Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Recent book
The Jobs in the Third Sector
By Do Je-hae
Park Sang-pil; Hanul Books: 256pp., 15,500 won
Amid a desperate job seeking situation, getting a position in a big company that can provide a high salary or becoming a civil servant that guarantees a stable government pension after retirement are the most sought after jobs for young Koreans.
But, this book highlights that there are worthier objectives in our lives other than considering an annual salary or company welfare benefits, introducing 15 creative jobs that have sprung up by the so-called “the third sector,” the non-government organizations (NGOs).
The jobs introduced in this book include a curator of a museum which was established by an NGO, an instructor who is helping people prepare for a peaceful death, an activist who is fighting for elderly citizen’s rights and a director of public botanical garden that provides a venue for education and relaxation.
The author Park Sang-pil, vice president of the Korean Association of NGO Studies and professor at the Sungkonghoe University, claims the operation theories of the third sectors are quite different from those of companies and the government, in which they emphasize morals, prosperity of the local community and experimental spirit rather than making money through competition with others.
In a total of 15 examples, the book suggests realistic alternatives for people who seek new values besides money by explaining the various reasons why they took these jobs after quitting their previous work places which could guarantee stability and their approaches to obtaining the new positions.
BAEK BYUNG-YEUL
Inconvenient Truth on North Korea
Yoon Dae-kyu; Hanul Books: 176pp., 14,000 won
To those who have hopes that one day North Korea will disintegrate, the author of this book proposes a painful, straightforward reality check— that it never will.
Author Yoon Dae-kyu, who is currently vice president of Kyungnam University, snaps at this “wishful thinking” and tells readers that we should admit and accept the reality as it is.
This wishful thinking, he says, has led many policy makers to come up with unrealistic measures against the North, which should in fact be construed in a more realistic, consistent and sustainable way.
The first of the “inconvenient truths” on North Korea, Yoon says, is the fact that China will not allow the disintegration of the North and the North will not collapse unless China allows it to. Considering the strategic importance that North Korea has to China, it will never give up the Stalinist state, he says.
The second “inconvenient truth” is that South Korea cannot start a war on this peninsula, having experienced the painful Korean War, and that North Korea knows this.
The third is that the United States also cannot make a military move considering the safety of South Koreans. Also, Yoon says, to the U.S., military action doesn’t do much to their national interest.
Which is why, considering the fact that North Korea won’t change, Yoon says in his book that South Korea must come up with effective, sustainable policies against the North. Communication is important, says the author, which should be continued.
YUN SUH-YOUNG