Kansong Art Museum at the DDP

Selected priceless artifacts from the Kansong Art Museum are currently on display at the DDP, Dongdaemun Plaza or Dream Design Play. The Kansong Art Museum was first opened in 1938 as Bohwagak, the first private art museum in Korea. The collector "Kansong" Jeon Hyeong-pil, born 1906, died in 1962 and so the museum name was changed to Kansong Art Museum and since 1971 has only opened twice a year for a brief time in the spring and again briefly in the fall. "Gansong" Jeon Hyeong-pil (1906-1962), a young wealthy landowner during the colonial period, collected the art treasures of Korea's past to keep them within Korea rather than see them be taken most notably to Japan, the then colonizing country of Korea.

The Kansong Art Museum is the home to 12 national treasures, 10 treasures, and 4 Seoul tangible cultural assets, and according to the Joongang Daily, the Kansong Art Museum since January 2014 has posted a few of its treasures online to share the glorious history of the Korea's rich past. If one clicks on the pictured art treasures at the Kansong Art Museum and Culture Foundation site, one can read about the treasure, and in many cases even learn what Jeon Hyeong-pil paid for the artifact.

To give a little background to Jeon Hyeong-pil, before the age of 25 he inherited a huge fortune, and being a man of leisure and having what can be regarded as a keen interest in art, he began to collect art treasures. During the 1930s and 1940s is when he collected the majority. Legendary stories evolved from his purchases, one in particular in 1935 concerns the now famous National Treasure No. 68, the Celadon Prunus Vase with inlaid Cloud and Crane Design, which was in the process of being sold to a Japanese. Jeon Hyeong-pil paid a huge sum (according to the museum web site: 20,000 won) which was equivalent to 20 decent houses of the time!

National Treasure No. 68, the Celadon Prunus Vase with inlaid Cloud and Crane Design

"Kansong", Jeon Hyeong-pil's pen-name, is also known as promoting the Korean language when the Japanese colonial rulers decreed that all Koreans must speak Japanese and the Japanese language became the language of education in the limited number of schools. Jeon Hyeong-pil purchases and supported Posung High School, the first private school established by a Korean citizen. It was through this high school and another purchase, the Hannam printing press that Mr. Jeon promoted great resistance against the colonial rulers. 

1906 July 29 - born
1921 March - graduated from Eouidong Primary School (now Hyojae Elem Sch)
1926 March - graduated from Whimoon High School
1930 March - graduated from law school, Waseda University, Japan
1934 - opened Bukdanjang in Seongbuk-dong and set up Geosan Stupa
1935 - purchased Celedon Prunus vase with inlaid cloud and crane design (Nat'l Treasure No 58) from Maeda Sayichiro
1936 - Hannam Bookstore and Publishing Company
1936 - purchased Blue and White Porcelain Bottle with Chrysanthemum Design in Underglaze Iron and Copper (Nat'l Treasure No. 294) at Gyeongseong Art Club, the Mori Koichi's collection auction

Blue-and-white Porcelain Bottle with Chrysanthemum Design in Underglaze Iron and Copper (Nat'l Treasure No. 294)

"The elongated neck of this elegant bottle and the globular body reflect the spirit of the age. The body is painted in blue, brown, and red by using cobalt, iron and copper oxides as pigments. This extremely rare bottle, painted in three different pigments, is recognized for its exceptional quality utilizing every color pigment and carving technique of the era.

Kansong purchased this masterpiece through heated bidding battle against Japanese art dealers in Gyeongseong Art Club in 1936. The final bidding price was record breaking, 14,580 won!

1937 - purchased Nat'l Treasure No. 65, 66, 74, 270, and Treasure No. 238, 286, 349, 1955, 1954
1938 - opened the first private art museum, Museum Bohwagak, in Bukdanjang
1940 - established the school foundation Dongsung, taking over the Posung Middle School
1940 - collected the Huminjeongeum Hyeraebon (Nat'l Treasure No. 70)
1945 Oct - 1946 Sept - worked as principal of Posung Middle School
1947 - selected as member of Historic Assets Preservation Committee
1950 June 25 - outbreak of the Korean War
1954 - delegated to first and second subcommittee member of the Cultural Properties Protection Committee
1956 - awarded with Education Service Commendation
1960 January - established the Art and Archaeology Society
1962 Jan 26 - "Kansong" passed away
1962 Aug 15 - posthumous honors of Order of Cultural Merit conferred on "Kansong"
1964 Nov 13 - posthumous honors of Order of Civil Merit Republic of Korea on "Kansong"
1965 - establishment of The Center for the Study of Korean Arts
1971 - Bohwagak renamed Kansong Art Museum, and project exhibition opened to the public every spring and autumn

Kansong Art Museum opens every May and October for a brief time. Be sure to visit this museum with exceptional masterpieces!

Concerns Regarding Upcoming Olympics at Pyeongchang

The following article "Pyeongchang Legacy May Be Huge Piles of Debt" was taken from Korean JoongAng Daily, Novermber 9, 2017. Already the government is worrying about the unexpectedly low number of tickets to the Olympic games being sold to help pay for the venue and construction are still unreserved. 

According to another article I read about a month ago, the government is said to have expected 1 million people to pay for tickets to the Olympics, with 750,000 of those being Koreans who live in country. However, those projected numbers are far from being achieved! 

France is boycotting the Olympics, North Korea at the time still didn't hadn't had their qualification games so their attendance was uncertain, and then the international community had issues with attending. South and North Korea are heavily featured in the news and the political situation between the two countries is unstable, making visitors to South Korea very nervous. International communities also held campaigns against coming to S Korea also because South Koreans eat dog; petitions circulated with international people signing to boycott the Olympics because of, not really the practice of eating dog, but because of how dogs were killed in order to achieve maximum flavor in the vigor-embewing dog meat. Other petitions also circulated boycotting the South Korean winter Olympics because South Korea destroyed a 500+ year old sacred forest where the king's meat was once procured in order to build a ski-jump for the Olympic competitors. There were other sites in S Korea where the ski jump could have been built, slightly below optimum elevation but still acceptable to meet Olympic regulations, but S Korea opted to destroy a sacred forest that the government had designated as sacred less than 10 years previous. International communities were outraged, particularly on the grounds that the host countries of the Olympics must comply with environmental standards in order to (1) be hosts of the Olympics, and (2) get compensatory funds by an Olympic foundation. Obviously South Korea broke the rules and this was loudly aired online via outraged international communities.

This information is just background for readers to understand a bit more some of the dynamics affecting the low number of tickets sold thus far to people to watch the games first-hand. From this article, it's apparent that there are post-Olympic financial consequences of hosting the Olympics also.

As the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics rapidly approach, experts are increasingly voicing concerns that the legacy of the games may not be the passion and unity that the organizing committees are promising, but instead the costly, unused facilities that are likely to dot the northeast of the country.  

Four Olympic venues are yet to come up with post-Olympic plans, raising concerns that the Winter Olympics will join a growing list of international events that have ultimately gone on to cost Korea huge amounts of money.  

When the Asian Games was hosted in Incheon in 2014, about 1.72 trillion won ($1.54 billion) was spent on building 16 new venues. The majority of that is still left as debt, and Incheon has to pay between 10 billion and 150 billion won every year from 2015 to 2029.  

Not only that, the Korean Grand Prix, hosted for the first time in 2010, had to stop in 2013 as the accumulated deficit stacked up to 190 billion won.  

Excluding the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremony will be held, there are a total of 12 venues for the Olympics. Of those, six of them are newly constructed and the remaining six were repaired, with the total bill racking up to about a trillion won. Including the newly-built Jeongseon Alpine Centre, which cost 203.4 billion won, Gangneung Ice Arena, costing 134 billion won, and Gangneung Oval, costing 126.4 billion won, five of the venues cost more than 100 billion won each.  

But three venues - Jeongseon Alpine Centre, Gangneung Hockey Centre and Gangneung Oval - are yet to announce a post-Olympics plan. Originally, the Gangneung Oval was expected to be broken down after the Olympics, but last year, Gangwon and the organizing committee agreed to maintain the facility.  

Daemyung Group, owner of the Daemyung Killer Whales Ice Hockey team, was originally going to take charge of the Gangneung Hockey Centre, but the company dropped out once it was revealed that the facility had a five-year operating cost of 10 billion won.  

At the Jeongseon Alpine Centre, 55 percent of the facility is expected to be restored back to its natural state. Since it’ll no longer be able to be used as a ski resort, it’s more difficult to come up with a post-Olympics plan.  

According to the Korea Industrial Strategy Institute Foundation, the annual maintenance cost of the main venues is expected to be 31.3 billion won. The foundation projects the facilities will be able to earn about 17.1 billion won a year, leaving a 14.2 billion won deficit.  

The PyeongChang Olympic Stadium is going to be the biggest problem. It cost a total of 63.5 billion won to build the stadium but it will be broken down after only four days of use throughout the Olympics and the Paralympics next year. This means that the stadium cost 15.8 billion won per day.  

Upon completion of the event, only 5,000 seats of 35,000 seats and three of seven floors will be kept. Though there hasn’t been a set plan for post-Olympic usage, the stadium is expected to be transformed into a concert hall or memorial park.  

Since Gangwon hasn’t come up with post-Olympics plans, they are asking the central government to manage the venues. To do so, they are pushing for a revision in the National Sports Promotion Act.  

“There’s a high possibility that the government will once again have to deal with the negative effects from the local government hosting such a big event,” said Lee Dae-taek, professor of physical education at Kookmin University. “Gangwon needs to be more responsible.”  

Chung Hee-joon, a sports sociology professor at Dong-A University, also pointed out that, “Hoenggye, where the Olympic Plaza is located, is a small town with only a population of 4,000. It’s difficult to make a post-Olympics plan.”  

To fix this, the organizing committee may have to study the success of low cost and high-efficiency events like the Gwangju Universiade and 6th CISM World Games Military Games, Korea.  

The 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju was by far the most successful event in Korea financially, as they only constructed three of the 69 facilities and used existing venues for the remaining events.  

The podiums were provided by the Incheon Asian Games organizing committee at no cost and the seats at the stadiums were folding chairs. Rather than flower bouquets, winners were awarded the event’s mascot dolls and tents were used as waiting rooms for players.  

This allowed savings of 199.9 billion won in operating and equipment expenses.  

The 6th CISM World Games Military Games in Mungyeong installed 350 caravans as athletes’ accommodation. Throughout the tournament, the total budget was 165.3 billion won with equipment expenses of 18.7 billion won. 

BY SONG JI-HOON, PARK RIN [kang.yoorim@joongang. co.kr]

Comfort Women Controversy between S. Korea and Japan Ended?

Today the Korean web began posting on the resolution for the many-decades long controversy between Korea and Japan on the topic of the Korean comfort women. There are many issues and strong points of controversy between South Korea and Japan and I'm wondering how "resolving" this issue will help resolve, or even antagonize, other issues between the two countries. Following is the first article I saw posted related to the resolution; it's also the article I see most re-posted so why not repost it yet again:

Japan and South Korea agree to settle wartime sex slaves row

Shinzo Abe offers sincere apology for use of ‘comfort women’ by Japanese soldiers, removing major barrier to better relations.

South Koreans who lost family members during the second world war demand full compensation and an apology from Japan in Seoul. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/AP

Japan and South Korea have removed the biggest obstacle to better bilateral ties after agreeing to “finally and irreversibly” resolve Tokyo’s use of tens of thousands of Korean women as wartime sex slaves.

ANALYSIS: Korean comfort women agreement is a triumph for US and Japan

In a breakthrough that barely seemed possible a few months ago, Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, offered his “most sincere apologies” to the women in a statement issued in Seoul by his foreign minister, Fumio Kishida .

It was not immediately clear if Abe would send a letter of apology to each surviving “comfort woman”.

Later Monday, Abe called the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye , who has described the sex slave row as “the biggest obstacle” to improved ties with Tokyo, and reiterated his apology. He told reporters that the agreement was based on his commitment to stop future generations from having to repeatedly apologise. “Japan and South Korea are now entering a new era. We should not drag this problem into the next generation.”

Park issued a separate statement saying the deal was the result of her government’s best efforts to resolve the sex slave issue. “I hope the mental pains of the elderly comfort women will be eased,” she said.

Japan also offered to set up a new 1bn yen (£5.6m) fund, with the money, paid directly by the government, divided among the 46 former comfort women still alive, most of whom are in their late 80s and early 90s.

COMMENT: Japanese PM Shinzo Abe stops short of a new apology 

in war anniversary speech

Speaking after make-or-break talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, Kishida heralded a new era of better relations between the two countries, whose strong trade ties and military alliances with the US have been overshadowed by the controversy.

“This marks the beginning of a new era of Japan-South Korea ties,” he told reporters. “I think the agreement we reached is historic and is a groundbreaking achievement.

“[Abe] expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.”

The Japanese government also conceded that its military authorities played a role in the sexual enslavement of the women. While avoiding any admission of legal responsibility, Kishida’s statement said: “The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honour and dignity of large numbers of women, and the government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective.”

Abe and other conservative politicians in Japan had previously questioned whether the Japanese government and military played any role in coercing the women, arguing that they had been procured by private brokers.

Both countries said the agreement would resolve the issue “finally and irreversibly”, adding that they would refrain from making critical remarks on the subject at the United Nations and in other international forums.

Yun said Seoul would cooperate, as long as Japan followed through on its promises. He also suggested that South Korea was willing to negotiate the removal of a statue of a girl symbolising the comfort women that stands outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Although the statue belongs to privately run campaign groups, Yun said the South Korean government would “strive to solve this issue in an appropriate manner through taking measures such as consulting with related organisations”.

There is disagreement on the exact number of women forced into prostitution by Japan during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. Campaigners say as many as 200,000 women – mostly Koreans, but also Chinese, south-east Asians and a small number of Japanese and Europeans – were forced or tricked into working in military brothels between 1932 and Japan’s defeat in 1945.

Most women took their secret to the grave. South Korean Kim Hak-soon became the first to testify about her experiences in public in 1991. “We must record these sins that were forced upon us,” she said.

South Korea has long called on Japan to issue an official apology, pay compensation to the surviving women and recognise its legal responsibility. Japan stopped short of admitting legal responsibility and stressed that the new fund was a humanitarian gesture.

The Japanese government initially denied the existence of wartime brothels. But in 1993, the then chief cabinet secretary, Yohei Kono, acknowledged and apologised for the first time for Japan’s use of sex slaves.

Over the years, Japan has refused to directly compensate the women, saying all claims were settled in a 1965 treaty that restored diplomatic ties and included more than $800m in grants and loans to South Korea.

In 1995, it set up the privately run Asian women’s fund, which drew on private donations. But many women refused money unless it came directly from the Japanese state. Only about 260 former sex slaves received cash – worth about 2m yen each – and the fund was disbanded in 2007.

The agreement reached on Monday will be welcomed by the US, which has urged its two east Asian allies to settle their differences over second world war history and show a united front in the face of an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-armed North Korea.

In Beijing, the foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: “We hope to see an improvement of the bilateral relationship between the Japanese and South Korean side.”

Hiroka Shoji , an east Asia researcher at Amnesty International, said: “Today’s agreement must not mark the end of the road in securing justice for the hundreds of thousands [of] women who suffered due to Japan’s military sexual slavery system.

“The women were missing from the negotiation table and they must not be sold short in a deal that is more about political expediency than justice. Until the women get the full and unreserved apology from the Japanese government for the crimes committed against them, the fight for justice goes on.”

The spread of frontline brothels coincided with Japan’s military campaigns in large parts of China and south-east Asia. As colonial ruler of the Korean peninsula, Japan was able to target poor and uneducated victims, typically aged between 13 and 19.

Speculation that a comfort women agreement was in the offing had risen following a bilateral meeting between Abe and Park in early November, their first for three-and-a-half years, and the decision by a South Korean court to acquit a Japanese journalist accused of defaming Park.

The South Korean president had voiced hope that a deal would be reached by the end of this year, 50 years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Tokyo.

The Korean web is alive with comments and Facebook is filled with postings of the controversy finally being resolved, but there are questions about just what are the ethics employed in "resolving" this? What politics are driving sudden humanitarian apologies? Here's one of the earliest responses, published today also no less!

Apology Isn't Justice for Korea's 'Comfort Women'

By Noah Feldman

At long last, Korea's “comfort women” are getting a real apology from Japan's government for being forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during World War II. But the moment is bittersweet, and not just because it’s taken 70 years. The apology comes not out of a change in Japanese sentiment, but from a change in geopolitics -- namely, the rise of China and the increasing need for Japan and South Korea to cooperate on mutual defense. And it comes at the price of a promise by the South Korean government not to criticize Japan over the issue again -- a trade of moral claims for compensation and finality.

The saga of the Japanese non-apology has had many twists and turns, demonstrating that in the contemporary political cultures of both Japan and Korea, apologies aren’t mere formalities but are laden with symbolic significance. A muted 1993 apology was accompanied by compensation from private donors and marked a refusal by Japan’s government to acknowledge its role in the sexual enslavement. Koreans got the point, and some women refused to take money from the fund.

The question of state responsibility has remained a sore point. A South Korean historian who has written about the role of private entrepreneurs in enslaving women during the war has been condemned by survivors who say she is minimizing the Japanese government’s guilt.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a strong nationalist, isn’t naturally inclined to apologize for Japan’s wartime atrocities. In the past, he’s angered Chinese and Koreans by visiting the controversial Yasukuni shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals.

What motivates Abe is the quest to improve Japan’s national security. China’s military expansionism is the main cause. Almost equally important is an accompanying perception that the U.S. may not be the strong protector it has traditionally been. Would the U.S. go to war to defend Taiwan from China? If the answer is no, then why would the U.S. go to war to protect Japan or South Korea? If there’s doubt about the U.S. commitment, Japan and Korea need each other.

The Pacific security arrangement is often described as a “hub and spokes” model, with the U.S. at the center. Abe is setting out to strengthen the ties between the spokes -- because he recognizes that the hub is not as willing a gravitational force as it once was.

In this increasingly uncertain Cool War environment, the perception of Japanese-Korean solidarity is an important aspect of Abe’s program. It’s why he was willing to pay the political price at home of an apology to the comfort women that accompanies an $8.3 million fund -- this time paid by his government. And as a nationalist, he can afford to draw on his store of right-wing credibility to buy political advantage.

But the apology and the money came with a price attached: South Korea’s promise that the issue of the comfort women would be settled once and for all, and that its government wouldn’t complain about it further. And Abe can tell his constituents that he has bought the Koreans’ silence, removing an argument that always came up when Japan was accused of being aggressive or nationalist.

That’s almost always how reparations, whether legally formal or (as in this case) informal, work in the real world: The wronged party gets compensation and an apology; the party that did the wrong gets a de facto promise that it won’t have to be reminded of what it did. Without this trade, countries wouldn’t voluntarily pay up, so it may seem naive to criticize the exchange, provided you think compensation is a good thing.

All tort settlements, even those between private parties, have something of this character. Compensation functions as corrective justice, and the injured party is expected to be satisfied by the deal.

But morally speaking, crimes against humanity aren’t the same as car accidents. Those who enslaved women during World War II weren’t being negligent; they raped and dehumanized these women in particular, and the status and fundamental rights of women everywhere.

Promising a form of silence about such crimes in exchange for an apology and compensation seems inadequate to the scope and meaning of the wrongdoing. During negotiations, Japan also sought the removal of a memorial statue in front of its embassy in Seoul. South Korea’s government promised to take up the issue with the survivors – implying a good-faith effort to make the memorial disappear.

Crimes against humanity are the world’s business. They shouldn’t be forgotten, and discussing as well as memorializing them shouldn’t be suppressed or discouraged.

The interest in keeping the memory of such crimes alive also extends to the victims themselves. Of course they’re entitled to compensation. But it feels wrong if they can only get it because their government has agreed to drop their case and, to a degree, is encouraging them to drop their efforts to shame the perpetrators.

The realities of international practice are inevitable and harsh. Individuals need states to prosecute claims against other states on their behalf. And once states are in the game, they’ll behave as states usually do: trading values and ideals and honor for advancement of their interests. But that doesn’t mean we always have to like it. The memory of terrible wrongs should be preserved, as a goad to stop them from happening again.

Our horror about the treatment of the comfort women should steel us to act on behalf of women kidnapped into sexual slavery by Islamic State and Boko Haram. No amount of reconciliation with the past should make us reconcile with those crimes of the present.

Sungkyunkwan University Steeped in Confucianism

In 1398, the 7th year of the reign of King Taejo, Sungkyunkwan seowon (Confucian school) was transferred from Gaesong to Hanyang, now Seoul. The university as we know it today traces its history back to this date; however, Sungkyunkwan University did not exist as a university back in 1398 but rather as a Confucian school for the elite. And for nearly 400 years it functioned as an elitist school open only to a tiny crumb of the population who were both wealthy, well-connected and of proper descent, meaning no sons of concubines no matter how highly positioned the father might be. Namely, only the sons morally connected through hierarchical social structuring - firm values of Confucianism - could attend the Confucian school.

In 1895, the seowon educational criteria was expanded upon and a variety of courses in history, geography and mathematics was launched, thus, the beginning of a myeongryung. It is my understanding that the myeongryung courses were not offered in the seowon but in the large space adjacent. At this time because of the missionaries entering Korea and the concepts of Western education being introduced, a new style of education became desirable, that is, the focus on science and mathematics and social development. Therefore, a new form of entrance exam, determined semester requirements, and how lectures would be conducted in more modern education but still adhering the principles of Confucianism shaped the myeongryung.

During the Japanese colonial period, education of the masses pretty much came to a standstill. For the few who were given higher education or "elite" education, those scholars then had to travel to Japan and attend Japanese-operated universities and educational facilities there. However, after the Japanese colonial period, Kim Chang-suk had educational dreams for Korea and as an educational visionary reopened the myeongryung after the liberation of Japan and restructuring it into a modern-day university. Kim Chang-suk became the first president of what is now Sungkyunkwan University. The university is proud of this educational history and claims the full 600-year history as part of the history of Sungkyunkwan University itself, making it the oldest educational center in Korea. With this history in mind and with on-going respect given to Kim Chang-suk for founding the modern-day learning center, a statue has been erected in front of the Central Library (#08). The statue is on a hill that overlooks the campus to the south - the Millennium Building and onward to the Sungkyunkwan seowon itself.

Kim Chang-suk (1879-1962), styled name Simsan, was a scion for Confucianism and patriotism. His entire life was devoted to the annihilation of the Japanese colonial rule. He posted a letter to the Paris Peace Conference (1919) signed by 137 Confucianists leaders; he raised funds from wealthy Confucians to operate a military against Japanese colonial rule; he  was eventually arrested by the Japanese and tortured until crippled. With the demise of colonialism, he ardently pursued education with the values he upheld to be righteous, Confucianism. Even under Korean rule, the rule of Rhee Syngman, he criticized the autocratic government and was imprisoned several times. He died penniless in 1962, yet he was mourned by the whole nation and given a public funeral.

Because of the Confucian Sungkyunkwan seowon from which it took its name and because of the fierce leadership of Kim Chang-suk, the university was established on Confucian principles. In fact, with its uniqueness as a university stemming from a Confucian seowon, a course in Confucianism was mandatory and set as a core class for all students. Only until around 2000 was this core class dropped from the program and offered merely as an elective to students.

With Sungkyunkwan University's rich history being intimately entwined with the socio-political structuring of Confucianism, three of the central buildings and some of the iconography around campus either allude to Confucian principles or to great Confucian scholars or principle social players.

Sungkyunkwan University campus map with Sungkyunkwan seowon (in low right)
tap to enlarge

In a salute to the early principles of which the university stems, three of the central buildings are named after famous Confucians:

• Toegye Hall of Humanities (#12) is named after Yi Hwang (1501-1570), a child prodigy who later wrote poetry and philosophy. He immersed himself in the study of Neo-confucianism, graduated from Sungkyunkwan seowon and later became daesaseong (head instructor) of Sungkyunkwan seowon in 1552. 

• Dasan Hall of Economics (#11) is named after Jeong Yak-yong (1792-1830), pen name Dasan, meaning "mountain of tea". Dasan was considered one of the greatest thinkers of his time. He attended Sungkyunkwan, wrote highly influential books, held significant administrative positions, and was noted as a poet. His philosophical position is often linked with the Silhak (practical learning school).

• Hoam Hall (#13) derives its name from Lee Byung-cheol (1910-1987), founder of the Samsung Group and one of Korea's most successful businessmen. Hoam basically is 'ho' lake and 'am' large rock. Lee Byung-cheol took Hoam as his art or pen name as the name literally means "filling up space with clear water as lakes do, and being unshakable as a large rock". 

The Millennium Building (#07) otherwise known as the 600th Anniversary Building (built in 1999) is to commemorate the founding philosophy of the university. This building houses the president's office and the main core of the administration. In the basement is a university museum which has court music instruments, aged documents, among other artifacts as well as a gallery of early pictures of Korea by Japanese Fujita Ryosaku, an archaeologist who took pictures of ancient stone constructions, including Seokguram, in the Koreas. Several of his pictures excavating Seokguram and other sites are in the museum photo gallery.

This new logo was fashioned around 2005 when many of the universities in Seoul suddenly refashioned their logo/school emblem. The previous logo was also of a gingko leaf but much less stylized and only dual-colored. Overnight the university shuttle buses were painted with the new logo, all etch-glassed doors were replaced (imagine a lot of doors!). Classroom signs had logos as did classroom podiums; these were replaced last but within a couple of weeks, the old logos were simply a thing of the past!

The logo of Sungkyunkwan University also reflects the principles of Confucianism. The curve of the "S" standing for Sungkyunkwan (University) is part of the gingko leaf that symbolizes the spirit of the university. This gingko leaf plays a uniquely significant part in Confucian history as Confucius is said to have taught his students under a gingko tree, and gingko trees were planted in all Confucius shrines and schools of Korea. Even in the Sungkyunkwan seowon, there are two very large and very old gingko trees, one about 500 years old. They are of massive size and the only remaining feature of the original seowon, which was destroyed by fire. Sungkyunkwan was in fact destroyed by fire twice, one time during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, and the trees do in fact show residual evidence of having been damaged by fire in some time past.

One of the two trees, both male as only males could enter and attend a seowon and the same evidently applied to tree gender, is believed to have been planted by Yun Tak, the daesaseong, around 1519 in the 14th year of King Jungjong. Together the trees have been designated as Natural Monument No. 59. Even during Japanese occupation, they were appreciated for their great age and similarly appointed as natural monuments by the Japanese.

Layout of Sungkyunkwan seowon

Sungkyunkwan has dual purpose although they - Sungkyunkwan University and Sungkyunkwan seowon - are not really affiliated. Sungkyunkwan University focuses on education while Sungkyunkwan seowon focused on education and the ceremonial; the ceremonial is the primary function of the seowon at present.

Three buildings at the Sungkyunkwan seowon are of special note to the above map and play an important part in the ceremonies currently held. 

Bicheondang - Built in 1664, the name of Bicheondang implies "enlightening the great way" as cited from the famous Confucianist Chu Xi. This building, as well as Myeongnyundang, was a site for the state examination. The present building was reconstructed in 1988 on the site of the original, which burned down during the Korean War (1950-1953).

Myeongnyundang - The lecture hall was the setting for lessons about Confucianism to students. It was established in 1398 but was destroyed during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592. In the 39th year of the Syeon Dynasty (1606), it was reestablihed. Myeongnyundang was used as the place to carry out the test for the students of Confucianism.

On the W1000 bill is the famed Confucian lecture hall, the Myeongnyundan

Daeseongjeon - Memorial tablets of Confucius and his followers are enshrined in Daeseongjeon. The calligraphy on the board over the gate is the work of Seokbong Han Ho, one of the greatest calligraphers during the Joseon Dynasty period. Originally built in 1398, this building burned down during the invasion of 1592 and was rebuilt in 1602. The shrine, also known as Munmyo Shrine, is an excellent example of the architecture of the time. (Treasure no. 141)

Notice the "spirit walk" on which humans are not to trod but is reserved for the entering and exiting of spirits
 during Confucian rites and ceremonies for welcoming and venerating the spirits.

Jongyeounggak - although not numbered on the map, this building is recognized as Korea's oldest library. The building no longer contains books because of the humidity not being regulated within the building; nevertheless, this building still ranks highly as historically important.

North Korea: Accelerating Change from the Bottom-up

North Korea is often seen from the outside as a static and hopeless issue, with the North Korean people portrayed as mindless robots, single-mindedly following the wishes of the regime leadership. However, the reality of North Korean society and the lives of the North Korean people is increasingly diverging from this outdated stereotype. Drawing on insights from recent defectors, this talk will discuss the significance of several irreversible grassroots changes that have emerged in North Korean society, what this may mean for the future of the country, and how progress can be brought forward in North Korea.

In the presentation Sokeel Park (biographical info at the end) looks at six clear long-term irreversible reasons that will continue to provoke change in the North Korean society.

5 reasons that change did not or could not happen previously in North Korea.

Change does not necessarily happen with the government. The government can make rulings, but it is the people that make up a nation, embody the nation, shape it, and with their needs and desires they determine where the nation will ultimately go, and North Korea is like other nations. It has been greatly repressed by its government, but the people still have needs and desires and as they are more and more able to pursue and meet those desires, the shape of the nation will change ... as it is rapidly changing now. Following are six reasons why transformation in North Korea is inevitable within our lifetime.

Reason 1: Bottom-up marketing. North Korea with its push to feed the military, and the people of North Korea desperate to feed themselves shaped the nation through need. The people had the need to find ways of feeding themselves and a market society started, and as it grew and grew the North Korean government lost control of the market economy. With means to feed themselves and means to make a little money, North Koreans desires expanded beyond the essentials for maintaining life.

Reason 2: The explosion of corruption. With people having a little money and ways of making an alternative living, the military in their authoritative positions pursue a means of making money too, via huge bribes, kickbacks and gross economic suppression. It seems the "effectiveness" of the North Korean society is based on these under-the-table economies.

BRIBES

Not being required to go to work for a month – W50,000 - W60,000 NK won ($7)

Travel permit w/in the country           w/in the province (less than $1)

                                                            toward the border ($8)

                                                            to diff province (($7)

                                                            to Pyongyang ($16)

Using an illegal Chinese phone (about $500)

Phone confiscated by official (also paid about $300) but bought another phone from same official

Bribe for not reporting watching a SK drama (about $300 - depends how many police catch you)

Reason 3: Information technologies. The NK government has tried to make a closed media market. This however has rapidly changed in the last few years ... mainly due to the number of NKs who have directly experienced the Chinese market.

About 53,000 NKs are working in the SK businesses in Gaesong city.

NK media is extremely controlled and extremely boring! Therefore, getting media and other technology via China are of great interest.

            DVD player ($120)

            DVD ($.80-$1.50) – fairly openly sold in the market, euphemistically asked for in the market by query-ing, “Do you have something fun?”

One well-connected guy said it takes about a week for a movie to get inside NK from the time it hits the theater.

            4GB multi-media stick ($6.50)

            laptops, second-hand ($150-$900 — Samsung is the most popular)

            mobile phone ($160-$240)

DVD player and mobile phones are fashion symbols as well as status symbols.

Watching foreign media is a kind of low-level defiance … but if you look at what the people are wearing, what’s being sold in the markets, and hairstyles, there is obvious visual evidence of “defiance”.

It is common knowledge that China is surpassing NK. This is greatly evidenced by the Chinese mobile phone economy in NK, China keeping their lights on all night, and markets being loaded with a wide variety of goods, many of which are foreign.

Reason 4: The increasing number of defectors. NK defectors have been leaving the last 15 years. They initially left for economic reasons but now it's for political reasons and to pursue more or new opportunities.

Reason 5: Jangmadang (Market) Generation. Jangmadang is the NK word for the SK 시장 (market). This generation (roughly those born after the 1980s) doesn't remember the government rice and food contributions but only when the NKs were self-supporting.  And therefore this younger generation has no reason to feel dependent or reliant on the government, a government which has contributed nothing for them. Attitudes, desires, behaviors are very different from their parents'. This demographic is at present 18-35, but is growing and the NK government has no way of counteracting this viral spread of market goods, info and links to the global market.

Reason 6: Emergence of human networks. Networks or bonds are forming between people. As the government isn't supporting the people, the people are making links to give, receive, share, borrow info, goods, whatever. Basically it is shared illegal behavior that is bonding the people. Non-compliance and disobedience are creating an acceleration for change.

Two phenomena, however, are slowing down this rapid development within the NK society. The first is brutally effective suppression. NK is still a very politically oppressive society and is very intolerant of political dissent. The second reason is the ruling elite is cohesive and conservative for change. The ruling elite would inevitably lose their "jobs" if the people were allowed to vote or express their opinions. The elite would then lose their possessions, position, status, and would probably be expelled from the country or even lose their lives. Therefore, they know they must continue their hard political stance of top-down control and suppression of the people.

It is very hard to move a political economy if it is stationery, but since NK is moving from a bottom-up dynamism, it can therefore be supported by the international community.

A lot of money ($10-15 million) goes to security in the form of bribes in NK, but this money is spent as seed money and expands the market activities as well as further boosting the market economies which further speed social change.

Since 2012 when Kim ChongUn, NK leader, took over, the border crackdowns have vastly increased. But realistically, the NK government is only slowing down the influx of black-market goods and increasing defectors.

It seems the international community has given up on there being change in NK; however, that is failing to recognize that while the political front seems inflexible and summarily denies political or economic change, the NK people themselves are where the society is dynamic. Change is occurring from the bottom-up and is happening on such a huge scope that continuous change in only inevitable and sustainable.

_________________________________________________

Sokeel Park is the Director of Research and Strategy for Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). Based in Seoul, he regularly interview North Korean defectors and meets with practitioners working on the issue. He leads the development of LiNK's long-term strategies, pursuing opportunities to empower the North Korean people. Sokeel also engages with the international media to reframe North Korea by introducing more focus on the North Korean people and society, and has been cited by the Economist, Financial Times, BBC, Washington Post, CNN, Al Jazeera, KBS, El Mundo and the Guardian. Before joint LiNK he worked at the United Nations, a diplomatic consultancy, and the South Korean government.