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Wed, October 24, 2018 | 03:31

Opinion > Columnists > Park Moo-jong >

Too young to retire

The Republic of Korea is an aged society and will become the world's fourth super-aged nation by 2030, in 12 years time. The country officially became an aged society seven months ago, last September, 17 years after it began to be an aging one in 2000.

Park Moo-jong | 2018-03-22 16:45

Cowardly 'Pence Rule'

A Korean proverb says, “Are you going to avoid making soybean paste for fear of maggots?” This familiar adage is based on a traditional Korean recipe when making soybean paste (“doenjang”): To keep the lid off the jar to help its contents ferment well in the sun. Alas, flies lay eggs there and maggots, sometimes, result.

Park Moo-jong | 2018-03-15 16:28

An underdeveloped country

Last week, I read a contribution by a man to a leading Korean newspaper about the deteriorating traffic disorder caused by what we call “autobi,” a Konglish word coined from “auto” from automobile and “bi” from bicycle, meaning motorcycle.

Park Moo-jong | 2018-03-08 16:13

The tip of the iceberg

Last November, I wrote a column titled, “Me too, me three!,” noting that “the #MeToo movement has yet to kick off in South Korea, but the issue is no different with more victims of sexual assault and harassment, mostly by acquaintances such as relatives, friends, superiors at workplaces and seniors at school, coming out to identify themselves …”

Park Moo-jong | 2018-03-01 16:09

Kudos to Team Kim!

The ongoing PyeongChang Winter Olympics are undisputedly featuring, among others, the five “Kims,” the ladies curling team of the Republic of Korea, who share the same surname (金).

Park Moo-jong | 2018-02-22 16:43

This is the season of going home for family reunions, particularly between children working in big cities and their parents living in rural villages.

Park Moo-jong | 2018-02-14 16:18

Plastic-free campaign

Just 19 years ago in 1999, there was a unique government-led campaign to put a stop to the then unchecked use of plastic bags and other one-time-use items such as disposal cups, dishes and wooden chopsticks. The then Kim Dae-jung administration (1998-2003) rolled up its sleeves to help prevent our national soil from being contaminated by these objects that do not decay for centuries. In some aspects, the Republic of Korea was somewhat of a leader in the world at that time in discouraging the use of such items that do not decompose for a long, long time.

Park Moo-jong | 2018-02-08 15:38

'Syndrome Syndrome'

An English medical word, “syndrome,” is enjoying a heyday in explosive popularity in Korea today far away from its home. It is a piece of cake to find the word “신드롬” in Korean (pronounced sindrom) in newspapers and on the tube of late. They are “Chung Hyeon Sydrome,” “Park Hang-seo Syndrome,” and “Hyon Song-wol Syndrome,” to name a few. And the title of this column, “Syndrome Syndrome,” means a “syndrome to call any social phenomenon or fever, even bright and desirable, a syndrome.”

Park Moo-jong | 2018-02-01 16:58

Busan Opera House

What music to our ears! The Republic of Korea will have a gorgeous seaside opera house like Sydney three years from now. Busan city government announced last week that the construction of the Busan Opera House will start in the first half of this year to be completed by 2021 at a cost of 250 billion won ($214 million).

Park Moo-jong | 2018-01-25 15:52

Let's rekindle Olympic spirit

The second Olympics on the Korean Peninsula are just around the corner as the Olympic Flame from Olympia, Greece, is crisscrossing South Korea before it lights the cauldron to mark the opening of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games on Feb. 9. The relay of the torch, dubbed here, the “Sacred Flame,” to herald the first-ever global ice and snow festival in Asia outside of Japan is taking place once again in this part of the world, just three decades after the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.

Park Moo-jong | 2018-01-18 15:58

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