By Choi Yearn-hong
South Korea has generated conflicting images both in and outside of the country. Some see Korea's beauty and treasure from outside, not from inside. Some see more ugly things inside Korea.
Korea's image in this economic depression time with violent political scenes may not be good to foreign observers, but U.S. President Barack Obama sees one thing from Korea as a beautiful thing.
Korean politics is, needless to say, depressing more than the plummeting value of the won. Violent politics in the National Assembly do not help the image of Korea.
Many are sick of violent Korean politics: The ruling and opposition political parties do not know how to find compromise. They may never find a happy medium or a win-win strategy, even though they share the same goal of improving the Korean people's fate.
The opposition parties do not accept majority rule in the National Assembly. They don't see anything nice from the Lee Myung-bak government. I do not know whether President Lee is turning Korean history backward and undemocratic.
I am not going to praise Lee and his administration, but I am not agreeing with the claims made by the opposition parties. During my 10 years teaching at the University of Seoul, I advocated a middle-of-the-road approach for fairness between the Korean government and opposition politicians.
For example, environmental interest groups advocated no nuclear power and no more dams. I responded to them that Korea, an energy resources-poor nation, needed the nuclear power plants, so that they should accept existing nuclear power plants and let the power plants generate more power.
I agreed with them not to build any more large dams, but proposed to rebuild or remodel existing dams to increase the storage capacity for very long dry seasons and much needed flood-control purposes.
Korea spent 20 years finding a low-level radioactive waste disposal site on the outskirts of Gyeongju. I don't know when it can start searching for a high-level radioactive waste disposal site.
No nation in the world is operating a high-level waste disposal site, even though many nations have begun searching.
Korea, a small landmass with a large population size, has many environmental problems, but a more serious problem is the conflict and violent-oriented political forces that cannot find the middle of the road between or among them. This is a cancerous disease in South Korea.
A police officer was beaten by a mob in the streets of Seoul, and the opposition political parties blame the police, as part of the ruling party.
Can you find any nation in which police officers are beaten by a mob in the street during daylight? I cannot. This is a denial of law and order. This denial is shameful and dangerous to Korean society. South Korea has, however, some admirable qualities.
Look at one area: schools. The Korean school system has all kinds of problems. Many Korean people are ashamed of their schools. Many students feel that their schools are ``hell'' even today.
However, President Obama admires South Korea's schools and their products, educated manpower. He praised the Korean students who are competitive among students in advanced nations.
Korean students' performance is known to be superb, especially in the fields of mathematics and science. American teachers are amazed at Korean students' math and science scores. Obama's recent statement is just a reflection of the American people's admiration of Korean schools.
Inside South Korea, the teachers' union has been criticizing school administrators and conservative fellow teachers, while violently resisting the old and traditional school system, which has produced the learned citizens and manpower necessary to cope with the economic development and advancement of science and technology.
I am part of the old education system. It is very true that Korean schools are overwhelmed by cram schools, or hagwon, and many students are living in hell for their college entrance examinations.
However, such a sense of fierce competition has contributed to the advancement of Korea to become an economic power, or an economic miracle, in a couple of decades.
Now, many colleges are recruiting high school students in an age of scarce college-bound students. But the schools are supposed to nurture a fair sense of competition. No one should deny the school as a place of pursuing excellence.
A sense of competition garners the pursuit of excellence. Denying a sense of competition will lead to a denial of schools in search of excellence.
Strange to say, the teachers' union has been criticized as the cause of the downgrading of student learning and their standardized test scores, not upgrading.
Michelle Rhee, the Korean-American young woman who is the head of the school systems in Washington, D.C., is heroically fighting the teachers' union for the excellence of student learning and a competitive pay system for outstanding teachers.
Obama and many American intellectuals admire Rhee and support her. She was once considered for the position of secretary of education by Obama. Who knows? She may be the next secretary of education in the United States.
What I am trying to say in this space is: Please find the diamond in your closet. Inside Korea, many people do not see what they have here.
Progressive labor unions do not see things that are valuable in the old school system. President Obama sees something valuable in the Korean school system. The blind men cannot see it, but those with 20/20 vision can see it clearly. Sometimes, the valuable things are more easily noticeable from a distance.
Fellow Korean citizens, please see the things you have in your society that are valuable. At least, you can see the things that are valuable when you stand in the middle of the road. If you are standing on the extreme right or left, you may not see the things at the center clearly and properly.
Dr. Choi is a retired college professor after a long teaching career in the United States and Korea. He can be reached at yearnhchoi@gmail.com.