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Tue, December 18, 2018 | 04:19

Opinion > Columnists > Park Moo-jong >

'You only live once'

Forty-seven years ago, Kris Kristofferson wrote and composed "Help Me Make It Through the Night," an "immortal" country music ballad whose lyrics are somewhat erotic. The then 24-year-old American singer-songwriter, who was assigned to teach English literature at the West Point at the end of his military service but refused, sought for love: "Take the ribbon from your head..........let the devil take tomorrow. Lord, tonight I need a friend. Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow's out of sight. And it's sad to be alone. Help me make it through the night." Three years before Kris sang the so...

Park Moo-jong | 2017-08-03 16:55

Age-old debate on dog meat

Koreans are spending the hottest days of their lives for the first time since 1994, with the mercury soaring up to nearly 40 degrees Centigrade (104 F) in the ancient capital city of Gyeongju and 36 degrees C (96.8 F) in Seoul early this week. The sultry weather is usually described as "sambok deowi" or "heat wave during the period of three ("sam") Dog Days," which fall on July 12 ("chobok"), July 22 ("jungbok") and Aug. 11 ("malbok") this year. On the past two Dog Days of "chobok" and "jungbok," there were long queues of citizens in front of restaurants serving "samgye-tang" (boiled chicken...

Park Moo-jong | 2017-07-27 17:41

'Shut up and attack'

Park Sung-hyun thrilled not only her fellow Koreans but world golf fans by coming from behind to win the coveted 2017 U.S. Women's Open Championship on Sunday at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-07-20 17:35

How to 'torture' Koreans

When it comes to "torture," many people, especially Americans, may be reminded of the recent death of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. student, who sustained serious injuries while he was detained in North Korea for 18 months.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-07-13 18:33

We've had enough

The street, as a public thoroughfare, is the place where people should coexist peacefully. Order is a must on the street on which people may freely assemble, interact and move about.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-07-06 17:10

What do people, especially English speakers, think of the phrase, "aid dog meat?" Aid dog is synonym of service dog, which is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have disabilities such as visual impairment, among others. Alas, then does the aid dog meat mean the meat of a service dog such as a retriever?

Park Moo-jong | 2017-06-29 16:08

Romance vs. adultery

"The Bridges of Madison County," a 1995 American film, portrays a four-day extramarital affair of an Italian wife Francesca (Meryl Streep) with a photographer Robert (Clint Eastwood). The film earned $182 million worldwide and was well received by critics. It was also a box office hit in South Korea and its musical version is going well here, too, at Chungmu Arts Center in Seoul.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-06-22 16:56

Aborted opera house

Almost all the major world cities have a traditional opera house, which are favorite tourist destinations They are, to name a few, La Scala in Milan, the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Opera House in London, the Lincoln Center in New York City, Le Grand Opera in Paris, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and the Bolshoi in Moscow. Seoul has one opera house in the Seoul Arts Center, but it is hard to compare it with the foreign ones in terms of scale, facilities and quality of performances.

Park Moo-jong | 2017-06-15 17:44

FM nominee and glass ceiling

"Wonder Woman," the American blockbuster about the super heroine based on the 1941 DC Comics character of the same name, has been a box office hit across the world. The fictional lady of beauty, brains and brawn has been a feminist icon since her star-spangled intro 76 years ago, compared with such male super heros as "Superman," "Batman," "Spiderman" and "Captain America." In reality, the title of wonder woman may be given to Helen Keller (1880-1966), Mother Teresa (1910-1997), Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013), Angela Merkel (1954- ), Theresa May (1956- ) and maybe Hilary Clinton (1947- ), to ...

Park Moo-jong | 2017-06-08 17:40

Are you lucky, Mr. Muto?

It was March 13, 2012, when I met then Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Masatoshi Muto at his gorgeous Seongbuk-dong residence to receive a plaque of gratitude from him, along with representatives of some media outlets. The then 64-year-old seasoned diplomat looked sincere and happy as he presented the token of Japan's thanks to the Korean people for what they did when the most dreadful tsumani hit his country off the Pacific coast of Tohoku just the year before that cost nearly 16,000 lives. Indeed, we, Koreans, shared the sorrow of the people of our neighbor country and gave a helping hand for...

Park Moo-jong | 2017-06-01 17:13

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