Seeing Sense
By Kim Ji-soo
Staff Reporter
I woke up to see Seoul turned into a white fairytale land. Everywhere I looked there was snow, and lots of it, as we head to mid-March. The erratic climate personally makes me think how nature can be so unpredictable. And just like nature, how life can be equally whimsical with its jerks and bounces.
Life, and the accumulations of life, referred to as history, follow an always evolving course. A recent development especially regarding the current Lee Myung-bak administration's cultural policy has the feel of history reeling or jerking back to the semi-authoritarian days of Korea. In the days of military might, the 9 p.m. prime time news show usually started out with the news of then-President Chun Doo-hwan. Much like that time, the chiefs of two networks ― the Korean Broadcasting System and the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation ― are considered pro-administration. Such affiliation is likely to prompt more government-friendly coverage, critics have pointed out. But among other cultural policies, one of the oddest ones was the Arts Council of Korea requesting the Writers Association of Korea to submit a written document affirming that they would not attend "violent" and "illegal" demonstrations. The underlying assumption was that should they not comply, the likelihood that their request for 34 million won (some $30,000) in funds for several projects for this year would not receive the green light. The council, composed of 11 members representing various disciplines of the arts and appointed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has an annual budget of around 100 billion won to sponsor Korean artists and various artistic and cultural activities.
The association is a representative writers group in the country that has about 200 members in its fold. Naturally, being writers, they rose up in arms, declaring that they would launch a "resistance" writing campaign on both on- and off-line media to denounce the council's move, and that they would not accept the 34 million won from the government. The association said that one outraged writer in his 70s had delivered them the 34 million won from his personal account.
Writing is a noble and highly demanding job. The joy of writing is immense. Personally, the blank white page is sufficient to get all my attention. Those who write for a living should be recognized, in that they are willing to deal with bouts of anonymity, poverty and stress. As the popular writer Haruki once said, "A writer must be willing to deal with the toxins that arise from the pit of a human's mind and soul." There is no denying the hardship they go through. And what they produce is what we laypeople enjoy at times for simple reading, at times for comfort, and at times to learn more about the world and the self.
The council has belatedly come to its senses, apologizing to officials and officially retracting their odd request. As someone once said that it takes a great sense to make nonsense, so they must have had something great to begin with.