● Written by Yu si-min
● Genre: Political Philosophy book
● Published in April 2011
● Revised in January 2017
● 334 pages Since last year, many corruption scandals involving the Korean governments have been brought to light, and as a result, the president was impeached. However, we still can see a lot of political conflicts regarding the process of impeachment and political ideologies. The writer Yu Si-min wrote What is the Country?
many years ago, but this book is still able to help explain most of the controversial political happenings of the current era.
After you read this book you may be more convinced of your political orientation or you will be more confused. However, you will certainly have a better understanding of the various political ideologies, because What is the Country?
explains about the ideologies in connection with modern and contemporary Korean history, these connections will help you will understand politics much more easily than learning by the textbooks.
Also, if you have ever agonized over what kind of person should be a leader of the country, this book may help you. The writer informs readers about how the famous philosophers felt about the most ideal type of leaders. For example, Plato asserted that philosophers should be leaders and Mencius claimed that a wise man who possesses specific qualities is an ideal type of a leader. What do you think the qualifications of leaders should be?
At the end of the book, Yu Si-min outlines what he thinks an ideal type of country is. He says a country which treats people as the ends, not as the means, and a country that respects people as humans, not as just citizens, is great country. He also claims that we should cultivate respect for the justice rather than the law. Maybe this means that a country which has lost justice might lose the qualification to be a country.
Jang Han-yi KMG Junior Reporter jhy98hany@stu.kmu.ac.kr
