Opinion - The Korea Times

President problem or woman problem?

By Kim Ji-myungThe ancient Chinese believed, according to feng-shui (K. pungsu, geomancy) philosophy, that the world changes in three sexagesimal cycles, every 180 years; Koreans also accepted this system.  They termed these cycles in temporal order, as the upper cycle, followed by the middle cycle and then the lower cycle.The current sexagenary cycle (1984-2043) is a lower cycle. During this period, the power of yin, the force of the earth, dominates.  In their 1996 paper “Unraveling feng-shui,” scholars Chiou and Krishnamurti explained that positions of the earth and sky would be reversed in this era.A Korean expert in I Ching (Classic of Changes) theory interpreted this as indicating that the lower-cycle will empower women more than ever. And therefore, in this period until 2043, the world would see the emergence of many female political leaders. This era of yin power will see prospering entertainment and game businesses, while women advance to ranking positions in administrative, legislative and judicial government branches, he claimed.When Ms. Park Geu

Nov 18, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Recording history in paintings

By Kim Ji-myungA professor at the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) suddenly realized one day that twelve mural-sized oil paintings had always been hanging on the walls of the auditorium, library and other school buildings in AKS, but were totally ignored by people.Portrayed in the paintings were significant moments and themes of Korean history, from pre-historic to the contemporary period. For example, one depicts people in a primitive ancient society inscribing shapes of whales, fish and tigers on rock walls along a river near what is now Pohang. Another painting presents the meeting of independence fighters during the colonial rule in the early 20th century. He took photos of these paintings one by one and, together with his students, conducted a survey which found that there were in fact over 100 such paintings in existence around the country, held in institutions like the War Memorial Museum, Independence Hall, Saemaul Movement Association and Hyeonchungsa Shrine for Admiral Yi Su-sin.Officially classified as national documentary paintings (minjokgirokwa), these historical pa

Oct 21, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Gyeongju's bridge and earthquake

By Kim Ji-myung The May 2008 issue of National Geographic featured an article on the Dong ethnic group who live in an enclave nestled in the luxuriant mountains of Guizhou Province, China.  Headlined “Village on the Edge of Time,” novelist Amy Tan’s narrative of her journey to this remote and poor corner almost read like poetry.  The Dong people have no written form of their language, which they call Kam. Songs are their record of traditions and a mythic history that is a thousand years old, or so the songs themselves suggest, Tan writes. Not only the story but the photos had a sharp impact on my mind. What I especially remember is one of the bridges, which the writer described as “a covered bridge that was fanciful, outlandishly so for a small village of rice farmers whose income is less than a hundred dollars a year. The bridge was as formidable as a dragon, with a scaly roof for its body and cupolas for its head and spine.” She viewed it “with the awe of a child who has just seen a fairy-tale place jump out of a book.&rd

Sep 23, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Schedule for death

By Kim Ji-myung Not because of my age or any health problem, I find myself spending quite a bit of time thinking about death these days. People often “die hard.” There are some over-100 seniors around me.  They honestly tell that their lives are boring, and too long. Nothing pleases them, they complain.  It is like a life-sentenced prisoner waiting for the day of judgment without knowing their verdict. When young, I used to be an impossibly future-oriented optimist, overflowing with new ideas and fresh plans for improving myself and the world. Once, a senior in my office told me that there must have been no one very close to me who had died, or was dying in a sickbed.  He knew that only innocent or ignorant souls could continue to talk about “tomorrow” as if their days would never come to an end. Now, there are many over-100 grandmas around me ― such as my mother-in-law, a friend’s mother and a remote relative ― all women.  Half of them stay at hospice facilities for the elderly.The older population is predominantl

Aug 26, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Tradition of corruption

By Kim Ji-myung“They say the gods themselves / Are moved by gifts, and gold does more with men than words.” Euripides, Medea (431 BCE), translated by Rex Warner. The key words here are bribery and corruption.  Please note that this statement was made some 2,450 years ago. Among the many concurrent corruption scandals, the Nexon-prosecutors connection story is the hottest and ugliest.Three men of a similar age, all with competent school backgrounds and in influential positions, have been presenting the nation with stories of a highly structured dark world involving complicated plots.The techniques employed and the legal clauses for evasion are too complicated for me to understand.  I wonder what good there is in the press reporting such details?I am sorry that many Koreans, young and old, can now easily imagine what filthy tasks prosecutors and presidential secretaries can do sitting behind the desks in their offices.  Even if they represent just 0.0001 percent of all public officials, they have already served a deadly blow to the trust and honor o

Jul 29, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

'Our Village Concert'

Kim Ji-myung When the first “Our Village Concert” was held with a men’s choir singing at an elementary school auditorium in Seojong-myeon on the evening of April 29, 2000, no one expected to see the event continue for the next 16 years.The Dongseong Teen OB Choir presented many beautiful songs for the residents of that village, and people of all ages loved it.Last Saturday (June 25), the villagers enjoyed a diverse repertoire of saxophone music, from “Vocalise” by Rachmaninoff to “Magia” by Choi Hil, director of the Korea Saxophone Ensemble. As usual, the audience of this 154th Our Village Concert included many children and grandparents, many of whom are amateur instrument players themselves. “At the beginning, nothing came easy. No experience, no place for the performance, no money,” said Chung Yeong-sim, the current and third chairperson of “Seojong People.”A few leaders of the village, who used to chat over some drinks, reached the conclusion that it was necessary to set up a team to implement the plan. Th

Jul 1, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

English and Korean War

By Kim Ji-myung “One morning, father told me to go and pay attention to the situation at the American army office and see if there is a job opening,” says Prof. Yoo Chong-ho in his three-volume memoir. He was just 16 and temporarily staying in the city of Cheongju with his family, having fled some 66 kilometers from his less-safe hometown of Chungju, both in the central part of the Korean Peninsula.  The American soldiers were stationed at Cheongju, which was the northernmost supply center with a railway connection for the American military. The first day he roamed around the middle-school building, at the time used by the American army, and saw many idle children and students. If any of them moved closer to peep inside, a soldier would shout “Get away!” After a few weeks, it was rumored that the American army was recruiting laborers. He went to the office again. He was the only boy among the aged adults. He collected all his courage and approached a middle-aged man, who yielded some sort of charisma. “Hello. I want to work,

Jun 3, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Korea-Iran relations: 1974 and 2016

By Kim Ji-myung One morning in 1974, I was sitting in an ante-chamber of the minister of health and social affairs. As a reporter covering the ministry, morning check-in at the minister’s office was routine. At the time, labor affairs were also handled by the ministry, with the Office of Labor established later. Although the minister had no appointment with a visitor scheduled for that morning, I found a tall foreign gentleman emerging from the minister’s room. Such a foreign visitor to the health minister was a rare event, and his serious expression prompted my journalistic instinct that something quite important was happening. Even more, he was moving alone, without a colleague or accompanying staff. I asked him to stay a few minutes for an interview, which he accepted.  That was the very first mention of Iran’s plan to employ some 100,000 Korean workers in Iran for their 5th Economic Development Plan. As I discovered, the man was the deputy minister of construction of Iran. He explained the grand national development plan of 1973-1978, wh

May 6, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Having a second house in Japan

By Kim Ji-myung How about having a lovely second house in a small town in Japan almost for free? It sounded like a fairy tale when I first learned that one of my high school seniors spends half of her year in a second house near Nagoya, Japan. This retired couple in their seventies began enjoying their life in the small town of Komono, Miye Prefecture, several years ago.They stay about two months at a time there, reading and writing. Of course, they enjoy a lot of walking and trekking in this calm mountain village with brooks and spas. As in many Japanese towns, there are lovely places to visit such as a museum and restaurants.It sounds like a millionaire’s program! But it cost them almost nothing. House rent is 50,000 Korean won per month, which is about 50 dollars. To set up at the beginning, they picked a rice cooker, toaster, microwave oven, and some basic furniture at the community center free of charge. The return flight from Seoul to Nagoya costs just about US$200 per person on a budget airliner. Then it is a bus and train ride to the village. They have pa

Apr 8, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

A new era for go

By Kim Ji-myungKorea is a latecomer in the global community of go. Called baduk in Korean and weiqi in Chinese, the game is known to have originated from China, like most of the culture and civilization of Asia. Confucius wrote about weiqi already in the 4th century BCE, to illustrate correct thinking about filial piety and human nature. By the 17th century, enjoying a game of go properly had become one of the Four Accomplishments to be mastered by the literati of Asia, along with calligraphy, painting, and playing the geomungo, a type of Korean zither. Today, go is more popular in Korea than anywhere else in the world. Some claim that five to ten percent of the population, especially retirees, are regular players.Korea’s history of professional go playing began when the Korean professional go match system was established in the 1950s, following Cho Nam-chul’s return from training in Japan. The game bloomed in Korea when Cho Chi-hun, who was among the best players of the late 20th century, won half of Japan’s biggest three tournaments from 1980 to 2000. He was the f

Mar 11, 2016By Kim Ji-myung

Kim Ji-myung

Read more

President problem or woman problem?

Recording history in paintings

Gyeongju's bridge and earthquake

Schedule for death

Tradition of corruption

'Our Village Concert'

English and Korean War

Korea-Iran relations: 1974 and 2016

Having a second house in Japan

A new era for go

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