Shortly after my arrival in Korea one
of the first things I began to do was to reconnect with Koreans who, like Han,
Wan-hui, I had become acquainted with in the US or else on previous trips to
Korea. For the most part, I had not seen
them in almost a decade, and some longer ago than that. Reconnecting like that really brings home the
impact of ‘time change’. Life is so very
dynamic, yet in our day to day lives we generally do not notice it (except for
the inevitable grey hair, and the addition of a paunch, of course).
Yet, when I got a chance to become reacquainted
with retired Major General Choi, Seung Woo he appeared at least as vibrant - if
not more so – than when I last saw him in 2007. He was then, and still is the Executive of
Yesan County, a comfortable and prosperous community – then and now, and I wish
him well in his retirement after this current election cycle. He will probably be even busier in retirement
than most people are during their work. I
haven’t as yet had the opportunity to meet again with his son, Choi, Dong-uk,
but that is because he is so busy between new job and family that like so many
others here, time has become an incredibly valuable commodity.
In fact, far more so here than in the
US the pace of life seems extremely frenetic and contains a special air of
vibrancy. Not just in those whose focus
is on family and in work, but especially in those who have a special vision for
their futures. People such as Han,
Wan-hui, or Kim, Kukkiyan, and others like them, who manifest an entrepreneurial
spirit to a high degree are the people who often have major impacts on society. The impact on this energetic society of such
people cannot be underestimated. They
admire the feats of people such as Steve Jobs or Richard Feynman, yet ask if
you were to approach 10 people on the street in the US and ask if they knew
these names, how many correct answers would you receive?
Choi, Dong-uk, at the martial arts school around the year 2000 poses with a group of students.
Han, Wan-hui, at the US martial arts school helping a child to learn to break cinder blocks circa 1999.
The US is still a world leader in
business or technology, but for how long?
Education, especially good public education supplemented by academies
such as is situation here in Korea, is likely the key. I cannot stress enough that Korea has no real
natural resources to utilize for the creation of wealth. Therefore, its’ wealth is derived entirely by
the work and achievements of its people.
Korea, as the US once had, has a great system of public education (in
fact, the US gave Korea its’ public educational system). To enhance this, they have developed a ‘supplementary’
system of academies or ‘hagwans’ which are designed to help students improve
their skills beyond the training of the public schools. The current path in the US of demeaning and
diminishing public school education and public school teachers combined with a
push for increasing the number of charter schools – which statistics indicate
the majority of which attain poorer educational results than those attained by
public schools – will probably result in an outcome such as is now experienced
by the people in Chile. The Chilean
model of which I speak, established under the rule of the dictator Pinochet, seems
to be the model conservatives in the US seem to be trying to embrace. Judging by the current situation, it is
instead a model they, and everyone else, should try desperately to avoid at all
costs. Check it out for yourself.
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