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Opinion

Columnists

Fri, January 17, 2020 | 22:32

Pre-modern Korean democracy

Last week I wrote about a specific document I would like to tell you more about. It is a petition and shows a degree of demo-cratic action in that it was signed by numerous people of the county involved in the action. Last time I wrote about the uniqueness of the signatures, and the fact that Koreans only used the dojang (stamp or seal) after the Japanese period, but in the Joseon Kingdom, they would sign documents.

2020-01-12 17:06

Petitions and signatures

We used to joke, when I was a student in Korea in the 1970s, that the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom was more democratic than the Park Chung-hee era in then contemporary Korea. The joke had some truth to it. Both at the level of criticism of the Park administration for its lack of democracy on the one hand, and the amount of democracy we find in Joseon.

2020-01-05 16:58

Gems from Sillok

In continuing the theme I wrote on last week, that of unusual incidents recorded in the Sillok, the official history of the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom, today I want to write about an unusual episode discovered in the Sillok by my colleague, Milan Hejtmanek, who recently retired from Seoul National University.

2019-12-29 17:47

Treasures from Sillok

The Sillok was the official history of the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. It was an abridgement of the discussions at court where the Royal Secretariat keep record of all the discourse between the king and his subjects. Topics covered everything from major policy decisions, minor decisions, reports from the countryside and even astronomical phenomenon.

2019-12-15 18:12

More on Chinese education

After writing last week about my Chinese tutor, Na Kap-ju, and the study of the Chinese classics in Korea, it occurred to me that there is much more I would like to say. When I was first in Korea the signboards on virtually all businesses were in Chinese. There were some signs in Hangeul. I remember thinking “Why do so many signs have 'CH' in English on them?” That was the word “대,” meaning great or big. So, I do remember some signs in Hangeul, but there were so many signs in Chinese. From time to time I see photographs of Korea in the 50s and 60s and am reminded of how much Chinese was used.

2019-12-01 19:05

Chinese scholarship in Korea

This article is in the series of “tribute” articles I've written lately. This time the person I want to honor is Na Gap-ju, my classic Chinese tutor who taught me Chinese for about five years when I was living, studying, and working in Korea.

2019-11-22 17:32

Korean Studies pioneer

In recent issues here, I have paid tribute to some of the founders of Korean Studies in America. Today I want to recall the contributions to Korean Studies of Spencer Palmer.

2019-11-10 17:02

Korean excellence in education

Korea has a well-established reputation for having one of the best education systems in the world, but I have learned a new dimension of that excellence on my recent trip to Korea. I have been invited, of late, to give lectures to a variety of groups - some breakfast groups, some lunchtime groups - and coupled with lectures I give to universities, government organizations and private companies, I'm starting to see a picture of how education in Korea is life-long and unlike other countries in the world.

2019-10-27 17:15

Teaching sijo in America

I wrote last time about the Sejong Cultural Society based in Chicago and their annual fundraiser. Today I want to write about their annual teachers' workshop for American teachers to learn how to teach sijo in American classrooms. The workshop was a huge success with teachers attending from all across America.

2019-10-13 17:05

Sejong Cultural Society

There is a wonderful group of people in Chicago that have created an organization for the promotion of Korean culture. They are called the Sejong Cultural Society. Their purpose is to promote Korean culture in the United States. They engage in three activities, primarily - a music competition, an essay contest, and a sijo writing contest. It is the last item, the sijo contest that has brought them into my realm of interest and activity.

2019-10-06 17:35

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