At some point soon I want to take some more of your time deconstructing some of the arguments surrounding North Korea, weapons of mass destruction, South Korea, the United States and the President. (As if I haven't done this enough, already.)
It seems my posts on Korea have gotten me quite a bit of attention. That is all fine and well. Because I lived there for some time and have a fascination for Asia I want to elaborate a bit more on an aspect of Asian (and necessarily Korean) culture that has been neglected by almost everyone.
One of the things that I learned while I lived in Korea (and that was reinforced during my multiple trips to Taiwan and Mainland China) is that Asians make decisions differently than we do. Some people might consider the following comments bigoted or racist, (some of you might even consider them cliché) I assure you they are not. We and the Koreans come from very different cultures and it is important to remember that. So spare me the PC garbage, ok?
While I was in Korea I had many opportunities to watch them make decisions. I watched them make professional decisions and personal decisions. The one leitmotif running through all the decision-making I witnessed was consensus. Each person, man or woman, involved in the decision making process was given an opportunity to be heard and participate as an equal in the process. This is something that I have rarely witnessed in the West. Our leaders, bosses and friends very often make decisions for us . . . and we go along. Not so in Korea (and Japan and China) where it is always a group process.
Many times in Korea I was part of a group of Koreans who wanted to go see a movie. There was also a part of the same group that wanted to sing Karaoke (which I abhor, actually). We inevitably ended up bowling. Why? Because it was something everyone could agree upon. Some of us didn't want to sing (like me), others didn't want to watch a movie. We all, however, wanted to bowl. So we did.
Now, things like this do happen in the West, but ask yourself this: how many times have you gone with a group dancing even though it was something you really didn't want to do, moreover it was something that most everyone in the group didn't want to do. There was, however, that one 'whiner' who wanted to dance? So you danced.
I never saw that happen in Korea.
Now, if you've gotten this far you are probably wondering, "what the hell does bowling have to do with nuclear war?" Actually a lot.
It disturbs me greatly that everyone involved in this discussion hasn't mentioned the other half of Korea, the half of Korea that is likely to be just as devastated as the North in the event of war. I looked around at some of the articles and op-ed pieces we bloggers have been citing. Most, if not all, are devoid of any mention of South Korea's interests in this crisis. The few bloggers that deign to mention South Korea do so contemptuously, likening the students and South Korean leadership as ungrateful children.
But as I have mentioned before, there is a host of other very important countries involved here. One of which just happens to be South Korea. It is their interests that are affected here the most. After all, they live in the region. We do not.
So, my first piece of advice to the administration (in answer to David's challenge ) is this: sit down with all the parties involved, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea but not the North, just yet. Invite everyone to go dancing, but just be prepared to go bowling. Otherwise, this crisis is just going to get worse.
Posted by Sean-Paul @ 01/04/2003 10:23 PM
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Comments:
Everyone I've read has mentioned South Korea when talking about the Korean standoff. It's impossible not to. Several articles have advocated pulling out US troops from the South because they're giving us such a hard time. And how is this "consensus decision making" relevant? Does anyone actually expect the South and the North to sit down together and make decisions about resolving the split peninsula? It's been 53 years. Long time to decide among bowling, karaoke and a movie. Looks to me like the Koreans are the ones who can't reach a consensus. And wasn't there a dictator named Chung Hee Pak in the South for decades? Did he make all decisions by consensus? Somehow I don't think so. Also, why shouldn't they respect the way we make decisions, especially the North with this nuclear thing threatening to blow up the whole world? But I forgot. They wouldn't do that unless everyone agreed it was the right thing to do.
Posted by: Robert Speirs on January 10, 2003 10:09 PM
It seems clear that North Korea is a serious military threat that has
no oil, whereas Iraq has oil but poses no serious military threat. So why
risk war with North Korea for nothing, when we can slaughter Iran, control
the oil, install a puppet and so forth, as in Afghanistan. It might not be
the "right" thing to do; it might even be a tad cowardly, but the rich would
prosper at the expense of the oppressed for sure, and that's what this Bush
Regime is all about.
