Opinion - The Korea Times

To be a totalitarian leader

By Jason Lim A totalitarian state is commonly defined as one in which the state has absolute power over all societal resources and controls all aspects of public and private life. The repressive characteristics of a totalitarian leadership scheme are well–known and naturally begs the question of how a person can manage to obtain such an overwhelming power and authority over other human beings to such an extent as to condition the followers to subject themselves to such abuses as arbitrary arrests for real and imagined offenses, forced obedience to a single political doctrine, inhibition of religious worship and other suppressions of what we would consider natural expressions of human will. One would suppose that the followers would spontaneously, and as a group, throw off the yoke of the totalitarian leader under such abusive conditions. However, as Hannah Arendt, a well-known political theorist admits, totalitarian states are not prone to palace coups. Looking at the history of totalitarian states in the 20th Century, we see that such states are not toppled beca

Nov 18, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Welcome to the world, little one

By Jason Lim I don't usually write about my personal life in this space, but this time I will. I hope that you will forgive me. But it won't be all personal, I promise. I will manage to work in some over-arching and redeeming social construct out of this somehow. As I write, I am sitting in a birthing room in an ultra modern hospital with my wife in a bed over yonder hooked up with all types of tubes and monitors. She's eyeing me with an unfriendly "Really?" look on her face as I begin pecking on my laptop. I tell her that I want to make sure that this moment is recorded in writing for our baby to read when he grows up, so that he would know how much pain and effort she went through to give birth to him. But she looks somewhat unconvinced. She probably thinks that I will shop this to publishers afterwards to get a book deal on "Daddy's Eyewitness Account of Birth," basically trying to freeload on her pain and suffering. But let's go back a few hours when we checked into this place. This is what I actually wanted to write about. When we got to the registration desk

Oct 26, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Can Samsung become Apple?

By Jason Lim I don’t know about you, but I found myself personally affected by Steve Jobs’ recent passing. I never met the man, or even saw him in person, so I can’t claim to have any personal connection with him. Judging by the reaction, millions of others throughout the world apparently share my sadness. So, what was it about the man that left total strangers ― most of us his customers who paid a lot of money to buy his products ― grieving? I mean, you don’t usually become affected by the death of your insurance agent or drycleaner. My own reaction surprised me, so I reviewed all the times that I had felt similarly sad over the passing of a relative stranger and found something curious; I had felt similar emotions when I had heard that Rev. Kang Won-yong had passed. And Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan. And Ven. Beop Jeong. In short, a religious leader who had managed to rise beyond his or her own religion and really become a unifying figure known for wisdom and compassion. Does that mean I considered Steve Jobs, unbeknownst to my consciousness, as a spiritual teacher?

Oct 12, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Separated families in Washington

By Jason Lim My dad was 16 years old in Pyongyang the last time he saw his mother and baby sister. He is now 78 and living in New Jersey, more than 6,000 miles and 60 years away from his family. When he left Pyongyang, following the steps of the retreating U.N. forces during the Korean War, he couldn’t have imagined that he would never see his family again. The separation was to be only for a few days, just to avoid the initial onslaught of the communist forces who were sweeping down. Everyone thought that the U.N forces would surely regroup and push back up north to take back the city in a few days. A week at the most. Of course, that never happened. The opposing communist and U.N. forces were stuck in a stalemate along the 38th Parallel for the rest of the war without any significant changes to the territory. My dad, hungry and scared, found himself in Busan after a few weeks, not being able to understand or be understood ― such was the difference in the dialects between Pyongyang and Busan. He eventually joined the South Korean army. He didn’t really have a choice.

Sep 28, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Ahn’s imaginary campaign

By Jason Lim There is a famous story in Korean history about Yi Seong-gye, the founding king of the Joseon Kingdom, and Ven. Muhak, his favorite Buddhist bonze (the Japanese name for a Buddhist priest). One day at a banquet, the king, feeling good from the festive mood and wine, challenged the venerable to a playful game of words. “Let’s insult each other and see who comes out ahead,” the king said. “I’ll go first.” “Now that I look at you closely, you bear a strong resemblance to a pig!” the king guffawed, waiting for the comeback. Ven. Muhak countered: “Your majesty looks like the Lord Buddha.” “What kind of a comeback is that?” the king was disappointed. “This is only fun if you insult me back. How is telling me that I look like Buddha insulting?” The priest pondered. “Well,” he explained. “To an enlightened person, everyone looks like a Buddha. But to a pig, everyone looks like a pig. People only see things in their own image.” Although the story is hundreds of years old, the kernel of truth contained within is still relevant today ― people only see what they

Sep 14, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Quake, hurricane, and Steve Jobs

By Jason Lim I was on the seventh floor leaning against my boss’ office door when the earthquake struck. We didn’t realize that it was an earthquake for the first few seconds. It felt more like living in a cheap apartment complex with a family of five teenage boys having a playful rumble upstairs. My boss and I were actually complaining that a maintenance crew was doing some drilling work upstairs without telling anyone. Then the shaking started. My boss, in her maddeningly calm fashion, declared, “We are moving.” Unfortunately, she was right. We were encased on the seventh floor of a concrete building in the middle of Arlington, Va., and moving. Believe me, it was not a pleasant feeling. Luckily, there was no lasting damage to either people or property, except for some trembling voices and shaky legs afterwards. But it did strike home the simple fact that no one’s tomorrow is guaranteed. As one of my colleagues shared the morning after, “It’s scary to think that your life could be over in an instant and you have absolutely no control over it.” And that’s exactly th

Aug 31, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Is Ven. Beopjeong in hell?

By Jason Lim Ven. Beopjeong of the non-possession fame was one of the most respected religious figures in modern Korea when he passed away last year at the age of 77. He was also a popular spiritual writer that resonated with the masses with his simple but eloquent prose with the power to continually move us even from beyond his grave; or, in his case, cremated ashes that were scattered about his favorite tree. But even the venerable probably never imagined that his memory would be thrust into the media spotlight as the center of a religious debate with a popular pop-cultural figure. Eric, of the Shinwha fame, ignited the controversy recently when he responded rather heatedly to a fan’s comment on his twitter. He had apparently been vocal about his Christian faith on his tweets, and one of his fans requested that he tone down his overtly religious tone since some of his fans were not Christians. The fan also quoted (falsely, it turns out) Ven. Beopjeong as saying that he would be willing to go to hell to rescue all the people condemned by their supposed loving “God.” Er

Aug 19, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

What Korea can learn from Lim Jae-bum

By Jason Lim Without a doubt, Lim Jae-bum must be the comeback story of the year. Once a forgotten, over-the-hill rocker, Lim came back with a vengeance in the popular imagination after his appearances on the new hit show, “I Am a Singer.” It wasn’t just his performances that won him a place in the hearts of millions of new fans. Of course, that is not to say that his singing wasn’t worth the hyperbolic praise that he had garnered ― his performances were raw, original and devastating. But his explosive popularity was founded not just on his skills as an artist. No, his popularity was largely based on the story that lay behind his comeback. Whether by accident or by design, Lim has always been aloof, unapproachable, and too edgy to be comfortable in the mainstream. He was always a great singer, but singing wasn’t enough. He was unknowable, which necessarily meant that he was soon forgotten by an audience that wanted their stars to be likeable and witty. And being forgotten also meant that he was unemployed most of the time. But it was the story of his struggle that ul

Aug 10, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Japan’s 99-yen leadership

By Jason Lim I am writing this in the immediate aftermath of Japan’s victory over the U.S. in the Women’s World Cup 2011. Although I am heartbroken that my side couldn’t hold on to win, what a thrill and privilege it was to watch the proverbial underdog beat out the big dogs and win the whole thing. And as the announcers kept saying, this win would undoubtedly provide a huge lift to a nation that is still reeling from the terrible aftereffects of the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011. And I sincerely hope it does. Nevertheless, I feel just a tiny bit frustrated that the great nation of Japan would be so desperately dependent on an improbable win in the World Cup to lift its national spirits. To be frank, I thought that Japan would have been roaring back from the disaster already, rallying together as a nation to rebuild not only her infrastructure but her psyche and show Asia’s four tigers who the original king of the jungle was. But the roar has been nothing more than a slow whimper of a wounded animal too sick and tired to even lick its own wounds. Wher

Jul 22, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Kimchi for Buddha

By Jason Lim My brother and I were picky eaters when we were small. Our mother would often have to resort to playing childish games to trick us into eating. One of the games was called, “This is so good that even Buddha would eat it!” This is how it worked. Our mom would take a spoonful of otherwise ordinary white rice and pile on different condiments such as spicy sausage, pickled lotus roots, and kimchi and exclaim with delight, “This is so good that even Buddha would love it!” as she scooped it into our puckering mouths. Or she would spread sticky rice onto a sheet of roasted seaweed and roll it up into a maki with a thin strip of fried spam, yellow Japanese radish, and, of course, kimchi dripping with its characteristic red, piquant sauce. She would then change up what she said since we won’t fall for the same thing twice: “This is so good that even Confucius would rise up from the dead!” Then she would shove the maki through our unforgiving lips. Once safely lodged in our mouths, we would chomp as if our lives depended on it, eagerly waiting what delicious combin

Jul 6, 2011By Jason Lim

Jason Lim

Read more

To be a totalitarian leader

Welcome to the world, little one

Can Samsung become Apple?

Separated families in Washington

Ahn’s imaginary campaign

Quake, hurricane, and Steve Jobs

Is Ven. Beopjeong in hell?

What Korea can learn from Lim Jae-bum

Japan’s 99-yen leadership

Kimchi for Buddha

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