Korea’s Women of the Sea ("Haenyeo")

Women - as powerful as you've never seen them before. It's all in Korea! They're called 'haenyeo'

"Haenyeo" (the sea women) are female divers in the Korean province of Jeju. What used to amount to as many as 15,000 haenyeo in 1970 has now plummeted to a mere third of that number; and most of them are over seventy years of age, meaning that haenyeo are fast disappearing. Nowadays, instead of the strenuous lifestyle as a haenyeo, many Jeju women are turning elsewhere for other possibilities of living. In light of this sad reality, The LA Times published a feature article on Korean haenyeo, including interviews with the youngest haenyeo in Korea (33-year-old Ms. Kim) who has chosen the harsh path so that the precious tradition could be preserved. Read the beautiful article here:

http://blog.naver.com/korea_brand/10097438137


What I find interesting about these women is the fact that they exhibit critical characteristics that have contributed in bringing Korea this far on the international stage. These include courage, skill, perseverance and optimism amidst adversity. These remain major driving forces of the fast advancing Korean society!

We all need some 'haenyeo' spirit in us. We need to keep pushing through, no matter how hard the choices life offer us appear. Developing countries need to continuously realize that it takes only such effort, hard work and positivity to turn on the light of prosperity; to open the door of social cohesion and invoke the cloud of political stability.

BRavO...the great haenyeo's of Korea!

Cycling at the National Parks of Korea

Missed out on the peak foliage season? Then how about going cycling to a mountain park? If hiking is about getting to the top of a mountain, with cycling, you get to savor and appreciate the beautiful scenery and ambiance you often just pass by. The Korea National Park Service announced that they are going to create extra cycling courses of 20km at the four parks: Seoraksan, Naejangsan, Jirisan and Woraksan. Also, in the cycling programs offered at the Hallyeohaesang National Park and the Deogyusan National Park, you can rent bicycles for free at their respective park offices. Read more about it! 
http://blog.naver.com/korea_brand/10097437668

Peace: Korea’s Most Valuable Export Product to the World

It has been announced that Korea has as of September 2010 become the 7^th largest exporter of goods and commodities globally - an achievement made possible by an unprecedented process of export production that began since the 1960’s. High-tech wireless telecommunications equipment, steel, semiconductors, ships, petrochemicals, automobiles, computers, construction, armament and textiles are but a few of the export products. Today, in many corners of the globe, these products generate an important domestic market impact, changing lives and expanding choices for local people as they try to integrate with a fast evolving international community. Largely through this exponential growth strategy, this Asian Tiger has spectacularly graduated itself from the scourges of extreme poverty to become a major economic force not only within the Asian region but globally, and it has consolidated its influence even more significantly with its ascension into the power ranks of the G-20, OECD (1996) and OECD/DAC (2009).

Mindful of experiences of its precarious past and impelled by the spirit of sharing in the external assistance received earlier on in the 1950s when high currents of hardship were low on the country, from the second half of the last decade, an inspired Korea joined hands with the international community in efforts to build a better society for mankind. (Note that during those difficult years, some of the major donors included the International Development Associations (IDA), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and bilateral agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan). Through several governmental initiatives aimed at spurring economic growth in countries grappling with poverty mostly in South and East Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Oceanic, Africa and Latin America, much is being done to this effect (albeit slowly) since the late 1980s when the country took its first steps as a donor for international development cooperation. However, in pursuing this international development agenda, Korea has forgotten the most valuable and significant of all its major exports – peace. In fact, it could be the priceless of them all, yet also happens to be the most neglected though in abundant possession of it. What contribution would Korea’s new engagement with the developing world make if it is not laid on the solid foundation of peace? What difference would it bring to development efforts in which trillions of dollars have already been drained yet little achieved in concrete terms? How would its giving leverage and advance its status and higher climb up the ladder of wealthy nations?

Peace, as has been proven has an enormous value free capacity to generate sustainable growth. It could also be a potential source of power and influence to the supplying nation. Even though for most of its recorded history, Korea has trotted on a wobble ground, experiencing the tyranny of an oppressive Japanese colonial administration and suffering devastation from a North Korean invasion, the nation has opted for a peaceful approach even towards its most provocative enemy - North Korea. It is remarkable too that throughout this history of oppression and subjugation, the country has never in itself launched an armed attack against another nation suggesting the inherency of peace among the Korean people. Approaching developing countries with peace is significant because as it is commonly known, a good proportion of Overseas Development Assistance absorbers are also the countries in which in addition to resource deficiency and extreme poverty, civil instability, political manipulation, corruption and trans-border incertitude reign. They are the countries in which wealth is confined as an asset of a few, where elections are a rare civil event and even when held, results are not awaited. Yes, they are the countries in which a class or clan can wield power and control over the natural resource base, where gross financial impropriety goes unnoticed or unsanctioned, where an organ of the judiciary like police force can exercise non-prescribed powers with highhandedness yet go unpunished, in short where lawlessness and the human right record only leaves mouths ajar. There is little doubt therefore why the heavy downpour of development aid for over half a century has only produced results that are at best less commensurate to the input and at worse left some states worse off. Korea now has an important opportunity to make a difference by being different in that it can concentrate on building the solid foundation that is imperative for sustainable growth. For we know from the great Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza that peace is not simply an absence of war but a virtue,  a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence and justice. I add that it is the most critical condition for societal progress.

Exporting peace means proactively encouraging principles of sustainable development, promoting responsible citizenship and advocating transparent governance. It is about educating people and states through a didactic process that makes them develop the best of themselves and of their natural endowments. It means transforming opportunities into results by developing, for example sustainable ecological policies through effective environmental management. There is no denying that peace is the bedrock of development and progress. It creates an atmosphere conducive for production, creativity and capacity building. It helps citizens transcend their shallow expectations of nominal survival into a realistic pursuit of dreams for the advancement of themselves, their community and society. It means for Korea to make a difference, it must not only include peace but place it high on its export product profile. Let me consider some ways through which Korea can export peace and utilize to enhance economic growth.

By instituting truly free and fare conditions that guide trade and other exchanges. Korea should not follow the exploitative trade policies of other nations that only create oceanic disparities between the trading partners. In traditional aid and/or trade relations, advanced nations have often “taken advantage” of the lesser partner, undervaluing their resources, paying far less for labor and mesmerizing them with bogus claims of the importance of the product they bring to the trading table. Rather, Korea should pursue a policy in which the results of what is usually described as “mutual benefits” can be clearly discernible at all times. For this to occur, Korea needs to set an exemplary corporate conduct in all economic affairs. It needs to play a greater role in promoting values like transparent management, equity and accountability, which are by far the biggest barriers to the absorptive capacity of recipient nations. In relation, there is need to avoid conspiracy with the local elite and corrupt leaders that are often found siphoning aid money for their self aggrandizement. They get executive treats and reserve education sponsorship opportunities offered by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to their families, friends or supporters while the most qualified candidates are left aloof.

Further related, there would be need to desist from “give and don’t care” attitude practiced by some donor governments, international agencies and corporate bodies. This does not mean attaching strings but simply taking additional measures to ensure both aid and benefits derived from economic cooperation are reaching the right targets and generating a measurable impact. Recent developments have shown that there are concerns about “string-filled” aid, which is one of the prominent characteristics of traditional aid mostly involving financial giving. However, a loose giving attitude would not be in the best interest of Korea. Some sought of control mechanism has to be established that acts in elucidating responsible absorption. A possible headway could be the greater involvement of Korean diplomatic missions and foreign Korean trained ambassadors. However, given the practical difficulty in realizing this, the form of assistance that would induce a significant impact would be that which align with the aid for trade strategy, which would also be one of the possible ways Korea would take more responsibility for its external engagements (I’ll dwell on more in one of my next posts).

Korea needs to develop a commitment in promoting what I refer to as the “soft power base of development”, which is ethical hard work and professionalism. Through the New Community Movement (Saemaul Undong) Campaign instituted to upgrade standards at the personal and communal levels, Koreans were able to achieve remarkable self and communal growth. Prior to this campaign, Korea had been in almost the same situation many developing countries now find themselves. The Saemaul Undong Center summarizes this in the following description:

Situations were worst in the rural area. Farming houses accounted for 70% of the national population, but most of them couldn’t afford to buy food. Young children had to give hands for farming instead of going to school, and yet, they did not have enough to eat. The gap between urban and rural areas kept broadening, so many people swarmed in cities, and it made the urban area very unstable. Korea couldn’t expect any progress of the nation. But national resources were not abundant and the government couldn’t take the responsibility of supporting rural communities. The only possible breakthrough was the awakening and participation of people.

From its inception and throughout, values like duty consciousness, self-sacrifice, self-reliance, diligence and cooperation were encouraged. One of the problems with poor countries is that by design or error, people are so alienated not only from the mainstream society but also from their environment. They are detached from political and civil life, largely resigned to themselves and shrouded in the silence of their individual daily struggles (for survival). Korea needs to reach out to developing countries with this spirit of awakening, encouraging active participation and local creativity (“can do” and “do it yourself spirit”) while stressing the functionality of efforts. They need to help in encouraging educational policies that target the real demands of contemporary society. This is how hope can begin to be reinstated.

Equally important, Korea increasingly needs to project itself and be identified in its role as an objective arbitrator in international conflicts. Well suited for this role partly due of its relatively less obscured record with interference internationally, Korea can now show stewardship in this domain by emphasizing peace and cooperation.

Accomplishing these could prove enormously challenging for Korea with regards to human and financial resources needed for implementation, but efforts would be worthwhile given that investing in peace is investing in sustainable growth. It means Korea would have to take more boldly the task of reforming its institutions, improving financial transparency and showing more levelheadedness in dealing with rival states, especially on sensitive topical issues. Gladly, prove of its capacity to overcome these can be drawn from its past record at changing and adapting to new realities. Korea’s generous invitation to five non G-20 member states (amongst which are Malawi, Ethiopia and Vietnam) and seven international organizations is a positive indication and testimony of its willingness to strategically share with the low income countries for international growth. With such policies, policies,  the developing world should be able to see Korea as a true partner committed to sustainable growth and peaceful coexistence. The 2018 Winter Olympics and 2022 FIFA World Cup that Korea now bids to host could also be exploited to this end if the bids are successful. If not, a host of other international Korean based events could still provide important avenues to pursue this goal.

Coming from Korea, efforts are likely to gain more attention and significance in the developing world for several reasons: Korea has transformed itself under the very eyes of the states with whom it suffered the scourges of poverty three score years ago and it is significant that millions of witnesses remain today to share first hand accounts of how Korea did it. Also brand images of Korea that find expression in concepts like ‘new’, ‘uncontaminated’ and ‘promising’ could prove encouraging to the developing world. They promise greater hope for a productive partnership and offer inspiration for a new and realistic beginning. Importantly, foreseeable of the future direction of global economic power, developing nations would naturally take pride in associating with an Asian country that bears a serious potential for the future. Exporting peace would breed the trust that would be necessary for the developing world to listen to the Korean story. It would also provide the most accommodating ground on which this story is told.

It is therefore time for Korea to assume the same combative exponential growth strategy applied in its economic development in aggressively manufacturing and supplying the world with its most symbolic product - peace. It is only peace that can reinvigorate the vision of a people and give them a greater common sense of purpose as a nation. It is the only basis under which low income countries that are also troubled by civil unrest will navigate through the canal of development. Former Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo captured this more succinctly a decade ago in his closing remarks as Chair of the G-77 Summit in Havana, Cuba. “Without peace and stability”, he said, “a society does not have any future to speak about.” Korea can choose to exploit this unique opportunity and lead efforts in this regard, exporting and distributing its unique product - peace in markets in the developing world with one unique exception: It would be free.

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Watch out for my next post “KOICA: Korea’s ODA Power Engine” and many more underway

From Rags to Riches: Korea’s Development as One of the Biggest 20th Century’s Mysteries?

 

Today September 22, 2010, Koreans are celebrating “Chuseok”. It is by far the biggest and most important holiday in Korea that reunites family members from far and near to share food and stories and give thanks to ancestors for the abundant harvest, sharing the abundance with family and friends. Let me think of it as a celebration of Korea’s triumphant victory over poverty won through a previously untraveled path. But wait a minute…did I just say abundance? What harvest? What victory?

About a century ago, it had been predicted that Korea was one of the nations that was going to permanently disappear from the face of the earth. In fact, it was one of the most miserable nations on earth, surviving on a per capita income of less than US$ 100 (similar or lower to that of countries like Ghana at the time). Heavily reliant on foreign aid transfers for survival, it is even claimed that some of the current poorest countries in Asia and Africa offered the nation financial aid. The outbreak of the Korean War (1950 – 1953) only worsened an already bad case. The nation was turned up side down, millions of people killed and wounded while thousands of families were separated or relocated. And with complete desperation, a large rural peasant economy with almost no natural resources and dangerously trapped in an ugly urn of hopelessness and desperation, all that had remained of the nation was probably only its name. It was simply so bad that even the United States that had been the biggest provider of financial aid to Korea, started scaling down its financial assistance, believing that the country would not grow. The new policy was to provide support only to keep low consumption levels and maintain basic survival.

This is the story Koreans, from generation to generation have been eager to share with the world. A true story that tells of how food was the rarest but most precious commodity to have; how in the springtime, poor people would scour the hills for every edible herbs or plants after the autumn harvest had all been eaten before new crops could be gathered; how people traveled hundreds of kilometers from Pusan to Seoul in bush paths to file for jobs or follow up judiciary processes.

So how did a horrifying impoverished, crumbs dependent nation manage to become one of the world’s most wealthy nations in an Olympic record period of less that fifty years?

A single article would be insufficient to tell the whole story but before I even venture into summarizing it, let me first share with you just how wealthy and influential Korea is in present day global society. The about 50 million people nation is currently ranked as the 12 largest economy with a per capita GDP that has skyrocketed from US$ 85 in the 1950s to almost US$ 30,000 in 2010, doubling 17 folds in 2008 that of Ghana it had trailed in the 1950s. A good number of its industries now boast as the world’s best, including electronics (semiconductors), steel, automobile, shipbuilding, construction and petrochemical industries. In fact, in electronic technology for example, the country is so advanced that I usually go with this feeling that Korea is two years ahead of the world all the time! It prides itself as the country with one of the best mass transit systems in the world, with a sophisticated subway network that transports an estimated 7 million passengers daily within cities over 9 lines in hundreds of electrical air conditioned trains. The Korean Train Express (KTX) handles inter province traffic (Seoul – Busan and Mokpo) with bullet trains regularly plying the rails at a top speed of 305Km/h. Next generation trains are being developed that will upgrade this speed to 400km/h. Three basic things almost every Korean owns are: a bank account, mobile phone and personal computer with internet speed unrivaled in the world at 14.6Mbps. I’ve always joked that while elsewhere you wait for the computer to respond, in Korea, the computer waits for you! As if still not impressive enough, plans are already underway for the upgrade of this speed to 1GBps by 2012. A list of this nature would probably be endless but the key question remains: Just how did Korea do it?

Between 1910 and 1945, the Korean Peninsular had come under Japanese colonization, only able to liberate itself after the Japanese surrender in WWII, liberation that came with the temporal division of the Peninsular between the United States and Soviet Union geo-political spheres of influence. The Republic of Korea that had fallen on the southern half of the Peninsular was then established in 1948 with a civilian, Synman Rhee becoming its first President. Though shortly afterward the Korean War fought between United Nations forces (mostly US) and communist Soviet adversaries would devastate the new nation enormously, it would still be able to pursue expansive agricultural and land reform policies throughout the 1950s, mechanizing cultivation and making land distribution more egalitarian. It is often claimed that modern economic growth in Korea that began during the colonial period with the implementation of various industrial policies only gathered steam and pace after the Korean War when policy makers turned to economic growth stimulation in a policy known as “Import-Substitution Industrialization“ beginning with the promotion of indigenous industrial firms.  Government, it is said, selected firms in targeted industries and gave them privileges to buy foreign currencies and borrow money from banks at preferential rates. Tariff barriers were also erected and a prohibition was placed on manufacturing imports - a protectionist drive on domestic firms that was also aimed at offering them a chance to boost productivity through ‘learning-by-doing’ and importing advanced technologies.

The export-driven strategy of industrial growth that is known to have largely accounted for Korea’s economic prosperity started in the 1960s with the seizure of power by an authoritative military individual, Park Chung-Hee as second Korean President. With a high hand and strong political will, first, President Park replaced the Import-Substitution Industrialization Policy with an Export-Oriented Growth system that moved the nation through successive stages of Five Year Economic Development Plans seeking to increase wealth and strengthen political stability. In al, seven of such plans were carried out, three by the army General himself and the rest by succeeding presidents after the iron fisted leader was shot on the head and killed by his friend who was also head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA). The Plans started with investments in the textile industry to make the country less economically dependent on the United States and more self-reliant (1962-66) to investments in heavy industries that would make Korea more competitive on a global scale (1967-71) and then to investments in heavy chemical industries in the third five year development plan that was better known as Heavy Chemical Industrialization Plan (HCIP) or simply “the Big Push”. To pursue this, government resorted to heavy borrowing from foreign countries. The fourth and fifth Plans that stressed efficiency in manufacturing would see the country develop more industries that would effectively compete in international industrial markets (1977-81) and then move away from concentration on the heavy chemical industries to technology-intensive industries that required application of skilled labor (1982-86). Particular focus was on the products for which there was a huge demand around the world like electronics (television and VCRs, semi conductor related products and precision machinery. During this time, Korean exports started growing seeing a sharp growth. The Sixth Five Year Plan (1987-91) came with uniqueness in that it extended the Fifth and also emphasized Research and Development and also Manpower Training in all industries, meanwhile the last one (1992-96) was developed to promote the high-technology fields such as micro-electronics, new materials, bioengineering, fine chemicals, optics and aerospace.

How impressive, but could this be simply it? Seven five year economic development plans and a nation that had been on the verge of extinction host some of the best editions of the biggest and most prestigious international sporting events in the world in 1988 (Olympic Games) and 2002 (FIFA World Cup)? Seven five year economic development plans and the nation could join in 2006 the ranks of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as the first ever former aid recipient to join the advanced nations assistance club after its transition to donor and also the forum for international economic cooperation (G-20), even hosting it in November 2010?

True that political leadership had set the pace but it would appear to me that the ‘people factor’ was most critical in walking through the tight rope of development and continues to be so in contemporary times when the country is trying to consolidate its development and standardize itself as one of the world’s economic superpowers. The people had looked at themselves and wondered why 'they' couldn’t be like 'them' (the advanced nations like the US). Also, right from the colonial days to the inter Korean War period, and current day, Koreans have always found a strong attachment with the principles of peace. Conscious of its deficiencies in military resources, Koreans had found the best channel for its growth through the development of its soft power base. They were quick to realize in the post Korea War years that they had to take possession of their destiny; that in order to survive, they needed to act and for action to be meaningful, it had to be carried out together. This meant a commitment to working hard together, sacrificing material and self together and suffering together - in short surviving together!

The clearest illustration of this is attested by the New Community Movement Campaign (known as Saemaul Undong in Korean) which seeks to develop and modernize communities, making them wealthy for all. Some of its main principles include self-help, diligence and cooperation. Self-help means working not only for oneself but for his entire village and country; taking full responsibility and relying less on others not dreaming of random lucky fortune but utilizing one’s hands, knowledge and abilities to do things, ensuring they are done properly and defining your fate within the social structure. Diligence involves getting rid of the traditional and strong pessimistic views that often put people under the illusion that ‘poverty is our fate’ and that ‘it is impossible’ to move forward. It seeks to mentally discipline people, reforming them to believe in their power and the trust that their efforts would lead to a change. Cooperation is drawn form the assertion that one cannot do it all alone but must stand together, hand in hand in developing the community and country where lives, work and seeks happiness. Highly seen as successful, today Korea is generously sharing the Saemaul Undong experience and secrets with civil servants from interested developing countries, including DR Congo, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Madagascar, Tanzania, China, Russia, East Timor, Uganda, Philippines, Cameroon Vietnam, Iraq etc.  In one of the subsequent feeds on this blog, I’ll share with you further how this campaign was carried out and why it was largely successful.

A series of interconnected factors and actions therefore gave Korea its record mighty leap, political leadership  providing the prime basis. Successes recorded in each of the Five Year Development Plan facilitated the next helping to ensure success. The capital and resources generated during the first three plans were crucial  in developing the next plans that targeted heavy chemical and high technological industries. The matrix can better be put as: Energy, chemicals and steel developed in the first three were important in generating power for industries, manufacture of other capital goods like plastics, textile and glass and build industries respectively in the subsequent five year plans. Similarly, the shared problems of the people and the common realization of a common destiny generated the ‘we feeling’, which quickly gave rise to the ‘can do spirit’ that in turn brought to light action imbued in the values of hard work, sacrifice and commitment, all of which contributed in delivering the country from the ugly tenterhooks of mass poverty and underdevelopment, even daring it to raise its spectacle of hope as one of nations that would become most influential, dominating global agenda in the new world.

So goes the Korean story, a beautiful secret I’m privileged to have learned over the course of my years in the country and which I feel honored and proud to be able to share with the world, especially Africa. They say with ears you can listen but it only takes a mind to act.

tv tandia

Korea in the Imagination

Teachers commonly begin their lessons by asking student what conjures up to their minds when they hear this and that. They ask, for example: ‘when you hear the term ‘globalization’ what first comes to your mind? In the history class it would often be ‘what do you know about the Soviet Union’ or ‘when you hear the name Cuba, what comes to your mind’? For countries like Germany, we would say Hitler, and then quickly rush to add ‘Benz’. Likewise, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and also Toyota, would quickly pop up in our minds for Japan; Idi Amin for Uganda, communism, economic development, cheap products for China and so on.

But we can also put it the other way round. If you hear the word ‘impossible’ or ‘corrupt’, then we can immediately conjure up the Cameroonian police force. What about other adjectives like ‘angry, ‘rude/arrogant’? To these, images of Naomi Campbell, Wayne Rooney and France would instantly flash across our minds.

I enumerate all these because as a child growing up, right up until our High School days, if one were to say ‘Korea’, we would simply stare; just like were they to say ‘Samsung’, we’ll probably tilt our little heads from east to west, and might finally manage to come up with something like ‘Japan’. Why was it so and how is it that the same High School students of today would probably perform better (than we did) on this kind of quiz? I’ll try to answer this question in one of subsequent posts but on this one, I’d just like to stay focused on my pre-arrival thoughts, imaginations, and fantasies and how I managed to develop them, letting them put me on the track of an improbable journey.

Back in the days, it was common to find university mates picking up a magazine and brochure of some university abroad, and then copying the postal address to send a letter of inquiry. The common questions would be on courses offered in this or that field, admission procedure, tuition and scholarship possibilities. Then months later, one would be called up to the administrative office and handed a huge package containing various publicity materials, application and reference forms and a whole bunch of other forms that I still remain perplexed what they were all for. Then one would rush home, burn the lights reading through and then rallying the family to give them the ‘breaking news’ – not of admission but simply of the fact that you’ve heard from a university in the United States, Britain and Canada that offers scholarships to students of this or that field. When it becomes evident that things would not work out in these countries, we’ll embark on a new search, target being Sweden, Finland, Norway. We would avoid Germany because it was hard to find courses offered in English and for some reason, we would not even think of France.

Now comes the real question: why would anyone for whatever reason have thought of Korea or taken interest in travelling there for studies? Korea – a name that sounded so far off, somewhere around nowhere, probably at furthermost end of the world or simply in the wide!

Sure in High School, to prepare for the national completion exam, we had been forced to study and memorize a brief section in the history textbook titled “The Korean War (1950 – 1953)” but we sometimes risked skipping this section, speculating that no question would be asked on this ‘unimportant topic’. Meanwhile in preparation for the Geography exam, we would spend countless hours cramming every topic on Europe and the Middle East: Lumbering in Sweden, Fishing in Norway, almost everything on Spain, France, Germany, Italy etc. In Asia, we could hurriedly get over on the Chinese Revolution, Mao Tse Tung, Communism in Russia, Chan Kai Shek’s Policies, Fishing in Japan, and ….what else?

For me, the 2002 Korea/Japan FIFA World Cup marked a significant event in igniting my interest in Korea. The breaking news that together with Japan, Korea would host the world’s biggest sports event had come as a huge surprise to me. Korea, hosting the FIFA World Cup? How humorous it sounded but this was quickly to change shortly before the games when various TV documentaries started focusing on Korea, showing the extensive road network, tourism sites and unique cultural dynamics. They narrated above all how Korea had had a difficult past, experiencing a devastating war and struggling with mass poverty, but successfully overcoming these odds and engaging in speedy economic development to the extent that the country gained international recognition as one of the ‘Asian Tigers’ along side Singapore, Hongkong and Taiwan.

During the games, besides Cameroon, all other African teams at the tournament, Brazil and England, I intently watched all Korean team games, finding myself supporting and wishing the team victory. I remember neighbors around joked whenever a Korean team game was coming up, saying ‘your ching chongs’ are playing today. (By the way, ‘ching chongs’ is a derogatory expression used in Cameroon to refer to Asian looking people, especially Chinese whose language the people prejudicially regard to basically be a repetition of words with the same rhyme scheme and syllable)

From the start, looking less aggressive, skinny, unknown and generally appearing dominated, compared to their opponents, yet, I found the team scoring goals and winning games. I remember memorizing the names of some of the players, though somewhat difficult – Ahn Jung Wan, Seoul Ki…, Park Ji Sung, who else… oh goalkeeper Lee. I remember the team bringing down three giant European soccer powerhouses (Portugal, Italy and Spain with the last through penalty kick out; but I also remember that terrible feeling of loss I had on that fateful day the team was bundled out of the competition by Miroslav Klose’s Germany. 

Well, so ended my hilarious days of celebrating and dreaming of the next victory; but not my interest in the country. I dreamt of living in a world of electronics. I would see brands like Daewoo and Samsung and someone would vaguely guess they’re Korean (quite contrary to what we had thought of them as Japanese!). I would see myself learning the ‘economic miracle’ strategies, understanding how you get to be called a tiger. I would see myself sharing these strategies with others in fulfillment of my sole aspiration to work in international development through a global institution like the UN or World Bank. That’s how I found myself applying to study in Korea, an opportunity that came with a partial scholarship, despite the comparatively lower tuition cost, that is compared to European and American universities)

Truth must be spoken, at this time; Korea was not a priority destination for me personally. It was simply the country that offered me the biggest opportunity to study abroad. So it is more from this opportunity that I was able to build and gain better insight of the country than its known standing in the world as an attractive destination to live and study. I would later tell every one of those skeptics that I had indeed made the right choice. The cynics would waver around, stubbornly refusing to admit that cynicism. I would let them know that though the path had been found, it is just the beginning of my discovery of a new world: one that could light up the path for many people and nations that are interested in moving forward. 

Watch out for my next post "From Rags to Riches: Korea as 21^st Century’s Biggest Winner"

Just how hard could it be?

Now, is this how hard it would be? 

How do you actually create a blog and keep it going?  

I’m sure veteran bloggers would first laugh out wild hearing this and then pensively start telling me how hard the whole blogging thing is! Seriously, it’s been over a month since I first signed up for this thing and it’s only today that I can barely scribble a few things on it in the name of a maiden post. 

Yes, a month, yet I already find myself asking how I landed into this nightmare; how I enrolled myself into Guantanamo; how I opted for the guillotine!  A month, and I’ve been wondering ‘what were you thinking boy’?  The only thing that now appears real to me is the fact that I can get rid of that initial illusion that blogging was easy, convenient and delightful. I’ve replaced it with a more realistic one: It takes true sacrifice, enormous effort and considerable time to run a blog. It’s doesn’t appear to be something you simply do for your convenience and at your leisure but what you must do even when the tide of convenience is against you and the issues up the mind are so unprecedented and speedy for you to literary catch up. This means I need a step way above passion, true commitment and total devotion to keep the blog not just operational but sensible…and I mean each of these words! It’s more of a self challenge, a test to who you assume you are and what you fantasize you stand for. 

It needs psychological stability, mental and physical strength; all of which we rarely afford to have enough most of the time. 

The issues I seek to represent in this blog are surely the only source from which these values would be drawn. The hope that they’ll make sense and bring a difference, at least to the life of a single person, group, organization or government empowers and inspires me even further, for no matter how hard it might be, it is only in sharing that we all can arrive.