China and Another Bankrupt Ideology

All the spare time recently has gone to sightseeing, studying, and just the general process of being overseas and stuff, so I haven't had an opportunity to update this blog. And, the stuff I did want to write about was about the trees here, or the awkward signs, or the language, or the castles, or the villages, you know some of the more pleasent stuff in life -- but the outrageous way in which Turks in Xinjiang(新疆, 신강) have been treated should be recognized as a serious threat to both the United States and Korea for we can now see Communist China for who she really is and why we as responsible citizens should care.

What Does It Mean To Be Chinese?

You see the Chinese flag has five stars. Each of the five stars represents an ethnic group that is supposed to compose the Chinese nation. These five stars represent the Han Chinese, the Turks of Xinjiang, Tibetans, Manchurians, and Mongolians. I was in fact referring to the older flag of the KMT (the pro-mainland party in Taiwan) during 1912-1928:

"五族共和" (Five ethnic groups together in harmony) -- Thank you Gudong.

Nonetheless, it is still indeed the ideology of the current communist regime in China that ethnicity has nothing do with nationality (Hence, Tibetans are Chinese according to this thought).

The ideology is so that just like you have Chinese-Americans in the United States, you have a Chinese nation of multiple ethnic groups, including Koreans. But, they don't get a star (But, of course, the crucial difference would be that Chinese-Americans willingly migrated to the United States whereas those five groups outside of Manchurians, who for all practical purposes no longer exist as a distinct ethnic group, were either physically conquered and/or culturally assimilated by the Han).

This should be of particular importance to Koreans as this was the main reason given by the Chinese government as to why the Chinese government claims Goguryeo as a kingdom in Northeast China as a minority Chinese kingdom. The logic being that since China is not a nation of a single ethnic group -- as in an Israel or Korea -- then it is possible for those people of Goguryeo or even Koreans to be ethnically Korean, but their nationality to be Chinese.

Of course, with uprisings in Tibet last year (and comparisons with Native Americans by Han Chinese) and Xinjiang this year, we all now know that just like communism, this concept or ideology of Chinese nationality is, well, bankrupt. China is a nation of Han Chinese who are systematically taking advantage of her ethnic minorities and continuing a ten-thousand year history of absorbing smaller, neighboring countries and ethnic groups one-by-one. Interestingly, the first character, "Xin" (新,신), Xinjiang, represents new as if it's some new land for the Chinese to settle.

This process of conquest and assimilation is not just a communist thing, you see. The Republic of China (Taiwan), even claims what is left of Mongolia. And, this I believe is more of a Chinese thing. This has been going on for hundreds and hundreds, no thousands, of years (Think about the initial assimilation of the Cantonese civilization). But, the easiest way to look at it is by looking at something none other than where the Great Wall of China is.

You see, for most of history, well, up until 1644 (when the barbarians conquered China for good), the Great Wall was meant to protect civilization (China) from the uncivilized or not as civilized (the rest of the world, pretty much). China was pretty much "contained" to the east coast with tributary states to the northeast (Korea, Japan) and to the south (Dai Viet, though, this state was directly ruled by the Chinese as late as during the Ming period), but did at times directly rule over states in the west. Nonetheless, even as late as the 19th century, when Manchurian rulers finally allowed the Han to settle in Manchuria (those areas northeast of the Great Wall), most of Manchuria was scarcely populated and the region was devoid of Han Chinese, which certainly is not the case today. Much of the lands that were occupied by barbarians are now part of China proper and the barbarians there speak Mandarin.

I remember a few years ago the term that China kept using was the "peaceful rise of China" or so, as if, to tell the world that you know what, the middle kingdom -- literally (中國), is returning to it's proper place as the center of the world and will do so in a very peaceful way. By the way, I'm sorry to tell you Sinophiles out there, but I doubt this will ever happen again, for you see, the United States is now here and by geography and ideology (and, perhaps, even destiny) the country sits right in the middle -- between the West and the Far East.

The last time the Han Chinese tried to conquer Korea (7th century C.E.) when the Tang turned on Silla, the Tang were much bigger than Silla, but nowhere near the proportions that either one of the Koreas today faces (This is one of the reasons why I believe North Korea has a nuclear weapons program and why I believe a unified Korea will need either a nuclear weapons program or an iron tight alliance with the United States for perpetuity). Do you think Korea could have survived up until today had the Chinese borders been like how it is today for the past couple thousand years?

I'm not disputing the territorial claims that Communist China makes with respect to Tibet nor Xinjiang (though Taiwan is a whole another matter, but that's for another day), but I'm pretty sure nobody believes the Chinese government's definition of what it means to be Chinese now.

Effects of an Economic Downturn : Feeling Pain, the Korean Way

As to what is going on in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula, Koreans seem to be going through some very turbulent times (but, hey, this is the downside of having such an overly educated workforce without a strong emphasis on innovation)? Nonetheless, this being Korea, as the WSJ usually loves to say (and I guess from this article, what the New York Times also sees in Korea:)

"Just as distinctly Korean may be the lengths to which some go to hide their newly humble status."

And, perhaps, to point again, at the sense of duty and responsibility that Koreans toward family, the pains of an economic downturn, in thisConfucian society are felt communally. As one native Korean puts it:

"If my parents knew what I was doing now, they would pity me," he said. "Now, I look at the ocean and think, I should have worked harder at the cellphone store, and be a better man for my family" ("With Wounded Pride, Unemployed Koreans Quietly Turn to Manual Labor | New York Times)

I would like to thank a certain Ms. S.J. Kim for pointing this article out on Facebook.

Interestingly, a comment like the one above cited in the New York Times article sounds no different than something a Korean-American or a Korean living in the northern half of the peninsula might say. Aspects such as why this is so will be discussed extensively in the coming semester.

Breaking Down Borders: Korea, Fall 2009 Semester

I have just received word that both Professor Elaine Kim and the departmental chair of the Ethnic Studies department at UC Berkeley, have both signed off on there being another "Breaking Down Borders: Korea" class next semester. Now with just the approval of the Academic Senate, "Breaking Down Borders: Korea" will now be available this coming fall semester.

Provided there is enough room, although last semester, we actually had a waiting list for upper classmen, I welcome people to audit the course. In that, you just come in to participate and contribute to the discussion. The syllabus can be found here (I do realize there are quite a few typos).

Articles, such as, the one above is a good example of what will be discussed over the course of the fall semester.

North Korea, Koreas Update

On the North Korean front:

Nothing exciting to speak of as North Korea really is running out of things to do, firing missiles on July 4th has been done before and no missile came close to Hawaii. Kangnam I safely returned back to North Korea. But, what has recently begun appearing on the news is if the North Korean succession story is for real or just to grab Hillary Clinton’s (United States) attention. More on this later.

South Korea – Japan held a summit. Of course, nothing came of it since still the dominant relationships in East Asia are still the bilateral relationships with the United States. Of course, what should be interesting for Korean nationalists, whose national psyche or “han” has not fully healed yet, is how they react to the trilateral meeting between the United States-China-Japan that will be held shortly. Previous overtures by China on such a meeting were declined on the part of the United States to assuage South Korean insecurities. However, with the financial crisis the United States consented this time.

With this in mind, South Korea’s foreign policy priority number one should still solely be on unification and nothing else. Ideas such as being a neutral or balancing party (former South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun) or of building closer ties with ASEAN (South Korean President Lee Myung Bak’s New Asia Initiative) might seem great, but it’s just fanciful(wishful) thinking on the part of a confused half nation. This has been a repeated theme in this blog. Zhiqun Zhu writes:

“Korea's dream to become a leading player in international affairs will also likely be wishful thinking if the nation remains divided. Nevertheless, Lee, just like Roh, is commendable for his attempts to enhance South Korea's international profile and to contribute to peace and development in Asia” (South Korea in a new Asia initiative Asia Times).

Of Public Education, LSE

So, I started class on Monday… And, wow, was I in for a surprise.

The students at LSE’s summer school program…

“Generally, around two-thirds of applications come from full-time undergraduate students. The remaining third is made up of postgraduate and research students, and professionals from a wide variety of institutions and businesses” (Entry Requirements London School of Economics and Political Science).

When I walked into class on Monday, the page couldn’t be more wrong if it was describing just this class. I would guess that about half of the students are working professionals, if not more, and perhaps another quarter would be graduate students. If you look at it from an age perspective, I’d guess that with my twenty-seven years I’d be right around the middle or median. Nonetheless, unfortunately, for these working professionals (and perhaps for even some graduate students), just the fact that they have temporarily left the work force and are in effect re-entry students puts them at a huge disadvantage and will simply be – in my opinion – outgunned and outclassed.

Despite what many may say about the state of public institutions of higher learning, such as, the University of California, Berkeley, I took my intermediate economic theory courses from Professor J. Bradford DeLong and Associate Professor Stefano DellaVigna at Berkeley and I believe this puts me at a huge advantage. I feel, for the first time, in a very, very long time that I am very well prepared (those feelings about me taking multivariate calculus in 2001 have reversed itself).

You see, in those classes, we very thoroughly studied constrained optimization and particularly in Professor DellaVigna’s course, we even dealt with two different types of intertemporal optimization or optimization between differing time periods (which is exactly what the first couple problems we are studying are about …spend money now or save and spend it later… in the Money in Utility Function Models). But, most importantly, the professors at Berkeley didn’t leave out the math and almost all analysis on problem sets, midterms, and final exams were of the kind where students had to mathematically derive a model under certain assumptions and then see what happens in equilibrium.

At LSE, it is no different. The students here that are not familiar with these problems will I believe not be able to catch up in time for the first exam as the first exam is exactly a week away and the course itself is only three weeks long. When LSE says these courses are “intensive,” believe it.

Well, it’s not just working professionals you see. Tuesday was the first day discussion/seminar sections were held. There was this one American student that kept asking questions and who later said, “He studied all these things, but in the United States we don’t do derivatives.” While I did ask him what school he was from though (a small private school), but uncharacteristically, I didn’t say anything; I did start working on two thank you emails to the Professors at Berkeley though.

On a different note, if examined on an ethnic and racial basis, then I would say the course is very diverse – But, of course, for this statement to be true, you would have to first assume that the one and a half billion people living in Northeast Asia don’t exist (that is there are no Chinese, Koreans, or Japanese).

On the class roster, I recognized zero, that’s right, zero Korean surnames, and, perhaps, three Chinese surnames with no potential of any of them being Korean (*ahem* except for mine of course). I also recognized one Japanese surname, but that’s the professor’s.

This is going to be an interesting couple weeks and I’m so curious as to the type of backgrounds that some of these students have. I also briefly spoke with a graduate student from the University of Naples and a Danish lady (isn’t a Danish a type of cake with frosting on top?) in her mid thirties, I’m guessing, who thought the course would help her find a better job.

At any rate, public universities do need massive assistance and I believe this is something that will need to find a solution for universities, such as a UC Berkeley to remain competitive with private universities.

Forming Views on Korea Part IV: Formal Education and of a Lifelong Love

Okay, I decided to write this after I got into a ridiculous discussion on Facebook and facing this long flight from LAX to Heathrow I wanted to address this ridiculous notion that if you don’t have a formal education you just picked up ideas from Wikipedia or are regurgitating articles. Moreover, without a formal education your ideas can only be taken so seriously; But, I do love Wikipedia, especially for Math, where I can easily grab formulas and derivations or history, where I can just get a glimpse of a "generally accepted" view that’s usually cited. And, newspapers and magazines as well. Of course, there are scholarly articles and textbooks, too.

I’m laughing out loud as I write this and the man sitting next to me keeps staring over – I’m still a few hours away from Heathrow. "Hahaha, excuse me, I just can’t stop laughing as I think about this. I have a brother that’s a year and a half (빨른 83) younger and, well, that was a huge age gap when we were children. I can’t remember exactly why, but I remember this one time when we were really young, my brother and I did something that made my mom want to reward us with a toy. She asked us what we wanted: I’m not sure what my brother, Lee (우리 둘다 외자입니다), wanted, but, I’m like really laughing out loud now; I know what I wanted.

You see, I’ve always had a thing for having the coolest thing (I just registered with twitter as well and i’m going to try blogging with my iPhone 3GS shortly as well). And, well, my feelings toward having the best things are no different … towards maps. Yes, maps…

You see, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the map of the world changed and old maps that had the Soviet Union still were just not applicable anymore. Also, Yugoslavia had already by that time seen a couple countries leave and declare independence. So, for our well earned toy, my brother and I "agreed" to ask for the National Geographic Atlas (~$80 to ~$100, or so). Haha, Lee, I’m sorry (형이 진짜 미안하다).

That atlas had it all (By the way, if you ask me where my love for Korea comes from, my mom is probably a prime influence. She cancelled the subscription to the National Geographic after the National Geographic Society refused to give equal consideration to the name East Sea as to that of the Sea of Japan when).

My mom did get him something else later (probably a doll) and plus I never got to go to Hawaii. By the way, 김영주, this is why and how I survived the final round in the Geography Bee in 5th grade my old friend – However, regarding the math contests, I think it was 'cause of something else ;) Considering the pressure your mother put on you, God, how were we friends back then? you must’ve hated me.

I remember back in high school or was it middle school? No, it had to be high school since by then we would "practice" driving our "borrowed" parent’s cars. My friend, Mr. Rhee, would sleep over every so often – going to class was always a secondary thing by then. I’m sorry 엄마(Mom).

(By the way, Mr. Rhee, I hope you are indeed free to pursue what you have always wanted to do in life and are more than just content in whatever endeavors you may find yourself in today. It’s been too long since I last saw you my friend. And, I can even still fondly recall how back in fifth grade, we would work so hard to write our own Choose Your Own Adventure Books).

There’s a huge gap between my childhood and after, but anyways, while the teenage years also included the days that we’d go joyriding oh so often (well, didn’t we all?), and also the days where the cops would harass us (justifiably so), my love and study of what is going in the world never went away. When Mr. Rhee and I were probably fifteen or so (1996?) we were just talking and smoking cigarettes in front of the local supermarket, Ralphs. The store used to be open 24.7 during those days and I think it was like two or three a.m. And, by the way, if you’re Korean-American and go to Korea try the word, "슈퍼" (Super) rather than "마켓" (Market) if Market isn’t understood.

Trust me. I had to learn by mistake.

Well, anyways, Mr. Rhee and I were just innocently talking and looking around inside the store Until, out of nowhere, we were surrounded by eight cops with their guns pointed. They apparently mistook us for two Mexican gangbangers (I blame you, Mr. Rhee. It wasn’t my head that was shaved). Well, they were sheriffs actually and they felt bad. They felt so bad actually that they even gave back our cigarettes and dropped us off at my house. We talked and smoked for a bit until we both passed out. Of course, to Mr. Rhee’s dismay, I turned on CNN Headline News right before we went to sleep as I would do every night. I always liked the news; I was fifteen.


This was also the time when the Internet was AOL and AOL was the Internet (I’m now thinking 1996-97). Well, during those days, I would follow news on Korea in a manner similar to how I use Google News now. I would go to the AOL Keyword: "News" and search for the keyword "Korea." Of course, this was AOL and the nineties, so there weren’t thousands of different articles for the same story. Anyways, almost all my knowledge of the Asian IMF Crisis as it pertains to South Korea and Japan comes from these days and I believe it’s more than just regurgitating the news. And, it was from reading the news back then that I came to the view that I now hold about former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung’s presidency during the IMF –amazing, albeit unfinished job of reforming the economy. I still hadn’t lived in Korea yet nor did I even have the slightest inkling that I eventually would one day. Of course, I hadn’t read any books on Korea either except of course for these articles; I was 16 (17 in Korean Age) in 1997.


When I did get to Korea, I took one quarter of Introductory Korean (일급, level 1) at Yonsei University’s Korean Language Institute. And, two days of Introductory Korean (이급) at Ewha Women’s University’s Korean Language Program (I needed to extend my visa and they had these night courses). But, studying Korean because I had to made it boring – quite the paradox I’d say. So, I went to Japan instead and visited a friend, who treated me with the best courtesy I have ever experienced. His parents made the best Japanese food I’ve ever eaten.


Oh, and if you want to buy a plane ticket to/from South Korea with Korean Airlines, then buy it in South Korea. Also, aside from visa purposes, the certificate of enrollment at a Korean language school is good for getting discounts. They give discounts to students (Confucianism again pokes its Korean head out here again with its reverence for students). As soon as you get there enroll in a mileage plan for this (where you receive a Skyteam Card Number that begins with a BK instead of a BA, everything will transfer over later if you move back to the States). They won’t do it if you buy it from the United States.


Well, so there; there you have it. That’s the entirety of my formal education of Korea (perhaps, for now) – almost half a year of study of the Korean language in my nearly thirty years of existence. So, if you can’t see what I’m trying to say because of the strength of my formal educational background, then that would be quite the shame.


But, on the other side, I swear London has some funny, funny looking streets. I wish I could bring over like a GMC Envoy or a Ford Excursion. We would have some fun here. And, can you imagine someone using this ...


Anyways no matter where you get the ideas, it’s basically the ability to connect different ideas and facts and observations and put them together into a single coherent observation or thought that makes for an idea that is original, and unique. Technically my last pre-Europe post, and I’m too tired to go on about this right now (by the way, there are a lot of people with some extensive formal education here. Met about 8 guys from Yale, some super rich Russians, and a lot from prestigious universities in India that I’ve just never heard of before)…


I always have and always will like learning for learning’s sake (provided it doesn’t feel I’m being forced to study). And, of course, I like to study and be around things (or people) that interest me, such as Korea.

No book or degree can give you that. Looking back through the Looking Glass, it really has been and continues to be a life long love. I feel it a duty to share what I learned though. Aside from the Decal and this blog, I also volunteer at the local YWCA, although I wish I could put in more time. The next semester will be the third semester I will be doing it. If you want to practice speaking English in private, then head over to the Young Women’s Christian Association in Berkeley, CA (no, you don’t have to be a woman or a Christian and while this may be Berkeley, a Communist – though, again, that being Berkeley you could be all of those, which would probably make for some interesting conversation). Wow, Berkeley seems a world away from the London School of Economics.

For more information, e-mail Jane Abrahms (the program is very short on volunteers).

Also, we do live in the great state of California where you can pick up any new skills on the cheap at a local community college. You can probably find English as a Second Language courses for a fraction of the price English Institutions abroad charge. Or, maybe take a course in German before heading over to Germany.

Anyways, my postings from now on will incorporate more formal education. I am taking EC321: Money and Banking beginning tomorrow afternoon (I feel Macroeconomics after the undergraduate level with the subjects deep connections with history is a good fit for me). By the way, I do like formal education. 우리 어머님깨, 감사합니다.




The earlier posts:


Forming Views on Korea, Part I, People


Forming Views on Korea, Part II, Reading, Korean


Forming Views on Korea, Part III, Life as an Illegal

China is NOT the key to North Korea

I'm actually in the middle of studying for a make up test later today, so I have a flight in a few hours, but this editorial caught my eye. To be honest, it’s flimsy editorials like this one that make me want to write this blog. I can’t find exactly who the author is, but somehow it made to the Los Angeles Times.

"North Korean leader Kim Jong Il decided long ago that nuclear weapons were his best protection against an external threat of regime change" ("China is the key to North Korea" Los Angeles Times).

A couple posts down, I describe why South Korea’s foreign policy is held hostage at least with respect to North Korea due primarily to the location of Seoul. But, what I didn’t mention in that post was how while the United States could attack North Korea without much risk to being attacked at home, U.S. foreign policy too is held hostage to the fact that there are still about 28,500 U.S. soldiers in South Korea. An invasion by North Korea with or without nuclear weapons would not only destroy Seoul, but kill most of those U.S. soldiers overnight. Former President George W. Bush was told this exact same thing by former Saudi Ambassador and Crown Prince Bandar (Check out Bob Woodward’s State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III ). If twenty thousand U.S. soldiers died overnight from a North Korean invasion, then there would be no need for a congressional or public debate about the need for a U.S. invasion of North Korea. It would be done (Another reason why as I wrote earlier that Extended Deterrence was solely for propaganda purposes).

If North Korea has artillerly that can flatten Seoul and kill 28,000 thousand American soldiers and about twenty million living Koreans overnight, then this should be enough to protect against a "regime change." Then which country would have the most to lose if North Korea actually developed a full-fledged nuclear program? So, it’s not the U.S. and it’s definitely not South Korea. Japan, maybe? Recall the United States decision to notify Japan only twenty minutes before taking North Korea off the list of states sponsoring terrorism. The only terrorists North Korea actually harbored were those of the Red Army (Communist Japanese Terrorists). And, moreover, if Japan feels it “necessary” that to protect against North Korea that Japan too needs nuclear weapons, when of course, the country doesn’t (remember, Extended Deterrence covers Japan as well), then who loses?

China.

So, if China would lose out the most if North Korea developed nuclear weapons and China is not doing too well as the more North Korea backtracks the more China’s lack of power shows (i.e. failure of six party talks, continual and unending foreign aid from Beijing), then does China really have the power to do anything in North Korea?

Perhaps. But, what if North Korea had let’s say dozens of nukes that couldn’t go thousands of miles, but could fit on its Rodong missiles that could hit Beijing?

So, no. It is to protect the North Korean regime from a China rather than a United States and China does not have the power to change North Korean policy and will see the country’s ability to do anything at all get smaller and smaller as North Korea’s nuclear program matures.

Anyways, I will be taking a break for a few days – unless I see articles like this again, and I will actually be flying on July 4th with more than a slight bit of irony to London to attend summer school there for the next 6 weeks.