mgedwards – Page 210

Dongnimmun (Independence Gate)

On Saturday, my wife and I visited Dongnimmunin in Seodaemun, an area in western Seoul. Dongnimmun, or Independence Gate, was constructed in 1898 by Dr. So Jae-Pil, a leading Korean reformer, and his supporters. The gate sits on the site of Yôngûnmun, the former western gate of Seoul dedicated to receiving Chinese envoys who arrived in Korea annually to collect tribute on behalf of the Chinese Emperor. Yôngûnmun, a symbol of Korea’s status as a Chinese vassal state, was demolished in 1895 amidst fervent pro-independence sentiment. The 1890’s were a turbulent time in Korean history, when Korea sought to exert its independence from a weakening Chinese Qing Dynasty and fought to hold off an expansionist Japanese Empire that annexed Korea as a colony in 1910. In 1897, Korean King Gojong proclaimed that Korea would be known as the Korean Empire in a vain attempt to insulate itself from Japanese influence. However, the "Korean Empire" lasted just 12 years, when the Japanese dissolved Korea’s monarchy and annexed it as a colony.

Today, Dongnimmun stands in Yôngûnmun’s stead as a symbol of Korea’s political and cultural independence. Despite its symbolic and rhetorical value, Dongnimmun is perhaps the least known of Seoul’s four city gates. The other three gates are Namdaemun (South Gate), Dongdaemun (East Gate), and Gwanghwamun, the main gate guarding Gyeongbok Palace, Korea’s former royal palace. Namdaemun and Dongdaemun are especially well known because of their large, neighboring street markets. All three are traditional, Chosun Dynasty-era city gates (Yôngûnmun was also a Chosun-era gate). In contrast, Dongnimmun is a newer, western-style structure reminiscent of the Arc du Triomphe in Paris and numerous other copycat structures built worldwide. Although the site where Dongnimmun is located is called Seodaemun, or "West Gate," no gate exists by that name.

Dongnimmun is a bit nondescript, standing in the shadow of an elevated highway. It is weathered with age, made of drab stone blocks, and a bit smallish in comparison to the other gates of Seoul. Two pillars from Yôngûnmun remain and stand sentry on either side of Dongnimmun. If one is unaware of Korea’s recent history, one might miss the significance of this place. However, a fuller understanding of the Independence Club, The Independent newspaper, and Korea’s move towards self-reliance in the face of Japanese aggression and Chinese disengagement bring a powerful sense of historical weight to bear on the site. The National Assembly web site has an article on the Independence Club, an influential group in the early years of the 20th century that, among other things, popularized the use of hanguel, Korea’s unique writing system. Dongnimmun is a visible manifestation of this period. Once you learn about the years 1895 and 1910 and Korea’s fledgling independence movement, the site really comes to life.

Still fighting a cold–and Spanish

Dear Reader, I haven’t been feeling well lately and haven’t had much energy to write. I will write about last weekend’s escapades tomorrow. I feel a little better tonight, so I think the worst has passed (I hope). When I get sick, I usually recover in about four to five days. I spent some time at my desk today finishing some lingering projects, including the course I’ve been teaching, performance metrics, and an economic assignment. I also saw some photos of our housing in Asuncion, Paraguay, our next destination. The housing in Asuncion–at least the exterior–is absolutely amazing. Seeing where we will be living really helped lift my spirits today. People say that once you know your next assignment, you start mentally disengaging from your current one. In a sense, that’s very true. I’m already planning in my mind some of the steps we need to take to leave Korea and head to our next destination. In just 11 months, I am scheduled to depart from Seoul, and the time will pass very, very quickly.

I signed up for a self-study Spanish course, the same one I signed up for in mid-2005 and then canceled because I had already qualified for a short Spanish language course. I dropped the course because I did not want to study Spanish, take the Spanish language exam, then score worse than my previous score, thereby disqualifying myself from Spanish-language assignments, including the job in Paraguay. Now that I know I am headed to a Spanish-speaking country and need to become fluent in Spanish by June 2007, I need to get serious about improving my Spanish speaking and reading skills. I will only be in the U.S. for about four months (from February until June). We will be on home leave for 40 days, and then I receive one month of specialized training starting in April 2007. That leaves just two months, or less than eight weeks, to acquire fluency in Spanish. While English speakers can quickly learn Spanish, it would be foolhardly to assume that eight weeks is enough to achieve fluency. Hence, I seriously need to study Spanish from now until I leave Korea. I started studying it again last week and discovered a renewed interest in language learning. I had forgotten how much fun it can be to learn a foreign language! Having progressed from Spanish and French to German, and then on to Chinese and Korean (learning none of them well), I lost my desire to learn languages as they became increasingly complicated. Learning Korean was brutal. Learning a relatively easy foreign language such as Spanish is reinvigorating. In fact, I think I’ll say goodnight and crack open my Spanish book for a few minutes before I fall asleep. Every little bit helps.

Photos for the shutterbugs

Today we paid a visit to Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul. It’s the world’s largest church, with 750,000 members attending seven services on Sunday or on weekdays. If this statistic is true, then about one in twelve residents of Greater Seoul attend this church. We were surprised to find out that it’s located right next to the Korean National Assembly, Korea’s governing legislative body. We don’t plan to attend regularly–it’s too bustling and crowded and felt like attending a concert sitting in the stadium seating. We’ll continue to attend a much smaller church near home. Visiting this church was an interesting experience. The music–bar none–is the most beautiful I’ve ever heard (Koreans are fabulous musicians). I’ll write more about our experience tomorrow as well as about our visit to Seodaemun Prison on Saturday. I’m not feeling well right now, so I’ll keep this entry short.

For the Shutterbugs: I posted some new photos from our Saturday visit to Dongnimmun and Seodaemun Prison and our visit today to Yoido Full Gospel Church. Enjoy!

Blog Notes: Editfish, you are right. I personally have no concerns about a private company, foreign or domestic, operating a U.S. port, so long as that company is private. When it is run by a foreign government, I’m concerned about undue influence by that government. The foreign government not only props up the company, but it has a direct influence on U.S. industry. When it is an industry as crucial as shipping, any such deal merits further scrutiny. One could make a case that U.S. ports are strategic enough to nationalize or restrict to domestic operatorship. However, the fact that P&O is a foreign company and already manages a handful of U.S. ports undermines this argument. If Congress is going to mandate that these ports transfer to U.S. operators, then all U.S. ports should be under domestic control. I don’t think that is necessary, but if Congress thinks so, then Congress should at least be consistent and not capitalize on the issue for political gain.

Teena, thanks for your comment. Please don’t be discouraged about the U.S. political system and the shortcomings of the two major political parties. I could write all day about my political opinion and how I would change the U.S. political system. Suffice it to say, I try to keep this blog as nonpartisan as possible and address subjects that pique people’s interests. Occasionally, I throw in a political subject for good measure. I don’t think any U.S. branch of government or political party has as much power as their constituents think they do. Too many political issues are out of their control, particularly as the world grows increasingly interdependent. Moreover, the U.S. political system was established with checks and balances to prevent excessive concentrations of power. I think that the government and political parties can exert influence on domestic and foreign policy through key decisions, although the resulting changes are typically not realized until many years later–often after the ruling party is voted out of power by a disgruntled populace. I believe that government tends to function better when it works together in a bipartisan manner. More work inevitably gets done when the Democrats and Republicans quit sniping at each other and get to work on solutions. If anything, I am opposed to the extreme partisanship that seems to be pervasive in politics. It has not always been this way. I think that someday, partisanship–and compromise–will be politically fashionable again.

Here’s a case in point–the privatization of the Internet. An obscure piece of legislation passed 16 years ago laid the foundation for the Information Age. In 1990, the U.S. Democratic-controlled Congress passed the "High-Performance Computing Act of 1990." It was signed into law by Republican President George H.W. Bush. Title II, Section 201, eliminated direct oversight of the Internet’s backbone by the National Science Foundation’s NSFNet, allowing the Internet to function as a decentralized network. Six years later, Internet commerce caught fire, and the dot.com boom began, fueling a half-decade of economic growth enjoyed by Democratic President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress. In 2000, at the close of the Clinton years, the Internet bubble burst, and the U.S. economy went into recession just as Republican George W. Bush assumed the presidency. The ripple effect of Internet privatization continues to this day. Five years after the 1990 act privatized the Internet, Netscape Communications went public, and the Internet boom began the following year. Both President George H.W. Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress were defeated before their key decision bore political fruit. Be wary of any politician or political party that sounds overly utopian or makes grand promises–they typically take years to fulfill, if at all.