By Shin Chul-ho
I quite often feel like I live in a country where Koreans fight against each other like a demon in a fury. In ``Leviathan" published in 1651, Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher, postulated that without government everyone would lead to a ``war of all against all." Witnessing the turbid Korean society, I cannot help but think that Koreans wage a "war of all against all" compared to the Japanese society.
I would like to show the contrast between the two societies.
1. In any organizations, higher positions are so limited that it is a matter of course that competition becomes severe. In this nation the problem lies in the fact that competitors indiscriminately disgrace each other without evidence in order to get promoted to higher positions. So an increasing number of people were given a jail sentence on charges of making a false accusation, that is, 819 people in 2007 and 1,144 people in 2008. But in Japan only two people were sued on the same charges a few years ago. ``Resentment" is prevalent in Korea.
2. Japan enforces laws strictly. Some Japanese politicians are also involved in slush fund scandals. However, once they are reported in newspapers and are proven to be true, the politicians are put in prison without exception and their political life comes to an end. Meanwhile, Korean politicians who are behind bars on charges of illegally receiving an astronomical amount of money pretend to be seriously ill. Then, they are immediately released and pardoned later.
3. Japan's per capita GDP is more than double that of Korea. But the Japanese hardly waste food. In restaurants when customers want to have more side dishes, they have to pay for them. Naturally they abstain from eating too much. In contrast, Koreans eat their fill, with leftovers heaped on the table.
4. Lee Ji-sun, when she was a senior at Ewha Woman's University in 2000, had burns on 55 percent of her body due to a traffic accident and went through scores of skin transplant surgery. In Korea, she walks down the sidewalk and many Koreans look at her face with pity, whispering something to each other. Some even glance backwards at her upon their shoulders. She feels nervous. In Japan, no one glances at her. They treat her just as an ordinary person. She feels comfortable.
5. The huge amount of Japan's reading puts Korea's reading in the shade. They read not only Murakami but also Dostoyevsky. That is the foundation of Japanese culture.
If these current tendencies continue, the gap between Korea and Japan in every field such as economics, politics, military power, education, culture, science and technology will never narrow. Above all, Japan´s trade surplus with Korea will go on.
The writer teaches English at an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at heemy123@hanmail.net.