By Park Moo-jong
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As reported by Kwon Mee-yoo in a special article Tuesday, The Korea Times "reached this milestone number (of 70), considered a benchmark age of longevity in Korea."
The age of 70 years old is called "gohui" (古稀), as Chinese poet Du Fu (杜補: 712-770) described as a rare age in his poem "Meandering River," saying, "It has ever been rare for man to live to 70."
About 1,100 years later, Irish poet-playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), author of "The Picture of Dorian Gray," also said in his play, "A Woman of No Importance, Mrs. Allonby:" "I delight in men over seventy. They always offer one the devotion of a lifetime. I think seventy an ideal age for a man."
But this "old" age is no longer old in this 21st century with Koreans' average lifespan reaching 83 years in 2019 from 48 years in 1950 when the English daily was born. We are now living in a time when people of 70 years old are called "young" senior citizens.
In this sense, the 70-year-old Korea Times is still young as proven by its vigorous activity of living up to its given role as a bridge between Korea and the rest of the world, and as a tool to help upgrade Koreans' English proficiency in this global age of intensifying competition.
In terms of the newspaper's role as a tool for education, the role of an English daily cannot be overemphasized, especially in this global village where English is a global language that has already conquered cyberspace.
It would not be too much to say that The Korea Times has been a life-long teacher, friend and companion of mine. I spent 41 years of my life without a pause at the English daily since 1974.
My relationship with The Korea Times dates back to 1963 when I entered high school at the age of 15 and was recruited as a reporter for the school's English newspaper, published quarterly. I started to read the daily. I could not understand the stories well because of my poor English ability. But every morning I took the paper at my door and tried to read it with a dictionary.
People of all ages have a desire to learn English. From toddlers to senior citizens, the entire nation is engrossed in learning English. Officially, Koreans learn English for eight to 12 years ― two years at elementary school, three years at middle school, three years at high school and four years at college.
Since I joined The Korea Times, my first and last workplace, so many people have been asking me how to learn English.
I have only one answer: There is absolutely no royal road to learning English. Why don't you make the best use of such a convenient and effective tool such as an English daily?"
I used to tell them the episode of the late President Kim Dae-jung (1924-2009) who is a unique example who mastered English through an English newspaper.
Just before he took office as the 15th President (1998-2003), The New York Times reported that Kim started learning English at the age of 48 by tutoring himself, puzzling over The Korea Times with a dictionary in a prison cell. The late President recalled later that reading The Korea Times was a great pleasure behind bars.
In light of my experience, I can dare say that nothing is a better textbook to learn English than an English newspaper.
Besides the undisputed role as a tool for English learning, The Korea Times has been fulfilling its duty faithfully as a messenger of information on current issues, tiding over various difficulties, such as financial problems as a small-circulation for English newspaper.
As the fifth longest-surviving daily only after the vernacular papers, Chosun Ilbo, Dong-A Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun and Seoul Shinmun, The Korea Times has been working with the best of them to let the people, especially foreigners, know what's going on in this part of the world.
Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.
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