Children's Day

What is the true meaning of the word ‘family’? Family is an acronym for ‘Father and Mother, I Love You.’ (Song Kil-wan, the founder and the manager Hi Family, Korea)

***

The quotation above was taken from Dorothy Nam’s article that wrote about the meaning of family in South Korea related to the Children’s Day (Eorini Nal) that was commemorated each May 5th as the national holiday. On this day, the Korean children get big attention from their parents. Usually, their parents take them out for picnic to the garden or amusement park, watched the film, et cetera.

If we saw that the children day became the national holiday in Korea, we will definitely imagine that parents in Korea really pay attention to their children. This is correctly true, but in reality, many children’s fate in Korea was still unlucky. Why?

The biggest problem in Korean family was limited time of the togetherness. Generally, the Korean family really focused on their children’s education so that the father should work hard and rarely had time to be with his family. The supporting public facilities for children and parents in their relaxed time are also very limited.

According Dorothy Nam, compared with the American society, parents in the United States often have dinner together in the restaurant with their children, or watching TV while eating popcorn. However, in Korea, after working, the father will go to the coffee shops or bars with his colleagues whereas the mother stay in the house with the children. There are so many bars and coffee shops in Korea, but the number of family restaurants could only be counted by fingers.

Culturally, the Korean father showed his affection to the family rarely. They were not used to embrace and express their affection to their children and wives periodically. Beside that, the Korean family condition statistically showed a very bad condition. According to The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the divorce level in Korea is the second highest in the world.

At the time when I wrote this article in mid of 2004, South Korea suffered the unstable economic condition. This caused the height of the unemployment rate and the number of families that were involved in bad credit. According to a survey, approximately four million Koreans could not pay their credit card and generally, each family owed about two million won. The strong of economic pressure caused the height of stress so that the suicide and violence cases in the households increased.

For instances, a father killed his two children and wife because they did not want to do suicide. Whereas, according to Korean police statistics, the number of people who are arrested because of the household violence increased from 15,557 peoples in 2001, 16,324 peoples in 2002, and to 17,770 peoples during 2003.

Observing the height of domestic violence in the society, made us more concern on the children life in the Korean family. A newspaper reported that one of the three wives in Korea got physical violence by her husband. Recently, a woman put divorce lawsuit -- the very rare matter happened in Korea -- after 3 decades, minimal once in a week, she was hit by her husband. The other woman was taken to the hospital because her ribs were broken because of being stricken by her husband, while the other woman had eardrum broken after being stricken with baseball stick by her husband (Korean Times, May 18, 2004).

The unharmonious family made many under age children witnessed the domestic violence and affected by its impact. There was a 20's years-old student who often watches her mother was stricken by her father suffered physical and mental pressure and has to be sent to psychiatric hospital.

Worsening economic condition of Korea was not only one cause of unharmonious family in the country that is so called The Land of Morning Calm. Observing its root, the unharmonious husband-wife relations in this society was influenced by the Confucianism doctrine that becomes the living guide of Koreans. According to Professor Eom Myo-seop from Catholic University of Daegu, Confucianism gave the top priority to man and made woman become subordinate. Korean woman must obey three rules that were mentioned in samjongjido. According to these rules, the woman must obey her father when she was young, her husband after marrying, and obedient to her son when her husband died.

Although the patriarchal system has begun to change in Korea, this point of view is still often followed by the Korean family. Many husbands regarded his wife and children as his “own”.

This caused Song Kil-wan established Hi Family during 1992 to give counseling and advocations to Korean family. If Song’s efforts were successful, happiness would really no longer become a sweet dream of Korean family and the children will definitely get “the children’s day” in everyday.***

Thanks to Hendry for the pics!

Children’s Day

By: Chung Su-jin

May in South Korea was “family month”. May 5th was the Children's Day and May 8th was the Parent’s Day. On May 5th, the parents please their children. Whereas on May 8th, children gave a bucket of flowers to their parent as their expression of thankful.

If it compared with United States and Indonesia that only commemorated Mother’s Day, in South Korea, there is a Parent’s Day because the South Korean society thought that if there are children, there should be also parents. During forty years ago in the process of the fast economics development, the worked men often get stress. As a result, they sometimes release their stress to their family.

However, with the better economy improvement of South Korean, they have realized the family value. Although the domestic violence increased, the position of the family members that previously was hierarchical tended to be equal recently. I predict that in the future in South Korea, the atmosphere of other eleven months will become like the atmosphere of May that is the family's month.***

Crisis

In 2004, several cases that pop up in South Korea had the similarity with the causes of the two tragic war incidents that happened 400 and 50 years ago, the lack of sensitivities of Korean government to detect emergency situation.

***

Once upon a time, several years before Japanese invasion to Korean peninsula at the end of 16th century, the King of Choseon Kingdom received an advice from an intelligent named Lee Yul-gok in order to prepare and train 100.000 troops for the Choseon Kingdom defense. At that time, King Sonjo and almost all of the royal senior figures underestimated this advice. However, after hearing the report about Japanese suspicion movements, the king began to feel very anxious. Finally he sent two special spies, Hwang Yun-gil and Kim Song-il, to observe the political situation in Japan.

After half of the year, the two spies came back from their duty in Japan. They came and reported what they was seen to King Sonjo. At that time, there has been a tradition in Korean to guess someone’s feeling or what he plan to do by only looking at his face (nunchi).

The first spy, Kim Song-il, reported what he has seen, “Majesty, when I saw Hideyoshi Toyotomi Emperor, I could see that he was very small and ugly. His eyes are like mouse eyes. He will not be dare to attack our kingdom. I did not see their signs for having preparations for war. You might not frightened, my Majesty”.

Nevertheless, other spy, Hwang Yun-gil, reported the very different thing, “Majesty, although Hideyoshi Emperor was small and ugly; he had sharp eyes and strong ambition. Honestly, based on my observation, I am really sure that Japan was having preparations to attack our kingdom”.

Hearing the two different reports, King Sonjo was very confused to make decision. Nevertheless, without re-checking on two spies’ report he tended to agree with senior staffs’ opinion in the defense and security department that prefer to Kim Song-il’s opinion.

What happened in the several years? Lee Yul-gok’s warning and information that was sent by Hwang Yun-gil that Japan would attack Korea became real. During 1592, Japanese Hideyoshi Toyotomi Emperor attacked Korea with 700.000 troops, 700 warships, and complete war equipment. The Choseon royal troops that were not prepared to face the sudden attack, should be surrendered. On the other hand, the success of Hideyoshi troop’s subjugated Choseon Kingdom is their success in gathering and processing the information on domestic situation in Korea.

Around 350 years later, before the outbreak of Korean War (1950-1953) the tense situation that covered Korean peninsula that was divided by two ideologies, the communist of North Korea and the democratic of South Korea. South Korean government that was led by Lee Seung-man President revealed statements in mass media that North Korean communist troops were not possible to attack South Korea. This statement is different with the actual situation. On June 25th 1950, before the dawn broke, around 135.000 North Korean troops succeeded in crossing the border of two countries and attacking South Korea. The great civil war happened for three years and ended with armistice. This war was very tragic because it cracked Korean peninsula became two countries and dispersed Koreans that was previously one nation and one relative.

What was so important from the two war stories in this Korean history? Both King Sonjo and President Lee Seung-man government ignored the reality how critical the Korean situation was at the time. Both of them did not have sense of crisis about the possibility of danger that could strike their country and their people. This attitude was really regretted because has brought fatal result. The Korean people had extraordinary physical and psychological suffering in wartime with Hideyoshi Emperor Troops or in the Korean War, and also in the cold war.

In 2004, several cases that pop up in South Korea had the similarity with the causes of the two tragic war incidents that happened 400 and 50 years ago, the lack of sensitivities of Korean government to detect emergency situation. This could be seen from the three cases. Firstly, president Roh Moo-Hyun statement in responding to the worsening of South Korean economics lately. Secondly, the lack of South Korean Foreign Department staff's in responding the lost of South Korean citizen in Iraq. Thirdly, the slowness of South Korean police work to responding the report on several citizens’ loss in Seoul that that had became the victims of the sequence killing.

In the first case, President Roh Moo-Hyun seemed to deny the reality that South Korean economy is in the crisis. The president did not care of the expert of economics’ opinion or considered about the survey results from the credible agency. For example, the results survey of Bank of Korea on 2.453 manufacture companies showed descended business index from 87 in April 2004 to 80 in May 2004. Then, the survey that was done by Korean International Trade Association (KITA) showed the index of export conviction decline from 135,2 in the first quarter 2004 to 126,4 in the second quarter. Moreover, the statistical data showed the height of unemployment level especially within the younger generations, the increasing of the amount of stalled credit, the decline of domestic request and overseas capital flight as the result of South Korean the uncertainty economic prospect.

Although this economic data has been enough to be proof that the economics in the emergency condition, in the last March, President Roh said, “although the Korean economics was being in the difficult situation, it could not be said that it was crisis” (The Korea Times, June 24th 2004). Moreover, the president accused the businessmen conspired to exaggerate the rumors. In this July and August, several months after President Roh's statement, economics articles in the newspaper reported that South Korean economics was changing from crisis to recession and even be in the doorstep of economic depression. If only President Roh's government realized that Korean economics in the serious situation, it could be prevented since the beginning.

Next, the tragic incident that struck Kim Sun-il could become an indicator on how bad the sense of crisis of South Korean government is. Kim Sun-il was killed in Iraq on June 23rd, 2004 after being kidnapped by one of the militant's groups and being imprisoned for around 3 weeks in June 2004. On June 3 rd, South Korean Foreign Department in Seoul received telephone from an Associated Press reporter who asked whether they lost a citizen was named Kim Sun-il in Iraq. The staff of South Korean Foreign Affairs Department that received this telephone did not confirm and investigate for more. It is fatal because they realized the crisis late that was dealt with Kim Sun-il. He could not be saved. Perhaps if Korean Foreign Affairs Department suspected to the contents of the conversation via telephone and holding further investigation, there must be much available time for negotiating Kim Sun-il’s liberation.

The last case to prove the inability of South Korean government apparatus in detecting danger that threatened the society was the case of sequence killing in Seoul. South Korean police received strong critics from the society because of their slowness in responding the report on the missing of several night worker women and Seoul citizens several months ago (Korea Times, July 21st 2003). Evidently, most of them who were reported lost became sequence-killing victims. Its killer was arrested unintentionally because of others case and after killing around 26 people. If only the police carried out an investigation on the report of the missing persons since the beginning, may be this sequence killing could be prevented.

The three cases above and examples of history incidents in the past were enough to make South Korean government realize the lack of their capacity to analyze and respond to the crisis or emergency can cause a very dangerous thing. The crisis or this emergence situation could become worst and even get victims. Not only the one or several people life, but also the life of all over the citizens one country was threatened by danger if their government no longer had sense of crisis. ***

On Heat and Humid Days of summer, Seoul, 23-24 July 2004

Pictures: General Hideyoshi Toyotomi (http://www2.hawaii/~sford/research/turtel/index.html)

The Hostage

Kim's death became a horrific scene that happened in front of all the Korean eyes. Korean people witnessed Kim's hostage video where Kim who did not have the power, with the head closed by orange cloth, surrendered in front of his hostage-taker asking for compassions in order not to be killed. The last request in his life had not been fulfilled.

***

THE fortune could not be gained; the unfortunate could not be refused. That is the fate that had to befall by Kim Sun-il in the hostage drama in Iraq at June 2004 that cause of his death.

Kim, the South Korean citizen that was fluently in speaking Arabian and worked as the translator in a South Korean company that supplied the US troops requirement, was found dead after approximately 3 weeks being a hostage of Iraqi militant's group. Kim Sun-il was executed because of their demand for South Korea to withdrew its 660 medical staffs and did not send its 3.000 troops to Iraq was not heeded by the South Korean government.

Kim's death became a horrific scene that happened in front of all the Korean eyes. Korean people witnessed Kim's hostage video where Kim who did not have the power, with the head closed by orange cloth, surrendered in front of his hostage-taker asking for compassions in order not to be killed. The last request in his life had not been fulfilled.

Initially, I did not follow enthusiastically this hostage story. Just after a friend from Malaysia warned me not to go out of the house if not necessary (he quoted an appeal of Bangladesh embassy in South Korea to their citizens in South Korea), I realized how important the lesson that could be taken from Kim's death is for the government and the Indonesian citizens that lived in foreign countries.

Unlike Bangladesh and Malaysian Embassy that was worried about the safety of their citizens in South Korea, Indonesian Embassy in Seoul (KBRI) seems gave a cool and calm response. I did not accept telephone and there was not any friends tell me about such an instruction from the Indonesian Embassy in South Korea to Indonesian citizens in South Korea to be careful in revealing their identity as Muslim to avoid rage of Korean citizen. Luckily, South Korean government immediately anticipated the possibility of the South Korean citizens’ anger, which was wrongly addressed by sending a group of its police to guard the mosque in Itaewon area.

The reaction of Korean society was followed by me through English newspaper; Korean Times and Korean Herald. Kim Sun-il’s tragic death brought impacts in politics, social and even psychological effects for South Korean society. Kim Sun-il’s family that is very sorrowful, besides blaming the terrorist group, also pointed Korean government that became the cause of Kim's death. The stubborn attitude of South Korean government that took the decision to keep sending 3.000 troops to Iraq this August 2004 was considered to become the trigger for their son death.

South Korean government got hard blasphemy from the society because of their failure to save Kim's life. They were disappointed by the bad diplomacy and the government negotiations’ capacity to free Kim. The government was also regarded as weak because did not have the bargaining position opposite USA so keep sending their troops with diplomacy reason to keep their good relation with Washington.

The feeling of disappointed and anger of South Korean people were highly increasing because later on they knew that the staffs of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of South Korean did not respond seriously when Associated Press reporter asked if there was a South Korean citizen named Kim Sun-il that was lost in Iraq. If only South Korean government cared in fate and safety of their citizen overseas, possibly there would be enough time and strategy to be used to rescue Kim Sun-il’s life.

The price that must be paid by South Korean government on their slow reaction to rescue his citizen that was in danger situation has reduced the level of belief drastically from South Korean society to the government. Kim Sun-il’s death opened the Korean people eyes and awareness that their government could not protect their people in overseas.

The disappointment of Korean people against the government has blown up a big protest and the multitudinous reaction. Korean Confederation of Trade Unions/ KCTU (the biggest worker organization in Korea that had 690.000 workers) planned mass demonstration demanded on cancellation of the South Korean troop’s departure to Iraq in this August. The member of the South Korean worker organization that was a pilot of Korean Airlines and Asian Airlines companies threatened to boycott the transport of South Korean troops and military supply to Iraq. The Lawyers’ Group for Democratic Society demanded the parliament to carry out an investigation to the official government that has authority to handle Kim's case. Whereas, the teachers organization has a plan to give the anti-war lesson to their students.

Besides the political and social shock above, there is also psychological shock. It was reported by Korean Herald newspaper (June 29, 2004), they are who watched the Kim's scene of hostage video get mental trauma. Yoo Sang-woo, a clinical psychologist in Seoul said that he was often visited by the patient who felt like isolated, depression and insomnia after witnessing Kim's hostage video. Yoo said that these signs were categorized as acute stress disorder. It happened because when seeing this scene, they supposed themselves as Kim Sun-il. Because of this acute stress disorder, an accountant claim that he could not concentrate on his work for days. The effect of this trauma would be lost after one month for adult and six months for children.

Kim Sun-il’s case reminded me to the mistreatment case to an Indonesian servant in Malaysia several weeks ago. The amounts of Indonesian cases of mistreatment to Indonesia migrant worker were uncounted anymore. If Indonesian worker in Malaysia was ironed and watered by hot water by his employer, in another place there were some of them who experienced mistreatment until died. And also, there was uncounted number of Indonesian workers who experienced any accident during the work and deal with bad work condition overseas.

It is hoped that Kim Sun-il’s case warned all of us that each Indonesian citizen overseas had the right to get protection and security guarantee from Indonesian government. Unfortunately, according to Wahyu Susilo from Migrant CARE, the legislative as one of the general election products, during their post period (almost five years) failed to do legislation to protect the migrant worker. The Regulation of Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection and its Family Member Draft available on the legislative since 1998 has not been processed seriously. Only became as the DPR Initiative Regulations since 2002, and did not discuss and finalized as Protection Regulations of the Indonesian Migrant Workers and their Family Members that has been waiting for by many people (KOMPAS, February 25th 2004).

Without the protection in the form of Migrant Worker Regulations, could we compare Indonesian fate of the migrant worker overseas like a hostage? They were “hostage” not by the terrorist militant group, but by the predicated work “dirty, difficult, and dangerous”. ***

Seoul, June 31, 2004