본인은 어제도 지금도 보수주의자입니다. 우리 website도 그런 철학으로 유지할려 애쓰지요.
따라서 남한을 헐뜻는 사람이나 글들은 싫어합니다. 물론 무조건은 아니지요.
애국심인지 뭔지, 또는 모국에 대한 "배신자"(Dr. 방준재 글)가 되는것이 싫어서인지,
우습게도, 본인 자신은 한국사회를 Negative하게 보면서도, 남이 그렇게 보면 싫어합니다.

그러나 가끔 헐뜻는 글 중에서도 우리를 뒤돌아보게하는 그런 내용도 있읍니다.
이 글도 그중의 하나이지요.
모두 다 이렇게 생각하는 사람들은 아니지만, 본인이 사는 Laguna Woods의 은퇴촌에도 이런 사람들이 꽤있지요.
따라서 우리는 우리의 대학이나 고등학교 이름을 입밖에 내지 않고 조용히 살고있지요.

한번 읽어보시고 우리 주위에 (특히 한국인 이민자들 중에서) 이런 사람들이 많다는것을 알아두고

말조심하는게 좋을것입니다.
한국에서 지금 돌아가는 일들도 좀 알아야겠지요. 하지만 거기의 일들은 우리에게는 속수무책, 어쩔수 없지만,
미국사회로 이주해온, 한국에서 불운했던 이민자들에 대한 배려를 잊지맙시다.
우리 주위에 권석천씨 같은 사람들이 이외로 많지요.

I love my mother land. I listen to news from Korea and read newspaper everyday.

I study intensely modern Korean history.

Korea is the country of irony and contradicton. She is not an island, but it is in reality. She is divided in half.

The south is quite normal, but the north is almost dead just like a person with hemiparesis.

Yet people in the south boasts 10th largest economy in the world.

They sympathize impoverished and oppressed people in the north as if they are not Koreans.

Her unployment rate among young people are high, but they brag about Samsung elelctronics and Hyndai cars.

The 38 paralell made Korea to become a labaratory for two ideologies; communism and capitalism.

Now the whole world knows which one is better.

However, it deprived of essential economic opportunity from Korean people.

The darkened North Korea at night
became a black sea that cut off the economic connection to Manchuria and Siberia.

The lack of opprtunity is the fundermental problem in Korea now.

There are not enough job openings to go around for everyone.
It is very easy for the underpriviliged to be squeezed out in a small job market.

I fully understand that there are other problems that are ingrained in Korean society.

For example; graduates from SKY gets preference. connectons with hierach overrides person's ability.
the system gives priority to the senoirity.

All of these unfairness will disappear easily if there are abundance of opportunities.

Before the unification of two parts of Korea, "economic connection" should take a priority.

I think the current regime must be changed to make it happen.

The economic connections to Manchuria and Siberia will pave the road for unification in a long run.

Dear  운영자 

I don't know who the heck 권석천 사회2부장 is but I share his bitter feeling to Korea more than anyone else

as same expatriate. Indeed, I already shared my 'love and hate' to Korea through quite a few naive laments

through this website so that no reason to repeat.

But his conclusion with  '나쁜 놈이 많아서가 아니라, 착한 사람이 너무 많아서야'  is simply

too painful to admit, breaking my heart. What a nice guy!

Indeed, when I went back to Seoul to start/try my second chapter of Korean life after such long absence

(26 years after I left SNUH), I expected/wished to see some change for a good but regretfully NOT,

and instead more hostile reaction to my critical view.

At best, on my opinion, they were NOT ready to accept the change for the better or worse.

Their common expression to reject my goodwill/advice with such resentment was such famous words:

"좋은게 좋은것입니다".

In their dictionary, there is no such word like "respectfully disagree" on 'constructive criticism'

with zero tolerance. My initial disappointment was overwhelming but soon it became a wrath in turn

to their ever narrow-minded psychology with newly obtained arrogance

( in Korean slang, HANUL-I- DON-JAK-MAN-HAGAE-BOYO!).

Of course, no one would like '헐뜻는 사람이나 글' which is quite natural human response

but we all try hard to learn/get the benefit out of such 'constructive' criticism/opinions

so far here in the U.S. Indeed, when I finally closed my second chapter of Korean life for almost 10 years ago

to come back home, I had quite a mixed feeling similar to what 권석천 concluded.

Nevertheless, it was worthy for me to have tried after such long delay to pay the overdue(?)

to my own Korean kin. So, by all means, I had no qualm whatsoever to Korean colleagues/friends 

and rather felt relieved in terms of self satisfaction or self justification point of view.

No regret, no resentment, but painful memeories!

BB Lee-'63