A New Year's wish
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By Jay Kim
Today’s world seems more dangerous than we thought it would be. Terrorist attacks throughout the world, religious massacres and the outbreaks of epidemic diseases are making the world as dangerous as it’s ever been. However, there is neither a new strategy nor a solution to address these threats.
These days, countries have been busy finding political and military strategies to block terrorism, but have not been able to find any ways to prevent suicide terror attacks. No matter how strictly a country controls people’s departure and entrance and no matter how cutting-edge the technology and equipment it uses, the reality is that those attacks are not preventable.
We started the New Year in this dangerous situation. Despite this chaos, the U.S. where we live, stands tall as the strongest economic and military power in the world. The E.U. was created to counter the U.S. and has a territory larger than all of Europe, but its weakness was revealed in its failure to cope with the 2008 financial crisis.
The financial crisis led to economic crises in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Even though Germany took on all the responsibility for the economic crisis of Europe, the economy has weakened to its worst in Europe. Europe has become dependent on the U.S. even in its military affairs, as its security could not but be left to NATO forces mainly consisting of U.S. forces.
The U.S., already the strongest in the world, will become even stronger this year. It is not because the country did something that this happened, but because investors are withdrawing their money from the other parts of the world where destructive incidents are occurring, and putting it into the U.S., as they think the country provides the most stable economic environment in the world.
The U.S. currently accounts for 25% of the world’s GDP, but it is expected that its share will exceed 30 percent soon. Russia is running out of money due to falling energy prices and its invasion of Ukraine, and some predict the possibility of its national bankruptcy in case things continue on the current path.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has become the top country in terms of the possession of energy sources. President Obama’s remark that shale gas drilling can be allowed starting this year and the passage of the Keystone pipeline bill in the House shocked OPEC to try to maintain the oil price below $50 per barrel. The U.S. has now become truly the strongest power in the world, as there is no country to check the U.S. in the struggle for hegemony since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In our homeland, South Korea, President Park Geun-hye expected 3.8 percent economic growth for this year. The political party that rejected the national anthem and flag in part of its pro-North ideological war that distressed the nation was dissolved by the Constitutional Court of Korea, and the National Assembly member who has been on trial for a conspiracy of insurrection lost his seat. A Korean-American who praised North Korea was deported from South Korea and banned from returning for five years.
With the beginning of this year, it seems that things are settling down in South Korea. Meanwhile, 1.5 percent economic regression is expected in its neighbor Japan. China is experiencing the worst economic polarization in the world, as only an extremely small number of people benefit from its economic development while most of its one-billion-plus population are unable to escape from dismal poverty. The Chinese economy is forecasted to be flat this year without significant growth from last year.
Furthermore, it is expected that protests for independence from China will continue in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as Tibet and other parts of China. South Korea, geographically stuck among world powers such as Japan, China, and Russia, still seems to have the brightest prospect for this year. It has already signed a free trade agreement with the U.S., the world’s strongest country, and it will also sign one soon with China, the second strongest. Even better news is that we are beginning to see a ray of hope for reunification with North Korea, as its isolation has worsened in the international community.
One concern, if any, is us Korean-Americans. I am talking about such shameful behavior, frowned upon by other Americans, as picketing in the middle of New York City to call for President Park’s resignation. I have never seen Jewish-Americans holding a protest criticizing Israel or Chinese-Americans holding one calling for the resignation of Xi Jinping.
I hope that we, Korean-Americans, will encourage our struggling brethren in our homeland this year. Criticizing and meddling with every issue in Korea would make us unwelcome in Korea and our place there even narrower. I hope that this year Korean-Americans will live life to the fullest here in the U.S. and more generously understand the affairs of our homeland, even if we do agree with what is happening there.
Jay Kim is a former U.S. congressman. He is chairman of the Kim Chang Joon U.S.-Korea Foundation. For more information, visit Kim's website at www.jayckim.com.