What's behind rocket failure?

By Lee Eung-tae

Turning students into idiots can be difficult because Koreans are famous for their intelligence and academic diligence.

More than 80 percent of high school graduates are reported to enter university every year, top among the OECD countries. When it comes to state-of-the art technology, Korean products such as smart phones and automobiles dominate the world market, which proves the superiority of Koreans.

However, recent failure in launching our rocket to space makes me doubt our scientific excellence. Emotionally, I felt ashamed to hear of North Korea’s successful rocket launch. Even though they cunningly did it as a test of a nuclear missile, I felt that my national pride was affronted. Regardless of their vicious intentions, my instinctive response was: How did they succeed when we had failed several times?

A recent news report saying that the North is 10 years ahead of us in terms of space science humiliated me further. How could it be possible? South Korea is ranked in the top 10 among OECD countries in many fields including electronics. We overcame a worldwide depression in the 1990s and National competitiveness is strong enough not to be overwhelmed by the recent global financial downturn.

The North has been isolated for decades from the outside world. Thousands of people are dying due to malnutrition. Internet access, let alone books, has been blocked. All things considered, it seems to be impossible for the North to be ahead of us in terms of space science.

But, in hindsight, I think our failure is not an incidental mistake but the result of a chain of negative events. And the main culprit must be our deep-rooted disregard toward natural science and engineering. Most intelligent students have chosen to be doctors instead of physicists and scientists not because of their aptitude but because of the wealth and social status attached to these jobs.

So, until recently, majoring in natural science and engineering has been the least popular subject for college aspirants. In this dire situation, how can we expect great scientists to save our future? This trend has carried on for decades, damaging our scientific development.

Worse, unable to endure unfair treatment and disrespect, many intelligent scientists go abroad to seek a better environment in which to conduct their research, resulting in a serious brain drain to our space science program.

Our disorganized education system should also be blamed for having produced idiotic science students. Whenever a new administration appears, a new educational curriculum is introduced. In line with this changing curriculum, the methods of recruiting college students have been complicated in a thousand different ways.

Besides, under the current curriculum of five cluster subjects in one semester, students don’t have to study difficult subjects such as physics, chemistry and mathematics. They only have to take ordinary subjects to enter college, which, I think, has accelerated their stupidity in the natural sciences. As a result, even professors at top universities are said to complain about underachievement in basic math and science of students.

Now a new, female president is opening up a new chapter of Korean history, and our wishes for the new administration are great. She already pledged detailed promises before the election. And these promises are about to be realized.

However, I am anxious that, overshadowed by some populist policies, the effort to revamp the fundamental system for the improvement of students’ intellectual capability may be overlooked. And my wish is to see our rocket fly high into space to boost our national pride.

The writer is an English teacher in Gimhae Girls' High School in South Gyeongsang Province. His email address is eungtae@gmail.com.