Democracy and History

In recent years the conflict between the conservatives and liberals in Korea continues and is deepening. This is also true in other countries but at present in Korea the liberals are in control and recently the appointment of a cabinet minister with apparent problems with family finances and facilitating the entrance of a daughter to a prestigious college without  going through the ordinary channels and with ethically questionable procedures has been top news.  A priest sociologist gives us his opinion on what is happening in the Catholic Times Weekly column, Eyes of the Believer.

He sees the issue as much larger than an individual cabinet minister. This he considers only as a surface pretext for a struggle for power— hegemony, and wants the readers to look deeply into what is happening. Not only the  politicians, but the biased media and the actions of the prosecution requires a deeper reflection and understanding of democracy and historical consciousness.

The first article of the Korean Constitution states: "Korean sovereignty belongs to the people and all power comes from the people." However, the people are made up of different groups with diverse backgrounds, social strata,  religions and professions. We live with each other, pursue dialogue and compromise and are one nation and follow the principle of  majority rule but this is only a formality. A democracy is clearly superior to authoritarianism and oligarchy for it has a system to check for power monopoly but the democratic system is not perfect. People can be deceived by the media, people ignore truth and are often trapped within self interest groups which leads to fights with the other self interest groups in society ignoring the common good.

Historical consciousness is what  gives life to democracy. Modern Korean history has been an intense process that has advanced the movement of  history, pursuing universal human rights and the values of the  common good,  from the democratization movement against military dictatorship to the recent candlelight revolution. The flow of history toward a more just and equitable society, a society where the values ​​of the common good are realized, has become a spirit of the times. True democracy can be realized when all citizens have an awakened sense of history and a sense of mission and are willing to go beyond the collective selfishness of their particular groups, deceiving themselves with arrogance and selfishness and understanding it as freedom and democracy.
 
Both the judiciary and prosecutors need to realize the "historical calling of the candlelight revolution" and reform our present errors. Prosecutorial reforms are a challenge for today. The independence and impartiality of the Judiciary and the Independence  of the prosecutors is necessary to ensure the rule of law and the protection of the human rights of the citizens. A check for prosecutors is urgently needed to establish public accountability in the era of 'national democracy'. Under Japanese colonial rule prosecutors had unlimited power that would have put Jesus, Confucius and Buddha in prison and closed their eyes to problems within their own ranks and this has tended to continue.
  
Journalists must also be watchmen who practice their calling to advance the wheels of history based on truth. Media that intentionally disseminates false articles or produce 'garbage information' from non-factual speculation harms society and makes us sick. Just as academic scholars require institutional approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to avoid harming others, media workers who publish newspapers, broadcasts, and YouTube articles should be open to the same procedures. Ethics of the press needs to be strictly legislated and implemented to comply with the law.

Lawmakers who leave the National Assembly for the streets without complying with the parliamentary democratic process will also have to remember what they are passing down to those who follow and leaving shameful footsteps in history. In addition, politicians who have clung to vested interests or neglected the common good as  descendants of the pro-Japanese, lack a sense of history. "Confused today, thirsty for truth, peace, and justice… History reflects on the past and shows the way forward." (Pope Francis).

Habit of Labeling People

"Right from the beginning, I didn't want to say a word...." With anger in his voice H spit out these words. Someone in the group tells H he is always complaining and it's awkward to hear. In fact, H has a habit of always nagging so as soon as he opens his mouth everybody else shuts up. The religious sister writing in her column in the Peace Weekly on Daily Events wonders how lonely he must be and admits that she also keeps her distance. 

Hearing the words of rebuke, H looked embarrassed. The sister in some attempt at empathy: "You must be very upset." Taking this as a sign of sympathy he went on vigorously with his complaints, making the group more uncomfortable. His words came out in this way: "This is not complaining it's just that I am frustrated and trying to express it by words…" which eventually led to complaints about others.

Unknowingly, the prejudice against him worked also on the  sister, who was not listening anymore. She just kept looking at her watch and hoped he would finally stop. His voice weakened and said, "I'll go now." He got up and in words more gentle in his goodbye than usual, turned to leave muttering on the way out "but it's hard for me to get along with people who provoke me, really." 

"Did I deal with him with respect? Was he able to feel the judgment and prejudices towards him I had?"  

Sister was concerned about the negative feelings towards him which made her feel uncomfortable.

Complaining does that to one. We try to justify what is done, it makes one feel superior. Sometimes feelings of injustice come to mind until they are released. I don't think what I say is complaining. I don't even think about it at all. So I can't hear myself complaining. Maybe it's because it has now become who I am.

As we look into the mind, it's as if a child is complaining. "Why is this here?" "Can't you say that a little more gently?" "The food is salty." Why is it so nosy? "Here he goes again." In our heads, we have these and many more thoughts which like in a child go around and around and at times are sputtered out.

Besides, the tendency is there to label people: 'Chatterbox', 'Blockhead', 'Zombie', 'Useless Person', 'Perfect Teacher'. The moment this happens they enter a small box I make and no longer can I experience the uniqueness and humanity of those with whom I meet and react with.

Yes. I could not see H as he was because of the label I attached to him. His wounds were also subject to judgment. So I wasn't talking to H, I was talking to the label I attached to him.

"There is something I shouldn't think of", concludes the sister. It's a label attached to someone. People labeled Mary Magdalena a 'sinner', but at that moment she was no longer a sinner. The Pharisee considered the publican who prayed in the temple a sinner, but at that moment Jesus recognized him as "righteous".

Every person we meet, who is before me right now, should be like meeting them for the first time. Because this person may not be that person he or she was yesterday. "To live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often."

A Citizen of a City that Cares

The city of Edmonton, Canada, a few years ago launched a campaign: "Hello, How are you?" A survey made, resulted in 18 percent of the citizens saying that they felt alienated while living in the city— the reason for the campaign. Followed shortly by 'Hello, Let's eat!' and 'bench buddy', let's sit and talk, opportunities to converse with others facilitated by benches spread throughout the city. Various social programs were implemented. As such, urban policy is becoming more and more caring.

Korea is no different. The stairs that come down to the plaza from Cheongnyangni station in Seoul stand out. At the beginning and at the end of the stairway, you can see materials of a different kind and color are used. At the flat landing in the middle of the stairway likewise we have a different design and color. Why so? There is a reason.  The elderly may have poor eyesight, and it is to help them to distinguish the stairs and the flat landing and help prevent falls. 

Guard fences are also installed along the streets to protect pedestrians from cars in the event they leave the street and enter the sidewalk area. Tall adults don't  have a problem but young children with guard fence height may not be visible. When installing the guard fence, care should be taken to ensure that the child standing behind the fence is visible.

If one is observant it is easy to see whether there is caring consideration for all the citizens, in the different  parts of the city. Not only healthy people live in cities. The weak live together with the strong. Some people have difficulty walking, like the elderly, while others are blind or deaf. Color blindness, poor vision, pregnant women, and children walking must remain a concern for those in city government.
 
Urban design should be done with the weak in mind. If only the strong are the concern of planning and design we can't say we are living in the real world. Without concern for the weak, our cities become a jungle; society lacks sensitivity, and the weak become the prey of the strong.
 
Cities where the weak live together is not only left to the heads of government, city officials, experts and organizations. All citizens must examine, work together to fix and bring about change. Let's start by not only thinking of my situation but the situation of others. And to check to see if it's a city where I can live comfortably as an old man not many years from now.

There is a need to take a stroll through the city with your grandfather and grandmother. Take your niece and walk along the street. Then you will know how to design a city. The moment this happens, you're a caring city architect and respected citizen.

Korean SKY Castle Myth

A college professor gives us his thoughts on the worries of many of the young people in Korean society. He begins his article in the Kyeongyang magazine with the TV drama 'SKY Castle', extremely popular among the viewers. It shows the efforts of the upper-class society to get their children admitted to the best universities. It had comedy and satire all mixed into the 20 or so episodes.
 
The portrayal on TV was true to life. Just recently one of those appointed to a high position in government was censured by the public for favoritism in a daughter's selection for college. It remains to be seen what will be the results of the legal process but it has been in the news many weeks. Young people have great difficulty with such news.
 
Children's education, exemptions from military service and the selection of public servants for positions in administration are very sensitive topics. Why should that be the case? Because it shows the possibility of wealth and place in society being passed on to the children of the elite.
Korea very quickly turned into a feudal society. In a slowly growing economy the limited fruits are first delivered to the privileged minority and what is left is divided among the rest. This malaise in society gives rise to discontent.
 
Those born before 1970 came into times with great economic growth and had the opportunity for wealth and prestige in society. The royal road for the minority was education. Those not so privileged would find wealth and position in society beyond their dreams and lamenting a society that closed the door to them.

Those born after the 70s, the numbers going to college increased greatly. In 1990, 33% went on to college, in 2000 the percentage went up to over 80%. They, for the most part, had a specialty. They were creative, globally-minded, and familiar in the search for information. Citizens traveling were not hesitant in dealing with foreigners, knew foreign languages and showed a great deal of confidence in dealing with foreigners, none of the inferiority of the past, they were well versed in democracy and totalitarianism was out of the question.
 
Young people were knowledgeable of the computer and smartphones and couldn't imagine life without them. They were competent in the world of technology. They did not separate work from play and searched for work they could enjoy. Different from the past they did not spend to show off but spent on their needs.
 
They were responsible for the Korean Wave of South Korean entertainment culture that spread throughout the world. They have not, however, been able to do much with the economic area of life. They are competent in many fields, have an inbred attribute for democratic ways, a special desire for making work and play a part in life. They grew up during a period of fierce competition and those that have received special favors will be their targets in the years ahead. They have many skills but they will find it difficult to escape the $650 a month salary which the recent college graduates are expecting to receive. Which was not the expectation of those who made it to college?

Young people will no longer stay on the sidelines watching how wealth and place in society are handed down. As they become the leaders, social change will come. Will they be able to bring about the change they want? Our society is now at the crossroads.

Migrants and Refugees in Korea

In early September of this year, the Uijeongbu Diocese of Korea which has been working with migrants and refugees established a Catholic refugee center. The diocese saw a need for a building for the refugees, a place for them to meet. It was welcomed and a great gift for the refugees. The Refugee Center was a space that supported the study, activities, and counseling of refugees and migrant families. There were 700 refugee applicants from Africa who escaped their homeland because of political and religious oppression. In the Eyes of the Believer column, a priest of Seoul explains to the readers of the Catholic Times the problems that arose.

The Uijeongbu Diocese established the refugee center, the first in the Korean Catholic Church which showed the diocesan interest and concern for refugees. In celebration of the completion of the Refugee Center, the bishop emphasized the love for the refugees in his talk at the dedication.

“We joined the 1992 Convention on Refugees and the Refugee Protocol and Korea enacted the first refugee law in Asia, but we have only 2% of the UN's 35% refugee recognition rate. Externally we appear to be in the ranks of protecting refugees, but in reality, we are doing very little. We have built this structure for the refugees let us fill it with our love."

In this way, the diocese is continuing the interest that began last year with the hope that each parish would take one of the refugee families and care for them.

However, shortly after the refugee center was completed it encountered a major obstacle in its operation.  After the ceremony, they tried to open the operation, but it was canceled and the sign of the refugee center on the outer wall of the building was removed. Some residents lately heard about the operation of the refugee center and protested to city hall to oppose the opening due to noise, security, and the deterioration of the local area. As the controversy grew, the diocese delayed the opening indefinitely. The Uijeongbu Diocese recently met with city officials and residents and said: " They fully understand the concerns and opposition of the residents. The refugee center will not begin operation until they have the agreement of the residents."

It is a shame indeed. It is okay for the Catholic Church to run a migrant pastoral center, but when you change the title to refugee center the discriminating attitude of local residents makes this impossible.

It cannot be denied that “politics of discrimination and exclusion” is working in our country.  Many are the incidents of discrimination, exploitation, and impersonal treatment of the migrant workers who have been in Korea for a long time! "Refugees", are a hot topic presently. They are our neighbors to be embraced like migrant workers because they are now living in Korea. In reality, however, Koreans dislike for refugees is well over the normal. A scholar expresses this situation very appropriately with the following words.

"You can send relief supplies to the African refugees who live far away and sing: You were born to be loved, but if you bring them to our country and let them live with us in our home, the story changes. If they are far away in Africa you can help because they don't threaten us, but the moment they enter the country they are not a target of hospitality, but of hostility.”

The 'other' always poses a problem. The other in me is difficult because it's not controllable. They are refugees inside me. In the Old Testament, beings who appear in the form of others were the gentiles, widows, orphans. They are like the present migrant workers, multicultural families, homeless people, refugees, etc. of this age and those who have been deprived of their rights because of social prejudice and mistreatment. But can we live without others and without neighbors? Jesus answers in the story of the good Samaritan "who is our neighbor?" He presented the Samaritan who heard the groans of the other and with to his side.

Like Jesus, we hope that "the principle of unconditional hospitality" will be applied to all others of this age, resulting in generosity and tolerance rather than disgust and hostility. The writer prays that soon the Uijeongbu Diocese will be able to open the refugee center and the local residents and refugees can coexist together in peace.

Responsible Business Conduct

In Korea, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), has spread to most multinational corporations, as well as to large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises. Climate change has become another trigger for arousing interest in sustainable management. A specialist in development finances in the Diagnosis of Current Affairs column of the Peace Weekly gives her ideas on the subject.

Although CSR is used with different meanings which are confusing it has two main objectives: to mitigate costs and risks and to create new opportunities and values. It's fundamentally about how a company manages its business.

Effective CSR increases corporate transparency and collaboration among those concerned with the ecosystem, (business, government, investors, civil society, employees, and consumers). In the larger picture, it is a matter of leadership to set standards in markets and in society. It's a strategy that goes far beyond the norms of common philanthropy.

In the international community, there is now a 43-year-old OECD which proposes guidelines that serve as a relevant standard. This guideline does not use the term 'CSR', but rather the term "Responsible Business Conduct". When the Working Group Chairman finished a meeting in 2016, people asked him, "Are you the guy who killed CSR?", "CSR committed suicide!" is the answer handed down. It is now Corporate Responsibility.

In the past decades, CR has evolved with two distinct trends. One is about governance. Breaking away from the traditional 'compliance' method of setting rules and standards and reporting results through audits and investigations. Now, instead in a collaborative manner, jointly finding and correcting root causes and applying best practices. It has been changing in a way that promotes the use of capabilities, and shares risks and benefits.

The second is the evolution of capitalism and the expansion of boundaries. The policy in the past was to see society as a battleground for competition. GE, Google, IBM, Nestle, Unilever, and Wal-Mart are beginning to connect the areas of company performance with labor, human rights, and the environment. Four years ago, in an Economist survey, 83% (74% strongly) of the 853 corporate executives around the world said human rights were a problem.

Our writer concludes the article considering the interest in CSR currently spreading in Korea. First of all, CR is not a government-led agenda. It is an agenda for the private sector to lead with repeated innovations based on their capabilities. She hopes that CR will bring about Korean entrepreneurship that can embrace these new ideas in the world markets.

Reputation And Reality

The word reputation has much included within its meaning: evaluation and judgment are two. We live with a reputation, make our reputation and listen to the reputation of others. The world values reputation and it determines success in much of life, often more important than ability. In the Word and Silence column of the Peace Weekly, a journalist gives his thoughts on the subject.

The success or failure of a company depends on its reputation. It gives wings to sales and can bring about a serious crisis in operations. Professional bodies research reputations and develop reputation indices. They advise, manage your reputation.

Politics is a fight over reputation. Elections are all mixed up with the rise and fall of reputations: rumors more than truth, perception more than facts, slogans more than content, and public relations more than reality. Each party hangs on its digital reputation They gather in their bags of comments and manipulate the search engine, and try to spread false news and dance when they succeed.

Reputation is ambiguous. My judgment is actually the reputation given to the world. They have never met the person but they know enough to like or hate, respect or despise someone. Most are superficial perceptions— virtual images conveyed by the media.

This is an era of reputation. Reputation is money and opportunity. Wealth, honor, power depend on reputation. Sometimes the seeds of destruction of oneself and family are sown. Reputation is hard to control.

Reputation is like money, without it, life is difficult but its pursuit leads to unhappiness. Become a slave to money and one loses its precious value. The same is true of reputation. The more you desire it the chances are it will destroy you and you lose your goal and direction in life.

Misery develops when dominated by reputation. The world's praise and tribute spoil one. The public wants idols and makes idols. Raise an ordinary person into a hero and they often are considered a prophet of the times.

Reputation is stronger than reality. If the reputation takes over, the reality is invisible. People trapped within a reputation rarely can free themselves. The cheers of the masses are like drugs, and gradually one becomes addicted. You cannot distinguish between what is real and the reputation developed. Life begins to imitate the reputation in which one truly believes. The tail shakes the torso. Reputation dominates behavior and consciousness.

An exaggerated reputation ruins a life. Even a noble personality is harmed. A double life can appear and lead to a life with a mask. The wise guard against a reputation. When an unbearable reputation comes, they run away from it. In particular, one refuses the place of respect and admiration by acting against expectations. Sometimes working against a supposed good is a greater virtue.