By Chung Ah-young
Staff reporter
French intellectual Guy Sorman is one of the world's most influential authors whose books have been swiftly translated into Korean.
His newest book "Wonderful World," a collection of essays written in various cities ― Seoul, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Beijing, New Delhi, Istanbul, Santiago, Moscow, Jakarta and Singapore ― from 2006 to 2009, has just reached the Korean shores.
"This book (Wonderful World) was penned in a different way from other books I have written so far as the patterns of readers have changed. So I have innovatively changed the writing style," Sorman told reporters at the French Cultural Center in Seoul Thursday.
The book is available both in hard copy and on the Internet as he posted his essays first online to interact with readers.
"Writing on the Internet enables me to make good work by communicating with readers and drawing responses from them instead of being trapped in my own thoughts," he said.
The author noted that he talks mostly about "globalized culture" in the book, which means globalization creates a new culture and blurs the boundaries between nations.
The title of the book comes from "What a Wonderful World" sung by Louis Armstrong in which, he says, all of us are global citizens.
He said that people in the world don't notice whether they live in a new culture. "I want to talk about the globalized culture through various topics happening around the world. I want to emphasize global citizenship in that sense," he said.
Sorman took an example of the Korean "hallyu" (Korean Wave) stars who hold concerts in China. In that sense, their geopolitical identities do not matter at all and they perform as global citizens.
Instead of hometowns and nationalities, people find meaning in the era that unites them regardless of race, language or civilization. Young people who are traveling around the world, immigrants and the international elite who work in diverse regions are emerging as central players nowadays.
He argued that although many Asian people look forward to the emergence of the "era of Asia," geopolitical identities are not meaningful anymore. For instance, the concept of smartphones was first conceived in California but their display screens are produced in Korea, their assembling process in China and their consumers are, for example, the French. "It means there is no boundary between the nations. For me, I have four identities. I am French and also European and a New Yorker as I frequently stay there and I am also of Polish-descent. The geopolitical limit is not important anymore," he said.
The author writes about Korea's upcoming G-20 summit in November as a "historical" opportunity to jump to join the world's central players.
"Many Europeans and Americans do not know where Korea is exactly situated and what kind of culture it has. They just know the names of Korean mobile phone- and auto- makers … Lack of recognition and awareness about a certain country negatively affects economically and diplomatically as global consumers prefer products from well-known countries like France, the United States and Japan," he said.
Because of the lack of recognition, not only tourism but also pop culture remains unnoticed although the "hallyu" boom swept other Asian countries. "Apart from the face-off with North Korea, South Korea has a lack of a national image that makes it hard to make international pacts with other countries," he writes. Due to the lack of the awareness about national image, South Korea is considered something in between China and Japan with its own civilization less appreciated.
He advised that Korea should make use of the occasion as a good opportunity to foster a national image by preparing cultural strategies such as the promotion of the National Museum of Korea, to show off its long history and civilization from prehistoric to modern times.
"Beyond the economic effect, the G-20 summit will bring Korea into the spotlight of commercial exchanges and global civilization," he says.
Asked about his opinion about the current situation on the Korean Peninsula following the sinking of the frigate Cheonan, Sorman said that China holds the key.
"China will become the central power along with the United States in 30 to 40 years. So it will get rid of its competitor. Japan is weakening its power within the country. So a unified Korea will be a big competitor to China. So it keeps North Korea on its side," he said.
Sorman has a keen insight into international affairs as a scholar, columnist and political science professor. Born in France in 1944, he has authored the books "The Conservative Revolution in America," "The Children of Rifaa: In Search of a Moderate Islam," "The Genius of India" and "Lies Called China."