered the academy in 1994.

Korea Air Force Academy regula-tions require Thai cadets to complete ayear-long Korean language coursebefore beginning their training andstudies. They share the same life androutines as Korean cadets during fouryears at the academy.

After finishing the full four-yearcourse, Thai cadets are commissionedsecond lieutenant in Korea and return

Korean military academies reach out toforeign officer candidates to strengthenmilitary ties with other nations

Thawatchai Thongsangkaew Jesada Chomdara Supachai Jirasirichote



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Global Korea


to their homeland.The most difficult matter that I

faced during my freshman year was thelanguage, said Supachai Jirasirichote,a Thai junior. I learned Korean lan-guage for a year at a language instituteat Dankook University before entering

the academy. Institute instructors talk-ed slowly and did not use difficultwords. But I had hard time under-standing words in the academy sincemore difficult words were spokenquickly. I have been used to the Koreanlanguage since sophomore year.

Jirasirichote also said that he hadbeen selected to study abroad in bothJapan and Korea. He chose the Koreanacademy because of a reputation forintense training regimens.

In addition to the Thai cadets, Jap-anese cadets began entering the acad-emy in 2002 as juniors. Potential offi-cers from Japan are trained for one yearhere and then go back to the NationalDefense Academy of Japan to finish theremaining one-year course.

I first got interested in Korea aftervisiting the country when I was a firstyear in junior high school. Since then Idreamed of learning about Korea andits language, said Reiko Kagiyama, a

junior cadet from Japan. I am plan-ning to become an intelligence officerand an air force attach to the Japaneseembassy in Korea so that I could con-tribute to making bridges betweenKorea and Japan.

All five foreign cadets at the Air

Force Academy commonly pointedout that Korean cadets are well disci-plined and have a high sense of nation-al pride due to strict education systemand hierarchy.

They also said that compared totheir homelands, Korean cadets haverelatively less freedom to step out-of-line.

Cadets in the Korea Air ForceAcademy are required to study and gothrough exercises and activities almost

in a perfect manner, said JesadaChomdara, a sophomore from Thai-land. The academy in Thailand pro-

vides relatively fewer training pro-grams that require local cadets to con-centrate more. In Korea, you have to benearly perfect in the academic pro-gram of study, military training, athlet-ics, inspection, squadron assembly andso on.

The Korea Air Force Academy isnow promoting its plan to exchange

cadets with Turkey starting from 2011.The academy is waiting for the Turkishmilitarys final acceptance of the plan,which is expected to boost bilateralmilitary ties.

In addition, the academy has alsoreached out to the Philippines and

Australia, both members of the alliedUN force that dispatched some of theirtroops to Korea during the Korean War(1950-53), about plans to send theirofficers-in-training to Korea.

The Korea Air Force Academy wasopened on Jan. 14, 1949, in Gimpo,Gyeonggi-do. Known as the AviationAcademy at the time, the inauguralclass had 97 cadets. In Oct. 1 that year,the academy adopted its current mon-iker.

On May 1, 1951, as the Korean Warraged on, the campus temporarilymoved to Jinhae in Gyeongsangnam-do. It remained in the city near Busanuntil Dec. 12, 1958, when the campusreturned to Seoul. The academy finallysettled at its current location in Cheon-gwon-gun on Dec. 21, 1985.

Then in February 1997, the KoreanAir Force Academy made history bybecaming the first among the acade-mies to allow female cadets to enter.

Reiko Kagiyama Worawat Warawong

Global Korea



22/68


Witsarut Ruansri

Senior Korean cadets at the Military Academy demonstrate to other foreign cadets

(not shown) how to lead a squadron during company-level tactics. The tactics, which

are part of an intensive military training aimed at developing combat skills and leader-

ship as a would-be commanding officer, last six weeks each year in July and August.



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Global Korea


By LandCurrently, one cadet from Turkey,

four from Thailand and one from thePhilippines attend the Korea MilitaryAcademy, which readies officers forthe army, in Nowon-gu, northernSeoul.

Except for the Turkish cadet, otherforeigners receive the whole four-yearcourse along with Korean cadets.

In order to enter the Korea Mili-tary Academy, you have to be academ-ically, mentally and physically wellprepared. As far as I am concerned,Korean cadets not only obtain goodperformance in their studies but also

value leadership and honor aboveeverything else. They also have a highregard for responsibility, said NibphitYoobanyong, 22, a sophomore fromThailand. Discipline is very strict inthe Korea Military Academy. In Thai-

land, cadets are given opportunities tomake up for their mistakes duringcadet life. But the Korean academydoes not allow mistakes. You have ahigh chance of being kicked out.

Military Academy cadet SupakitKaewyoo, a 23-year-old junior fromThailand said, Korean cadets are fullof passion and always work very hardat many things. And since you have to

accomplish a number of assignedduties within limited period of time,those who manage time well get goodresults.

The most difficult challenge Kaew-yoo is still facing in his cadet life is theKorean vocabulary. He said that Kore-an military terms, acronyms and, inparticular, Chinese characters are giv-ing him a hard time.

Thai freshman Witsarut Ruansri,21, chose to earn his stripes in Korea

Nibphit Yoobanyong Fredericosy Valmonte Supakit Kaewyoo Saran Nopnorm

New cadets are requiredto be at their mental andphysical peaks

ProvidedbytheKoreaMiliaryAcademy

Global Korea



24/68


because he thinks he could learn a lotmore than other countries because of

the value placed here on traditionalculture and history.

Since the Philippines joined tofight during the Korean War as one ofallied members, I believe Korea sol-diers are our comrades and that mademe to choose the Korean MilitaryAcademy, said Filipino cadet Frederi-cosy Valmonte. This 22-year-old soph-omore has found that Korean cadetsactually cherish the freedoms theyreallowed, contradicting stories of the

hard-knock lives of Korean cadets hehad heard about in the past.

Valmonte, who entered the mili-tary academy last year, is the first Fili-pino to receive a military education inKorea.

I am experiencing little troubleduring my life in the military academybecause academies in Korea and thePhilippines share similar academic andtraining curriculums, Valmonte said.The only difference I see is that each

grade in Korea runs its own militarytraining program whereas all cadets inthe Philippines are trained togetherregardless of the grade.

The Military Academy is planningto educate cadets from Mongolia, aswell, in order to boost military exchang-es and friendly relations with thatcountry.

The Korea Military Academy wasopened on May 1, 1946, in Nowon-gu,with 88 cadets.

During the Korean War, the acad-emy temporarily moved South to Jin-

hae, opening there on Oct. 31, 1951.After the war ended, in June 1954 thecampus transferred back to its originallocation.

By opening the door for femalecadets on Mar. 1, 1998, it was the sec-ond academy to do so.

By SeaEven though the Korea Naval

Academy has the shortest history withforeign cadets enrolling in their train-

ing courses among the military acade-mies in Korea, it is taking full advan-tage of foreign cadets to enhance thereputation of the Korean Navy world-wide.

The Naval Academy has beenallowing foreign cadets to enter theacademy since last year.

The academy has been providingforeign cadets with four-month Kore-an language courses at the Korea ArmySignal School in Daejeon before they

are formally admitted to the academy.Kazakh cadets have the chance to

study at overseas academies in Turkey,Germany, the United States, Korea,Russia and India, said Kapashov AskarKendirbekuli, 20, a sophomore fromKazakhstan. I challenged myself toenter the Korea Naval Academy since Ihave been interested in Oriental cul-ture since I was young and, in particu-lar, had a long desire to learn aboutKorea.

Kendirbekulis ultimate goal is tobecome a foreign affairs minister in his

homeland and contribute in improv-ing diplomatic ties between Korea andKazakhstan.

I choose to become the first Viet-namese cadet to get training at theacademy, Vu Dinh Thuc, 20, a cadetfrom Vietnam in his first year in theNaval Academy. I decided to apply foran admission to this academy becauseI wanted to experience new challengesin another country.

The Naval Academy prides itself on

its strict regulations and discipline aswell as high standard of education sys-tem.

One of advantages that the NavalAcademy has is the cadets well-orga-nized self-governing system, accord-ing to Kendirbekuli. He pointed outthat cadets were able to develop leader-ship skills through the system as officercandidates.

Both cadets expressed differentobstacles they had to overcome during

their early days in the academy.Rather than having hard time

overcoming language and cultural dif-ferences, Korean food did not agreewith my appetite in the first place. So Ionly ate rice and kimchi for a quite awhile, said Kendirbekuli.

For Thuc, it was the language.During the first five-week basic cadettraining, [a basic training period beforebecoming a freshman at the academy],I had no choice but to remain in a posi-

The academies pride themselves on strictregulations, discipline, and high standards


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Global Korea


tion of attention because I was not ableto fully understand any orders from acommanding senior cadet, Thuc said.

Kendirbekuli said, I missed myparents and other family members inmy hometown so much, but I am doingmy utmost to overcome any odds thatI confront in order to become a repre-sentative officer of my country in the

future.Since the establishment of diplo-

matic relations between Korea andVietnam in 1992, a combined 14 high-ranking military officials from eachcountry have made visits to the other,including a Vietnamese vice defenseministers visit to Korea in 1999.

Korean navy fleets have also calledat ports in Vietnam five times as part ofthe cruise training.

The Korea Naval Academy was

established as the Navy School on Jan.17, 1946, under what is now the NavalLogistics Command. The schoolscampus opened in Jinhae on Oct. 25,1948, and the school was renamed theKorea Naval Academy in January thefollowing year.

The Naval Academy became thelast to allow female cadets to matricu-

late, finally allowing them to do so onFeb. 20, 1999.

Foreign cadets who are preparingto receive their education at academiesin other countries are selected throughwritten tests and in-depth interviewsduring their freshman year at theirown countries military academies.

The Korean government is fundingthese foreign cadets with sums similarto those that pay for Korean cadetseducation.

To gain admission to any of Koreasofficer training schools, all applicantshave to go through a two-stage screen-ing process. The recruiting procedureis jointly managed by all three acade-mies.

The first stage, which normallybegins in August every year, is the writ-ten test that covers three sections

Korean language, English languageand mathematics.

The second stage includes a physi-cal check-up, a physical fitness examand an in-depth interview.

Applicants who pass the first twostages also have to achieve a minimumstandard score or above from theNational College Scholastic AptitudeTest in order to be a successful candi-date.

By Lee Min-yong

Kapashov Askar Kendirbekuli, left, a sophomore from Kazakhstan, and Vu Dinh Thuc, a freshman from Vietnam, pose for a photo in

front of a replica of the turtle ship, a historic ironclad warship of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), at the Korea Naval Academy in Jinhae,

Gyeongsangnam-do.

ProvidedbytheKoreaNavalAcademy


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In the 1960s and 70s, Ko Eun-ah was the darlingof the Korean screen, and of male Korean filmgo-ers. But then she suddenly disappeared fromshow business, and 15 years ago turned up host-

ing a show on a local Christian radio station. Today,Ko runs a theater chain with her husband, retired film-maker Kwak Jung-hwan. But the 63-year-old actress-turned-entrepreneur has one more title, the one shes

most proud of: chairwoman of Sharing Happiness, anonprofit chain store selling secondhand clothes,books and other everyday odds and ends.

Proceeds from the nations 43 Sharing Happinessstores go to charity work, not only in Korea, but alsoaround the world, thanks to Korea Food for the Hun-gry International, the local chapter of the global aidNGO founded in 1971.

While Ko is the face of Sharing Happiness, othercelebrities also play their part. Seasoned entertainerPark Mi-seon works as a representative; actresses JiSu-won and Kim Ye-boon are sharing ambassadors.

Some 50 staff members work tirelessly at stores, most-

Ko Eun-ah, the reigning beauty of the Korean silver screen back in 1960s and 70s, now heads the charity store chain Sharing Happiness and

uses her fame to help the less fortunate.

Group DeploysStars to Cure

Worlds Ills

[PRESS-Q]


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Global Korea


Swimmer Park Tae-hwan, an Olympic medalist (left) wearing a Santa

Claus outfit sells secondhand clothes and other goods with members

of Sharing Happiness.

From left, Sharing ambassador Kim Ye-boon, organization representa-

tive Park Mi-seon and chairperson Ko Eun-ah devote themselves to

helping the less fortunate.

ly located at churches, across the country.Ko and Sharing Happiness employees also

make frequent trips to the countries whereKFHI sends its volunteers and rescue teams. Inthe aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Pak-istan in 2005, a delegation flew to the countryto bake bread and care for injured children. Afew months later, Ko flew to Africa, to work inBurundi, Uganda and Sudan.

When I first set foot in Burundi, I sawpeople roaming the streets absentmindedly,and women holding babies leaning on wallswith empty eyes. Nowhere could I find hope,Ko remembered.

But during her eight-day stay, Ko also met

a 14-year-old boy with AIDS who dreamed ofbecoming a pastor and a young girl recoveringfrom heart surgery given by Korean volunteerdoctors.

Ko said that whenever she visits developingcountries, she realizes how privileged Korea is,and how crucial it is for Koreans to help thehungry and needy elsewhere in the world.

Growing up, I learned that helping othersis a natural part of life, because my parentsalways helped their neighbors even thoughthey were not that affluent.

Kos background as a passionate Christianwas one reason she accepted the top post atSharing Happiness without hesitation, and inthat capacity, Ko said, she has been pleased tosee an increasing number of people willing tohelp others.

In the past, donation was a pretty foreignconcept to many [in Korea] because peoplethought donation was something that shouldbe done by business moguls. But people havestarted to think that donation and sharing arenot that difficult. They realize they can helpothers just by giving clothes or shoes they dontwear anymore.

Concrete proof of that can be found at aSharing Happiness store on the ground floor ofSeoul Cinema in Jongno, central Seoul, Ko said.The area is full of young people, and alwayspacked with donated goods.

Ko said her acting career has been a greatasset to help organize bazaars and other large

charity events.The staff at Sharing Happiness does all the

dirty work for me, sending formal letters andcoming up with business proposals, and all I dois show up at the end and persuade people todonate.

The actress has no appetite for a comeback.Instead, Ko has big plans for Sharing Happi-ness.

I want to see more Sharing Happinessstores sprout up in every corner of Seoul. Ifcompanies give us a chance to open Sharing

Happiness stores in their buildings, I believethe effect will be huge because people can eas-ily donate and help others, the star said.

I think even a small Sharing Happinessstore can make this world a better place.

BySung So-young

ProvidedbySharingHappiness


28/68


River Project Focuses

on Environment, LeisureA massive network of bike lanes will connect to river cruise boats

for unique tour packages, while a flurry of construction will improve

water quality and sustainability but at a cost of 22.2 trillion won


29/68


Green Growth

Late last year, nine small cafeswere built on bridges over the

Hangang River in Seoul. Theyhave already become tourist hot

spots, each attracting 700 visitors a dayto see the city from a new angle.

Now imagine super-sizing such aproject to 22.2 trillion won (US$19 bil-lion), encompassing cultural and leisurefacilities, industrial complexes andimprovements in water quality acrossKorea, and youll see why expectationsfor the four rivers restoration project which gets into its second year and kicks

into high gear this month are high.In November, the Ministry of Land,

Transport and Maritime Affairs put theplan into motion, breaking ground withmuch pomp and circumstance on 15reservoirs across the four rivers theHangang, Nakdonggang, Yeongsangangand Geumgang.

This part of the infrastructure,which is meant among other things toenhance water flow and the water qual-ity of tributaries, is slated to include 16

reservoirs and two multipurpose dams,completed by 2012. The construction ofone reservoir on the Geumgang beganJune 29 as a pilot program. The twodams will be built beginning later thisyear.

Another major goal of the project isto transform riverside areas nationwideinto leisure getaways just like theHangang River cafs.

You might call it the Cheong-gyecheon stream restoration project on

steroids. That tiny waterway, rebuilt by

now-president Lee Myung-bak when heserved as Seoul mayor from 2002 to

2006, has been transformed from ashabby overpass into a new Seoul land-mark.

To similar effect, the governmentplans to build 1,728 kilometers (1,073miles) of bicycle lanes around the fourrivers the equivalent of two roundtrips from Seoul to Busan. According tothe Ministry of Land, Transport andMaritime Affairs, the bike routes will belinked up with cruise ships plying therivers for package tours.

Dozens of hotels for bikers will bealso established along Koreas four majorrivers, the ministry says. It said bikershotels will even be built along the lanesat an average of every 50 kilometers,with bicycle repair facilities. Campsiteswill also be located about every 60 kilo-meters.

According to the ministry, transferstations at key points on the rivers willconnect the mildly sloping bike lanes with a grade of less than 3 percent

to cruise and train lines. The govern-ment may already be considering bikeraces along the lanes.

Another facet of the project willaddress Koreas chronic water supplyand drought problems, estimated tocause a loss of 800 million cubic metersof water next year, and flooding, whichresults in several trillions of won indamage to riverbanks, homes, business-es and other property every year.

In a report published in 1990 by

Population Action International, a

The four rivers restoration

project will include 1,728 ki-

lometers of bike lanes.

[JoongAngIlbo

]


30/68


United States-based private researchgroup, Korea was designated a water-stressed country.

By building dams and reservoirs onthe four rivers, the government hopes tosecure around 1.3 billion cubic metersof additional water. It also says the proj-ect will allow it to control the flow of

another 920 million cubic meters ofwater, helping prevent flooding.

Land Minister Chung Jong-hwan,who is at the helm of the river project,said it will eventually save massiveamounts in government funds.

In a nutshell, [the rivers] utility hasyet to be maximized, said MinisterChung in a statement. The average costfor restoration after a disaster is 4.2 tril-lion won, but just 1 trillion won wasinvested in prevention over the past five

years. That means we are wasting fundsthat could be saved otherwise.

The new infrastructure, the govern-ment says, will upgrade the purity ofaround 86 percent of the total length ofthe four rivers to second-class water,or water whose biological oxygendemand is less than 3 milligrams perliter. Second-class water is capable ofsustaining most aquatic life and can beused for recreational purposes. As of2008, roughly 76 percent of the water in

the four rivers was second class.

It all sounds straightforward, but theproject has stirred up controversy for itspossible environmental impact andmassive final budget as much as 8.3trillion won more than initially planned.The four rivers project is the largest everof its kind in Korea, exacerbating a riftamong politicians delaying passage of

the 2010 budget at the National Assem-bly last month.

It also conjures up memories of thegrand canal plan that Lee abandonedonce faced with staunch public resis-tance. Some critics even believe theriver project will do more harm thangood, claiming the environmentalimpact study was inadequate.

Proponents respond that the infra-structure upgrades are essential to thecountrys sustainable development. The

government has proposed to use 107trillion won for green growth develop-ment, and the four rivers restorationproject is a key part of this campaign.

The Land Ministry said it has startedresearch for a master plan to revitalizeall of Koreas rivers, including those notincluded in the original four rivers proj-ect.

It is a plan to renovate virtuallyevery river in the country, said KimDong-yeon, an official at the Land Min-

istry. By Moon Gwang-lip

Artists provide their renditions, layered

over photographs, of how the rivers

will appear after the projects comple-

tion in 2012: from top to bottom, the

Geumgang, Nakdonggang, Hangang

and Yeongsangang.

Students and professors of Inje University collect garbage in an attempt to clean up along the

Nakdonggang River.

[JoongAngIlbo]

[YONHAP]


31/68


Green Growth

STOP

CO2

Steam billows from the cooling towers of Vattenfalls Jaen-

schwalde brown coal power station near Cottbus, eastern

Germany Dec. 2.[REUTER]

Green Growth



32/68


The focus on

green growth

will hurt GDP,but it will also

be a chance

to get ahead

in a new

sustainable

economy.

K

orea is busily moving towardits ambitious goal of a 30-per-cent cut in greenhouse gas

emissions. One of the latestmoves in this campaign: the introduc-tion of LPI-electric hybrid taxis inSeoul.

The Ministry of Environment, theSeoul Metropolitan Government, theKorea National Joint Conference of TaxiAssociations and the Hyundai-Kia

A u t o m o t i v eGroup agreed toput 10 hybridAvante and Forte

sedans producedby the automak-

er on the road as taxis for two years. TheMinistry of Environment estimated thateach hybrid taxi would emit 4.9 tons ofgreenhouse gases per year, compared to8.5 tons of emissions for a conventionaltaxi of the same size.

But such positive efforts to reducegreenhouse gases are inevitably accom-panied with negative limits on indus-trial activities.

The Ministry of Knowledge Econo-my said in early December that, if Koreaachieves its target of emissions 30 per-cent below the business-as-usual esti-mate in 2020, it would drive averageannual growth in per-capita grossdomestic product from 2005 to 2020down 0.41 percentage points. The min-istry released the analysis after jointresearch with Seoul National Universityand the Korea Productivity Center.

In order to achieve the target of a

greenhouse gas reduction without a

decline in the nations economic growthrate, the country needs to upgrade itsindustrial structure, focusing on brick

and mortar businesses and developingrenewable energy and energy-efficientbusinesses, the report said.

Youn Woo-jin, senior research fel-low of macroeconomics and industrialeconomic analysis at the Korea Institutefor Industrial Economics and Trade,said in a recent report, The greenhousegas reduction policy should not bedelayed, as the cost of reductions willincrease more quickly as the density ofgreenhouse gases in the air increases.

It is difficult to implement policiesreducing greenhouse gases because itshard to estimate the social and econom-ic damage of climate change exactly, andthere is much uncertainty, he contin-ued. The best way to counter suchuncertainty is to adopt carbon pricingsystems, such as a carbon tax and a car-bon credit trading system.

The world market for carbon creditsis growing rapidly. The World Bankforecasts that the market grow to US$150

billion in 2010, up sharply from US$11billion in 2005. Carbon dioxide is themost common greenhouse gas.

Thus, emission reduction projectsare not just costs to economic growthbut can also bring benefits, as GeneralElectric CEO and Chairman Jeff Immelt,made clear in his famous remark in2005, Green is green.

Accordingly, local companies arejumping into the carbon credit market.The state-run Korea Electric Power

Corp., or Kepco, said in its Low-Car-

Green Market of the FutureIs Hope of Planet, Business

Though Korea is still classified as a developing country under its terms,

local companies are already rushing to earn Kyoto Protocal credits;

meanwhile, Seoul tries out hybrid taxis to clean up the capitals skies

The view of Nuedo Island from Tando

port, Ansan city, Gyeonggi-do Province,

with three wind power turbines.

Providedbythecitygovernment


33/68


Green Growth

bon Green-Growth Strategy report inSeptember that it will earn 8.2 millioncertified emission reductions, or CERs,

annually by 2020. CERs are carboncredits authorized under the Kyoto Pro-tocol.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, industri-alized countries are required to drasti-cally cut their emissions. However,companies in those countries can getCERs if they invest in projects thatreduce emissions in developing coun-tries. And the firms in developing coun-tries that are involved in the projectsalso get a share of the CERs. This is

called the Clean Development Mecha-nism, or CDM.

Kepco signed a deal last year withChina Datang Corp. to build additionalwind farms in Gansu Province andInner Mongolia as part of efforts to earnCERs. The company has registered 18CDM projects including the Chinesewind farm project with the UnitedNations and has secured 530,000 tons ofCERs per year, as of this September.

Though Korea currently has devel-

oping-country status under the Kyoto

Protocol, local companies also can earnCERs by conducting emission-cuttingprojects in Korea or in another develop-

ing country, as the related CDM regula-tion was changed a few years ago.

According to the state-run KoreaEnergy Management Corp.s CDMbureau, Korea had 35 CDM projectsregistered and secured 14.9 millionCERs this year as of Dec 13. Worldwide,1,946 CDM projects producing 329.5million CERs were registered at thattime.

In December, a consortium of threecompanies including Posco Engineer-

ing & Construction, the building arm ofKoreas top steelmaker Posco, won aCDM project worth 20 billion won(US$17 million) in China. In the proj-ect, the companies will generate and sellelectricity made using gas generatedfrom a landfill with more than 13 mil-lion tons of waste in Chengdu.

According to the consortium, con-struction work will start around March2010, and the plant will go into opera-tion in 2011. The project will bring 6

billion won in revenue from electricity

sales and 7 billion won in carbon creditsper year.

The Ministry of Knowledge Econo-

my established a government-private joint conference to discover and sup-port CDM projects overseas for localcompanies in early December.

Meanwhile, even financial compa-nies are accelerating their launch of newproducts to support the low-carbongreen growth policy.

The Korea Banking Institute, anorganization jointly operated by localbanks to educate and train their work-ers, launched a three-week course late in

November to nurture green financeexperts.

The course targets employees atbanks, brokerage houses and insurersalready selling eco-friendly services, theinstitute said. Those who take the coursewill be educated on carbon credit trad-ing systems, technologies used in greenindustries including renewable energyand on the development of financialproducts related to those industries,according to the institute.

By Koh So-young

LPI-electric hybrid taxies arrive for a test

drive in Seoul in early December. Ten hy-

brid Avante and Forte sedans made by

Hyundai-Kia will serve as taxis for two

years in the city.

[YONHAP]


34/68


Much has been made of the Korean Wave of pop cul-ture sweeping Asia, but it was made real Nov. 24, whena swath of Korean music stars arriving at ShanghaiPudong International Airport was met by a human

wave of over 800 fans.The musicians, which included Wheesung, f(x), 2PM, 2AM,

U-Kiss, 4Minute and Jang Nara, were in China to perform in the FeelKorea K-POP Night and K-Fashion Show to promote tourism inKorea as part of the 2010-2012 Visit Korea Year initiative unveiled

in November. The fashion show took place at the Longemont Hotelthe day of the stars arrival, while the much-anticipated K-pop con-cert was held the following day at the Shanghai Grand Stage.

Later on Nov. 24, the group headed to central Shanghai to takepart in a press conference at 3 p.m., which was covered by majorChinese media outlets, including Shanghai TV.

Im Seul-ong and Jo Kwon of 2AM, Kim Hyun-ah of 4Minute andChinese singer Chi Wei hosted the big show. Over two hours, JangNara, 2PM, 4Minute, 2AM and U-KISS took the stage one afteranother, to the appreciative roar of 8,000 fans, who sang along inKorean.

The show was attended by over 20 Chinese media companies

including Sina.com and SMG New Entertainment.

Korean Wave Crashes Upon

Thousands of fans turned out to see the Korean stars.

ProvidedbyMinistryofCulture,

SportsandTourism


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Culture

Opposite above, the girl group 4minute

performs at the Feel Korea K-Pop Night in

Shanghai. Above, a fashion show took

place a day before the concert.

Shanghai Shores

Culture

It was a great opportunity to evaluate the future successof K-pop from the reactions of fans and the quality of theconcert, said one Sina.com employee.

Though their names are similar and they both hail fromthe same management agency, JYP Entertainment, 2AM and2PM play completely different music, with the former focusedon ballads, the latter on dance music. 2PM is now in the midstof promoting its first album 1:59AM, which includes the hitsingle Heartbeat.

Wheesung, one of Koreas best-known R&B singers, justreleased his sixth album, Vocolate. He has a large fan basein China. His cover of Craig Davids Insomnia has beengaining notice recently.

The girl group f(x) debuted just a few months ago but hasalready caught peoples attention with their catchy hits LAchA Ta and Chocolate Love. The group consists of five girlsof different nationalities: Victoria from China; Amber, a Tai-wanese-American, and Sulli, Luna and Krystal from Korea.

Seven-member pop group U-Kiss recently released itsthird single Conti Ukiss. 4Minute, another girl group, countsamong its hit songs Hot Issue, Muzik and What a Girl

Wants.

The Korean government hopes that the star power of popsingers and celebrities will help attract more Chinese touriststo Korea in the coming years. This event and more like it thatshowcase Korean pop music, fashion, tourism, drama anddigital content are being organized by the Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism; the Korea Foundation for CulturalExchange; the Korea Creative Content Agency; and the theVisit Korea Committee.

Although we have different nationalities and speak dif-

ferent languages, I could feel how much they loved the musicfrom the heated atmosphere at the concert, said ChungDong-cheun, an executive at the Korea Creative ContentAgency. I hope that the cultural exchange between the twocountries will grow with these events.

This concert was a stepping stone for more Korean sing-ers and music to enter the Chinese market, said Yu Byong-han, an official at the Culture Ministry. It was a good chanceto spread the Korean Wave again through cultural exchangebetween the two countries before the 2010 Shanghai WorldExpo. The concert also aired on Korean broadcast televisionnetwork SBS on Dec. 24, and in China on SMG New Enter-

tainment the same month. By Limb Jae-un


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V

isitors to the British Museum in London can now orderup a portable multimedia guide in the Korean language,making it the third institution to offer the service thanks

to a sponsorship from local flag carrier Korean Air. Theguide is a small touch-screen device that comes with audiovisualcommentary on 220 objects at the museum, and its now available in10 languages, including English. Versions of the Korean guide forchildren and the visually impaired are coming soon, according toKorean Air. The partnership with the museum, which boasts 6 mil-lion visitors each year, will last until 2014.

Korean Airs passion for cultural sponsorship differentiates itfrom other airlines, said Cho Yang-ho, the carriers chairman andchief executive officer. Our sponsorship of multimedia guidesenables museum visitors to appreciate important objects and artworkin greater detail by listening to informative commentaries.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, said, Korean

Local Airline Gives the Giftof Understanding Great Art

[JoongAngIlbo]


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Culture

Korean-language electronic guides sponsored by a local airline enchance

trips to the British Museum and its global peers in Paris and St. Petersburg.

Korean Air has sponsored Korean audio or

multimedia guides at three globally important

museums: the British Museum, opposite top

and bottom and top this page; the Louvre in

Paris, second from top, and the State Hermit-

age Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia,

above.

Airs sponsorship of the project has been vital in allowing the Muse-um to greatly increase the number of objects that we offer throughour handheld guides and across the major languages that our visitorsuse. The director, speaking at a ceremony commemorating thelaunch of the service, added, As a museum for the world, we aredelighted to be able to offer our visitors the opportunity to learnabout this unparalleled collection in so many languages and in amore interactive way.

The multimedia guide is part of the carriers Global CulturalSponsorship program. To celebrate it, a Korean Air B747-400 aircrafthas been wrapped with images of art from the British Museums col-

lection. The aircraft made its debut flight with the new livery fromIncheon to London on Dec. 1 and has been used on routes to Europeand the Americas.

In tandem with the multimedia guide, passengers traveling inFirst and Prestige classes on the Incheon-London route will be givenspecial edition baggage name tags decorated with images of the Lew-is Chessmen, famous pieces on display at the museum.

The carrier currently offers a Flying Art Ambassadors serviceon selected routes, including those between Incheon and London,Paris, Madrid and Amsterdam. Specially chosen and trained KoreanAir cabin attendants, including some with degrees in art and cultureor even museum or curator experience, provide information about

museums, artists and famous art at the destination.Korean Air signed an agreement to sponsor a multimedia guide

at the Louvre Museum in Paris in 2008. It was then followed bysimilar sponsorships at Russias State Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg in August.

The company even donated a huge collage to the Art Restorationand Storage Center of the State Hermitage Museum. A total of 67students created the 15.6-meter wide (51-foot) and 9.6-meter highwork out of 3,240 magazines over 10 days in June. The collage depictsthe exterior of the museum and some of the art in its collection.

The Russian museum has 2.9 million pieces, including works byLeonardo Da Vinci, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste

Renoir and Paul Cezanne. Korean Air says the museum sees some2.6 million visitors every year, and its audio guide was offered in Rus-sian, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish before the Kore-an carrier added its native tongue.

At the Louvre, Korean commentaries on 600 pieces are availableon PDAs. The partnership for the multimedia service will last overthe next six years. Cho, the CEO, said, We earned the confidence ofthe Louvre in 2006 when we conveyed its paintings between [Franceand Korea] for an exhibition held in Seoul to commemorate the120th anniversary of the two countries diplomatic ties.

The carrier decorated one of its aircraft with the image of theMona Lisa, formed out of small Hangeul letters, in celebration of the

launch of the service. By Seo Ji-eun

Pro

videdbyKoreanAir


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Today people worry that paper is an endan-gered species, with everything done via com-puter holiday cards, headlines, correspon-dence, even government documents.

But before modern times, the only way a state

could reliably communicate orders and informationdown through the ranks was with paper. And the onlyway to ensure that this vital channel wasnt disruptedwas with to use an official seal.

In old Korea, the seal on the paper was as impor-tant as what it said, giving it the power of law or cred-ibility.

These seals supplanted the ancient use of othersymbols such as palm prints, and gave way to signa-tures, to the extent that in some countries today itsconsidered odd to register a stamp with the govern-ment and rely on it to prove ones identity.

Government seals are still around today, of course,but theyre usually only encountered in specific con-texts, and then we only see the red ink left behind, notthe stamp itself.

But if those leftovers of a once-ubiquitous practiceintrigue you, then it behooves you to drop by theNational Palace Museum of Korea, where a specialexhibition of government seals from the JoseonDynasty (1392-1910) kicked off last month, to con-tinue until Feb. 15. Officials at the museum call it thefirst exhibition to deal exclusively with governmentseals.

To those who dont think much about the seals

The Crimson Ink That OnceFueled Korean Government

Seals like these were the only way to ensure confidential letters

or orders from superiors were genuine.

or even those who think they all look thesame curator Kim Yeon-soo has thisto say: Some may think that the topic istoo difficult and profound, but thosewith slightest interest in history will cer-

tainly get something out of this exhibi-tion because seals and sealed documentsplayed a key role in Korean history. Andeven if youre not into history, you willget a glimpse of royal palace life, whichalmost always fascinates people.

Since opening in 2005, the NationalPalace Museum of Korea has hosted apermanent exhibition on life in Koreanpalaces at the time of the Joseon Dynas-ty. On top of that, nine special exhibi-tions have been organized so far. Muse-

um officials say one on royal patternsand decorations earlier this year wasparticularly successful.

While museum officials admit thatthe exhibition on seals may not be asinteractive or exciting as previous exhi-bitions, they value the time and effortthat went into creating it.

According to Kim, the museum hasspent several years collecting the sealsand related documents from their scat-tered locations across the country. Their

efforts yielded 160 seals used in 71 gov-

Even if

youre not

into history,

you will get a

glimpse of

royal palace

life.

ProvidedbyNationalPalaceMus

eumofKorea


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Culture

The exhibition of government stamps from

Koreas past continues at the National Palace

Museum until Feb. 15.

ernment offices during the Joseon peri-od.

There are stamps to classify officialdocuments, stamps carved with thename of the organization, even stampsto show the approval of the king him-self.

Of those, the ones that were the mostused, and the ones that are subsequentlythe most worn down, are those from theorganizations called ijo and hojo. Ijooversaw the recruitment of governmentofficials, and hojo dealt with finance.

The exhibit also shows what animportant role the seals played. All weremanufactured only by the yejo, a gov-ernment organization that oversaw edu-cational, diplomatic and culturalaffairs.

Gyeonggukdaejeon, the state code

book of Joseon Dynasty, specifically stipulates thesizes of the seals. More highly places organizations orofficials had correspondingly larger seals.

The book also contains a warning: Anyone whotries to forge a seal is to be beheaded and his familymembers sold as slaves. These were not idle threats,particularly in times of conflict, and many stories are

extant about the harsh punishments handed down forcounterfeiters.Later, the designs of official seals reflect-ed the sudden changes Korea went through with thearrival of Korean Empire (1897-1910) and Japanesecolonization (1910-1945).

So if youre ever wondered how the Korean statefunctioned before television, fiber-optic Internet ande-government drop by and decode the language ofthe seal.

Admission is free, with English information avail-able upon request. For more details, visit www.gogung.

go.kror call (02) 3701-7634~5.

By Kim Hyung-eun

Culture


40/68

[JoongAngIlbo]


Major works

Full length novels

Go Alone Like a Rhinoceros Horn

(Musoui ppul cheoreom honjaseo gara, 1993)

Mackarel(Godeungoe, 1994)

A Good Woman

(Chakhan yeoja, 1997)

Sister Bong-sun

(Bongsuni-eonni, 1998)

Short story collections

Consideration For Other Human Beings

(Ingane daehan yeui, 1994)

Essay collections

Unscarred Soul

(Sangcheo eobneun yeonghon, 1996)

Trip to a Monastery

(Sudowon gihaeng, 2001)


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Writing After the Struggles End

Gong Ji-yeong

Korean Literature

G

ong Ji-yeong (born 1963) is one of the most recognized female writers in Korea. Withgravity and sensitivity, Gong has been writing about womens experiences in a patri-

archal society that has yet to shed the last remnants of feudalism, and the strugglesyoung people face in a chaotic world as their political consciousness matures.

Early interest in literature led Gong to self-publish her own poems and stories while still inher teens and to attend graduate school in literature later. The student movement of the 1980s,however, was what furnished the budding writer with a sense of purpose and the subjects com-manding her passion. Her novella Rising Dawn is a product of her experience with the labor andstudent movement of that decade.

Gong is also a feminist writer. In her own words, she is a part of the generation who wastaught in schools that men and women were equal but had to live in a world that contradictedtheir school learning. Go Alone Like a Rhinoceros Horn is a particularly fine example of Gongsexploration into this contradiction. The novel was made into a feature film in 1995.

In many of her works, the subject of womens struggle and that of the labor movement conflate

in characters that must face the twin tasks of building a new identity for themselves after the labormovement and finding a place for themselves in a male-dominated society. As the chaos andrepression characterizing the 1980s gave way to the relative calm and prosperity of the 90s, thestudents who had sacrificed so much to bring about the necessary social changes find themselvesin a world that no longer seems to require their revolutionary fervor. They have no choice but tolead ordinary lives without the sense of direction that was once an integral part of their identity.For women, the process of integrating back into the capitalistic society as ordinary citizens entailsnot only embracing materialistic goals they once disdained but also subjugating themselves to apatriarchal order. Resultant anger and confusion constitute the core of Gongs works.

Gong continues to devote much of her creative energy to the issue of women and laborers, orthose underprivileged or persecuted members of the Korean society.


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Jjang-a, the narrator ofBong-suns life story, is bornin the winter of 1963. At thistime, poverty is a commonsight and a shared experiencein Korea; the entire countryis struggling with the devas-tation left by the Korean Warand at the same time charg-ing ahead with rapid indus-trialization at the expense ofworkers and ordinary citi-zens. Thirteen-year-oldBong-sun runs away from

her abusive stepfather andnow works as a kitchen maidat Jjang-as house.

When Jjang-a is born,Bong-sun is left in charge ofcaring for her, and the tworemain as close as biologicalsisters until Bong-sun runsaway with a young worker ata local dry cleaner. Aban-doned by her man, the preg-nant Bong-sun returns toJjang-as house and raises herchild alone. She marries once

again, this time to an olddivorc, but is left alone forthe second time when herhusband dies of an illness.Misfortunes and ill luck con-tinue well into her old age,throwing Bong-sun into everworsening conditions of life.Despite her hardships, how-ever, Bong-sun soldiers onwith optimism and courage,and transforms her unhappylife story into one of rejuve-nating hope and resilience.

Sister Bong-sun(Bongsuni-eonni)

The seven stories col-lected in this volume makeevident the authors affectionand respect for the peoplewho struggle to remain trueto themselves regardless ofwhat the world demands andthe sincerity with which she

explores the changes in theworld and the female psyche.

Solitude is a particu-larly fine example of Gongsartistry. The protagonist is adevoted wife and a mother oftwo children who embracesthe joys and tribulations ofan ordinary life raisingchildren, saving money tobuy a bigger house, coping

with the reduction in herhusbands salary and worry-ing over his drinking habits but at the same time, shebattles with a sense of ennuiand exhaustion stemmingfrom the trivial details of herlife and dreams of escaping

into an entirely new world.However, even as she fan-

tasizes about a different life,she remains dedicated in herrole as a mother and a wife,and is terrorized by her owndesire for escape: At timesshe was overwhelmed by animpulse to run out of herhouse barefoot ... like a wom-an possessed ... abandon

those beautiful children. ...She was afraid of herself, butthere was something as pow-erful as her fear. It was a tingleof excitement.

To the authors credit, theprotagonists conflict doesnot degenerate into a famil-

iar dilemma between a safebut confining domesticityand a terrifying but equallyalluring adventure in deviantbehaviors such as extramari-tal affairs. Gong transformsthe protagonists desire forescape into a yearning for thefuture, where thrills of newlife and domestic happinessmay coexist.

Existence Sheds a Tear(Jonjaeneun nunmuleul heullinda)

Book Title Year of publication LanguageGenre

Novel

Novel

Novel

Novel

Novel

Novel

Le nostre ore felici / Vincenza DUrso

/ Human Decency / Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton

KAKA NOHCYHU /

Sister Bong-sun / Park Jung-eun

2009

2006

2006

2006

2006

1998

Italian

English

Japanese

Bulgarian

English

Japanese

Published translations

List of Gong's translated works

Publisher: Prunsoop

Publication date: 1998

208 pages

Publisher: ChangbiPublication date: 1999294 pages


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I intend to be smaller until I start to grow small. I am a small

person, a smaller person, a dog, a cat, a finger, a matchstick,

I obstinately stared in one direction. A frowning look lingers in

my every wrinkle. So

KOREA magazine [Jan. 2010 VOL. 17 NO. 13]

Documents