How I've grown to like South Korea
By Adam Borowski
South Korea is rapidly expanding its influence across the globe. My South Korean experience began in 2018. I am going to describe how I've grown to like and appreciate South Korea. The fact that I am writing an article for The Korea Times proves the country has a truly global reach.
I was working in China four years ago. I didn't know much about South Korea at the time; I'd had a better understanding of Japan. For some strange reason, Poland and Japan have had close relations for more than a century. When my plane was slowly approaching Beijing, I saw Pyongyang on the flight tracker screen. It was a perplexing feeling, knowing I was so close to North Korea. From Beijing, I flew to Chengdu. When I left China in 2017, I turned my attention to North Korea.
Back in Poland, I read several excellent articles about teaching English to North Korean refugees and that's how I came across The Korea Times. It was the beginning of my South Korean exploratory journey. In the summer of 2018, I had a chance to meet South Koreans living in Vancouver, Canada.
I didn't know much about Korean movies, dramas or TV shows. I knew almost nothing about K-pop. I thought K-dramas were shallow and boring. I was wrong. I enjoyed the fact that many Korean productions centered on alternate realities, on identity and sometimes on zombies. I appreciated the intricacies of the mind with a macabre twist in ''Hell Is Other People.'' I liked the alternate reality aspect in ''The King: Eternal Monarch.'' Sadly, I need to rely on subtitles in English as my Korean isn't advanced enough. Korean movies and TV shows are often complex and comical with undertones of fatalism. This appeals to my melancholic Polish soul. I also enjoy an occasional high-heel stabbing scene.
The language of K-pop creeps into other languages, much to the chagrin of foreign language purists. The question arises: will South Korea manage to keep up the momentum in its battle against the global soft power players? I am sure South Korea has its brightest minds coming up with shrewd strategies to outsmart the competition. Just like an entrepreneur wants to attract investors by meticulously managing his company's image, the same logic applies to countries. If South Korea wants to stay on top, it needs to remember the competition never sleeps and complacency is not an option.
On a lighter note, if there's an infinite number of parallel realities, then there's an alternate South Korea which requires all potential immigrants to embrace Korean culture by showing off their K-pop skills. Luckily for all involved, the magical metamorphosis only lasts 30 minutes.
Back to our universe. When the coronavirus crisis passes, I am going to visit South Korea, as well as Taiwan and Japan. I'm sure it'll be a fascinating and awesome experience.
Adam Borowski (adam.borowski1985@gmail.com) is a technical Polish-English translator and an international relations
aficionado. He is the author of an alternate reality novel titled: ''Planetary Entrapment Syndrome.''