The Changing Face of Korea
The Changing Face of Korea
Letter from Fr Donal O’Keeffe SSC
Columbans returning to Korea after some years outside the country are always stunned by the changes that have taken place in the intervening years. Even for us living here the pace of change is surprising. For example during the last 4 years in the vicinity of our house three 14 story buildings have appeared radically changing the skyline. Then within 500 meters of our house a stream which was covered over with concrete for parking etc has been uncovered and restored with a water side walk. To a certain extent these are external changes but the cultural changes are no less startling.
Working moms, men at home taking care of the children, women CEOs – a few short years ago such changes would have been deemed impossible by many in the highly Korean Confucian society. Then on last April 24th when the Irish in Seoul celebrated St Patrick’s day the music was provided by the bards – a group of Korean young people who specialize in Irish traditional music. A young Korean woman, who lives near our house in Seoul, gave an exhibition of Irish step dancing!!
The rate and the speed of such changes have left many people bewildered and many more uncertain whether they belong, feeling they have been left behind.
This widespread anxiety is perceived by many to be the key to understanding the nationwide emotional reaction to the burning down on last Feb 10th of the famous Sungnye Gate (Gate of Exalted Cermonies).
Erected at the beginning of the Yi Dynasty in 1392 as the Southern gate in the wall that surrounded Seoul, it was the oldest wooden structure in Seoul and was designated the No 1 Cultural Treasure in the country. It had survived the Japanese invasion and the Korea war. For many the fire was an indictment of the way the country has embraced modernism at the expense of traditional Korean cultural values. It was all the more poignant when it emerged that the culprit was an elderly man who was angry at the authorities because he did not get adequate compensation for his land which was taken over for a new development project.
The reaction of people was extraordinary - they flocked to the site of the gate. Elderly people wept openly placing wreaths, school children wrote letters expressing their sorrow penning them to the barriers placed around the ruins, leaders from all across the political divide came to see and of course to be seen.
Due to the crowds still coming, the city set up a special place where people can gather and express their condolences. It has been a cathartic moment for the nation!
Another change in Korea in recent years has been the status of the N/S relationship. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, the 38th parallel line has divided the 2 Koreas with a barbed wired fence stretching across the country from the west coast to the east coast. For 40 years that division was marked by constant tension often erupting into skirmishes but more recently there has been a softening on both sides. This change was initiated by the 'sunshine' policy of the former president, Kim Dae Jung and continued by his successor Noh Moo Hyun. During that time there have been summit talks between the leaders of the N&S, meetings of separated family members, and cultural and sport exchanges.
There is also a fledgling tourist trade where people from the South can visit certain areas in the North. But above all there has been a huge increase in trade with the building of the Gaesong free trade zone (FTZ) just north of the border. In the zone, 69 South Korean labour intensive manufactures are operating factories employing some 24,000 North Korean workers. Total production exceeded 300 million $ in Feb 2008. (Korean Times Mar15th). This new relationship is certainly good for the business community!
However there has been criticism that the people of North Korea have been forgotten in the rush to establish a relationship with the North which is economically beneficial to the Southern corporations. The government in the South has been accused of turning a blind eye to the human rights abuses of the North, to the plight of prisoners of conscience, to the stories of the refugees who are fleeing North Korea in increasing numbers. Bu,t Lee Myung-bak, the new president installed on Feb 19th, has stated that he will not ignore this issue promising a pragmatic policy where the development of the N/S relationship will be conditional on improvement in the North.
However, the involvement of the big powers in the politics of the peninsula makes the NS relationship all the more complex. For the last number of years all the substantive discussions re the issue have been in the context of the so called “six party talks” involving Russia, China, Japan, China and the 2 Koreas. But there is an underlying suspicion that the powerful the military industrial complex in those countries has a vested interest in keeping the status quo, and is more than happy with a tension point in NE Asia. Because such a situation becomes the ‘raison detre’ for a military build upon all sides. The facts and figures of recent military spending by those six powers lend support to this position. John Feffer, co–director at the institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC, writes that “5 of the 6 parties involved in the 6 party peace talks about the Korean issue have increased their military spending by more than 50% since the dawn of the 21st century….. Together these countries participating in the Six party talks account for 65% of the world military expenditures, with the US responsible for roughly half of the global total” (“Asia’s Hidden Arms Race” www.tomdispatch.com Feb 12th 2008).
It is indeed frightening to entertain the thought that the North is let do its own thing so as to justify the existence of the military industrial complex. And yet if we follow the money trail this seems to be the inevitable conclusion! So maybe some things never change!!!
Donal O’Keeffe SSC