경량토

용도

설명

보수성

통기성

투수성

보비성

버뮤

클라이트

식재

토양층

혼용

흑운모, 변성암을 고온으로 소성

O

O

O

O

필라이트

진주암을 고온으로 소성

O

O

O

X

피트

갈대나 이끼가 탄소화

O

O

O

O

화산자갈

화산모래

배수층

화산분출암 속의 수분과 휘발성 성분이 방출

O

O

*보비성 : 거름기를 오래 지속할 수 있는 땅의 능력

At first, the word was used to describe the people who use internet. Today this usage is no longer valid because practically all active Korean population is using internet. Now the word is used to designate people who vocalize in the cyber world. The image of the word becomes increasingly negative due to the erratic behavior of the netizens.

Netizens express their opinions through public bulletin boards or reply sections of internet news sites. Famous netizen places include DCinside, Daum News and Agora, Naver News and the sites of three broadcasting stations (KBS, MBC and SBS).

I read Korean news in Naver News although I don't like it much. Currently I have no alternative for Naver News. (The reason behind this is an another long story.) Naver News has used short reply function for every news article. The reply function was an brilliant idea when it first came out. People could find out what others think and errors in the articles were disclosed by more knowledgable readers. Sadly enough, today it gets more irritating day by day reading the comments of netizens. Famous netizen hangout sites have become a loser magnet. 'Loser' is the English word that I don't like most but I can't help using this word to describe today's netizens.

What Naver netizens say:

- Korean women are material-seeking and inferior to women from other countries. They only see money in a man and they ask too much.

(Refer to 무서운 ‘인터넷 마초’ for male netizens' degrading women. Some netizens even think Naver News put gender related articles to induce quarrels.)

- Only poor men are burdened with the duty of defense. Why don't Korean women go to army? We can't be the only one who endure the injustice.

(Conscripting women is unrealistic in many ways. The male netizens actually put their wreath on easy preys such as women and celebrities who seem to evade military service. What they should do is to voice out to improve living conditions in the army; they instead want to find scapegoats.)

- We like neither Japan, America nor China. Japan is evil without question and we want its demise by all means. America seeks only hegemony and we can't tolerate any bit of Bush. Chinese are dirty and backward.

(Most of the countries in the world are hated by netizens.)
- We are against abolition of death penalty. If you killed someone, then you should be dead, too. Period. The only thing we can learn from China is mass execution.

- We don't like rich people. Why do these articles tell stories of the rich? We don't want to hear such things and they make us angry.

- (Before the scandal of the cloning master, Dr.Hwang) We can't accept any opposing opinion against stem cell cloning whether it's ethical or not. Dr.Hwang does a great deed for Korea.
- Why should we help famine stricken Africans? There are a lot of poor people in Korea, too. Koreans should help Koreans first!

- We can't tolerate Korean Christians. They deny Darwinism and they are all corrupt.

What Korean netizens say is basically we, we, we, we. Many of them have a self-centered and extreme view on the world. It is bothersome to see their poorly constructed opinions but readers can choose not to read them. It is also true every nation has its share of whacked up population. (Refer to the Discuss sections of Yahoo News.)

The problem is Korean journalists. They recently began quoting netizens! They read the trend of Korean society from random and few netizens. (According to Naver News, less than 1% of their readers choose to write. Besides many of the comments are produced by mass-commenters.) The journalists go to famous netizen hangout sites and collect some quotes that suit to what they want to write. They publish the quotes with the ID in question implying the quotes represent what Koreans think on the matter.

This way of journalism has serious problems. As shown above, the sampling is far from perfect. Many of netizens are young males who have particularly strong and extreme ideas. They often think differently from what general popluation thinks. For example, male netizens want women go to army but there is no formal association supporting equal conscription except some unknown Daum cafes. The May 31 local election was a land slide win of the opposing party but half of Naver netizens were saying Korean people do not see the real value of their current president who was responsible for the embarassing defeat of his own party.

The second sampling is also dubious. Journalists choose quotes among thousands of threads. I've never seen actual counting of pro and con opinions on a matter in those Netizens-have-spoken articles. They just choose what they want to publish. They even don't publish the whole comment. Readers only see one sentence from here and another from there and can't know whether the sentences were cut out of the context.

The critical fault of this method is that you can never know who said such and such things. The quoting is usually done when you know the person quoted and even anonymous opinion polls require basic information of respondents. Now Korean readers should believe something from no one. At worst the ID and the whole quote can be a pure creation of the journalist who wrote the article.

The phenomenon of netizen quoting also shows the laziness of the journalists. It's an incredibly easy way of reporting things. They connect to internet, read some comments and copy some nice ones. They link those comments and voila an article by a gi-ja (journalist).

(I found French Le Monde adopted a similar tactic in this article but the article in question seems internet only without distributed in paper edition.)

The discuss section of Yahoo News is also plagued with crazy comments but the media present in Yahoo news never seem to be botherd by the discuss section.

Traduit par moi en francais.

(Click here for automatic English translation.)

Catégorie	Nom	Surface (m²)	Coréen
Equipements éducatifs	Ecole maternelle	500-1,000	유치원
	Ecole primaire	15,000-25,000	초등학교
	Collège		중학교
	Lycée	20,000-30,000	고등학교
	Bibliothèque	300-500	도서관
Jardins publics	Jardin pour petits enfants	500	유아공원
	Jardin pour enfants	2,500	어린이공원
	Jardin de proximité	15,000	근린공원
	Jardin de quartier	80,000	지구공원
Autres	Commissariat de police	1,500	파출소
	Petit commissariat	750	소장파출소
	Mairie	830	동사무소
	Eglise	1,000	교회
	Clinique publique	4,000	보건소
	Clinique privée	6,400	일반병원
	Bureau de poste	100-200	우체국분국
	Salle des gens âgés	100-200	노인정
	Crèche	200	보건소
	Salle des habitants	200-300	주민공동시설
	Aires de jeux	300-1000	어린이놀이터

As globalization continues, today’s Korea accommodates more and more foreign media through cable and satellite TVs. AFKN (Armed Forces Korea Network) was the first foreign TV broadcaster in Korea. America’s CNN and Japan’s NHK made inroads into Korea in 1990’s; China’s CCTV and America’s Fox News entered to Korea recently. Now BBC World is the first and the only European news service available in Korea. BBC World’s contributions to the Korean viewers can be summarized to complementing Korean news service, providing impartial view and helping learning of British English.

Like other foreign news services, BBC World supplements what Korean media lack. The inadequacy of Korean news media is most evident in world news coverage and in-depth analysis. Since Korea doesn’t have its own world news service channel, Korean audiences can’t get enough world news from local media which put emphasis first on domestic news. The insufficient world news coverage consequently leads to lack of in-depth analysis. Korean media concentrate on reporting facts because time slots for world news are not enough to do analysis. Thus, Korean media often overlook in-depth analysis on world news although world news requires more analysis than domestic news. Important world events and trends are the products of complicated factors, so people need detailed explanation to understand how these factors play to produce an event or a trend. For instance, to understand London terror bombings in 2005, you need to comprehend recent terrorism by extremists in the world and specific conditions of minorities in Britain at the same time.

BBC World is well suited to compensate such insufficient world news coverage in Korea. BBC World shares its news sources with BBC News which is one of the largest news programme producers in the world making 100 hours of news output everyday. BBC World provides world news 24 hours a day based on abundant BBC News feed. The news coverage of BBC World is extensive and spontaneous with occasional live news on the spot. The in-depth analysis of world affairs is covered by programmes such as Hard Talk in which experts diagnose today’s world headlines. Recent subjects of Hard Talk included comparison of two emerging Asian powers: China and India.

BBC World distinguishes itself from other similar media most for its high credibility. As a public broadcaster, The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has retained neutral view influenced neither by advertising sponsors nor by the British government. This strict neutral position has been made possible by its independent funding method and the well-organized institution that guarantees freedom of press. BBC’s news service has accumulated authenticity by sticking to its principle “being independent, impartial and honest” for more than 80 years. BBC World has only 11 years of history but the service has also acted on the lines of its mother company. Korean viewers will benefit from BBC World’s authenticity and impartiality in understanding the world where different interests meet and clash.

As the only British news channel in Korea, BBC World is a recommendable tool of learning British English. Korea is one of rare countries where American English is taught instead of British English. American English was taken for granted in Korea in the past, but now more people want to learn British English widening their scope on the world. British English is the international English in the world and recognized as more high-cultured than American English in Korea. Moreover, the nation’s most prominent English test, TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), will shortly adopt British English along with American English in its listening test, giving Koreans even more reasons to learn British English. BBC English has long been considered equal to the Received Pronunciation which is the English spoken by educated people. Korean viewers would not only obtain knowledge on the world but also acquire high standard of English by watching BBC World.

In a democratic society, diverse points of view enrich people’s idea and the existence of various ideas enriches the democracy. In this regard, more high-quality media are positive for the advance of Korean society and BBC World will take part in this role of media. BBC World’s extensive world news and sophisticated English will help Koreans to interact with the world more effectively; BBC World’s honest and unique view will help to uplift people’s thoughts. BBC World can eventually be an exemplary reference of establishing Korea’s own world news service in the future, too.

Kofi Annan, 7th Secretary-General of the UN 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations(S-G), commonly known as the chief of the UN to the rest of the world, is the head of the Secretariat which coordinates works of various UN bodies such as Security Council and General Assembly. However, the S-G lacks real executive power unlike heads of other types of organizations because member countries of the UN make all the important decisions. Thus, the S-G is more of a mediator and spokesman than a CEO.

Speaking two major working languages of the UN, English and French, is minimum requirement to be the S-G. On top of basic language skill, a good S-G should have other additional qualities. The job of the S-G as an arbitrator and leader of the UN requires additional four important qualities: fluency in working languages, insight into the operation of the UN, ability to remain neutral, determination and integrity.

Insight is an essential quality for any leader. A leader can’t accomplish his job just by following instructions in the job contract. A leader needs to see further than the surface and the present. He(She) should be able to analyze the current situation and predict future trends based on the analysis of the present. It is especially true in the UN which is at the front of incessantly changing world. The UN needs to detect the change and to adapt to the change. The role of Kofi Annan, the current S-G, in elaborating the reform of the UN shows insight is a much needed quality for the job.

Neutrality and determination are the qualities for the S-G as a neutral mediator of various national interests. The S-G should maintain neutral position regardless of his origin and political standing. Favoritism of the S-G will create not only distrust from discriminated countries but also breakdown of the whole UN due to the conflict between discriminated and favored nations. For instance, the Congo Crisis in 1960 resulted in the UN being accused of taking sides and using force to impose its authority. The leadership of the S-G at that time, Hammarskjöld, angered Russia lead by Khrushchev; in fact Khrushchev called on Hammarskjöld to be removed from the office. Determination enables the S-G to maintain neutrality of the UN despite such pressure from member countries. Member countries compete under different agenda and they want the UN decisions favorable to their nations. The S-G needs to stand alone and to be free from pressures and national interests of member states.

The S-G should have high standard of integrity himself to keep the UN clean. Since the United Nations lacks neither jurisdiction nor military power, the support of member countries makes the UN have authority. Without coercive force, the UN needs to show integrity to get respect and more voluntary participation from member countries. While all the UN personnel need to conduct with high standard of ethics, the S-G as the head of the UN should have more integrity than any other personnel.

The qualities needed to be a good S-G are not much different from well known qualities to be a leader of any organization. A leader should have basic knowledge of his job and the organization in which he’s engaged, guide the members of the organization, and present the organization. Any good leader equipped with specific abilities required by the UN can be a good S-G.

JPO is a special internship program of the UN but it is financed by national governments.  UN internship is a shortcut for regular jobs in the UN but the poor UN never pays interns. Many nations want more of their nationals work in the UN, so they select JPOs and pay them instead of the UN.

Continue if you want to read my experience of Korean JPO test…

The test is two phased. The first stage is TEPS (Test of English Proficiency developed by Seoul National University). TEPS is a kind of Korean TOEIC test. Korea worships English language in a strange way and both TOEIC and TEPS are products of English worshiping in Korea. TOEIC test is a must for entry to  respectable Korean companies. One day Korean government was not happy to spend hard-earned dollars for this American English test and they made Seoul National University(SNU) develop TEPS. TEPS is a lot less influential than TOEIC but SNU and government prefers this test to TOEIC. I guess that's why TEPS was adopted for the first test of Korean JPO.

TEPS filtered 160 applicants to 36. I was the last of 36 because my score was 931/999 while the cut off score was 930! Yes, I was very lucky. (I guess this too much luckiness made this week miserable. Koreans belive bad luck is compensated by good luck.)

The second phase of the test was a headache. The full score of the second exam is 100 and it is composed as follows:

- Korean interview 30 pts

- English discussion and oral presentation 20 pts

- English writing 25 pts 

- Second language 8 pts (other official languages of the UN: French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic)

- Additional points 17 pts (Graduate school diplome, UN related activities and awards, lawyer certificate, etc.)

It was quite an exam because it took place during four days. I had more stress in this test than others because most of the tests were oral exams. You always repent after an interview why you couldn't answer more correctly and gorgeously.

I met the moment of truth in the Korean interview. Juges asked me why I chose to be a JPO. I answered I got sick of the profit-seeking job in my former company and it would be a lot nicer to work for the humanity in the UN! One juge asked me then I had ever worked for other people. I was a lot embarassed and told him a not very convincing experience. After the exam, I got really ashamed of myself and decided to seek actively a voluntary work. The moment was a disaster for the exam but a good lesson for my life.

The one where I invested my time most was English writing. I knew I commit a lot of faults in my English writing. Another luck came at this time. I encountered an ESL teacher in Kybo bookstore in Seoul and she introduced me a fine writing teacher. The lesson fee was deadly expensive for an unemployed person like me but it sure was worth of its price. The teacher corrected my writing problems such as excessive use of passive voice and ambiguity. It helped me but I didn't have much time to remember these rules at the test because the time was too short. I had to answer to three questions for two and half hours but I managed to answer to only two questions. I couldn't even finish the second one.

I was really impressed by other testees at the English oral exams. Most of them spoke English just like their mother tongue while I was speaking ungrammatical and less organized English. Some of them always spoke in English even out of the exam time. It is noticeable most of the 36 testees were female. I think men were less than five. Korean men seem to lag behind Korean women in language department.

The easiest part for me was the second language exam. I didn't have much difficulty answering in French because I lived in France for two years. My French is still weaker than my English but other people had more problems than I. Many testees chose French but it's a hard language to learn at home. I may have been one of few who had lived in Francophonie.

The exam was difficult and very demanding. It taught me a lot of things though I don't want to take the exam again. I met a lot of brillant people (many of them were brilliant and good looking at the same time!) and could contemplate on the meaning of my life. I don't see much chance of being chosen because of the level of my English and lack of UN related experiences. However, I will not be much disappointed because I learned a lot from the exam.

(Click here for automatic translation in English.)

Le prince Henri, époux de la reine de Danemark a avoué qu’il mange du chien selon le journal britannique, The Times.

Il a dit “J’ai trouve le goût du chien quand j’étais au Vietnam dès le jeune age.” Il a même recommandé de goûter du chien.

(comme attendu) Les protecteurs européens des animaux ont critiqué sa remarque. Quelques gens ont dit que la disparition d’un teckel en 1991 dans la cour danoise aurait se passé dans la cuisine du palais.

Un protecteur danois des chiens a commenté: “Prince Henri vient de France. Les français mangent des choses bizarres comme du cheval et de l’escargot.”

(L’article original en coréen se trouve ici.)

=====

J’ai trouvé cet article très rigolant parce qu’un européen a avoué ayant mangé du chien et que j’ai une situation contraire. J’ai mangé du chien avant mon séjour en France. Je ne l’aimais pas trop à cause de la graisse excessive mais je ne réfléchissais pas beaucoup à manger du chien non plus.

Tout a été changé après mon séjour en France. J’ai rencontré un chien aimable à Paris et j’étais attaché à lui.

Mon père a proposé un dîner bizarre après ma rentrée à Séoul. Il a voulu manger du CHIEN avec sa famille pour fêter son anniversaire de mariage! (Quel mari romantique, mon père!) Personne entre ma famille ne protestait contre cette proposition sauf moi. (Vous voyez bien pourquoi mes parents sont toujours en couple.) Je ne suis pas Brigitte Bardot* au soudain mais je ne pouvais pas simplement supporter de manger du chien. C’était inexplicable. Ma famille a été un peu choqueé, même ma soeur de 24 ans. Ils auraient pensé que je suis trop de French maintenant après deux ans de séjour en France.

(* BB est un personnage français très connu en Corée pour sa critique contre la cuisine coréenne du chien, pas pour ses films.)

The meeting participated by the President concerned mainly familial support for marital immigrants. The meeting produced following proposals.

1. Familial allowance and medical service will be offered to foreign brides even before they acquire Korean nationality.

2. The illegal activites of marriage brokers will be dealt with by amending International Marriage Law.

3. Hotline (1366) and shelters will be made for foreigners.

4. Anti-Discrimination Act will be enacted.

5. The text books stressing Korea as a pure blooded nation and containing racial discrimination will be modified to be multi-cultural and respecting human rights.

6. The word "mixed-blood person(혼혈인)" will be changed to a more politically correct one.

7. The children between Koreans and non-Koreans living in overseas, notably Korean-Vietnamese, will be able to get Korean nationality a lot easier.

(The above policies were translated from this article.)

Measure 1, 2 and 3 are from practical need. Now one tenth of total marriages in Korea is international and most of these marriages are between Korean men and brides from developing countries. Korean government may have realized that the brides and their children become sigificant part of Korean population.

Measure 7 is long-overdue. Korean nationality has prioritized blood over place of birth. According to this nationality principle, these children should have been able to be Korean if they wanted, but they couldn't be so easily before.

Measure 4, 5 and 6 have important cultural meaning and seem to be the highlight of this meeting. They indicate that political correctness will be finally taught and enforced in Korea. Political correctness concerning gender equality was introduced early to Korea with adoption of universal suffrage in both Koreas in 1948. However, political correctness concerning race was almost non-existent even when globalization seemed to be the motto of the whole nation. In fact, the word and the conception of being politically correct is an unfamiliar term for many Koreans.

Korea has experienced rapid change over a century and today's Korea is going through another important transition. The growth engine, formerly based on large input and cheap labor, had to be restructured and Korea's one blood tradition is losing its grip due to demographic change and globalization. I hope the government can produce far reaching and daring moves like this one just like they did for the spread of braodband internet.   

Internet brought this strange feeling of nationality identification to home. Many internet sites demand login and the registration process requires you to choose your country from a drop-down menu with long list of countries. You also encounter the same long list when you look for country statistics in the web.

South Koreans have a little inconvenience here because the country is called four ways in various drop-down menus. It can be 'Korea, South', 'South Korea', 'Republic of Korea' or just 'Korea'. 'South Korea' is an easy name which everybody knows. 'Korea, South' seems more sophisticated expression putting North and South Koreas one after another. 'Republic of Korea' is the official name of South Korea. Just 'Korea' in the drop-down menu is somewhat rare. These four ways of calling South Korea makes more hideous to search the country name. The list already has over 190 countries and I sometimes should try three times when I am not lucky. I instintively look at K first. If 'Korea, South' is not there, I go to S to find 'South Korea'. If it fails again I should find 'R' for the Republic's sake. (I confess that I sometimes become Afghanistani just because the country is at the top of the list.)

Most sites wouldn't get any North Korean user but the country name is there anyway for the fraction of North Koreans. In North Korea, you should register your hard disk to the government whether the PC is connected or not and the content of the disk will be regularly checked. Outgoing internet is exclusive to limited number of people. Other people who are also very few among North Koreans can use only North Korean-wide intranet, Kwangmyeong. Kwangmyeong means the bright future ironically. (I really wonder when the bright future comes to them.)

Two Koreas are not only tragedy but also inconvenience. That's my important finding(!) Now there are some South Koreans who don't want reunification of Korea because of all the chaos it will bring. Unlike them, I am a fervent backer of reunification for separated famillies and for easier web surfing.

1. CKJ

2. CK and J

3. C and KJ

4. CJ and K

The Promise(武士) features main actors from three countries: Jang Dong-Kun from Korea, Hiroyuki Sanada from Japan and Cheung Pak-Chi from China.

I. CKJ 

CKJ is well known to share important elements. 

Shared culture

Chinese letter, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, traditional art, architecture, martial arts etc 

Economy

Export driven growth. (but today’s Japan has substantial domestic market)Japan leads the way in manufacturing and producing cultural products while the others tend to follow Japan’s path. Therefore there is fierce competition between three countries. 

Affected by monsoon; main crop is rice

Very high population density. Population growth tends to go lower today.

In 2008, CKJ will be the only Asian countries which hosted summer Olympic games.

World population density: Red spots are concentrated in East Asia and India. 

*** 

II. CK and J 

Geography 

CK: continent with continental climate

J: islands with oceanic climate 

* 

CK: continental culture is dominant

J: continental culture from north and oceanic culture from south combined 

* 

CK: relatively safe from earthquakes (except Taiwan)

J: most earthquake prone country in the world

** 

Ancient and medieval history 

CK: centralized state for more than one thousand years

J: decentralized state before Meiji Restoration in 1866 

* 

CK: occasional dynastic changes

J: single dynasty maintained 

* 

CK: stabilized society with no warrior class

J: presence of warrior class (samurai) and frequent wars between feudal lords 

* 

CK: frequent invasions from outside

J: no unprovoked outside invasion* – almost unique experience in Eurasia (*failed Mongolian try was excluded)  

* 

CK: long time allies (Song-Goryeo; Ming-Joseon)

J: isolated

** 

Modern history 

CK: failed in industrialization in 19C

J: the only successful non-western country in industrialization in 19C  

* 

CK: victims of colonization and aggression

J: colonizer and aggressor 

* 

CK: civil wars in 20C. split to capitalist and communist parts

J: no civil war, no separation. 

* 

CK: experience of capitalism and communism

J: no communist state ever 

* 

CK: developing countries

J: developed country 

* 

CK: territorial disputes with Japan (Diaoyutai, Dokdo)

J: territorial disputes with CK (Senkaku, Takeshima) 

* 

CK: fierce anti-Japanese sentiment

J: hostility from three neighbors 

* 

CK: cold(C and Nk) and ambiguous(Sk) attitude toward US

J: in the same boat with US (two countries are inseparable in economy and geo-politics)  

* 

CK: maintained monarchy most of the time in the history but no monarchs present today.

J: constitutional monarchy 

* 

CK: traffic to the right

J: traffic to the left!

*** 

III. C and KJ 

C: huge territory

KJ: small and modest territorial size 

* 

C: territory with large plains

KJ: rugged terrain with little flat land 

* 

C: resource rich; self sufficient in food supply

KJ: resource poor; insufficient domestic food supply 

* 

C: multi-ethnic country; expanded by absorbing outsiders into Chinese culture.

KJ: most homogeneous country in the world (1:Nk, 2:Sk, 3:Jpn); wary of outsiders. 

* 

C: hardly related with KJ languages apart from terminological influence on both languages

KJ: the closest languages to each other in grammar and pronunciation 

* 

C: standing culture (use of bed and chairs)

KJ: sitting culture (use of Ondol and Tatami) 

* 

C (and Nk): self defense

KJ: protected by US, allied with US 

* 

C: no football World Cup games yet

KJ: the only co-hosting of World Cup in FIFA history

***

IV. CJ and K 

CJ: world powers today

K: no world power status 

* 

CJ: Chinese letter is essential in respective languages

K: use of Chinese letter is discouraged (almost abolished in Nk) 

* 

CJ: largely atheist today

K: the only Asian country with significant numbers of Protestants (Nk:
Pyongyang was the center of Korean Christianity before the communist regime.) 

###

The list doesn’t draw any analysis or conclusion yet. I may be able to develop this list further for future use. This list made by a single person is by all means incomplete. If you want to add something, feel free to do so. 

#Legend

C(China), K(Korea) and J(Japan) are in geographical order from west to east.

Nk= North Korea, Sk= South Korea, Jpn= Japan