The Political Left And Right In Korea

In the recent Pastoral Bulletin one of the diocesan priests had a humorous black and white caricature of the difference between the left and right in Korean politics. It would be for some a slander but also not without a basis in reality.

The right is interested in financial well being. A friendly atmosphere for business, doing away with obstacles for their success; lessen the taxes of the rich, flexibility with labor, making it easy to fire workers. Government stays out of labor disputes as much as possible. They want a small government. Moreover, the things that have to do with the citizenry for the most part , health insurance, mass media, electricity, gas etc. they want to put in the hands of the private sector. If big business and the rich do well we all do well.

This is the strategy that we have had in England and the United States with the results we have seen in recent years.

The left is for distribution and equality. Tax money has to be well distributed. Citizens to live well, the government has to distribute the tax monies evenly. Welfare for the poor requires the concern of the government. Tax benefits not only for the rich but for the ordinary citizen. This requires positive regulations by the government. This effort to help the masses live the good life is the aim of the left.

From Chosun times, for the last 200 years Europe has been in the hands of the left. Citizens when sick can go to the hospital, the government provides childcare, and education. The old get a pension to enjoy their life. To have these benefits they have to pay exorbitant taxes, especially the rich. All have to be resigned to sacrifice.

How was this brought about? It was built on the foundation of 200o years of Christianity. Catholics and Protestants working in the field of welfare and the attempt at living the Christian life has brought this about in Europe. The teachings of the ancestors has made this the reality.

Those of us who have been baptized where are our hearts? Is it not that we have followed the ways of the world? Are we willing to sacrifice and pay taxes so that all of us can live well? If we look into this carefully we can see that this is more in keeping with the Gospel. In Korea those who are opting for this kind of government are looked upon as Communists and he blames past Presidents Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee.


In the States stereotypically the Democrats are considered as the left and Republicans as the right. The Democrats want more government regulations and interested mostly with social issues. The Republicans want few regulations and more concerned with moral issues. In Korea the political parties are not known by the ordinary citizens, to have these obvious differences.

Health Benefits of Some Exotic Foods

Food is an important part of our daily lives and living in a different culture requires at times that you eat unfamiliar food. There was an article in the Kyeong-Hyang Catholic Magazine a few months ago in which a Korean lay missioner in the Philippines ate her first balot. A balot is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. It was a memorable event which she remembers with fond memories, not necessarily with the desire of eating one again.

Just this evening I was invited to eat mudfish (loach) and jellyfish in the home of a parishioner. I have eaten both of these items in the past and didn't find them that difficult or distasteful. It always makes a hit with the host when one eats what is given. Most of the foods that an American would have reservations in eating, come with a list of medicinal benefits.

"We are told that the main substance of loach is protein and it also contains lots of iron, calcium and vitamins. The fat is unsaturated, so it melts cholesterol. Loach soup is used for the patients with high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis and obesity. Mineral, high protein and calcium which are needed for moderns are also in loach soup so popular and recommended. It is good for eye sight and strengthens the immune system by building up the respiratory organs."

Jellyfish are supposed to stop the aging process and help the memory. Koreans, Japanese and Chinese are big eaters of jellyfish. We do have the recent report from Japan's Health and Welfare Ministry reporting that the number of centenarians in the country has reached over 40,000.

There are few scientific facts on the truths of these claims but the food, for many is tasty and a treat which tells us much of our likes and dislikes are influenced by the culture from which we come. We can for the time being, leave out eating dog, which for the Korean also has many health benefits.

Wanting to See External Results

Maryknoll missioner Fr. Clarence Witte mentioned in yesterday's blog, stated in his book: "The following is something that is particularly true in Japan and does not apply everywhere but we can take a lesson from it. We see our people outfitting themselves with the best equipment for a whole range of activities, often without being very expert in the performance of those activities. Whether it be skiing, golfing, fishing , or whatever, the equipment has to be the best, but the performance doesn't always measure up to expectations. And this doesn't apply only to sports. In many aspects of life, including business, politics, and some home life too, putting on a good front often hides a less attractive backside."

This approach to life is often found in Korea and often found in other cultures but probably not as noticeable as Japan or Korea. The Italians also are reported to have a need to "fare una bella figura." Literally it means to put your best foot forward or to make a good appearance.

"We too need to be careful not to make the same mistake. Our missionary endeavor is certainly well-organized, and we have a plethora of equipment and gadgets. But we do not get the results that we would like. There! That"s it! Results! That's the dirty word! We need to clean that word up a bit! In fact we do get results, the only trouble is that they are invisible---- invisible to us, but not to the Holy Spirit, who is really running things. It is good for us to remember what our Lord said when one of the Apostles asked him, ' Is this the time Lord, when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel? ----the time when we are going to see the results' Our lord's answer was, to put it in the vernacular, That 's none of your business. My Father will take care of that. You get on with the job I gave you."

"If we have to see the results of our efforts, we really do not have faith, for faith is 'the evidence of things that are not seen and the substance of things to be hoped for.' "

Words of Wisdom from an Old Missioner

One of our Maryknoll Missioners, Fr. Clarence J. Witte, who worked in Japan for many years and was also Society Superior for Japan and Korea before the title was retired wrote a book ,"What It's All About." It was a reflection on his life as a missioner. "His life was often interrupted by war and other calamities, has paralleled the history of Maryknoll, which was founded one year after he was born. This parallel gave him an unusual perspective in making worthwhile observations on missionary work." He died in 2001.

" What was it that got Maryknoll off to such a good start? It was what our Founders put into us. He did not know Fr. Price but his influence was still with us in the early days; his principal legacy was a life of prayer----a lived conviction that our life must be an uninterrupted prayer, a life of absolute dependence on God and of uninterrupted communion with Him. Bishop James Anthony Walsh had that also, but he was at the same time a very practical man. And he taught us a lot of things---- mostly by example, but also by word and precept. The list runs the gamut of the virtues, but we can emphasize a few of them:

Honesty------ admit when you are wrong.


Humility------ when you get put down stay there.

Generosity------ do more than anyone expects you to do.

Dedication------do the dirty work and shut up about it.

Patience------accept the short end of the stick with a smile.

Poverty of Spirit------give away your last dollar with the assurance that you won't starve to death.

Confidence in God------ don't allow yourself to be frustrated, or even discombobulated by the Sisyphean character of your work, because, for those who love God, all things do, indeed work together for good.


And to sum it all up------ don't ever stop laughing at yourself.

Discrimination in Korea

The number of foreigners in Korea is growing continually. We have many coming to Korea for work, many visitors and those who marry and come to Korea to reside. It was reported recently that by the year 2050 10% of the population will be foreign. Korea has developed greatly in just a few years so many foreigners find it an attractive place to call home for a few years.

With the numbers there has been an effort on the part of the government and those in public service to make living in Korea a pleasant experience but obviously the message does not reach everyone. Korea like any other country will have many sad stories of discrimination. They have their own internal discrimination and having been a very homogeneous country for so long and underdeveloped the change to a first world country and seeing so many foreigners does take time to register on the Korean psyche.

There have been many blogs that find living in Korea rather stressful and many have experienced discrimination. That is a fact that has to be acknowledged. Whether we have more or less than other countries is a question that would be hard to determine. However I believe the government is trying to make it easier for the foreigner to be at home in this culture. The country does not like being singled out as a country inhospitable to foreigners.It will also take time and effort on the part of those who are attempting to adapt to a new culture to feel at home in strange surroundings. In the study of Korean it was made clear that for most who go to a foreign country there will be a cultural shock that could be very serious for some. Everything is annoying: the food, the dress, the streets the people. It is not uncommon and one should be prepared for this phenomenon.


We have had the case recently of a man from India a professor at the Anglican University, who pursued a criminal case for slander against a Korea man who called him a number of racially demeaning names while traveling on the bus. The diatribe lasted for over 10 minutes. With the help of his friend he went to the police station to report the incident and was treated unkindly by the police officer. "He used 'banmal' (informal speech not necessarily rude -but can be rude- but familiar) to me and addressed the Korean kindly. "

The professor filed a petition with the Human Rights Commission after the police made it clear that they had no desire to punish. The man has been indicted. This being the first case of its kind in Korea. Korea does not recognize discrimination as a crime but the case is one of personal insult. The offender was drunk which would excuse him in the eyes of many.

This case is a sign that Korea has come a long way in its approach to "Hate Crimes". We will without doubt also see discrimination as a crime with severe penalties in the years ahead. Discrimination is a part of life and we will never really see it disappear in our life time but it is well to try to see it as a part of out lack of awareness of others and personal weakness.

Whistleblowing in Korea "The Crucible"

Koreans according to what you read are rather lenient, tolerant, at the way they look at sexual problems in society. In recent years there are more reports of sexual harassment, assault and sexual violence issues in Korean society. The macho culture that we have and the lack of information is partially the cause for the so called apathy of the past; this is changing. We do have the process of concientization (consciousness raising) going on: laws have been changed, penalties are getting stiffer and the issues are being publicized.

One of the more popular novelist Gong Ji-young (Mary) has written a novel which is online. I do not know how serious her Catholicism is but she has been strong in working to do away with the death penalty and is interested in human rights issues. Her recent novel The Crucible is a novel that deals with a factual case in Gwangju Inhwa School for the deaf and dumb students. The education workers and the principle sexually abused the disabled students in 2005. This is the incident in which she uses as background for her novel. Both Catholic papers had a short article on her recent book.

The protagonist of the novel is a teacher who was hired to work at the school and makes a discovery that all was not right. The new teacher learns rather quickly that the students in his class have been sexually abused by the principle and other co-workers in the administration. The principle was the son of the founder and was considered a devout Christian and had the respect of the community.

We have the story here of a whistle blower who suffers and becomes a victim for trying to do what is right. The whistle blower had made his own sexual mistakes in the past which were used against him. The community stands by the principle and the teachers. The police are taken in by the community and even the parents of the victims agree to cover over what happened for the money they received.

The three are accused and sentenced to probation and are set free to return to the school. In real life they were given jail sentences.

Whistleblowing is where an insider discloses wrongdoing within an organization, calling for rectification. They have a difficult time of it in most countries. You are making something known that is going to be traumatic to many and bring about a change which is difficult for most. The protagonist in The Crucible, because of his own mistakes in the past, suffered a great deal and decided at the end to leave it all. This seems to be the lot of the whistle blower. He has to put up with retaliations from those he was living with and those he has worked with and his family can't helped but be involved. This is very difficult and in many cases the truth does not win out at least initially.

In Korea we have laws that help to protect the whistileblower. He can be monetarily rewarded for his disclosures but it is still a difficult road to take. One has to think well and long for he often will be facing a strong legal system that is often in the hands of those with the financial means. The results of the conflict often take years to conclude and not always in the whistlerblower's favor. However it is a great service to society and a very powerful way of conscientizing society.

Another Catholic Conscientious Objector

South Korea does not recognise the right to conscientious objection. Objectors to military service are sentenced to 18 months in prison. Korea has the largest number of conscientious objectors serving in prison, and most of them are Jehovah's Witnesses. Click here for a previous blog on the subject.

The situation in Korea is different from many other countries and the conscientious objection movement has a hard road ahead to find approval. The Catholics for the most part are opposed to alternative service for those with problems of conscience. The Catholic Bishops do not have any formal statement on the issue.

The previous South Korean government announced preparations for a law recognizing conscientious objection, but the new government has abandoned these plans. Amnesty International, War Resisters' International and other human rights and peace organizations are campaigning for South Korea to recognize the right to conscientious objection.

A Nahnews report mentioned a Catholic who made a telephone call to the Military
Manpower Administration a few days ago, refusing to serve in the military. He was a member of the college student group in the Seoul Archdiocese. The chaplain of the group made clear the Church's teaching on conscientious objection and supports the young man in his decision.

In January 2007, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recognised the right to conscientious objection as a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,

There has been some improvement in the understanding of what conscientious objection entails and the reason for accepting it as a viable response for those who do not in conscience want to serve in the military. One of our Korean Maryknollers, Fr. Russ Feldmeier back in 1968 refused to serve in the Vietnam War and joined the Peace Corps as his alternative service. He came to Korea, served as a Peace Corps member and after his term of duty was over, returned to the States to join Maryknoll. Ordained to the priesthood in 1980 he returned to Korea as a missioner, and is presently working with a team on partnership issues and interested in human rights. He feels strongly that we should have an alternative response for those who do not want to serve in the military and shows strong support for those who are now making a stand for conscientious objection status in Korea.