What heats up the heat

By Park Moo-jong

A record heat wave has been plaguing the peninsula for more than two weeks with no signs yet of abating soon, forcing Koreans to toss and turn during sleepless nights and adding to their world-renowned quick temper.

One of the best ways to help beat the scorcher could be good news, namely positive, not negative items. But, unfortunately, there is too much bad and negative news in the flood of broadsheets and internet media outlets.

It is incredibly difficult to find good top headlines these days except for some in specific classes, perhaps, in the sizzling heat that has already broken the heat record for Seoul of 38.4 degrees Celsius set on July 24, 1994.

Really, I'd like to write about good and positive things to help our readers feel cool for a moment, though. But the latest situation does not allow me to do so to my great regret. I ask for your understanding.

To be concrete, there are some specific things that make me personally feel hotter, although there are pros and cons.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon "has succeeded" in attracting public attention by "torturing" himself, his wife and two secretaries in the blazing heat in a rooftop house, not a penthouse, of 30.2 square meters in a shabby town in northern Seoul to experience how poor people live and to work out better policies for them. He will "live" there for a month until Aug. 18.

What a ridiculous political show! It is hard to understand that the mayor serving for seven years since 2011 could only recognize how citizens lead a dire life in the underdeveloped district by staying there for one month. Paradoxically, the event proves that he still does not know about their livelihoods.

President Moon Jae-in was so generous as to send an electric fan to the mayor, who looked so happy along with his wife, in front of the Chief Executive's gift, in a photo he released to the media. Definitely, the electric device is not capable of cooling the mayoral couple. I wonder why the President didn't send an air-conditioner. He is also spending 2 million won ($1,760) of taxpayers' money to rent the rooftop house for a month.

One piece of good news of late was the story that President Moon made a "surprise" visit to a pub in downtown Seoul a week ago to chat with young people there about the latest issues, accompanied by only a handful of secretaries and security personnel.

Yet, a series of news pieces on the event that followed burned me up. The event was planned by a top aide, who allegedly planted a 27-year-old man seeking a job whom Moon met in March 2017 during his presidential campaign. I hope that the meeting was productive for Moon to understand what is going on outside the presidential office.

The news that Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, 61, floor leader of the Justice Party and touted as an iconic progressive politician, jumped to his death on July 23, was the worst news of late. So many people lamented the death of the "symbol of progressive politics" as National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang said in his eulogy.

But the late Roh, long known for his clean image and efforts to better the lives of workers, did wrong. He made a bad choice, and was facing an investigation for receiving 50 million won ($44,333) in illegal political funds from a person working with a power blogger, known by the nickname Druking. The blogger is at the center of an online opinion-rigging scandal during Moon's election campaign.

What burned me up in this sad event was the ensuing controversy over whether Roh's suicide was being "beautified" following remarks by Hong Joon-pyo, the former leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party who is now staying in the United States.

Both Roh's Justice Party leaders and Hong should have saved their breath and instead cherished the memory of the deceased calmly with no political purpose. In fact, there are now many black and white banners of the Justice Party mourning his death across the city and elsewhere in the country.

Another thing that catches my breath in the scorching heat is the "tent village" in Gwanghwamun, the very heart of the capital of the Republic of Korea, which has been there for more than four years since the Sewol ferry disaster that cost the lives of 304 passengers and crew.

Families of the victims and their "supporters" have been staging a sit-in for a "thorough" investigation of the cause of the sinking and the punishment of those responsible for the tragedy. Everybody knows what they want. Why don't they leave it to the government? And why are Seoul City Hall and Mayor Park doing nothing to remove the tents?

What burns me up in this record heat wave is the thousands of lamp stores in the city, especially in the Jongno and Cheonggyechon area, which have hundreds of light bulbs switched on in broad daylight while operating air-conditioners fully against the heat from the bulbs. What are the related authorities, concerned about the shortage of power in the blazing heat, doing against such an absurd practice of the stores?

Finally, Kim Jong-un of North Korea is irritating many South Koreans, including myself, by deliberately delaying negotiations for his country's "complete" denuclearization. U.S. President Donald Trump too.

Of course, there cannot be good news all the time; but we have too much bad news.

Fortunately, however, one consolation is the Wednesday morning news that the government is "considering" lowering power rates for full operation of air-conditioners to help people fight the "murderous" heat wave.

I hope I will be able to write articles about good news in the very near future.

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.