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Semoon Chang

Donald Kirk has been covering Korean Peninsula issues for decades.

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Semoon Chang

Compliments to Korean restaurants

By Chang Se-moonI recently had occasions to entertain American families with to-go meals from local Korean restaurants: once from Arirang and another from Mahdang, both north of Washington DC. I was not quite sure if they would like Korean food, what types of food or flavors they might prefer, or even if they would have a taste for its usual spicy tastes and textures.Bibimbap, the Korean pancake called pajeon, and japchae are some of the most popular Korean dishes among non-Koreans who visit Korean restaurants. My decision was to serve alternative Korean food options to see how, and if, my American friends would enjoy the cuisine.First on the menu were two safe entries: LA galbi and Korean bulgogi. I was a bit unsure about the next two, thinking they could be “tricky” to someone's taste. One was pork belly, called samgyeopsal, with lettuce and spicy sauces. The second was grilled mackerel with soybean soup, called doenjang jjige.To my pleasant surprise, all four dishes were very popular, including the pork belly and grilled mackerel. Interestingly, contrary to Koreans and

Feb 7, 2021By Chang Se-moon
Semoon Chang

Compensation for victims of car accidents

By Chang Se-moonAn SUV suddenly cut off a city bus as it left a stop in Jinju City, South Gyeongsang Province, on Dec. 16, 2019. The bus screeched to a halt, causing a passenger ― a high school girl ― to fly head-first into the metallic fare box inside the vehicle. The girl suffered severe injuries that left her a quadriplegic. The driver of the SUV received a one-year prison sentence.Near the end of 2020, well over 200,000 people signed a petition posted on the Cheong Wa Dae National Petition Bulletin calling for a tougher sentence for the SUV driver. The SUV driver may have committed a minor traffic violation in the eyes of existing laws. But the outcome, however, is a very serious civil case referred to as wrongful injury. If the driver received a 50-year prison sentence rather than the one-year sentence, of what value is this to the victim? This is where a civil case attempts to provide some remuneration. Simply stated, how much should the victim receive from the reckless driver for her irreparable injury? As an economist who has worked on more than 100 such cases, I can answer t

Jan 24, 2021By Chang Se-moon
Semoon Chang

'What to Do About North Korea'

By Chang Se-moon “What to Do About North Korea”This title is not my own. It is the topic of presentation that Ri Jong-ho made during the Dec. 2, foreign policy webinar sponsored by the Defense Forum Foundation. Since the National Assembly passed a law that bans an anti-North Korea leafleting campaign on Dec. 14, this may be a good time to again ask what to do about North Korea.The Defense Forum Foundation, which promotes democracy around the world, is led by Suzanne Scholte who is well-known as a leading advocate for freedom and human rights for the people of North Korea. Ri, the speaker at the webinar, defected from North Korea in 2014 after faithfully serving the Kim family, making billions for the regime through his work at Bureau 39 and as founder and CEO of the Daehung Shipping & Trading Company. He received numerous awards including the Hero of Labor Award, the highest civilian honor in North Korea.What should we do about North Korea? According to Ri, the U.S. Congress should enact a new law that would “strengthen sanctions against North Korea for its denu

Jan 3, 2021By Chang Se-moon
'What to Do About North Korea'
Semoon Chang

Income distribution during pandemic

By Chang Se-moonCOVID-19 has brought into stark visibility a very ugly issue: the worsening distribution of income between the rich, the ultra-rich, and the poor. In the United States, more than half (52 percent) of “adults ages of 18 to 29 were living with their parents in July, passing the previously recorded peak at the end of the Great Depression.” (American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Bulletin, November, 2020, p.12)If you ask whether there is a limit to how much a person can make in a market economy, the answer is likely “no.” In theory, a person will be making as much as he or she contributes to the production of the goods or services in which the person is working. Economists call this the marginal productivity theory of income distribution.If you ask whether there should be a limit to how much a person can make in a market economy, the answer may not be that simple.For instance, the stock market has broken all records during the pandemic, while thousands of wage earners in the retail and service industries lost their jobs. This happened world

Dec 13, 2020By Chang Se-moon
Income distribution during pandemic
Semoon Chang

We are in a war and losing

By Chang Se-moon“We are in a war right now and the virus is winning.” Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland made this statement Nov. 17 describing the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus. Hogan is well known to Koreans because his wife is a Korean American woman.New infections in the United States continued to increase, reaching 46,238 cases on Oct. 1 and further rising to 64,553 two weeks later. By Nov. 20, the number had soared to 196,473 according to U.S. data. In a span of less than two months, the number more than tripled. This is the trend of the virus in allegedly the most advanced country in the world. The rapid rise in the number of new infections clearly shows the urgent need for a vaccine.On Nov. 13, I received an email notification from my pharmacy, CVS, stating that “CVS Health® has entered into a contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We were selected as one of the official COVID-19 Vaccination Program Providers.” The notification further states that “The U.S. government will make a supply of the COVID-19 vaccine av

Nov 29, 2020By Chang Se-moon
We are in a war and losing
Semoon Chang

What if I cannot pay rent?

By Chang Se-moonOne of the most heart-breaking occurrences during the current COVID-19 pandemic relates to people who can no longer pay rent for the apartment they live in or for the space where they run their small business. This cruel development is impacting most, if not all, countries currently suffering from the pandemic, including Korea, the United States and beyond.Many employees who lose their jobs have little, if any, savings to begin with. When they lose their jobs due to the pandemic, they have no means to pay the rent. Many small businesses have survived on small profit margins to begin with. When sales plummet due to the pandemic, these businesses have no means to make their rental payments.What should policymakers do? An easy, perhaps too easy, way out is to enact a law that prevents property owners from evicting renters, say, for the next three or six months as many jurisdictions have done. There are several problems with this approach.For one example, what happens after the three to six months of no eviction period ends and tenants continue to be unemployed or suffer

Nov 15, 2020By Chang Se-moon
Semoon Chang

Military service required for presidency

By Chang Se-moonMy ID number in the Korean military begins with two zeros. This is because I served in the Korean military as a student soldier in 1960 or 61. It has been such a long time ago that my memory of dates in this article will be more approximate than exact. I can clearly remember my student military number, however, probably because I had to repeat it so many times while serving.At the time, I had two close friends. We remain, these many years later, still close. Two of us volunteered to join the army before we were drafted. The third one also volunteered. After he was rejected due to health problems, he volunteered again. When he was rejected the second time, he gave up on military service.My recollection is that all my friends from top schools and good families never had a thought of avoiding or evading our duty to complete our mandatory military service. We were all proud of our service. We never considered hiding from it to be an option. As for my service, I was a private first class in the Tiger Company of the Capitol Division. We greeted each other by saying “M

Nov 1, 2020By Chang Se-moon
Semoon Chang

Story of a North Korea fisherman

By Chang Se-moonNo, I am not a fisherman from North Korea. However, the horrible life of fishermen there is foremost in my mind. Recently, my imagination was so real that I woke up feeling as if I were a fisherman from the North. This is my waking story told as that fisherman.I live in a small town on the east side of North Korea between Wonsan and Hamhung. The water where I fish is called the East Sea by my people. I was also told that the sea was called the Sea of Japan by the Japanese people.My only family is my wife and two small children. Neither I, nor my fellow fishermen in the village, have any idea of what is going on outside our village. We are told by Communist Party local leaders that America is our enemy and we must always be prepared to fight it. These same leaders also tell us that we should be grateful to our Chairman Kim Jong-un because people in South Korea are living a terrible life. Until four or five years ago, we were given rice every day so that we could eat. Since then, we no longer receive rice from our government. We were told that it was because bad America

Oct 11, 2020By Chang Se-moon
Story of a North Korea fisherman
Semoon Chang

God lost all hope and left Korea

By Chang Se-moonKorea is going through an uneasy, trying time. To the surprise of many, those in power, after glorious promises of justice, equal opportunity and many other noble objectives, are tangled up in messy controversies and lawsuits, and are under fire for unkept promises.Two conspicuous civic revolts are currently particularly visible. One is a song titled “Bitjaru” (broom), while the second is a petition to the President of Korea, titled “Seven Pleadings to Your Majesty.” Both have been spreading inside and outside Korea like wildfire.The song is sung by a popera group called Inch Elo. The group is composed of three good-looking guys who begin their song with the words “Honest world without lies, the world we all dreamed of … freedom, equal opportunity, fairness and justice were promised to the entire world.” The song ends with the suggestion to “sweep away” all those leaders who kept none of their promises. Both the music and lyrics were written by the same person, Chung Poong-song. The tone is pleasant but the messag

Sep 27, 2020By Chang Se-moon
God lost all hope and left Korea
Semoon Chang

Let us showcase cross-cultural spouses in Korea

By Chang Se-moonTo continue my discussion of human right violations in South Korea from my last column of two weeks ago, I would like to tell you a wonderful story that I experienced Feb. 20 this year. On that day, there was a special event at the Fort Myer Army Base in the Washington D.C. area. The event was the 23rd Annual International Showcase whose message for this year was “Building Bridges Across the World.”The event was very special because it was sponsored, managed and successfully carried out by members of the U.S. Army Spouses' Club of the Greater Washington Area (ASCGWA).I was there inside the military base as a privileged guest.To be a member of ASCGWA, one needs to be a spouse of an active, retired or reserve military member. Membership requirement of an International Member is a spouse of an accredited attache (Defense, Military, Air Force, Naval), assistant attache assigned to embassies in Washington, DC, a spouse of a foreign officer, or a spouse of a civilian employee (sponsored by their respective embassy) assigned to duties in the National Capital Regi

Aug 30, 2020By Chang Se-moon
Let us showcase cross-cultural spouses in Korea
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