Foreign Workers In Korea

Those who work with foreign workers in many countries of the world are familiar not only with their dreams of finding a better life in the new country but with the frustrations they encounter: delayed payment of salaries, the temporary nature of the jobs, unfair treatment, lawsuits, and the difficulties that often arise when they marry and need help to get settled. Koreans who have worked in other countries in the past have also experienced the same difficulties.

"I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Mat. 25:35) is cited by a priest writing in the Peace Weekly to preface his remarks on the foreign worker issue. He is the priest  responsible for caring for foreign workers in his diocese. He has an International  Mass for them each Sunday and works as their pastor.

His desire is that they will have a good recollection of  Korea when they return to their countries. It is because Koreans are unwilling to do the jobs that are dirty, dangerous and difficult that we have the need for foreigner workers, a need greatly expanded when the country prepared itself for the '88 Olympics.

The priest recounts the story  of a worker who wanted to change his place of work.  He asked the owner of the factory for the opportunity to go to Mass on Sunday and  sing in the choir. The owner got angry and told him that if it was that important to him, he should get another job.  The priest helped him get a new job where he could attend Mass, and the worker is now happy with the situation.

He mentions another man whose contract expired and refused to return home.  The  priest and Sister tried to change his mind but failed.  Upset and drinking too much, he had an accident while riding his motorcycle.  It was then the priest heard that the money he had carefully saved and sent home to his wife had been squandered; nothing was left of his five years of work. The priest had nothing to say but did what he could to help him.

Many of the foreign workers experience depression, conflicting emotions and worry because of the often hostile working conditions. Many factory owners have no thought of the emotional needs of these workers  but only see them as bodies for doing work. Those who work to improve conditions within this foreign community are many, and they are doing an important job. But the work will become even more difficult as the  number of foreign workers coming to Korea continues to increase. With about one in four becoming illegal, the total number having overstayed their allotted time is now estimated to be about 27,000. This is a problem for the country and for those that work with the foreign community.

There is a need on the part of the underdeveloped countries to find work for their young people  if not at home, then in other countries. Korea continues to need workers to fill the jobs Koreans don't want. Last year, more than 10 billion dollars was sent back to the home countries of the workers. And in the process, everyone benefits. Korea is especially conscious of the bad publicity that is being exported along with the workers on  returning to their homelands. This awareness is sure to bring changes in the  treatment of  foreign workers.

Coffee Culture in Korea

Coffee, a newcomer to Korea, and the culture it has developed are now very much at home here. Koreans love coffee and the social ambiance it generates. What better way is there, many are now thinking, than to spend time relaxing and drinking coffee while working, talking to a friend, sitting at the computer or just getting away from the crowd.  Responding to the demand, specialty coffee shops in the cities are opening practically next door to each other. But more than just enjoying the coffee, customers are looking for a quiet space, to rest alone or with others, for as long as they care to stay.

The Peace Weekly thinks this coffee culture is important enough to discuss in an article in this week's edition and also in its editorial, headlined "Moral of the Parish Cafe," which comments on this trend in society and the decision of many parishes to join the coffee culture by opening their own cafes. Parishes that have the cafe are more than satisfied with the results. It is usually difficult to get volunteers to do service in the parish, but getting volunteers to help in the cafes has not been a problem; they are vying with each other to volunteer. Those who become baristas (those who make the coffee) have much to do, as do the other volunteers. Price is cheaper than in the ordinary coffee shops, and the profits go back to the community; this makes it worthwhile not only for the Christians but to all the residents in the neighborhood. Those who would usually come to Church only for Mass now come because of the cafe, which has helped  to make for fellowship among the Christians.

The opportunity these cafes present for evangelization cannot  be ignored.  Residents living near the parish also visit them, and it is not  difficult to see how this enables many of them to become interested in the Church. These cafes may well represent the next important direction to be taken by the Church in promoting its pastoral and evangelization programs.  Strengthening  the community and evangelization are two important goals the Church is currently seeking to implement. Getting involved with the cultural aspects of Korean life, as the Church is now doing by opening parish cafes, is a need that has been felt by many in the Church.

The Cafe is just one example of this acculturation. There are many other areas in which the Church can approach the larger community. Finding ways to be the yeast, salt and light to those we live with will always be the work of the Christian community.

Moving from Analog to Digital in the Church

A priest writing for other priests recounts his early life on a small farm, helping his parents. Paddy field farming requires many hands at the time of  planting and again at the time of harvesting. Dry field farming, however, requires continual labor throughout the growing season, and without such help it was difficult to make a living farming. Compared with preparing the crops of beans and sesame for market, cucumbers and potatoes required another step: selecting and grading the products for market.  The price is determined by size. While the parents were picking the cucumbers, he would be in the house determining, by size, which were superior, best, good, or inferior. Digital scales now make it  easy to do this, but in the old days it required judging with the eyes. And when in doubt about which grade to give, the farmer would most likely convince himself to give a higher rather than a lower grade.

"'Each time is different" is a phrase that was often used back then; judging was done according to  circumstances. The persons, the time, the situations are all different, so  are the results. What is the standard that we use to make our judgements? It is easy to say that if we make our judgements on greed, it is wrong. And if we make our judgments without regard for personal benefit, it  can be good.  When something is important to another, we should not consider it unimportant. How many, without concern for their personal  benefit, live freely? How many politicians have forgotten the will of the people and decide on the benefits to the party? And how often do those in industry not think of the welfare of the workers? Another example of not seeing the greater good because of deriving personal benefits would be the Four River Project.

In all our actions, we are to desire the common good in our action; that is what we mean by living the Gospel. When we live according to Gospel values, our behavior will seem ridiculous by the world's standard, but that is the only way we can live. If we're interested only in having more Christians and larger collections, we then become accustomed to the ways of the world and in the process destroy the Church and lose our strength. If we just work according to worldly values and forget Jesus and what he  taught, we  lose our way.

The writer concludes that the change from analog to digital scales brought a big change in the selection of vegetables. It is time for all of us to switch from analog to digital.  But we are still living according to our feelings, going in the direction of personal benefits and comfort. It is time to leave all this behind us, as we are doing with our analog devices, and begin to think like the Lord for whom we work.   

Spirituality

A columnist in our Catholic newspaper, writing about spirituality, reminds us that we are all unique,  one of a kind, all in some way different. Uniqueness, putting aside the philosophical meanings of the word, is the basis, he says, for our spirituality. Each of us can rightfully assert that there never was anyone like me before or will be like me in the future.

When a married couple who are supposed to be one fight, it is because they are not one. You are you, and I am I. In the convents and monasteries, there are many who live in discord. Priests with their communities are often in conflict because of each one's  uniqueness.  Because of  uniqueness, it is not surprising to have dissension.  It is the natural results of living with others.

It is natural that each one expresses his spirituality uniquely. Each one lives his faith, his love, his prayer life, the experience of grace in many ways.The prayer of a grandfather and a young  theologian are different. A person can have satisfaction in prayer by reciting the 'Our Father,'  while another may meet God in contemplation.There are those that find inspiration on visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and those that are fascinated by spiritual reading, and those that find their satisfaction by going on a meditative mountain-climb.

Consequently, a parish of 4000 can have 4000 different ways of expressing spirituality. Just looking at the virtue of poverty we see what this may mean. It  doesn't make any difference how much money one has; the one with money may have a greater sense of the virtue of poverty than the one with no money.

God is leading us as individuals and we try to be open to the movements of the Spirit. But it should be clear that no  individual  should attempt to make his or her  spirituality substitute  for the individual spirituality of those in the   community.

We cannot then speak about the collective spirituality of a community. No director should move the community in this or that way. The director tries to give the Church's teachings on the basics of spirituality to the community, which then waits for the Spirit to move each one uniquely. It does not mean that the community is unimportant, but that the community is to help the individual grow in spirituality and not interfere with the growth. The columnist reminds us that when we forget this principle, we become 'secularized,' forgetting the will of God and making our own will supreme.

Korean Example to the Catholic World

In the world of cyberspace the Seoul diocese  has been an innovative force since 1998, when it began the Yang-op system that united all the parishes in the diocese by facilitating the exchange of information. In 2008 this became the integrated information network that included all the dioceses and parishes in the country. Recently, the diocese has made access to Catholic information available to mobile phones users. And the diocese is now beginning its standard administration with a GIS (geographic information system) to unify all 225 parishes in the diocese in a network that will help make pastoral work more efficient. 

GIS works with hardware and software in order to manage and analyze data, which is then shown on a digital map. One can then quickly interpret the data to reveal patterns, relationships and trends in the form of maps, reports, graphs and charts. In the parishes, it will quickly show the number of Catholics in relation to the total  population, the number going to the sacraments, the number of Catholics in each age group, the number of  tepid in any one area of the diocese, and many more possibilities. It will enable the pastoral workers to customize the work to the needs of different parishes.

In the future it will help make parish lines clear and also help determine the location of future parishes and where they should be divided. The vicar of the diocese said that the system will not  only give us information on a map but help in many other ways. He hopes that it will also allow our Catholics, and all who are interested, to have easy access to the program.

The editorial in the Peace Weekly reports that there is great significance that a diocese, in our information age, is taking advantage of this fact, and is looking forward to the future in its policies and strategies. The capability  of customizing the work will insure that the GIS system will be very much utilized. 

Cardinal Cheong, in his  remarks at the inauguration of the new system, said, "Our diocese can take great pride in beginning this new standard of administrating, for there is no parallel of this being done elsewhere in the Church. The priests will be given a tool to help them do the pastoral work more efficiently, and it will also help the Christians in their faith life."

The Catholic Church benefits greatly because of the quality of internet access in the country. Korea leads the world in  broadband access and in comparison to the States, the monthly cost is much cheaper. Korean technology and  the high quality of internet use have facilitated greatly the interest and desire of the Church to be out in front in cyberspace.

Owner's Manuel for Life,

Mr. Kim Hong-sin, a popular novelist, politician, lecturer, and professor, is the first Korean author to sell more than a million books. Interviewed by a journalist of the Catholic Times this past week, he prefaced his remarks by saying, "I have in my lifetime killed many trees. I have used much paper in my writing...reflecting on this fact, I try to use every inch of paper when I write." Writers, he says, are all faced with this same problem, a problem that affects him deeply. 

During his eight years as a congressman, he was seen as a man of honesty and integrity and received high marks from his constituents. He was a strong voice for democracy and human rights during the 1980s. After retiring  from politics and for three years living like a recluse, he started writing again and now has about 300 books published. He also returned as a popular professor to the college classroom.

After many years of receiving questions such as, Why live? How are we to live? Why does love change?, he went in search of the answers. And found some. "The reason people are not happy, he says, is because they confuse happiness with pleasure. We are always comparing ourselves with  others, which usually results in making us feel inferior. However, we know what is necessary to be happy and should bring this knowledge to mind more often, but we have a tendency to forget.

He makes clear that this is also true of himself. As an example, he mentions how over 10,000 books in the cellar were spoiled with rainwater, and how he could not deal with the anger he felt at what had happened. He finally succeeded in putting himself at peace but the anger did not disappear. What changed was his ability to deal with the disaster. Such problems will always occur, he says, until the time he goes to meet God.

When people see him, they say he has all that is necessary for happiness but he disagrees, saying he continues to fret and get irritated, driven by a desire to do and accomplish more. When feeling driven this way, he likes to remind himself of advice given to him by his teacher: "Look at the mouse, he doesn't know the bait is poison and eats the bait; we know our baits are poison and yet still eat them...When a glass is full of hot liquid, why not put it down instead of grasping it even tighter with both hands." "Remembering this advice from my teacher," he said, "from that moment on, I gave up smoking, which I had been doing for 37 years and 9 months."             

He became a writer, he explains, because as a child he used to get from the French priest of the parish comic books he had received from France, which he would then translate into Korean for the children to read. It was from that time on that he became familiar with  books.  Even now, when he has a weighty problem on his mind and no desire to read, he will pick up a comic book.

His latest book, Owner's Manuel for Life, is advice on how to live well, using his own life experiences. He wants each young person to know how important he or she is and to acknowledge their dignity. And he cries out to the  older generation to feel the pain in the hearts of the young and to try to make this world a better place to live in. The young, when they make mistakes and fail, have the special privilege to be forgiven; they should never give up but face bravely the challenges of life. The have the duty, he says, to never give up on hope.

"The pine needle, when it  is scared, gives off," he says, "a fragrant scent.   We are the same. Those who have not been scared will not give off a fragrance. Don't be afraid of  hate, anger, frustration, pain. They should simply be thrown off. True, it is not easily done.  However, they have to be discarded.  Why?  We only have one life to live. We  can rid ourselves of the waste of the body, why can't we  rid ourselves of the waste of the heart and the head? We work at doing this with prayer, meditation and thoughtful reading.  Getting rid of things we don't want, we have to change our way of thinking to make room for the things we do want. Moreover, it's all free."

Defamation Laws in Korea

A broadcasting company producer writing for the Catholic Times, in  the "View from the Ark" column, comments on the present defamation laws in Korea. Many of the libel cases reported by the press, he says, usually involve, as the ones most likely to instigate the lawsuit: politicians and cabinet members, celebrities,  members of a government organization or those  managing members of some press group that instigates the lawsuit. Those  being  sued are the media those working in the media or private individuals.

When the media criticizes some policy or makes known some unsavory fact or shows some skepticism, those involved will often respond with a lawsuit, contending that such revelations slander them and they will seek redress under the law. Individuals who write or otherwise express themselves on the internet, radio or television are always vulnerable to defamation suits; there will always be some who will look for any excuse to lodge a lawsuit. The examples are many and are familiar to all.

Regardless of the result of these cases, the stress incurred by those who are accused of libel is great and generally increases while the case is being tried. The typical scenario pits a relatively powerless individual against powerful individuals or organizations. As an unintended consequence, the ease of pressing a libel suit places the  right to free speech in jeopardy.

The columnist then tells us what the penalties are for libelous speech. Whether the charges are true or not is immaterial if the person has suffered some damage; that alone is a sufficient reason for the suit, and if the charge is true, the penalty is less. There are conditions that must be met if the charge is found to be true, but these conditions, he says, are not easily fulfilled.

He mentions that the defamation laws have been criticized for years. The report to the UN, from the office of Frank La Rue, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on the right of freedom of opinions and expression, was critical of the situation in Korea.  There were 8 areas in which he expressed reservations on the way Korea has handled human rights issues. Many of these involve the freedom of the press, the freedom to create, and the freedom to speak freely in cyberspace; these form the foundation on which a democratic  society is built. The present defamation laws in Korea, our columnist says, are shaking this foundation and threatening our democratic society.  He asks if the the report of Frank La Rue will have any results in Korea. The answer, he says, will have to come from those in the media, our artists, and the citizens of cyberspace.

The Catholic Press is not  happy with the  current defamation laws that curtail freedom of speech, and have expressed this on a number of occasions. However, because of the security laws of the Country and the  situation in the North, the efforts to make changes have been slow in coming. The hope is that with enough dissatisfaction with the defamation laws, the necessary changes will eventually be made.