Part of "Suicide is Painless," the theme song for the classic Korean War movie M*A*S*H, these words might well describe the Korea we live in today. Unfortunately, the "game of life" does not seem to have become any easier, a fact highlighted by the tragic events of the past month. The recent rash of celebrity suicides has once again drawn attention to a number of disturbing undercurrents in Korean society. These include the issue of suicide itself, but perhaps more ominously, the patent character assassination practiced by certain of those dubbed "netizens."The discovery of Ahn Jae-hwan's body
Recently, Korea and Japan face a difficult reality resulting from the Dokdo problem. The recent summons of the Korean Ambassador to Japan clearly reveals the abnormal situation Korea and Japan undergo these days. The Dokdo problem is the most outstanding and sensitive matter for Korea and Japan because it is related to a territory issue, one of the most important components which constitute a nation. Moreover, the Dokdo problem is related to the history of Korea and Japan. Especially, Korean people judge that this can be thought of as the other way of Japan's invading Korea, since Japan includ
On August 8, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games opened its grand prelude. The Olympics, as a world festival, is sometimes referred to as a 'Mega Event,' meaning a very big event of which the number of visitors is more than one million and the cost for it requires almost five hundred million dollars. Mega events include the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, the World Championship in Athletics, and the Asian Games. For example, 'Triple Crown' refers to a country which has an experience of holding such a mega event more than three times. South Korea is the 7th triple crown country in this sense as it hel
According to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, from 1997 to 2006, a total of 3915 sea pollution accidents happened in Korea. The reasons why these accidents happened were carelessness (45%), marine accidents (30%), willful releasing of oil into the sea (14%), ship damage (8%), and others (3%). On December 7, 2007, oil poured into the sea off Taean, Chungnam province. Heibei Spirit, an oil tanker, crashed into a barge, and 12,547kl of oil poured from three holes in the oil tanker. Why did this accident happen? First, despite a storm warning, the harbor control center permitted the
People’s thoughts change very quickly. The things that were not permitted in the past become ordinary in the present. Nowadays, even thoughts about marriage have changed. That is the talk about cohabitation. In the past, it was unthinkable that a man and a woman live together before marriage. However, now thinking about cohabitation is changing because the rate of divorce is rising and people think freedom is very important. Actually, research data show that the people who are positive about cohabitation are 67% in Daegu and North Gyeongsang (research by Daegu Catholic University and the North
Lately, Korean society was shocked because of the forging of degrees. The case of Shin Jeong-ah, a Dongguk University professor and director of the Gwangju Biennale, led to more forgers being discovered. Korean people were shocked about this situation.According to the above mentioned survey, the times when people feel most tempted to forge their degrees are when they make their own resume and when others are promoted solely because of their qualifications. In fact, 66.5% of respondents answered that having no degree or a degree from a non-prestigious university was an obstacle when job searchi
We think we know well the food that we usually eat. We know that fast food is bad for our bodies and that sugar and food additives are also bad for our bodies. If you ask people why these things are bad, most of them don't answer concretely. The most commonly consumed foodstuffs are chocolate, candies, junk food, soda, ice cream and instant noodles.More than 50 percent of Koreans die due to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. This situation is not only in Korea, but also in other advanced nations. The whole world is in the same situation. A noticeable thing is that these diseases were rare jus
The recent hit movie His Voice is a true story about a kidnapping which happened in 1991. Actually, the real criminal has not been caught yet. However, if we find the kidnapper, we can’t punish him now because the limitation for prosecution of a kidnapping case is 15 years. Therefore, police can’t apply criminal procedures. The limitation for prosecution became invalid in January 2006.Many people debate the limitation for prosecution. Some people say the limitation for prosecution must remain in Korean law. Other people say the limitation for prosecution should be abolished in criminal procedu