In other sporting news, the Olympics have come to a close on the other side of the world! I watched very little, partly because I only receive the over-the-air NBC programming and none of their cable stations; partly because I've been involved with other pursuits during these past few weeks; and mostly because I just don't find the Olympics as compelling as I used to in years past.
But, wait! Some of you might know that Korea holds a special place in my life, and you might wonder why I would not give more time to the PyeongChang Olympics? A fair question! After all, Korea is quite a bit in the news recently-- well, North Korea is, in particular.
My Korean journey (what I've come to call "The Long Trip") began in late June of 1994. This was days or weeks after Jimmy Carter was sent on an urgent diplomatic mission to North Korea to devise a plan to curtail their nuclear ambitions. It was also a few short weeks before the death of Kim Il Sung. It was an uncertain time, to say the least! But I learned how to follow the normal routines that came with living in Seoul, a city just 35 miles from the border with the North, routines which included monthly air raid drills and frequent sightings of military vehicles and personnel.
Some might argue that Seoul burst onto the international scene with another Olympics- the 1988 summer games. South Korea's economic and cultural growth in the three decades since then has been nothing short of astounding. And, yeah, I lived in a small window of that as an English teacher in the nineties. I lived through the weathering of the IMF storm in 1998, and now I marvel from afar at how South Korea was able to rebound and go on to a high level of success.
Meanwhile, we all know about North Korea: the brutal labor camps, the starvation, the executions. The North, under the successive leadership of Kim Il Sung's son and then grandson, if anything is trending toward ever more unpredictable. The threat is obviously compounded by the realization of those same nuclear ambitions the Carter plan set out to prevent decades earlier. This is a critical point to remember: the current situation in Korea is the result of failed policy spanning multiple US presidencies.
Meanwhile, we all know about North Korea: the brutal labor camps, the starvation, the executions. The North, under the successive leadership of Kim Il Sung's son and then grandson, if anything is trending toward ever more unpredictable. The threat is obviously compounded by the realization of those same nuclear ambitions the Carter plan set out to prevent decades earlier. This is a critical point to remember: the current situation in Korea is the result of failed policy spanning multiple US presidencies.
Sadly, this present situation is why reunification appears to be a challenge that is still a very long time away from a solution. I hope that I am wrong about that, but the ideological and economic distance between the two sides seems so great- more even than the divided sides of Germany in the Cold War- that I just do not see reunification on the horizon. (And remember, Kim Jong Un has a very different vision of Korean reunification than I.)
I also really, really want to open up this bottle of North Korean liquor which I acquired at some point in my five years in the South. I promised myself I was going to wait to celebrate reunification. Apparently, the seal on the bottle top is weak, as the level of the alcohol is much lower than I remember! So, the wager is whether there will be anything left to drink when the big event comes? (Even more distressing, will I still be alive to drink it?)
Which brings me back full circle to the PyeongChang Olympics... the Olympics really should be a celebration of the best amateur athletes in the world. The games should be a time when countries put aside differences and come together. And what a show in the opening ceremonies when the athletes from the two Koreas arrived together in solidarity!
The games are over, though, and the two sides now put an end to the short-lived facade of unity. Annual joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, postponed because of the games, will proceed as usual, soon. Let's hope that cooler heads prevail in what could be an especially tense time on the peninsula.
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The games are over, though, and the two sides now put an end to the short-lived facade of unity. Annual joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, postponed because of the games, will proceed as usual, soon. Let's hope that cooler heads prevail in what could be an especially tense time on the peninsula.
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At the beginning of the post I remarked that it's been a busy period. Yes, it has! The Year of the Dog has now begun! I've explained to a few Chinese colleagues that I learned all about the Chinese zodiac in my years in Korea, which also observes the system and the Lunar New Year. Why is the Year of the Dog so interesting? Because it's my birth sign and I need to do cool things this year!
And so, on the day of my actual birthday which came just a few days into this Dog year, I spent a beautiful, warm, sunny day walking in Boston with my daughter. We made our way to the gateway to Chinatown so that I could make my Dog birthday feel "official."
May you live in least interesting times!
