Saemul Undong - Korea's Receipe for Rural Development

 ‘Unless the residents have a desire of self-help for the change of their life, even if they wait for 5000 years, there will be no change. If the village residents try to change their life now, even with little support of government, they will be able to change their life in 2-3 years’. Park Chung-Hee

Korea was ruined by Japanese colonization and inter-Korean war. In 1950s, the plight of Koreans was miserable  and the nation was extremely poor, with very little food to survive. Harsh winters added to their miseries and ‘food n shelter’ was first priority for all Koreans. Per capita income was $79 in 1960, while that of Pakistan was $91 during the same Year.  Koreans studied Pakistani 5-year plan system and adopted it in 1962. They started seeing the results in shape of industrial growth and development of cities, but the rural areas were still lagging far behind.

Koreans soon realized that sustainable growth cannot be achieved without rural development. The standard of life in the villages was very low, with only 20% of the villages having electricity and only 20 % houses having roof.  Roads, infrastructure, tools and equipment for farming were missing altogether.  The only positive thing was that literacy rate was good and mandatory military service for all men above 18 produced a disciplined workforce.

In 1970, Saemul Undong (New Village Movement) was launched, aiming at improving the life of villagers. The idea was to pave the gap between rural and urban life, improving the living standard in rural areas and increasing the opportunities for the villagers to earn more. 

 The idea was to stop migration to cities. ‘A better village to live in’ was the goal of the movement.  The underlying spirit was to work with diligence, as the ‘early bird catches the worm’, there is no freebie in the world, so make an effort to achieve what you want.  The spirit of cooperation was also very important, as one cannot wash their face with one finger.

Government started with SMU in a unique way. They asked the villagers to participate in the program on self-help basis.  Three principles of ‘diligence, self help and cooperation’ were decided to be the basis of the movement. When the movement started, government was not in a very good financial situation, so they asked for the cooperation of residents of villages.  It provided 335 packs of cement to each of 33,267 villages in the country. Government suggested ten projects such as making roads, reforming roofs of homes, constructing public wells, making small water reservoirs and small bridges etc .Villagers had to decide one of the projects and then implement it.  They had to arrange the material such as sand and pebbles themselves, and had to work together to execute the project.  They had to select Seamaul leaders for themselves, who were volunteers, and would play the role of coordinators and arbitrators.

After one year of evaluation, the success ratio was about 50% .The performance of 16,600 villages was good, and they had completed their first task.  It was a turning point, the government decided to generate competition. They gave 500 sacks of cement and one ton steel to only these 16,600 villages, which were able to complete their first task, while remaining villages were told to do something with self-help and then government will decide accordingly.

This produced amazing results; a lot of villages improved very quickly, and more and more were joining the movement actively.  Based on this, government classified the villages into three categories according to their progress, and supported the outstanding villages more, which generated high competition.

The government established central council for the movement, to analyze and evaluate the performance. A training center was instituted to train the leaders elected by villagers. This helped in development of leadership at grass root level.  Women and youth were given equal participation, each village selecting a a leader, woman leader and young leader for the project. These voluntary leaders helped the government to plan, cooridnate and carry out the projects in a proper manner.

New projects were considered on the basis of their benefits to the entire community. The government did not interfere directly into the selection of projects. It was just overseeing the technical aspects and providing help with which the villagers couldn’t do themselves.

Soon they realized that without improving the income of villagers, their life could not be improved, so the next step was to improve the income level of villagers and eliminate poverty. Projects were focused to improve roads to the farms so that tractors and other machinery could be used in farming. Farmers were provided with basic tools and were trained for the better productivity. Irrigation system was improved and small water reservoirs were built to preserve water. Also green houses were developed to do farming in winters.  Investments were done in live-stocks and villagers were encouraged to grow live-stock for better income.

Agricultural complexes were made for profitable products such as mushrooms and tobacco, which helped to increase over all income.  Greenhouses allowed farmers to harvest during harsh winter season. Fishing villages changed their production methods from fishing to breeding fish. All of this improved the income level of villagers. As a result, agriculture household income was more than that of city workers. After only four years, the rural community household income was $674, more than that of urban household income of $644. This economic growth led to subjugate poverty and brought revolution in the mindset of people.

Residents were given the sense of ownership and they were the direct beneficiaries.  During initial stage, the focus was on improvement of thatched houses, heating system inside homes and agriculture roads. Then the focus shifted to more infra-structure reforms.  Electricity and water supply, agriculture machinery, irrigation system, all were aimed to improve the life of villagers with their involvement. The concepts of hard-work and self-help were embedded in this whole movement.

 

Due to proper evaluation system, government soon realized the mistakes of the movement.  Villagers lacked technical skills to build bridges and roads.  So government provided technical support and training required for the projects.

Grass root level leadership evolved as a reason of this movement, which lead to the development of Korea on many fronts. Corruption wasn’t a problem in this project, as population was involved in it, and the residents carried out the projects themselves. They also contributed financially to the extent they were able to do. The collective participation brought in transparency and better utilization of resources. The change went from rural to urban areas of Korea, whereas it is usually the other way around.

Korea today has become one of the top growing economies in the world, with national income of $ 20,014 per capita, (remember in 1960, Korea was at $79, and Pakistan was $91).  This is despite the fact that Korea has no natural resources, and it relies only on its human resource.  It is now one of the most advanced countries in internet usage, banking system and industrialized nation.

About ten Pakistani students (Masters/PhD researchers) attended this workshop. All of us had a consensus that this model cannot be copied directly considering our culture and traditions.  Our villages are usually big, and we lack consensus on leadership and projects. We are heavily divided and our women don’t work usually as labour workforce in building the bridges and widening the roads. So we need to make certain changes in this model and in our society too, for our growth and development.

In Pakistan, ‘actions must speak louder than words’, so the projects must be aimed at ‘doing more-talking less’ spirit.  The basic element in these projects should be consistency and continuity, learning from past experiences and improving with time. We can learn from these experiences as we are a resource rich country. We don’t have the problem of poverty similar to that of Koreans, our infra structure is not very up to the mark, but we do have something to build upon, so we don’t have to start from zero.

All we need is to participate on community basis, helping ourselves, and taking bold initiatives. When this movement started in Korea, a lot of people criticized it, but government continued persuading villagers to take part in the development process, and it yielded results. The evaluation of projects was step-wise and better performing villages were rewarded on the basis of merit. This helped a great deal in raising awareness and competition level.

Saemaul Movement members hold a briefing session with locals in Tanzania, to explain the concept and meaning of the Saemaul Undong

Korea has started to implement this project in African countries. While other countries prefer to perform charity work, Koreans are trying to engage villagers by asking them to contribute equally.  For instance, the project of establishing a goat bank is very good idea. Villagers are given goats, to raise, and when they breed more goats, the original ones are returned, thus establishing a live-stock bank.

Most important notion to learn is the reforms of the mind-set, to ‘we can do it’. Starting by simple, small projects, doing something tangible, will lead to something better and bigger eventually. We think of big projects first, but sometimes we need to think ‘small’ and ‘in the box’.  Making  roofs for homes, kitchens in houses, toilets, small water reservoirs, improving sanitary conditions,  building small bridges, improving water supply and sewerage systems- eventually the change will be getting bigger and visible which will help in improving the living standards.

Another point to focus is to increase the income of villagers, to stop urbanization. We believe in giving alms and charity,  but instead we should focus more on trying to make poor people earn more money. Increasing their income will change their mentality. As I mentioned earlier, Saemaul Undong wasn’t focusing on education and public health in the start, because people were mostly concerned about food and shelter, but as the movement went on to bring the change, people started thinking about education, health, learning opportunities and community life. Koreans did that successfully and now their rural life has almost all the facilities of their urban life so more and more people are preferring rural life.

In short, collaborative efforts will bring change, and rural development is the key to sustainable development even in the industrialized nations. Following are the words of President Park Chung Hee,

‘Unless the residents have a desire of self-help for the change of their life, even if they wait for 5000 years, there will be no change. If the village residents try to change their life now, even with little support of government, they will be able to change their life in 2-3 years’.

These simple words underline the spirit of the movement. No one will bring change for you, if you don’t want it yourself. And small consistent changes, will lead to a big and visible transformation. More importantly, ‘ do more, talk less’.

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Courtesy Muhammad Saad Khan mybirforchange.org 

Kim Jung Un Dead or alive?

Kim Jung Un has been told assasinated a day ago during his visit to Beijing.  As much as it may be a calculated hoax it still might be truth though. But such jokes in our modern world have real impact.

 Let's assume Steve Jobs has got a flue 10 years ago. It was actually a real event when flu of genius Apple brain caused huge stocks collapse overnight. No, what do I say, overhour.

Every power that has no nuclear or military potential to harm South Korea or is being checkmated by its allies can still do a web attack or for instance spread a false rumour about young "crown prince" from the North dead.

When Kim Jong Il died last year the event caused huge losses in korean stocks which started correction only in late December / January. It may easily happen this time too, even if the rumour is false. This is also an occasion to earn on forex if I am right.

It always made me curious how in so scientific and mathematical environment as cash and investing haste decisions and psychology of the crowds always took over. At first 30% and some more stocks in Korea are owed by foreigners. If there is any news that situation in the country becomes unstable foreigners get cold feet, at least financially. Second issue is more complex and is related to following the crowd like a blind idiot. If a dude that sits next to me removes I shall also sell and this way index goes down. Usually time shows that what was needed was a bit of patience and individualism. Traits which humanity lacks as such and always will.

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Lol :P From my point of views it is cool to observe masses of people wondering, journalists racing to get the news first etc.

And you, how do you think, is he dead or is he alive?
Who may assasinate the guy? For what?

Talmud in Korea

Korea is by far the only country in the world outside of Israel, where Talmud is among mandatory textbooks for kids in school.

One person who laid a vital foundation to friendly connections between Korea and Israel is a Polish Jew saved from Holocaust who now lives in Israel and is a professor of Korean Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

photo by:  huji.ac.il

Dr Jaakow Cohen was rewarded for his lifetime efforts with the highest recognition in Korean science- Order of Magnolia - which he received from the president of South Korea, Lee Myeong-bak on December 7th.

Now Talmud called in Korean 탈무드 is appreciated by Korean parents as a great way to develop critical thinking. It also promotes value of education and family ties, both very important in korea.


On the sidenote: author of this blog - me - had personally met a very serious Korean who is a PhD in physics from Oxford University, and claims as seriously as he is himself, that Koreans are the lost tribe of Israel.

Funny as it sounds, miracles happen. Such claims can be easily confirmed by genetics, and they sometimes are. There are native Africans, whose skin is undoubtedly black, who are genetically Jewish, and this was confirmed by chance during genographic project. So...

Korean lady won International Violin Competition

Soyoung Yoon received 30 thousand € as a main prize in 14th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition.

 Soyoung Yoon, winner. Photo from www.wieniawski.com

Second Prize got also an Asian- Miki Kobayashi from Japan, and Third wento to Stefan Tarara from Germany.

International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition is the oldest and most prestigious of it's kind in the world.For the first time it was organized in 1935 and since then it is held every 5 years, always in Poland.

Jury leader, Maxim Vengerov allowed 46 competitors to the first phase of competition, 6 of whom qualified to the final phase. Before that he made personal individual rehearsals of 120 of them travelling around the world to Yokohama, Seoul, Quebec, Bergamo, Moscow, Brussels, London, Baku and Poznań.

Soyoung Yoon admitted after receiving First Prize that it was the most important reward in her career by far. In the final phase she played Violin Concerto fis-moll op. 14 by Wieniawski and Violin Concerto d-moll op.47 by Sibellius.

To listen to Soyoung Yoon outstanding performance go to: http://www.wieniawski.com/yoon_so-young.html

Congratulations to the beautiful Korean lady :)

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Sidenote: this is a perfect example of public diplomacy, neglected by professional diplomats for centuries and successfully done by world class artists.

Korean Economy: end of the Golden Era?

Everyone wants to have a home. A place to stay where we secure a little bit of peace of mind and shelter from hostility of this world.

Such dreams are shared by at least two Korean generations who struggle to get to a good university, later struggle to get a good job and later get a mortgage loan to have a smaller or bigger apartment. After all, nothing bad in it, right?

Korean economy had been in a stable growth ever since President Park Chung-hee, with a small slowdown in 1997, when conglomerate welfare system had collapsed and huge reforms were ordered to be implemented by International Monetary Fund.

Recently Korean Won is getting weaker and weaker.  It already lost several hundred KRW in it's value year to year, however recently stopped losing.

But Korea is facing the very same fate as other countries do. Many countries in the world had believed that state investment can be endlessly covered by issuing bonds. USA believed that too, and foreign purchase of their bonds had more than doubled since early 1990's.  According to the Strategy and Finance Ministry Sunday, the country’s state debt is estimated to reach 448.2 trillion won, which is about $380 billion,  next year, up 25.5 trillion won from an estimated 422.7 trillion won in 2011.

The sad news for an average Korean is that about 222 trillion won of the government debt, accounting for 49.5 percent of the total, is to be repaid with taxpayer money, up from this year’s 48.5 percent to represent the highest level ever. The outstanding amount of government-guaranteed debt will likely reach a record high of 38 trillion won next year.

What an average citizen does not understand, is safe management of goods and income. Total amount of debts of all sorts cannot exceed 20% of monthly income of the household, otherwise if anything happens, they will be unpaid. Even in debt wise societies it is said that about 50% of mortgage loan holders won't be able to pay it after 15 years - half of a time of a loan. 

What is not helping, is an obsession to obtain higher degrees. The country does not need everyone to be a PhD for it's growth, it needs equal treatment of Bachelor's and Master's Degree holders. In average country everyone is needed, from a toilet keeper through a cleaning lady and bus driver up till an engineer. And not everyone needs to be educated like a professor of a university. 

I hope the best for Koreans, however I am afraid that we all have to reprioritise our lives globally. It is possible that there is no miracle ahead and unless new model of economy is implemented, nothing can be changed. 

In these circumstances it is an interesting question, who is a likely candidate to win presidential elections in upcoming year 2012. My next post will be about it, in about 3 weeks, as I go to a hospital now. 

Till then. 

Korean cooking: Songpyeon

Chusok is coming. I have written at least 2 times about how Korean people spend their Chusok. But here I will give a glympse on what they cook.

The video above shows a detailed receipe on how to prepare rice cakes which are eaten very often in Korea, but they are especially done during Chusok.

Recipe Ingredients:

• 8 cups of rice flour (ssalgaru 쌀가루) this often is in the frozen section of a Korean grocery,
• but if you are somewhere in the West go to your oriental shop and they will give you rice flower over there. More and more often network chains also have it, like Euroshop or Real. 
• 2/3 tablespoons of salt
• 1 cup of hot water
• glug of sesame oil
• Sesame seed stuffing
• 1 cup of chamkae (roasted crushed sesame seed)
• 2 tablespoons of honey - if you are in Eastern Europe, you are lucky, real honey is exactly what you have not far from your home, unlike anywhere else in the world
• 14 tablespoons of salt

White bean stuffing - white bean paste can be served in variety of forms, but for this we need a sweet version:

• 1 cup of white beans (navy beans)
• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• a pinch of salt

Recipe Steps:

• For the white bean stuffing, soak the white beans for 1 hr or longer and boil until it gets very tender. Strain, then crush it with a potato masher. Strain again to remove any liquid. Mix the mashed white bean with walnuts, salt and honey. Set aside.
• Make the sesame seed stuffing by crushing the roasted sesame seeds and mix with salt and honey. You can put this into a blender or food processor for a short burst. Set it aside.
• Slowly pour 1 cup hot water into 8 cups of rice flour and knead to make a smooth dough. Now you're ready to stuff the dough.
• Pull off a small piece (about 2 tablespoons) of the rice flour dough and roll it into a small ball. Push it down in the middle to make a small cave and put a teaspoonful of stuffing mix. Press down edges to close it, and make into a half-moon shape, or whichever shape you want to make it into. You can make half sesame seed stuff and half white bean stuffing.
• When you're finished stuffing, get a steamer pot ready. Fill water to reach about the half of the pot and bring to a boil. Place a damp cheese cloth on the tray of the steamer, and place the stuffed rice balls on the tray. Steam for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit for five minutes.
• Coat your hands with some sesame oil and then move each songpyeon (steamed rice balls) carefully to a serving dish. Serve warm or cold. It's best to eat songpyeon fresh. However, if you do have leftovers, you can store in the refrigerator (it will get hard). You'll need to resteam or microwave it to get it soft again.

Serving Size: 15
Preparation Time: 45 minutes

I will let you know how my rice cakes were soon :)

Form or content?

Higher Education in Korea is a very good example of social stratification. Not that Korea does not fight with inequalities, because numerous attempts are being done.

But this year, I have learnt that Seoul National University was turned into full private one. Most of Gangnam youngsters born with golden spoon in their mouth (if I am to cite my friend literally) voted for it.

It means that the tuition fee will significantly rise and so the door for smart people from less wealthy families will be closed, unless they get scholarship, or do some jobs for survival.Or something other than a "job" but what gives income.

Everyone in Korea beats to take seat at SNU, Korea Universyty or Yonsei, so called SKY. There is a notion that the top elite in the country are SKY graduates with easy path ahead in life.

In Korea however, the name matter more than the actual quality of education. Among lying challenges ahead is growing pressure for international majors made mostly in English. English language, very difficult for Koreans is used to explain matters which are enough complicated and difficult if taught in Korean.

Also big pressure for number of publications causes drop in it's quality, as not many of these poapers are cited by other scholars. Leydesdorff and Han mentioned about it in Scientometrics.

Young Koreans worry enough that they won't be able to pay for tuition fees and the situation when they do not pay for actual quality makes them frustrated even more. Professor Han, a physics scientist of Korean origin who works in USA, says that most of young Koreans did not posess basic skills of creative thinking and connecting facts when they entered PhD studies in USA.

Is the situation changing? I am not sure. Transformation of SNU into private entity is not a good sign. But I remember that I once met a girl who graduated from International Business at Ajou University in Suwon, and who was a successful investment banker at one of the better financial institutions. Being Ajou graduate, not at all top university in Korea, did not stop her from being successful.

Maybe there is some hope? I will get back to the aspects of Korean science in other posts too. Sorry for the long break.

Bin Laden and East Asia

...is South Korea ready for terror?

It is 3rd August 2009, I leave the plane which just landed heading from Amsterdam to Seoul Incheon airport. After a not very thorough check up I am already in the car with my Korean friend. A nice pretty Asian lady smiles to me here and there and asks if I need anything and if I am comforted enough.

South Korea is one of the safest countries in the world. It has a unique cultural system based on the respect for rules and for the elders, where certain grey moral zone stays hidden from mass sight, and an average citizen is rather happy and confident that neither he will do anything threatening to the society nor it shall be done to him.

Although culturally explained cases of corruption influence negatively business and are a challenge, you may be quite confident that once you leave your DSLR on subway or loose a wallet, your chances to get it back are nearly 100%. Not big chances for the same in Europe, right?

In a society that trusts eachother like this everyone is nice and open. People are friendly. But after G20 summit I attended last year there have been comments that Korea is not protected enough against terror attack, due to lack of thorough security, big amount of trust given to everyone and poor intelligence among communities which may be a bigger source of a threat.

Not that a danger of terror attack is big. Korea does it's best to do business with everyone and asks very limited number of questions. Is a very non-threatening and stabilizing power of growth in many corners of the world. So far this strategy works very well.

This year in Seoul there were 3 blasts, yet unconnected to global terror networks. A very "creative" ex-convict thought to earn cash on falling stocks if he triggers panic. He invested about $45 000 ( 50 mln KRW). He did not gain much and instead was very quickly arrested. Soth Korea, and especially Seoul, has one of the most efficient networks of municipal survelllence> Cameras are almost hidden from sight, they are installed on very high buildings, but their resolution  enables to take a clear facial snapshot of a suspect, or the plate numbers if needed. 

Applying more strict security measures in future is rather necessary if Korea wants to play global ( and it does). Sad fact is that it shall destroy one of the most wonderful aspects of this remarkable country, enormous hospitality and trust. Luckily so far Bin Ladens of this world leave Koreans alone. 

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The photo comes from securityinfowatch.com

Meari hits the penninsula

At least 9 people were dead and 3 went missing after tropical storm Meari hit the Korean penninsula. Most of the facilities had been restored, however no immediate reports on material losses are available.

Korea is at the edge of the temperate zone with monsoon season which had just now started usually lasts for 6 weeks up to 2 months. Most of tropical storms which sometimes hit the penninsula occur from June to September, however nowadays they do not cause as much damage as they used to when the country had not been developed.

It is yet unknown how this will affect relations with North Korea, yet knowing the North regime, not much will change.

Hanok for export

I have read somewhere that Korean traditional houses are to hit Korean Wave as new element. How very interesting concept.

Traditional Korean farmer's house is constructed in a way that it cools in summer by easy draft and cool floor and heats in winter by ondol- traditional floor heating system, concept of which did not change to modern times.

Hanok villages are to be constructed as special "green" projects in Germany and USA. This is very annoying of two reasons.

 "Traditional" house, difficult to guess if it is real or not.

Firstly, being green does not mean destroy environment and then turn to the stone age, it means preserve what you have and use it optimally, and you can live in modern houses. "Green" hanoks take much more space and electricity in modern times, than any living architecture in so called West.

Secondly, how can you export something and be so proud of something, you destroy and don't give a shit about in your own country? If someone had seen Korea, one knows that it is a country with close to none respect to it's own real heritage and history. Instead this country prefers to believe in myths and reconstructs reality- here including traditional villages.

If you haven't been to Korea yet, imagine that someone is destroying and then rebuilding Piazza San Marco in Venezia, or the Tower of London for some stupid conceptual reasons. City authorities in Seoul do invest in cultural preservation, but a closer look at Bukchon or other areas can reveal that most of the houses which could be researched scientifically and repaired, are being thorn down and rebuild from the ground - this way they only pretend the originals and have small historical value. So to speak, they look kitschy.

I really ask myself when will Koreans understand that "traditional" does not mean Joson style only? That what has been built in 1920's also has a style? What is older also has a style? Korean War and destruction of that time is a mere excuse of stupid unification which kills any valuable cultural or architectonic impact.

Short comment: North Korea weird move

... Lousy brother drank some alcohol and messed up again.

This is the only logical explanation of North Korea's recent move in which they revealed that South Korean leaders tried to arrange a meeting on some neutral ground, preferably Malaysia.

This way whoever rules now North Korea gave a clear signal: we won't talk to you. Because we can sink your vessel and noone reacts. Because we can shoot at your island and the world did not give a damn. Because Beijing does not seem to condemn us. Just because we can.

Will there ever be end to it?

Not until China and USA solve this between eachother.

This below is not the best movie I had ever done in my life. But it gives some insight into what people actually think (if you are a professional film maker, have some mercy here. That was my class project.) Thanks to Svajune for help, and Ewout for his camcorder.
Part1:

Part 2:

Short comments: Sung Kim to be new US Envoy to Seoul

There is a new envoy nominated to hold diplomatic post to South Korea. And it is a very well qualified person, starting from his...origins.

Sung Kim is a US born Korean, there is simply no better candidate for diplomatic duties than bicultural person, and it should apply for every country not just the US.

There are already some Polish-Koreans and they, I am sure, could be good envoys. The problem is, Polish diplomacy still did not quite cut the old school.

Sung Kim used to be an envoy for 6 Party Talks about North Korea ( and with North Korea).
However I do not see any solution to North Korea via any 6 Party or even 100 Party Talks as long as both China and Russia cosider their "security" as keeping idiots in power in North Korea, which is quite popular opinion held among South Korean citizens.

Good luck Mr Kim!

Seoul less Asian?

Korea Times had drawn my attention recently to the street stalls ever present in Seoul's landscape. 
They sell everything starting from shoes for women through souvenirs, candies, street food snacks and so on. 

People who earn money this way are usually those who had no other choice but to go on this way of living after they had received just one financial installment on leaving their jobs in the age of 55- 60 which in many cases was not enough to make retirement on installments. Having no other choice these people went on forever Asian tradition- street vending of all sorts. 


It is of course present in all parts of the world, but Europe seems to surpress it due to aesthetical reasons. 


In Seoul street vendor must have municipal permition to have a stand on a certain location. Recently people who had been making their living on these activities had been moved to the dark corners from the main streets. Hidden away they start to suffer losses in their income, some say up to 50%. 


Previously they also did not have to pay any taxes, now the situation changed.

“It’s not just about the drop in sales. I have to pay 100,000 won in tax every month and with material costs rising, I have no way to make ends meet,” said the veteran street vendor who didn’t want his full name used.
 
Relocation of street stalls had infuriated street vendors. One of the ideas of the local ward office is to move street stalls from the main street in Insa Dong to the back alleys which are obviously less visible. They had organized ongoing 40 day protest in aim to change municipal decisions.

Since it is obvious that the ward office isn’t willing to reconsider its plan, the Insa-dong vendors appear to have no other choice but to continue their fight against demolition workers.

In 2009, Seoul City announced the relocation of around 600 street vendors in Jongno, central Seoul, to seven different specialized alleys connected to the main streets to make the downtown area more pedestrian-friendly.

From my observation it would be more pedestrian friendly if cars or motorbikes had been banned from getting into apparently more pedestrian streets like Insa-Dong alleys. 

There is an aurgument that young people prefer department stores or convenience stores to street vendors, but it is not quite true from my observation. Of course if a department store makes huge action on sales, it attracts customers, but otherwise I had seen several floors near Ewha University simply empty and street vendors and other small shops flourishing. 

Young women also prefer to save some cash and go to underground shopping centers, just like the one which was at Gangnam, but is now closed due to renovation of the station (which wasn't that old by the way). If compared luxury shops at Samsung Street where simply empty with their prices reaching 500 000 KRW for a coat or 200 000 KRW for a pair of shoes. 


When I go down the streets of Warsaw I very often see how the municipal police bans people from selling on the street what they had grown in their small garden somewhere away from the city, or some other people who had no other choice but to try to make ends meet this way. 


Warsaw is a city for rich people only without any offer for middle budget pocket which makes it one of the more expensive cities in Europe. With even 200 000 top richest people out of 3 mln inhabitants who can afford really high prices all the shops in the city can operate, and the invisible hand of the market seems not to work at all. 


Seoul used to be a city with an idea behind it that there has to be space of living for everyone in it. Also the prices of goods had been always adjusted to the average local pocket which I had personally experienced wondering through different corners of the city. 


Also...street vendoring and price negotiations are very old traditions. They should not vanish just because the government wants to make the city look more European. It is not Europe, it is Asia, however modernized, digitalized and developed, it is Asia and it's very core charm is in street vendoring.

K-Pop

...bit about music, culture and what I miss.
I think I have never ever mentioned anything about Korean popular music and how important element of reality it is.

While wondering the streets of any Korean city you hear it everywhere. It gets to you from Nature Republic when you go for a nail polish, but from Paris Baguette too.

It comes from bigger and smaller shops of all sorts, with cd's, with cloths, shoes, with cosmetics, from hairdresser or Haha Coffee, it is always present outside on forever live and colorful Korean streets.

It also influenced culture a lot. Not just dramas, but also music picture very sweet and caring dimention of modern Korean relationships, when people really share a lot. Physically, mentally and emotionally.

Under the mask of forever smile, rushing somewhere for school or to the office are hidden souls. Soul which feel a lot. And even if these feelings have popcultural semi american scent, it has it's own Korean spirit in it. Korean guy or Korean girl smiling to eachother as they walk hand in hand in any street or a park.

For you now:
Park Bom: Don't cry.

Nation Branding

I have just discovered that Arirang TV had published it's report on my blog. This is the post which I had written back in November and which had been written after shooting Today's Blog.

Today's Blog, Arirang
Enjoy!

I have already mentioned about Korean Nation Branding efforts and how they impress me. In more developed countries than Korea comprehensive nation advertising and public diplomacy took much longer time or is not that well organized.

Part of it is Korean Wave which currently hits Japan, China and other Asian countries. Korean boysbands and girlsbands, so called K-pop music to which you may find links in the video corner is just an example. Korean dramas with Winter Sonata leading among them, singer BoA and many others.

This entry on the blog will also be featured on Arirang TV soon thanks to which hospitality I can share even more stories about country's and city's promotion enterpreneurship.

This year Seoul was choosen as one of the must-visit cities by UNESCO as a result of long term action of the Metropolitan Government. Maybe it was this little creature, Haechi, which was designed as a Seoul brand based on a fictional good spirit, symbol of the city, which caused it? Who knows...

Whether Haechi himself had blessed the city with good spirits or not, he definately works as a brand developed back in 2008. Metropolitan government uses it as a symbol which helps promoting good businesses for tourists.

I was taken for a dessert to one of the restaurants in a Korean traditional house situated in a White Collar area, next to the COEX Intercontinental, the very site were G20 was held. The restaurant which name is Pulhyanggi serves all sorts of Korean food for very sophisticated set of clients who usually go there for business negotiations and incentives.

 Inside the Pulhyanggi...

Btw. did I mention that my favorite Korean food is a pancake with seafood which is called haemul pajeon and I can even make it myself?

And this is how restaurants are promoted with the city brand sign:

The Haechi drawing is based on the ancient creature I have already mentioned, which looks like this:

And Seoul area is full of them standing in all sorts of places, both very modern and traditional ones.

As a city Seoul tries to catch up with modernity but also save what is the best from it's ancient spirits. For this all sorts of different things are done, one of them is Cheonggye Stream near Gwanhamun Plaza, or Design Street near Toksugung Palace. There we may find interesting things like design chairs or sculptures as below:

All fitted in traditional historic environment.

Haechi is successful in promoting business as well. An idea which had not been followed by other cities so far as I know. As a brand Hi Seoul is shared by all sorts of small companies which are given support by Seoul Metropolitan Government. The partnership is perfect for both sides: the city promotes itself even better and business gets money and stable environment to grow.

Above is one of the example of the shared brand products. We visited the exhibition with the TV crew from Arirang and were given a gift set with very useful and very nice items including a pen with a flashlight which I use a lot right now.

Haechi itself is a legendary animal representing justice and integrity. The  mythical creature distinguishes good from evil and was believed to bring  fortune and luck and provide safety from disaster. The creature has  been believed to serve as a guardian of Seoul for a long time.

At Gwanhamun Plaza the souvenir shop opened and the top sells are Haechi dolls in all sizes. I got myself the small one... maybe it will bring me the luck?

*******
Just as I shared with viewers of Arirang I will repeat here. Despite constant threat from the North Seoul flourishes. Korea flourishes. South Koreans take steps foreward, round the clock, like a circle in a spiral... strive and persist.

Special thanks to Yoon-mi Jung and her crew who assisted me for more than 6 hrs on a freezing Friday in Seoul driving me around the city wherever I wanted. Thank you for your hospitality and patience. I love Korea!

_________________________
Links to explore:
http://english.seoul.go.kr/gtk/news/news_view.php?idx=7700
http://www.idwseoul.com/interdesignen/user/bizapp/link/link_01.asp?sBBS=0501

Radiation precautions

I am a kid of Chernobyl. I remember how they told us to drink certain liquid in the kindergarden, and everyone had to do it. Mothers, younger siblings, everyone. My mother took us away to the cottage for more than two weeks where we stayed indoors with supplies of water drilled from 32 meters. Luckily it was not raining...

This was the first time in history when Polish authorities which were at that time directly dependant on Moscow made decisions against orders from Cremlin, but in favor of their own citizens.

Withholding information, a process natural for non-democratic regimes, should not occur in democracies. But, as wikiLeaks reports on japanese nuclear incidents had shown, it is also a daily practice for free-elected governments.

Currently I receive signals from Korea, that my friends are worried and have no clue if there is nothing to be afraid of, or the situation is dangerous. Some foreign Samsung employees had ordered Geiger counters from abroad.

Better safe than sorry, and the fear in Korea, which is very very close to Japan is very understandable and more than justified. What can one do to minimize the possible effects:

- do not eat fruits or vegatables or mushrooms from unknown sources,
- do not drunk mass brand beer which does not have a brwery of production clearly indicated,
- do not drink unknown source bottled water,
- in case of rain, wash yourself immediately,
- avoid rain for several weeks until you make sure that whatever radiation in the clouds there was, it fell down on the Earth one way or the other
- potassium iodine is not harmful and does not give any side effects, if you have it you can take it, but if you live in Sweden, I would not exaggerate

Thanks for my civil defence classes...

In the shadow of the quake

Two way tourism between Japan and South Korea had for the long time been very strong pillar of the economies. Now travel agencies feel real slow down because of the disaster, they practically stopped any operations.

Two way tourism had been proving that old time tensions had slowly started to vanish. Japanese, who had occupied Korea for 35 years, are obviously not loved by a lot of Koreans who remember the old times.

Despite bad memories common distrust had slowly vanished. Together with growing Korean Wave a lot of Japanese middle class citizens have been doing weekend shopping in Seoul, crowds of them are visiting sites of their favorite soap operas.

Japan became fashionable among Koreans and is one of their favorite destinations for Lunar New Year or other holidays to go for a visit.

Finally this tragedy had shown that there is a peace between the nations, not only between the governments.

South Korean celebrities and citizens are donating money for Japan. Samsung Group had given already 100 million yen, which is 1,22 million dollars. Daum, one of the internet providers, collected so far 40 million won.

Maybe, in the shadow of the quake, stupid conflict about Dokdo Islands with some small traces of natural resources, not really worth even to be drilled out, will finally be resolved. If this moment is not used, there might be no other opportunity.

There are other, more serious, and never resolved problems between Tokyo and Seoul. Japan had never gone through full denazification and fascist veterans are still presented there as national heroes. It may be a wind of change for both nations, and time of forgiveness. Better late than later. Or never...

15th March 2011

Earthquake in Japan 3

How can you help Japan?

In Japan currently there is sweet drinking water crisis.

My friend Mikina who is in Tokyo says:

"In my situation, I can get electricity. But no access to gas and water. It’s happening in the whole city I live.
Luckily we our family had eight 2litter drinking water bottles and full of bathtub.
Our city supplies water at every school but they say it takes 2hours to get water and it is limited to 10litters per family. We can’t know when we can get water from tap next. It can be tomorrow or one week after. (...)
Though things should be appreciated, when whole nation try to send things to suffered area, they are not handed to people appropriately and effectively. So I believe contribution of some money helps much more."


Donate Money for Japan - International Red Cross

Apart from this you can donate sweet bottled water supplies to your local Red Cross, or contact state aid agencies.

 Street cracked after the first quake in one of areas which suffered less damage, this can rip apart any second. Photo by Mikina from Tokyo.

Earthquake in Japan 2

Fukushima Power Plant had been reported to have a leak which is now decreasing. Two shakes coming one after another during recent two days had damaged the concrete building of the plant but not it's metal cover, says the authorities. Just in case 20 km zone of evacuation had been created.

The death toll is rising. For now at least 649 people had been killed by the tsunami and the quakes. The water supplies and energy situation on the Japan islands is critical, help however will soon arrive from the world.

Japan quake technology is legendary efficient, but this time it was the tsunami which caused the biggest losses.
State preparations started after the quake in 1923 which was so far the most disastrous with losses and casualties. Since then the quake conscioussness among civilians had risen, the authorities had imposed a lot of solutions including the quake training simulation which every citizen has to go through on 1st September every year.

Since 1981 new building technology makes every skyscraper and building a must have special foundations which amortise the quake up till the magnitude of 9, theoretically. This technology has proved itself very efficient and really helps during such disasters.

It seems however that the only thing which actually saves from the tsunami are high altitude natural sea banks, like on the Korean penninsula, which won't protect the fish industry or boats, but will protect vast spaces of land.

Japanese people help eachother before the rescue teams arrive, a neighbour helps a neighbour with whatever possible.

It is not safe to come back to the buildings even if they seem not to be damaged. Secondary quakes will for sure weaken their cracked structures more.

Japanese economy suffered losses which noone dares to measure yet. Nikkei went down rapidly, same for the exchange rate of yen, but Japanese economy, an export based power, will eventually drag itself from the disaster.

*******

On the side: how come the Kaddafi mess causes oil index skyrocketing and Japanese disaster which may actually harm a lot of platforms and tank ships in Pacific region is causing oil price index down?
The logic of investors is black magic for me. Or may be there is no logic, just a group panic instinct?

Earthquake in Japan

Today there was an earthquake in Japan of 8,9 magnitude. Losses are enormous, mostly in technical assets, infrastructire, businesses and others.

Circa 250 dead, 88 000 missing after strong shakes and 10 meter tsunami rushed through islands of Japan, numbers may increase with time. 
Government warns about secondary shakes and prepares civilians for situation of worse than what it is already.

For such a sudden and strong event I want to congratulate Japanese people for organization and preparations for such a case. Country was shaken but it is not paralyzed. Advanced technologically and very organized, went through struggle with powers of nature not as harmed as countries affected by Indian Ocean Tsunami and earthquake in 2004, where there have been 230 000 fatalities.

Is Korea prepared for an earthquake of this magnitude? A year ago in January there was a small shake which had risen this question in the newspapers. This time, Korean Penninsula was spared.

The authorities had noticed such threats and try to catch up, but will they catch up on time?

Soon more details.