Morning lark or night owl?

By Park Moo-jong

Tomorrow is the 70th anniversary of liberation from Japanese occupation (1910-1945).

Independence prompted a veteran composer and a poet, both in their mid-30s, to create a song for the country’s children to inspire them to love their “new” nation and neighbors, and become early birds.

Until the 1970s, the song, “Child of the New Country,” used to be a favorite of not just children but their parents too.

“Child of the new country gets up early in the morning.

The country without sleepyheads, our country is a good country....”

Seven decades have now passed and few still sing the song, composed by Park Tae-joon (1900-1986) with lyrics by poet Yun Seok-jung (1911-2003).

As an old saying goes: “Ten years is an epoch.” (The proverb, if translated literally in English, reads that 10 years changes the scenery of the land). It is no wonder that 70 years have brought drastic changes in our lifestyles.

Traditionally, Koreans have always got up earlier than Westerners. They used to be morning larks.

Yet, this has changed more toward a typical Western lifestyle of night owls especially over the past three decades or so.

Koreans could not enjoy nightlife until the then Chun Doo-hwan government lifted the night curfew (from midnight to 4 a.m.) that had lasted for 36 years and four months from September, 1945 to Jan. 4, 1982.

Besides the curfew, the explosive increase in the number of private cars following the 1988 Seoul Olympics decisively contributed to altering Korean’s lifestyle since they could return home any time they wanted.

It is amazing to see traffic jams even late at night, midnight or 1 a.m. for instance, in Seoul and other big cities.

All-night restaurants, public saunas and various entertainment spots, especially “noraebang” (singing room), flourished just about everywhere, although they are now suffering a slump amid the prolonged economic stagnation.

Modern Koreans have increasingly become nocturnal people who go to bed after midnight because of work or entertainment.

One of the most important jobs Korean mothers do every weekday morning is wake up their husbands and children who went to bed “early in the morning” after working late or drinking, or studying hard to enter prestigious universities.

The standard response from their sleepy husbands and children is “just five more minutes, please.” Breakfast cannot be delicious at all.

About a decade ago, on the list of bestsellers was “Early Morning People Who Live Their Life Double,” written by the Japanese doctor Hiroshi Saisho.

The doctor says, in short: “People who have command of their morning have control of their day, and people who have command of their days have control of their life.”

Citing many examples of people who succeeded because they went to bed early and rose early in the morning, he encouraged readers to transform themselves into early birds and enjoy success and happiness.

In particular, the author explains how the nocturnal life adversely affects our mental and physical health and how the morning life can help us harmonize our biorhythms.

With this in mind, then, are you a lark or an owl?

Doctors and scientists found out why some people are early risers while others prefer to burn the midnight oil.

Dr. Simon Archer, who led a study at the University of Surrey in Britain, said, “We found that morning people have a longer gene and evening people a shorter one.”

But studies at home and abroad about the question show quite diverse results. For instance, a study conducted by Dr. Kim Nan-hee, an endocrinologist at the Korea University, found that many middle-aged night owls had a higher instance of diabetes and abnormal levels of lipids (higher blood sugar) and too much fat around the waist.

A recent study from the University of Toronto shows that morning larks tend to be happier and feel healthier than night owls.

Larks generally sleep better, have more regular sleep patterns, and have more flexible personalities, according to Dr. Katherine Sharkey, assistant professor of internal medicine, psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University.

She says that people's circadian rhythm can change over their lifetime. “There's a developmental piece to this puzzle _ school-age children are generally early birds, while teenagers tend to be night owls, and then as they age, adults gradually transition back into morning people.”

But in “Study Magazine,” Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the London School of Economics and Political Science, reported that IQ average and sleeping patterns are most definitely related, proving that those who play under the moon are, indeed, more intelligent human beings.

Scientists in favor of night owls also say that “morningless” people are more intelligent than those who hit the hay early as they absorb the energy of the moon to be more creative and open-minded than those who like to catch the early worm.

They claim that those who go to bed earlier never experience the psychological and emotional changes that occur under the blanket of darkness.

To be a lark or to be an owl depends on your own choice.

However, in this society where people often work around the clock, there must be an advantage to getting up early in the morning.

On the occasion of the 70th National Liberation Day, I hope that the people will look to bygone days and remember the song, “Child of the New Country.”

The bottom line is that the early morning bird still catches the worm.

Park Moo-jong is the advisor of the Korea Times. He had served as president-publisher of the daily from 2004 to 2014 after he had worked as a reporter of the paper for 30 years from 1974. Contact him at moojng@ktimes.co.kr.