Mark Peterson

To rescue Korea’s declining population

Nationwide Confucian conference

I was in Korea recently as a guest of the Sungkyunkwan — not the modern university, but the original Confucian academy that is over 1,000 years old. Today, the Sungkyunkwan is the headquarters for the Confucian organization. The conference I attended was a training session for leaders of Confucian organizations from across the country — the hyanggyo and seowon in every area of Korea. I was asked to talk about my views of the standing of Confucianism in 21st-century Korea.

Congratulations, democracy

Congratulations, Korea, on another display of democracy with your recent elections. I lived in Korea at a time when the practice of democracy was in question, but today, in some ways, Korea is more democratic than my own country, the United States.

A tribute to Namhi Wagner

I want to pay tribute to my “samonim” in today’s editorial. Samonim means the wife of one’s teacher. One of my most influential teachers was Ed Wagner, my thesis adviser and major professor at Harvard. I wrote a piece paying tribute to him several years ago (Sept. 22, 2019). At that time, thanks to the connection provided by my old friend and retired editor of The Korea Times, Hong Soon-il, (who died two months ago at the age of 93), I reconnected with my samonim,Namhi Kim Choi Wagner.

Stories held in Korean names

One of my favorite pastimes is looking at names, particularly unique names. I guess it's the genealogist in me. When I watch sporting events, other people look at the athletic skill of the competitors — I look at the names on the backs of the jerseys. In American sports, there is always a new name I’ve never seen before.

Korea: lowest birthrate in world

Koreans are always proud of being the first or the best at things. Having the lowest birthrate in the entire world, however, is a “best” that is really the worst.

Haiku in Korea, 'sijo' in Japan

On the heels of a recent trip to Japan, coincidentally, I was asked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to write an essay for their webpage, Korea.net, on the positive cultural relations between Korea and Japan. The current government is taking a conciliatory position vis-a-vis Japan, in contrast to the previous administration, which took a more confrontational approach. I suppose that the variations of policy are a good thing and a byproduct of government by democracy. It’s a healthy kind of pendulum swing, the essence of democracy.

Documentary on 'Miracle of Gapyeong' battle

In the past two years, after hearing about an unusual battle in the middle of the Korean War between a Utah National Guard battalion and two regiments of Chinese "volunteers," I've been helping make a documentary film about the battle.

Sam Richards, YouTube phenom

If you don’t know who Sam Richards is, you don’t watch YouTube. He is a YouTube megastar and a fan of Korea who is well known throughout the Asian country as the professor from Penn State University who discovered Korea in recent years and features it in some of his online lectures.

Korean 'fine dining'

Recently, the New York Times published an article saying that the high-class restaurants in New York that featured French cuisine for decades are being replaced by high-class Korean restaurants. So, on a recent trip to New York, yes, I had to try one of these new upscale restaurants. It was very expensive, but it was really, really tasty. Wonderfully creative dishes with exciting flavors that overwhelmed the senses.