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Columnists

Park Moo-jong

'No good organizations (NGOs)'

One of my friends asked me recently, “Do you know what NGO stands for?” I responded without a pause, “Are you kidding me? You know that NGO stands for nongovernmental organization.” But, he responded with a cynical smile, “No. It means no good organization.”

2020-06-11 17:21

Saving Han Myeong-sook

On Aug. 25, 2015, about 150 people, including several lawmakers of the then opposition party, held a “ceremony” to see off a convict going to jail to serve her two-year prison term in front of the Seoul Detention House.

2020-05-28 17:27

Waning respect for teachers

From ages past, it has been said that out of reverence for our teachers, we should not even step on their shadow. However, the reality of today overshadows the precious saying, sadly. And today, May 15, is the day we “celebrate” teachers.

2020-05-14 18:17

The “cruelest” month of April, as T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) described it in his 1922 poem “The Waste Land,” is gone whilst South Korea is effectively containing the coronavirus pandemic as a beacon to the rest of the world.

2020-04-30 17:05

Dear lawmakers-elect!

Every four years just after a parliamentary election, a remark by the late French President Georges Pompidou (1911-74) comes to my mind: “A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.”

2020-04-16 17:00

April: a cruel month?

The novel coronavirus that started in Wuhan, China, four months ago is plaguing the planet with no signs of abating for now, particularly in Europe and the United States. And April has come. April arrives to herald the coming of spring after winter has left. Flowers are blooming and life begins to emerge as a time of joy.

2020-04-02 18:04

Can you believe this?

A middle-aged man asked a question of one of his friends, who immediately asked in return, “What? ”One of the most frequently spoken words among Koreans, particularly youngsters, during talks is “jinjja?” or “jeongmal?” meaning “really?”

2020-03-19 17:28

Living in 'new world'

So many Koreans, including myself, are now under “house arrest” to maintain a social distance aimed at keeping away the rapidly spreading new coronavirus, without knowing when it will end.

2020-03-05 17:38

'No work, no pay'

Everybody agrees that the upcoming April 15 general election is a crucial national event to herald what the Republic of Korea, now beleaguered with piles of difficult questions, including an economic downturn, will be like in the future.

2020-02-20 16:56

'Yold' or 'young old'

Fifty-three years ago back in 1967, The Beatles released “When I'm Sixty-Four,” written by Paul McCartney, on their album “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He expressed in the song an apparent concern about getting old. He wrote it at the age of 16 when his father was 64.

2020-02-06 17:05

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