mgedwards – Page 259

A Korean drama of a different kind

This is a story worthy of a Korean TV drama. Korean dramas are well known throughout Asia with fans in many Asian locales, from Singapore to China. Korean TV dramas are very predictable, yet they remain very popular. Most Korean dramas, in my own, biased opinion, can be characterized as follows: 1) They play out in too many episodes and could be condensed into three or fewer episodes; 2) They feature too many illnesses and injuries, with serious, improbable medical conditions befalling one or more main characters; 3) They too often feature a love triangles or love quadrangles; 4) The two main protagonists obviously belong together but never end up together; 5) They end so open-ended that they always invite sequels that are never made; 5) They feature characters who are usually more attractive than the average person; 6) They feature overly meddling mothers and mothers-in-law, and 7) They tend of avoid controversial ways to change plots so often employed by American dramas, such as violence or drug abuse. Hollywood definitely is not alone in its lack of creativity. I don’t mean to sound overly critical of Korean dramas, because I know many people really enjoy them. I’ve even watched a few myself. Since I arrived in Korea, I haven’t been very motivated to watch any, because there are so many other things I find far more entertaining in the Land of the Morning Calm.

This story is worthy of being featured in a Korean TV drama. It would be original and groundbreaking, in my opinion. It has become so contentious, so controversial, and so personal that it would make an outstanding, award-winning drama. Of course, it will probably never be made because it is just too real. The story involves the contentious issue of opening of North Korea to South Korean tourism. Here is the plot summary:

The Hyundai Group’s founder, who was born in North Korea and a generous benefactor to North Korea, approached North Korea in 1990’s about opening the Hermit Kingdom to South Korean tourism. Hyundai negotiated with the North Koreans to open up Kumgangsan, North Korea to South Korean tourism. The new tour, which opened in 2000, is operated by Hyundai Asan, a subsidiary of the Hyundai Group. Initially a failure, the Kumgangsan tour became a roaring success, attracting its one millionth visitor from South Korea in June 2005. The Kumgangsan Tour now serves as the centerpiece of an effort by Hyundai to introduce South Korean tourist venues throughout North Korea, from the North Korean up to Wonson to Kaesong to Paektusan in the north.

The plot thickens. Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, is widow of former Hyundai Chairman Chung Mon-hyun, son of Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yun, both of whom committed suicide in 2002 over charges of illegally transferring $500 million to North Korea in 2000. The secret transfer occurred as part of the agreement with North Korea signed in 1999 to develop the Kumgangsan Tour. Hyun became Hyundai chairwoman after an internal power struggle between members of the Chung family. In July 2005, Hyun traveled to North Korea and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who agreed to open the city of Kaesong and Paektusan, Korea’s most revered mountain, to South Korean tourism. North Korea granted exclusive right to develop the tours to Hyundai Asan. Pilot tours to Kaesong from South Korea commenced on August 26, September 2, and September 7. The August 26 tour is historical because it represented the first time since the 1953 Korean War ceasefire went into effect that Koreans living south of the DMZ could visit Kaesong on tour. Many South Koreans involved in the tour were born and raised in Kaesong; for them, the tour was a lifelong dream fulfilled. Tourists visited Songgyungwan, a Confucian school featuring a Koryo museum, and Sonjuk Bridge, where Koryo’s Chong Mong-ju was killed in 1392 by Lee Song-gye, founder of the Chosun Dynasty. Lucky tourists also visited either Pakyon Falls or the tombs of Koryo kings Kongmin and Wanggon. In early August 2005, everything looked rosy for Hyundai Asan and the Hyundai Group.

Fast forward to the end of the month. Kim Yoon-Kyu, Hyundai’s primary negotiator with North Korea, is dismissed as CEO of Hyundai Asan by Chairwoman Hyun on charges of embezzlement. Kim was instrumental in successfully negotiating the opening of Kumgangsan. Kim was also heavily involved in setting up the pilot tours to Kaesong. In his place, Hyun named Yoon Man-joon CEO of Hyundai Asan. The North Koreans reacted angrily to Kim’s dismissal, claiming that it was a personal insult to Kim Jong Il. They insisted that Kim be reinstated as Hyundai Asan CEO. Hyun refused. North Korea responded by slashing the number of tourists allowed to visit Kumgangsan by half. Last week, North Korean officials went a step further by refusing to meet with Hyun and Yoon while they were at Kumgangsan to celebrate the opening of a new hotel and attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Kumgangsan Reunion Center for families separated during the Korean War. This week the Lotte Group, a rival chaebol (conglomerate), received an unsolicited offer to operate the new Kaesong Tour from the North Korean Asia Pacific Peace Committee, the organization charged with managing South Korea’s tourism projects. By giving the Kaesong Tour to Lotte, North Korea would trump Hyundai’s plans to solely cultivate tourism in North Korea.

And so the drama continues to unfold across the DMZ. Like a jilted lover, North Korea has turned to a new suitor, the Lotte Group, and is turning its back on longtime partner, Hyundai Asan. Aware that it cannot control Hyundai’s internal affairs and that South Korean tourism is extremely lucrative, North Korea is doing what it can to influence the situation. The final episodes of this drama have not yet been broadcast. The climax is yet to come. Stay tuned.

Sometimes fathers know best

I sat down late last night to write another blog entry. I started writing and had to stop. I didn’t even have a chance to publish it (I’ll finish it and publish it tomorrow night). My son had come down with an earache and was very uncomfortable. He cried and cried. We asked him if he wanted something, and he would first answer yes and then immediately changed his mind. He is a very healthy boy and is rarely ever ill, so we weren’t equipped to treat his earache. He didn’t have a fever and looked fine. His nose had been running, so I suspected that his nasal congestion had backed up into his ears. The poor kid was miserable. But all we really could do was make him as comfortable as possible.

My wife insisted that we bring him to the hospital emergency room. I said no, it’s a waste of time. We had hosted a colleague from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for dinner earlier that evening, and he seemed fine at the time. I explained that children at my son’s age get earaches all the time and that the hospital would do little, if anything, for him. I told her that we should take care of him as best we could and get him in to see the children’s nurse the next morning. I thought, there are billions of parents in the world–if they could, would all of them take their child to the emergency room when their child has an earache? No, I don’t think so. Most American parents would not. Chinese parents such as my wife are much more likely to because Chinese are more likely to rely on hospital care (hospital care is free in China–people can stay for weeks on end in the hospital). Earaches are very common occurrences in young children, and they’re usually not serious. They can be serious when they’re recurring or symptomatic of a more serious problem such as malnutrition. My wife was distraught and insisted that we take my son in to see the doctor at 12:30 a.m. in the morning. He could not sleep, and we were all still wide awake trying to figure out what to do in the wee hours of the night. I reluctantly agreed to her demands, although I protested, arguing that it would be a wasted trip and would only leave my son even more uncomfortable. I was right.

We drove to the hospital emergency room. The attendant took my son’s blood pressure and measured his temperature. Both were normal. Unfortunately, they insisted on taking his temperature rectally (for a more accurate measure), and we would have to wait at least 45 minutes to see an attending physician. My son wanted nothing more than to go home, and he kept trying to pull us out the door. My wife relented, and we left without seeing the doctor. She acknowledged that I was right on this occasion. Sure enough, following a generally sleepless night in which my son slept fitfully and acquired a slight fever, my wife took my son in to the nurse. The nurse subscribed antibiotics and another medication. My wife was at wit’s end trying to get my son to take his medicine, but he eventually cooperated. When I got home from work tonight, my son ran to me, very happy to see daddy. It warmed my heart. He still had a slight fever, but he looked so much better. We played and had a great time. Everything transpired just as I thought it would. Right now he is sleeping soundly, well on his way to recovery.

I usually try to make decisions based on reason. When it comes to my son, my wife usually follows her instinct. Usually, she’s right. She’s much more tuned in to his needs than I am. Sometimes I feel like I’m clueless and a reactor when it comes to anticipating his needed. Fathers usually don’t share the innate instinct that mothers have when it comes to caring for their children. At times, instinct clashes with reason. In this case, my wife’s first instinct was to rush out and treat our son immediately, getting him whatever he needed to feel better right away. I thought this through, and based on past experience in hospital emergency rooms and what I knew about children’s earaches, I was convinced that going to the emergency room at midnight for an earache was overkill. I think that the interplay between instinct and reason is vital to coming up with an optimal solution. Sometimes reason is right, sometimes instinct is the better option. In this instance, dad got it right.

Remembering September 11

With so much U.S. media coverage focusing on the Hurricane Katrina disaster, it’s easy to overlook the fact that today is the fourth anniversary of the nation’s deadliest terrorist attack, when the World Trade Center towers fell, the Pentagon was hit, a plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, and thousands died. I’m sure the remembrance will be muted in light of the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, a disaster that is now as embedded into the American psyche as is that infamous day on 9/11/2001.

Here in Korea, far away from the U.S., it all seems so distant to me now. I remember well where I was when I heard the news of the terrorist attacks. Who could forget? I was at the Boeing assembly plant in Everett, Washington where two of the four jetliners hijacked by the terrorists, 767s, had been assembled. The other two jetliners, 757s, had been built in Renton, Washington at another plant where I used to work. I drove to work that day mindlessly listening to music. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as I drove to work. I usually listen to the morning news, but for some reason, on 9/11 I tuned the world out. I parked my car and walked into the plant. As I entered, a coworker passed me and said, “You heard about what happened, right?” I answered no, and he exclaimed, “The World Trade Center collapsed!” You’ve got to be kidding! I asked incredulously, “You’re joking, right?” He shook his head and answered, “No, I’m serious.” I raced to my desk and checked CNN.com. The Web site was down due to heavy Internet traffic. I found an alternate Web site covering the attacks, and I turned on my desk radio and listened to the news. I couldn’t believe it. Because we were on the West Coast, the attacks had transpired long before we arrived at work. At the time, the media were still trying to figure out whether the planes that hit the World Trade Center had erroneously hit them. When the second one hit, and the third hit the Pentagon, no one doubted that it was a premeditated attack. Confusion reigned, and the media speculated whether more attacks would occur. The country was in a state of collective shock. As a Boeing employee, I was incensed that a product I helped build was used as a weapon by terrorists. Although Washington State was far from the epicenter, my coworkers and I felt a personal loss by the tragedy. Some of us had friends and family living in the New York City area, and we were desperate to locate them.

In hindsight, the Oklahoma City bombing notwithstanding, the decade between the Gulf War and 9/11 seemed so peaceful. It turned out to be an illusion. The events that transpired on 9/11 had been in the planning long before September 11. Osama bin Laden fled from Sudan to Afghanistan during the 1990s. The Iraqis and Allied sorties frequently skirmished. The levee that broke, flooding New Orleans, remained unrepaired. Nevertheless, something changed on that day in 2001. The world has never been the same. In just four years, the U.S. has been through 9/11, the Afghan War, the Iraq War, Tsunami relief, and now Hurricane Katrina. It’s been a very turbulent four years for everyone. Although I’m skeptical, I hope that the next four are just as uneventful as the previous four were eventful. We could all use a break.