A warning bell for those in authority

Dear editors,

In regard to your recent article titled “Police’s drug use investigation went too far,” your writer should be applauded for approaching this very difficult topic in Korea. It takes courage in Korea to address topics directly. It makes me sad that most Korean publications have been sounding the alarm bells about illegal and harmful drug use in Korea for at least the past 25 years and successive administrations have dropped the ball, year after year, on this societal and legal problem.

Actor Lee Sun-kyun was not only a “talent” in the Korean sense of being in show business, but he was genuinely talented. A famous Korean artist once noted that “there’s no vessel or container that can contain the loss that our culture experiences when a true artist’s time to create is cut short.” Of course, I agree. Though some would be jealous of Lee and question how a person with so much money could be unhappy, given the sordid circumstances surrounding the alleged drug use, the sad fact is that the Korean entertainment industry has serious problems.

While Korea is only beginning to experience a wave of drug use, my own country of Canada is being ripped apart by drugs, addiction and the gangs that control the drug trade. Sadly, whole cities and parts of our cities have been consumed by drug use because of the conflict between law and order policy and health policy. I wish Canada would learn lessons from President Park Chung Hee’s strict approach to dealing with illegal drugs.

There’s no good that can come out of Lee’s passing. But I would hope that it acts as a warning bell to urge those in authority to take an effective action and deal with drugs, defamation and the persistent gangsterism involved in room salons and hostess clubs in Korea. Korea’s actors, sports stars, business leaders and politicians shouldn’t be the object of jealousy or be targets for character assassination. Korea’s unbridled jiltu, or jealousy, shouldn’t rule the day!
Mike Sluchinski, a Canadian citizen in Seoul