[Perspective]
An ax to grind about sledgehammers and deadlines

Deadlines come up fast. For me, it seems like every other day is Tuesday, and this column is due. Not only that, I still have Christmas shopping to do, and tomorrow is the big day.

But I’m not alone. At this time of year, everyone’s on deadline.

You only have a week left to close the deal on your new year’s resolutions from last January, or at least to repackage them for the new January that starts next Thursday.

The government must be sweating as well. Due dates on a few promises the administration made have been attracting a lot of attention from outside the country. The ratification of the free trade agreement with the United States and some other thorny issues have recently treated the international media to some spectacular photographs of sledgehammer and fire extinguisher brawls in the Korean National Assembly.

At least it will be a merry Christmas for some of the photographers who were present, with their shots being snapped up by global press outlets.

Of course, some will have to ask Santa for new cameras, as theirs were destroyed in the extinguisher-dust haze that filled the hallways of the nation’s seat of democracy.

After the melee, as people picked up the pieces of smashed door and furniture, the local press dissected the adjectives used to describe the Korean political scene in the international media. Similar fisticuffs have happened before, but in days when Korea was not really the focus of the world’s attention. Now that people are looking, what they’re seeing is not leaving an impression that Korea really wants.

But even though the spotlight on Korea has grown slightly brighter, we shouldn’t go overboard about how deep the common knowledge of this country runs on the international stage. Now people can put “melodramatic political system” on the list below “nice cell phones,” “kimchi” and “Rain.”

Unfortunately, this kind of publicity doesn’t do anything for the PR being pushed to beef up Korea’s brand power and fulfill the national dream of becoming recognized as a truly advanced country.

But it’s easy for me to judge; I can’t vote, and can ultimately separate myself from the situation as an outside observer. And as such, some of these comments likely leave me open to a bit of a backlash, as criticism from non-Koreans about the state of Korea is rarely taken kindly around these parts.

Which brings me to my closing segment ? the nice part. Despite the fact that some of the behavior exhibited on Korea’s national stage may be cause for embarrassment, this is undeniably a very exciting place to live. Not everyone lives amid a burgeoning democracy in mid-formation, and regularly bears witness to historic events. And it’s not every day you read “sledgehammer” and “National Assembly” in the same headline.

But, maybe this year, we could resolve to push up the deadline on a new code of conduct for the legislature.

By Richard Scott-Ashe, Deputy Editor [richard@joongang.co.kr]