By Michael Breen
Amid the ups and downs of inter-Korean exchange, one rare initiative that has consistently moved along has been an effort to create a joint dictionary.
But now even the ``Big Dictionary of the Korean People’s Language,” as it is called, is threatened.
Approved in 2004, the project was over half done by the end of last year and on track for completion in 2013. Through nuclear tests, a change in government and other sources of tension, compilers have quietly met on schedule, four times a year for five years.
But, in the wake of the Cheonan incident, the ship sunk by a North Korean torpedo, the patience of South Korea’s government has evaporated and its willingness to fund inter-Korean projects is at an all-time low. The second tranche of this year’s 3 billion-won budget has yet to be released. Among the unpaid expenses is a 600 million won payment to the North Korean compilers.
Ko Un, the poet who chairs the project, came out this week to draw attention to its impending demise. He told one local paper that since the Cheonan sinking even discussions about expenses have been suspended. Consequently, the two sides have been unable to exchange first drafts, the writing has stopped, and researchers in the South are now looking for other work.
In figuring the rights and wrongs of this issue, there is no need to look for a villain. If ever there was a case of two sides being right, this is it.
The dictionary project is a fine idea. In fact, when is a dictionary not a good idea? When I was a linguistics student, my professor said that if a tribe were separated by a mountain range into two groups, after three generations of no communication, the languages would be diverging. Eventually, if they met up again, they would need interpreters. So it is with the two Koreas. Small differences are already apparent which can lead to misunderstanding. A toilet in South Korea, for example, is the equivalent of a ``powder room.” In the North, it’s a ``hygiene room.” President Lee’s surname in the South is pronounced as the letter ``e.” In the North, it would be ``ree.” The North has adopted Russian words and the South had adopted many more English words. The dictionary would aim to capture the language as it evolves in these different directions.
But the government is also right in being reluctant to pay. Of course, a government needs to honor commitments it inherits from its predecessor. But North Korea has provided good reason for a political review of inter-Korean projects. Why keep paying the North’s portion when it seems to have budget for torpedoes to use against our sailors?
What is the benefit in using public money for this project? Are the processes of cooperation and the completed dictionary worth the investment?
This is a debatable point. One thing is certain. This project will not lead to mutual understanding, unification or peace or anything like that. It is understandable that those involved think they are doing something noble and meaningful, but triggering unification is not one of them.
From the point of view of the government, which needs to manage the relations with North Korea and plan for what may happen in the future, the only value in this and so many other cooperative projects is that positive exchanges are good. The more forums, the more contact, the better we know one another, the less chance for misunderstanding and the higher chance of an eventual soft landing. There benefit is in the future. There is no benefit now.
At the same time, though, are we not undermining our cause by rewarding North Korea’s bad behavior? Very possibly.
Given all this, what are our options? One strategy could be for the government to withhold only the budget for the North Koreans and reinstate it when Pyongyang is behaving better. In the meantime, the South’s lexicographers could keep going.
An even better solution would be for the private sector to step up and cover costs. If donors were to offer funds, the government should welcome them. Any takers?
Michael Breen is an author, former foreign correspondent and the chairman of Insight Communications, a public relations consulting company. He can be reached at mike.breen@insightcomms.com.
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