'Those who chase thieves join thieves'
The four-character idiom "myoseodongcheo," which describes a situation in which people who chase thieves end up joining thieves themselves, was selected by a group of Korean professors as the idiom representing 2021. Courtesy of Kyosu Shinmun
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Korea has gone through corruption in the political and public sectors this year, with people in these sectors deceiving the public altogether, a group of Korean professors said, Sunday.
According to Kyosu Shinmun, a weekly journal for professors, Korean professors picked "myoseodongcheo" (猫鼠同處), literally meaning that a cat is with a rat instead of catching it, as the four-character idiom representing 2021. The journal has been releasing phrases describing the social situation of each year annually since 2001.
Typically, rats are likened to thieves, stealing crops, and cats catch rats. The situation of a rat and a cat together is abnormal, so “myoseodongcheo" refers to a situation in which those who chase thieves join thieves. The idiom first appears in Liu Xu's "Old Book of Tang," which was written in the 10th-century Tang Dynasty.
Yeungnam University philosophy professor Choi Jae-mok recommended the idiom, saying that there were many disputes over injustice throughout the year.
"We have seen many incidents this year in which those who have to enforce a law fairly or monitor its fairness were in cahoots to swindle for their own profits," Choi explained over why he picked the idiom.
One such incident is the real estate speculation scandal involving employees of Korea Land and Housing Corp., in which dozens of worker at the state-run agency used confidential information to buy real estate in lands that were subject to massive land development projects, raking in huge gains.
Another social science professor, who selected the idiom, said, "Politicians from ruling and opposition parties are both 'thieves,' but they accuse each other of being thieves," while another said, “The people and organizations that were supposed to manage the state's property commit illegalities and breach of trust without feeling guilty.”
Some other professors picked the idiom as a reference to next year's presidential election as both of the leading candidates are embroiled in scandals over corruption and abuse of power.
"We have to choose the 'lesser-evil' candidate to stake the national destiny," one professor said.
The second-most suitable idiom for this year was "Ingonmapip" (人困馬乏), which means both man and horse are tired, coming from the tale of Liu Bei on refuge in "Records of the Three Kingdoms," the newspaper said.
Suh Hyuk, a Korean language and literature professor at Ewha Womans University, compared the long COVID-19 pandemic to Liu Bei's long time in retreat. "People and the country are all tired of eluding COVID-19," Suh said.
Other professors who also backed the idiom said the public is tired of politics as well as the pandemic.
"People are already suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the political circles show irrational behavior," a professor said.
The professors warned of the chaotic political situation
as well, when they selected "asitabi" (我是他非), an idiom meaning that means "I'm right, you're wrong."