Opinion - The Korea Times

Who am I in 4th Industrial Revolution?

By Jason Lim No, I am not writing about one of the oldest and most frustrating questions in human history and a spiritual quest. I actually want to explore the topic of identity in the context of the coming 4th Industrial Revolution. There are many visions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As a primary ambassador for this phenomenon, the World Economic Forum (WEF) proposes the following breathless vision: “The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited. And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.”But what the WEF says about the underpinning trends is more important: “The trends that underpin Industry 4.0 mean consumers are now on the cusp of a hyper-personalized era with fundamental changes in terms of choice, consum

Sep 21, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Korea's peculiar tribalism

By Jason LimSo, it was South Korea vs. Japan in the gold medal match for soccer in this year's Asian Games. Besides being a dream match for the game organizers and TV studios, the biggest news seems to be about Park Hang-seo, the South Korean coach of the Vietnamese U-23 team that made it all the way to the semifinals before losing to Korea. Because Park is Korean and took the Vietnamese team to great success, the Korean press is gushing about how the Vietnamese people's appreciation for Park's unlikely achievement will translate into closer relations between the two countries as well as increased likeability for Koreans in Vietnam. In a way, this is an application of the social constructivism theory of international relations, which basically says that even international relations are driven by constructed social identities of nation states. Alexander Wendt writes, "that the structures of human association are determined primarily by shared ideas rather than material forces, and that the identities and interests of purposive actors are constructed by these shared ideas rather than g

Sep 2, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

What if the rich lived forever?

By Jason LimEveryone knows the famous story of how Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, made a fool of himself trying to live forever. He entrusted the magician Xu Fu of Zhifu Island with 6,000 virgins, untold riches, and a fleet of ships to travel to Pengal Islands, where eight immortals kept the elixir of life. Even when the magician failed to return, the emperor entrusted other charlatans with riches to go out and bring back a way to live forever. Ironically, the emperor ended up overdosing on pills made of mercury, which was a common ingredient in elixirs of life. So, even the most powerful man of his era couldn't live forever. Everyone dies. Death is the great equalizer. Until now, that is. According to recent press reports, scientists have been able to reverse aging in human cells in the laboratory. The study, as published in journal “Aging,” describes scientists delivering hydrogen sulfide directly onto mitochondria to regain the cell's ability to divide. “The researchers were able to reverse the aging process of some old human cells by delivering a spe

Aug 19, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Preordained analytics of big data

By Jason LimIn an article titled, “What we buy can be used to predict our politics, race or education ― sometimes with more than 90 percent accuracy,” the Washington Post describes a study done by University of Chicago Booth School of Business economists Marianne Bertrand and Emir Kamenica that shows that consumer behavior patterns can reliably predict whether someone is white or not in the U.S. Funnily enough, whether someone owned a pet was the most reliable predictor of race. It was closely followed by ownership of a flashlight.Consumer patterns do not only predict race. Other statistical vignettes that were almost as interesting include, “If someone went to Arby's or Applebee's or used Jif peanut butter, you might guess they were conservative. If they didn't own fishing gear or use ranch dressing, but drank alcohol and bought novels? Probably a liberal.”As a statistical analysis, the predictive ability of this study breaks down when applied to individuals. For example, I do not own a pet, but I have three flashlights stashed around the house and love

Aug 5, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Is xenophobia in Korea's DNA?

By Jason LimAylan Kurdi was a three-year old Kurdish-Syrian boy who washed up on the shore of a beach in Turkey in September 2015, drowned when the boat carrying refugees sank off the coast. The visceral image of an innocent child victimized so cruelly by circumstances beyond his control led to an outpouring of grief around the globe. Expressions of public grief were likewise plentiful in Korea, with everyone conveying heartfelt sympathies. Until Aylan arrived in Korea, that is. When a little over 500 Yemeni refugees arrived on Jeju Island recently, intending to apply for asylum, Korea spasmed as if it were facing another Toyotomi invasion. A Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House) petition against granting asylum for the Yemeni refugees garnered more than 700,000 signatures in less than a month. On June 30, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in Seoul against the Yemeni refugees. They held up signs that read, “Fake Refugees” and “Korean Citizens First,” among others. The arguments against refugees are not unique to Korea. They are familiar refrains with echoes from other

Jul 22, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Thai boys and Sewol children

By Jason LimThank God they were found. The 12 boys and a coach from a local soccer team were found inside flooded Thai caves after going missing for 10 days. As each day ticked by, there was mounting dread that the boys would never be found. They would either be drowned already or, even worse, desperately clawing out the last days of their short lives in sheer terror against the unrelenting darkness and water. Just like the Sewol victims. Although the situations are vastly different, the dread that gripped me upon hearing about the missing boys was a painful echo of what could have been for the Sewol kids. I am not saying that the Sewol victims could have been saved. The ship sank with such speed in cold, churning ocean current that rescue would have been incredibly difficult in any case, even if everything went right. Then again, finding twelve boys trapped inside a complex cave system more than 2 miles from the entrance isn't exactly easy. Add in rushing, flooded waters, the pitch darkness, and sharp edges of jutting rocks, then danger for the divers were clear and present. Even af

Jul 10, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Breathless in Korea

By Jason LimI am not exactly unfamiliar with Korea. I worked here for a few years way back when, and have been back frequently enough to pass as a local. But every time I visit, Korea always manages to present me with little odds and ends about her culture, people, and things that give my brain either a brief pause or a longer-lasting freeze. Not necessarily bad, but different or unexpected enough to notice against my own cultural and behavioral paradigm that I have become accustomed to living in Washington D.C. During this current visit, the little things about Korea that I knew were always there but got to me this time in a more visible and fascinating way were…One, the vastly differing concept of personal space. Koreans don't really seem to share the unspoken social agreement that each person is entitled to some invisible force field of space into which a stranger shouldn't encroach unless it's to kiss or pickpocket. True, lack of personal space integrity is understandable in a crowded subway car during commuting hours. But it's a bit disconcerting when you can feel the hot

Jun 22, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

What about the expats?

By Jason LimWhen the tension was near the breaking point last fall, with both President Trump and the official North Korean mouthpiece hurling insults and threats at each other on a regular basis, there were many handwringing reports of how a war ― or even a limited military engagement ― would cause untold havoc and loss of Korean lives in Seoul and surrounding areas. But what about the lives of foreign residents of Korea?When the rapprochement happened during the Olympics, the North and South Korea summit happened, and the U.S.-North Korea summit was scheduled, then canceled and then rescheduled, there were lots of stories about Korean people's emotional swings between hope, despair and fear. But what about the hope, despair and fear of the foreign residents? There are over 2 million foreigners living in Korea who represent 4 percent of the total population. It's expected that, by 2020, more than 3 million foreigners will call Korea home. The expat community is a permanent part of Korean society contributing every day to its diversity and richness. The majority of them are from Chin

Jun 10, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Fossils in blue jeans

By Jason Lim “Fossils in blue jeans” was the title of the press release by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company on their findings in an assessment of South Korean corporate culture and organizational health. This was the second report following their first one 2016.Some improvements were noted. According to Hankyoreh, “The proportion reporting that they were “not chronically working overtime” rose from 31 percent to 46 percent, while the number reporting “no inefficient meetings” climbed from 39 percent to 47 percent. The percentage reporting “no unnecessary reports” jumped from 41 percent to 55 percent, and the number reporting “free dialogue, questions, and communication” increased from 55 percent to 65 percent.”The improvements seem pretty good to me, but the KCCI was not satisfied. When asked whether they could “sense the improvements to corporate culture,” 87.8 percent gave negative responses: 59.8 percent agreed that “ther

May 27, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

My culture is not your… prom dress

By Jason LimThem's the fighting words that Jeremy Lam tweeted over seeing Keziah Daum, a Utah high school student, posting photos of herself wearing a red Chinese qipao, or cheongsam, to her school prom. The tweet led to an onslaught of cultural appropriation accusations against Daum for wearing the traditional Chinese dress. Admittedly, I am somewhat confused over the concept of cultural appropriation. So, questions. Do you have to be a member of a certain cultural tradition to have the right to display artifacts that are primarily identified with that particular culture? And does being a member of that culture imbue you with the sense of ownership that gives you the right to exclude anyone not a member of that same culture the right to display the artifacts? Is cultural appropriation about context? Is it okay for Melanie Trump to wear a traditional Chinese dress for the state dinner in China because it's a gesture of appreciation to the hosts? But it's not okay for Daum to wear a traditional Chinese dress to her high school prom because it's not Chinese-themed? In that case, what i

May 13, 2018By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Read more

Who am I in 4th Industrial Revolution?

Korea's peculiar tribalism

What if the rich lived forever?

Preordained analytics of big data

Is xenophobia in Korea's DNA?

Thai boys and Sewol children

Breathless in Korea

What about the expats?

Fossils in blue jeans

My culture is not your… prom dress

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