중앙데일리

[FOUNTAIN]Can Roh follow Putin's script?

President-elect Roh Moo-hyun is similar to President Vladimir Putin of Russia in age, birthplace, reform instincts, public reputation and style. Mr. Putin hails from St. Petersburg, a port city. Mr. Roh also comes from Busan, a southern port city of Korea. Both of them were chosen as political successors with their predecessors' designation or help. They showed absurdly low popularity compared with their competitors when they began their presiden…

Jan 14,2003
[VIEWPOINT]The model of a successful president

The year 2003 will indeed be a "new year" in Korean politics because we will have a new president and a new government. This new year, voices call out in unison for political reforms. What is called "two Kims" or "three Kims" politics, referring to the politics of the 1980s and '90s, was the politics of centralization and abuse of power, one-man rule by the president, political factionalism, diversion of public power for private use, messy regi…

Jan 13,2003
[FORUM]Take off sunshine-colored glasses

Public reaction is always mixed concerning the outcome of a presidential election, and the reaction is even more mixed than usual after the election last month. Conflict between Roh Moo-hyun supporters and those who opposed him is deepening because controversy and uncertainty over national security are growing. The situation concerning North Korea's nuclear program is becoming more serious, but Koreans do not seem to mind. They see the issue …

Jan 13,2003
[SPEAK OUT]Thoughts on our mobile lives

In a society where almost every citizen carries a mobile phone, there is no such thing as having to wait for someone, not knowing whether he will arrive soon or is perhaps tied up in traffic. Unbounded by time and place, we can always use our mobile phone to call someone if he does not show as planned. But the state of being constantly tethered to one another has eliminated much of the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised by a friend who calls …

Jan 13,2003
[OUTLOOK]U.S., Korea need understanding

On the harsh winter day of Dec. 22, 1902, the American steamboat S.S. Gaelic departed from Jemulpo to cross the Pacific, carrying 102 of the first Korean emigrants to leave their country in search of jobs. They greeted the new year before they arrived at their final destination, Hawaii. On Jan. 13, 1903, almost exactly 100 years ago, 56 men, 21 women and 25 children arrived in Honolulu to build the first Korean immigrant society in the Unit…

Jan 12,2003
[NOTEBOOK]Palpable unease at Korean firms

"I know only two of the eight members of the team's economic departments. I have never heard of the others," a minister said, after the list of the members of President-elect Roh Moo-hyun's transition panel was unveiled last month. In general, the business community is as unfamiliar with the transition team as that minister is. Because Mr. Roh himself has not been a familiar face in the business world, a joke is spreading that four entities…

Jan 12,2003
[THE VOICE OF MINORITY]Little comfort, little time

Hope fills us as the new year begins with a new president. We expect reforms not only in politics but also in such areas as education and women's affairs. The basis of President-elect Roh Moo-hyun's policies is "to make a country that has principles and foundations." With Mr. Roh, the comfort women who were conscripted by the Japanese government to work as sex slaves during World War II now hope that a foreign policy, which has principles and…

Jan 12,2003
[HEUNGBO'S GOURD]The stuff of learning a language

The daughter of a close friend of mine just dropped by my office on her way home from an English-conversation class she started attending about a week ago. She is memorizing complicated dialogues and studying movie scripts. As she plunked her armload of study materials down on a chair, she looked at me forlornly and asked, "What's the best way to learn English?" She's only the 3,487th person who has asked me that since I have lived in Korea. W…

Jan 10,2003
[NOTEBOOK]Conscientious objectors: not yet

The Seoul district court recently sentenced Ra Dong-hyeok, 26, to 18 months in prison for refusing to enter the army because of his ethical stand against war. The sentencing stirred a debate over the right to refuse military duty and alternative service. Although ethical conscientious objection is a fairly new concept in Korea, refusing to serve in the military on religious causes extends back to the early 1950s. Now, about 1,600 young men,…

Jan 10,2003
[FOUNTAIN]A vote for coalition politics

The unvarnished truth is that the parliamentary system was never a popular form of government. Even former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil, who actively advocated the parliamentary system, seems to have lost his passion for it. Yet witnessing German politics, one realizes that the system does have its virtues after all. First of all, there are no lost votes in elections. In our last presidential election, the votes cast for candidates other t…

Jan 10,2003

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