Opinion - The Korea Times

Sijo contest in LA

By Mark PetersonThe Los Angeles Korean Cultural Center (KCCLA) announced the winners of their sijo contest last week. It was an online contest with contestants from all across the United States. This is the first annual sijo contest for Korea's LA cultural center, which means they intend to do it again next year and thereafter. This is welcome news and a positive indicator that sijo is catching on in America.I've reported previously on the Sejong Cultural Society in Chicago that has held a sijo contest online for the last 13 years for high school students, and last year was the second year for the post-high school group. The KCCLA  contest is open to all.The contest had a theme: “anything inspiring to get through COVID19.” The awards were announced in a virtual award ceremony ― a very nice, visually appealing video with an abstract background and with music. Go to Facebook, search for “Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles,” and the award ceremony is easy to find. They start with the bottom up, from third place (five winners) to second place (three winners)

Jul 19, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Charm of K-drama

By Mark PetersonOkay, call me slow. Yes, I know everyone else has been talking about K-drama forever. But I've finally gotten on board. The key to my conversion has been “Crash Landing on You.”My wife had watched “Crash” twice and finally talked me into watching it with her. Sixteen episodes, each one ending with a classic cliff-hanger that leaves you anxious to see the next episode and wondering how in the world they're going to resolve this crisis. But every time they did, and we launched on to the next episode.“Crash” has everything. Suspense. Romance. Humor. Charming characters, rogues, lovable rogues and villains, absolutely unmitigatedly evil villains. And clever, even devious good guys that can out-maneuver the bad guys. And oh, the bad guys. Your skin just crawls when the chief bad guy figures out what is happening and zeroes in on the hero and heroine.The acting was really good. It draws you in, both the good guys and the bad guys. I looked up the record of the actors and was surprised to see many of them had shallow experience. There were

Jul 12, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Improving Korean education

By Mark PetersonI'm really hesitant to give my opinion on the Korean education system, but on the heels of my article last week about the Harvard admission policy, perhaps I can venture to offer my humble opinions in hopes of improving an already excellent educational system.The Korean education system is unquestionably one of the finest in the world. On some scales it is No. 1 or No. 2. What improvements could possibly be necessary? If there are to be improvements, what are the problems, if any? The first thing that jumps out at us is the suicide rate for high school students. A quick look at the Wikipedia page on suicide in South Korea shows that suicide is a serious problem in the country. Prominent people, actors, actresses, even a former president, have taken their own lives. And the suicide rate for the student-age population is high, and there is evidence that the pressure on high school students to perform in a highly competitive school environment is part of the reason.Maybe the Harvard approach is part of the answer?As I outlined last week, the Harvard admission standard in

Jul 5, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

How to get into Harvard

By Mark PetersonPersonally, my experience at Harvard, a master's degree and a Ph.D., has helped me in many ways to open doors to opportunities along the way. But it has been interesting to me that the word “Harvard” is met with such awe, particularly in Korea. Korea has an understanding of both hierarchy and the value of education, and Seoul National University is often assumed to be the best university in Korea, and Harvard is assumed to be the best university in the world. This may or may not be the case, but I have seen the reaction from many in Korea when the word “Harvard” is heard. What does it take to get into Harvard? The assumption is you need the best scores on tests (ACT or SAT) and a perfect grade point average (GPA). Well, it turns out that's not true.I was reminded of Harvard's admission policies a few days ago when I saw a press release about Harvard's change of admission requirements because of the COVID-19 situation. They announced that since many students, “particularly those from modest economic backgrounds,” would not be able to

Jun 28, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

American sijo movement

By Mark PetersonLast week I wrote about the sijo contest hosted online by the Sejong Cultural Society based in Chicago. And I've heard rumors of another sijo contest being organized in Southern California. This gives me hope that the “sijo movement” that I've been waiting for is getting off the ground! The response from the article last week was welcoming, so I've decided to write a little more about the winners in the contest.I've written several articles about sijo in the past year, and during that time I see several signs that there is more interest in America in the sijo as a widely-known, widely-practiced poetic form. Why have I termed an interest in sijo as a “movement”? It's because I see us in Korean Studies in the U.S. as playing “catch-up ball,” in regard to catching up to the popularity of haiku. Japanese haiku is well-known in America, and it is well-practiced ― meaning that all students in the last 30 years or so have been studying and writing haiku. That's the thing! Haiku is not just an abstract or object of study, but students actua

Jun 21, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

American 'sijo'

By Mark PetersonI have set up a research foundation, the Frog Outside the Well Research Center, where I work on three areas ― and only three areas ― where I have some degree of expertise. They are: traditional Confucian practice, the re-evaluation of Korean history, and encouraging the writing of “sijo” in Korean and English.Sijo is a traditional Korean poetic form. The largest online sijo writing contest recently concluded and I would like to share the results with The Korea Times readership.The contest was the 13th annual event sponsored by the Sejong Cultural Society, a private organization of mostly Korean-Americans based in Chicago. It was the 13th year for secondary school students in what they call the pre-college division; two years ago they opened an adult division. In the pre-college division, the judges selected two first-place winners ― a tie.There were first, second and third-place winners and several “honorable mentions” in each division. There was a prize of $500 for first place, down to $50 for honorable mentions. When the contest began, there

Jun 14, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Need for new history

By Mark PetersonWhen I first arrived in Korea, in November 1965, Korea was a very poor country. It had hardly begun to recover from the Korean War that had ended 12 years earlier. Per capita annual income was $125. South Korea in those days was much poorer than North Korea and was one of the absolute poorest countries in the world. Korea had been victimized by Japan and by the catastrophe of the war. The history of Korea that I started to learn then was a story of victimization ― told in terms of the many depravations Korea had suffered at the hands, or swords, of foreign invaders. It was a poverty-stricken history of victimization of a country that was poverty-stricken and victimized.In the 55 years since, Korea has progressed to where per capita annual income is around $30,000. The once-poor country is now one of the richest countries of the world. Yet, with all the changes in the standard of living, the history has not changed and it needs to. Let me introduce a radically different idea about history: history is not just that which happened a long time ago; history is now! What th

Jun 5, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

12 pillars of peaceful Korean history

By Mark PetersonAs I look back at my 10 plus articles arguing that we should look at the peaceful and stable tradition of Korea, it occurs to me that there are two more items I should cover. I'll call these the “twelve pillars” of the peaceful and stable strain within the narrative of Korean history, to which “no religious wars” and “a remarkable ability to recover from wars” should be added.At the outset I proposed that the 20th century was an aberration compared to the long haul of Korean history. It appears to me that from the time of the unification of the peninsula (or most of it) by the Silla royalty, after 668, until the Donghak Peasant Movement, launching the beginning of the tumultuous 20th century, that during that great middle period there was remarkable peace and stability.I know this runs full counter to the common narrative in Korea, but I believe that the narrative has been distorted by the event of the aforementioned 20th century, specifically, the turmoil, and also willful distortions by the Japanese. Let's begin with “no rel

May 31, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Singular Korean surnames

By Mark PetersonWhen I came to understand that surnames in Korea were unlike those in other countries ― a high concentration of the population having one of only a few names ― it occurred to me that this was indeed a measure of what I had been looking at in other perspectives. In fact, of my top 10 list I've been treating in the last few weeks, perhaps the surnames is one of the most interesting, if not the most convincing. Here at the end of this series, let me list the “top 10” evidences of Korea's peaceful and stable history:1. The longest dynasties in the world2. Smooth transitions between dynasties3. Relatively few invasions4. Has never invaded another country5. The longest-unchanged border in the world6. Royal tombs not plundered7. Seonbi culture, not samurai culture8. Civilian control of the court9. Slavery, the longest, unbroken chain in the world10. Few surnames, a symbol of long-running aristocracySince beginning this discussion I've found two exceptions to the surname situation. I had begun by comparing Korean surname distribution to that in Japan, China and th

May 24, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Gwangju after 40 years

By Mark Peterson On Saturday I was asked to serve as a judge for the May 18th commemoration student speech contest in English, for middle and high school students of Gwangju. As a judge I was not prepared for the power of the speeches that I heard.The students of Gwangju spoke of how the event, 40 years ago, has impact on their lives today. Many of them thanked their ancestors who fought and died so that they can enjoy freedom and democracy today. I was struck over and over with the memory that I have of honoring my ancestors and older generation that fought in World War II so that “we can have freedom and democracy today” ― parallel ideas from a younger generation in a different land.The sentiments the students expressed were powerful without being emotional. To them, 40 years ago is more than 20 years before they were born. They have no reason to remember the Gwangju Democratization Movement except that they have been taught by their parents and teachers.One student said she knew nothing about it until a few years ago when her father took her to the Memorial Park and Ce

May 21, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Read more

Sijo contest in LA

Charm of K-drama

Improving Korean education

How to get into Harvard

American sijo movement

American 'sijo'

Need for new history

12 pillars of peaceful Korean history

Singular Korean surnames

Gwangju after 40 years

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