The other day, I came across the 2009 HBO film, “Taking Chance.” Watching the movie based on a true story, I spent a riveting hour and 17 minutes, deeply moved by the way how Americans treat their fallen soldiers in war. It occurred to me that we should learn from the movie how to honor our soldiers killed in action. The movie unfolds the story of Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a US Marine Corps officer who volunteers to escort the body of PFC Chance Phelps, who died in the Iraq War, bac

Viewpoints July 1, 2020

On June 25, 2020, Korea commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Korea War. It means that the babies who were born in 1950 when the war broke out are now 70 years old. It is sad to think that those who went through the atrocities of the war are now old and fade away, making the Korean War “a forgotten war.” Nevertheless, we should be faithful to the memory of the conflict that devastated the Korean Peninsula for three years. The war destroyed virtually everything in our already des

Viewpoints June 24, 2020

The above title is a riff and parody on Tennessee Williams’ famous play, “Suddenly Last Summer.” In this Southern Gothic play, Violet’s son, Sebastian, had died in Europe the previous summer under dubious circumstances. Since her niece, Catherine, knows the dark secret that led Sebastian to his death, Violet tries to erase Catherine’s memory by asking a doctor to perform a lobotomy on her to protect her son’s reputation. Recently, I came across an intriguing

Viewpoints June 17, 2020

A crisis is mounting between the United States and China, and South Korea has found herself suddenly caught in the crossfire of the two superpowers. Now under relentless pressure, the Korean government faces a sobering reality in which the answer to the question “Which side are you on?” will bring decisive or even dire consequences. Such a situation is not new to the Korean people; we were also stuck in the crossfire between China and Japan in the 19th century. Back then, Korea cou

Viewpoints June 10, 2020

We need government to run the country for us and represent us in the international community. Unfortunately, however, we often find our government overbearing and oppressive. Sometimes we suffer heavy taxes and other times, tyrannical rule. That is why “governance” has always been a major concern of political scientists. Thomas Paine aptly pointed out the issue, saying, “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”

Viewpoints June 3, 2020

We are now living in the era of artificial intelligence. In fact, AI is everywhere already, in our smartphones, laptops, and cars. What many commentators have hailed as the “fourth industrial revolution,” too, includes AI. As AI is fast becoming part of our everyday lives, we would do well to reflect on its upsides and downsides. An American television drama, “Person of Interest,” well illustrates many of the merits and problems of the AI era. The drama centers on a re

Viewpoints May 27, 2020

The global pandemic called COVID-19 is now ruthlessly invading the world, devastating all the infected nations and still causing untold numbers of deaths. Humans cannot but shudder at this never-before-seen deadly virus that attacks and kills them callously. Meanwhile, the lethal coronavirus has radically changed our society in many ways. For example, we are now living in an inhumane society where people are suspicious of one another and shun the warmth of human touch because we cannot be sure

Viewpoints May 20, 2020

Amid the ever-widening spread of the novel coronavirus, we realize things that we normally would not. For example, we realize we should be grateful to doctors, nurses and health care workers who are willing to take the risk of contagion in order to save their patients from a dangerous virus. Our gratitude should also go to police officers and ambulance staff, who have to respond to emergencies and whose daily assignments expose them to the contagious virus as well. We should be especially grat

Viewpoints May 13, 2020

Recently on Netflix, I came across an American political thriller drama entitled “Designated Survivor.” The riveting drama mesmerized me instantly by tackling the recurrent theme in American films and literature: “What is America?” “Designated Survivor” also explores, “What makes a great leader?” The drama was so intriguing that 10 million viewers watched its first episode premiere in 2016. The drama series begins as an explosion destroys the Ca

Viewpoints May 6, 2020

I was a modernist when I wrote my MA thesis on literary modernism. Later, however, when I decided to write my doctoral dissertation on postmodernism at the State University of New York at Buffalo, I converted to a postmodernist. Postmodern perspectives helped me rightly perceive the elusive and complex reality I was facing every day. Furthermore, postmodern perceptions that acknowledged the blurry boundary between fact and fiction, or highbrow culture and middlebrow culture fascinated me. When

Viewpoints April 29, 2020

The April election is over. The outcome was a landslide victory for the progressive ruling party and a total disaster for the conservative opposition party. Of course, opinion varies depending on the person, but many say it was a victory of the younger generation over the older generation. If this is true, young people must be happy, whereas older people are disappointed, if not devastated. Right after the outcome of the election was revealed, someone sent me a heartrending poem circulating

Viewpoints April 22, 2020

T.S. Eliot’s monumental poem “The Waste Land” begins with the famous line, “April is the cruelest month.” Eliot refers to April as the cruelest month because spring rain wakes us up from our warm, comfortable hibernation. The poem continues with a touch of sarcasm: “winter kept us warm, covering/ earth with forgetful snow.” Now, spring has come and we have to wake up and remember who we are and where we are. Today is Election Day in Korea for National

Viewpoints April 15, 2020

It may be too early to predict what will happen in the post-coronavirus world. Yet already one hears foretold that when the crisis is over, the world will not be the same. For example, globalization will surely decline and nationalism will rise instead because many people believe globalization is responsible for the spread of the pandemic. Undeniably, easy international travel and borderless mobility contributed to the spread of the disease. However, the reverse of globalization will not be ea

Viewpoints April 8, 2020

Undoubtedly, these are uncomfortable times for all Asians living in the West. For the unprecedented global pandemic that has recently devastated the earth, many Westerners blame China. Yet, even if the virus originated in China, the Chinese people are not themselves to blame for the existence of the virus. Moreover, in the eyes of many Westerners, all Asians look alike, and therefore, any Asian on sight can be an object of hate and derision in Western countries. To make matters worse, Westerners

Viewpoints March 31, 2020

Due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, we are now unable to travel to foreign countries freely. Some time ago, however, a South Korean could visit virtually any place on earth and feel at home wherever he went. For example, he could watch Korean movies and television shows on Netflix or Amazon anywhere, anytime. Korean cuisine and groceries were available everywhere. He could even drop by a karaoke room, easily available in many foreign cities, to sing his favorite Korean songs. As someone wh

Viewpoints March 24, 2020