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Opinion

Columnists

Sun, August 18, 2019 | 18:44

Black, Hispanic, Jewish Korean American

I grew up in the Bronx, which means that I grew up with more black and Hispanic kids than many African Americans that I know and work with today. I also went to school with largely Jewish kids, having attended more Bar Mitzvahs that I can remember. Also, I spent two-and-a-half years of my childhood in Asuncion, Paraguay, playing soccer with the indigenous Guarani Indian kids and shouting with the best of them in bastardized Spanish.

2015-06-26 17:15

Korea's national image epidemic

In an emergency National Assembly hearing on the Park administration’s crisis management failures over the MERS epidemic, members of both parties repeatedly suggested to Moon Hyeong-pyo, Minister of Health and Welfare, that the government raise its disease alert level from "watch" to "warning" due to the increasingly serious nature of the outbreak. According to reports, Minister Moon demurred, responding that raising the alert level to "warning" would have a negative impact on Korea's national image.

2015-06-12 17:26

A black man named Eddie Murphy

When I recently heard about the Duke History professor who replied to an editorial in the New York Times by complaining that “virtually every black has a strange new name that symbolizes their lack of desire for integration,” my thoughts flashed to an old Eddie Murphy interview. In a way that was at once incisive, uncomfortable, and funny when he was at his best, Murphy said that he sometimes found himself wandering how a black man like himself ended up with an Irish name.

2015-05-29 17:03

This is mindfulness

Recently, there has been a spateful of articles in The New York Times and other mainstream American press about how "mindfulness" has become the latest spiritual, self-help de jour, coopted by trendy spiritual gurus and executive coaches alike to promise everything from personal happiness and wellbeing to better corporate decision-making and higher bottom-lines.

2015-05-15 17:08

Freedom from leadership

In the last 30 years, leadership studies (both research and teaching) have become a multi-billion dollar industry around the globe. Books such as "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman, "Leadership On the Line" by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky, "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, among countless others, have become perennial bestsellers not just in the United States but across the globe.

2015-05-01 17:13

Diversifying without excluding

Recently, The Washington Post published an article titled, "Asian Students Dominate Admissions to Elite Thomas Jefferson High School," explaining that 66 percent of the incoming freshmen class of this crown jewel of the Fairfax County school system in Northern Virginia consisted of Asian Americans of various descent. In contrast, only 10 black and 8 Hispanic students were accepted out of an incoming class of 487 students.

2015-04-17 17:06

Korean culture of forced deference

A heated exchange between two female celebrities caught on video “B-roll” was the biggest news story in Korea last week. The incident between Lee Tae-yim and Yewon occurred as Lee was coming out of the cold sea on Jeju Island where they had taped a well-known TV show. The B-roll only shows Yewon sitting on the beach trying to get some sun as Lee approaches her off camera and begins a conversation. Yewon turns to look at Lee, squinting into the sun.

2015-04-03 17:11

Jasmine Lee's question to Korea

Jasmine Lee, the first Philippine-born, naturalized Korean to be elected as a proportional representative for the ruling, conservative Saenuri Party, is probably the most unifying politician in Korea today; she's hated by both the right and the left for her main sponsorship of the bill that would allow birth registration of children born in Korea from one or more parents who are illegal aliens.

2015-03-20 17:13

Job interviews in English

Being a longtime columnist for The Korea Times, I am used to receiving emails with comments (mostly negative) about my opinions. However, I occasionally get emails from desperate students or job seekers who are looking for some secret to quickly improve their English speaking skills, mostly because many of them are facing a job interview in English.

2015-03-06 16:45

Fresh off the boat

I just watched the premiere of the highly anticipated ABC sitcom “Fresh off the Boat.” Twenty years ago, I also watched the premiere of “All-American Girl,” which means that I belong to the small group of people who would have watched the premiere of the two sitcoms in the U.S. that featured an Asian-American cast. That 20 years passed between the two shows is a stark reminder of how difficult it is for new demographics to stake a claim in Hollywood and the public consciousness of America.

2015-02-06 16:50

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Code of Ethics