중앙데일리

[VIEWPOINT]The Conventional View on Disarmament

Scaling down conventional arms capability on the Korean peninsula is a new hot issue. The Bush administration said it wished to discuss tensions rising from conventional arms as well as from North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development programs. This prompted visits to the United States by the South Korean foreign minister, Han Seung-soo, at the start of June and by Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin on June 18 to discuss the threat of …

June 26,2001
[FOUNTAIN]Monuments to Materialism

"Beating a wooden fish / feeling so sleepy / The lovely young monk / fell asleep. / Buddha, without words, / smiles / It's a long way to the countries to the west of China / Against the beautiful sunset / peony blossoms are falling." On my way to a temple in a mountain, I saw the chestnut flowers had come out. The heavy smell of the land and vegetation after the long-awaited rain overwhelmed the fragrance of chestnut flowers. I was trying to…

June 26,2001
[EDITORIALS]Heavy Hand on Tourism Project

The government is proceeding with its expedient plans to rescue the Mount Kumgang tourism project, which is on the verge of being discontinued. Out of the blue, the government-invested Korea National Tourism Organization said last week that it would participate in the Mount Kumgang project as a consortium partner. Hyundai Asan Corp., which initiated the project without a proper profitability study, has run out of capital due to reckless busines…

June 25,2001
[EDITORIALS]Privates Don't Play Golf

The tide is turning toward having military chiefs, including Army General Cho Yung-kil, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, remain in office. They were blamed for putting their golf games ahead of responding to intrusions by North Korean vessels into South Korean waters. The general secretary of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party said the military leaders should be replaced, and a reshuffle was expected. But later, following rumors of v…

June 25,2001
[EDITORIALS]More Parachutes, More Problems

Eleven high ranking officials of Financial Supervisory Service reportedly took new jobs at financial institutions in March, April and May － immediately before the new Public Service Ethics Act took effect. The agency explained that the officials in question did not attempt to avoid the restrictions on employment laid out in the newly established act, but just happened to find the new posts when securities and insurance firms elect their new board…

June 25,2001
[INSIGHT]Korea Doesn't Have to Be a Pushover

The Dalai Lama's visit to Seoul has failed to materialize. I don't know the details of the process through which the Tibetan leader's visit was sought, but I felt once again how helpless a small nation can be against a powerful country like China. The Korean people were upset recently over negotiations with China concerning the trade in garlic. China insisted that we buy more garlic than we needed from them in order to obtain a license to mar…

June 25,2001
[MINORITY VOICE]The Legacy of Illegal Migrant Workers

A few days ago, an African came to see me with a letter in his hand. The letter said he was seeking refugee status with the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and he asked me to help him. He also told me that he was an AIDS patient. I invited the man to have lunch with me, and he said that he would take a little soup but could not eat any other food. I took him to a room where other foreigners were staying so that he …

June 25,2001
[FOUNTAIN]A Literature of Pain and Loss

As of June 25, it has been 51 years since the Korean War broke out. During the war, which went on for three years and one month, 4 million Koreans, of which 3 million were civilians, were killed. The war left a literary tradition that revolves around the division of the nation. The novels and poems that are part of this output attack the contradictions of the division and attempt to embrace the wounded hearts of the war. Among the works of f…

June 25,2001
[EDITORIALS]So Where Shall We Park, Then?

The government's plan to increase by 10 times the number of public workers authorized to issue parking tickets and stop cars is arousing controversy. The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs argues that the number of local government traffic wardens is insufficient to control illegal parking. The ministry said it would grant fire fighters, park superintendents, street cleaners and municipal office workers authority to issue ti…

June 24,2001
[EDITORIALS]Challenge All North Korean Vessels

A North Korean fishing boat retreated after the South Korean Navy fired a warning salvo after the vessel crossed the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea Sunday. The patrol ships ordered the boat to stop, but the order was ignored. The navy said nine shots were fired after three verbal warnings. At last, the navy has properly responded to intrusions by North Korean ships into our waters, according to wartime regulations and rules of engagemen…

June 24,2001

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