The Power of Positive Thinking?

"I am a nobody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore, I am perfect."

Yet Another Subliminal Message?

Three Generations

Since the end of the Korean War, South Korean society has undergone a complete political, economic and social transformation. In 1953, after a brutal Japanese occupation and civil war, the country was on life support. Most Koreans lived in the countryside and worked the land. After just 50 years, South Korea has transformed itself into an industrial powerhouse in Asia. The country's largest automaker even built a $1.1 billion dollar auto assembly plant in Alabama.

This photograph of my wife's grandmother was taken in a farmhouse in 1983. The story of her rough life mirrors the transformation undergone by the country. When she was sixteen years old, she was forced into an arranged marriage.

My wife's great-grandparents traded a small plot of land & a cow for their son's new bride. Basically, she was treated as a piece of property.


During the Japanese occupation, the laws regarding marriage changed. While a woman could no longer be bought or sold, families still arranged marriages for their children. In the case of my wife's mother, she actually meet her new husband (my wife's father) on their wedding night. My mother-in-law had ZERO control over her future. Love was not a requirement for marriage.


In 1983, for the first time in my wife's family, a woman controlled who she married. In just three generations, a woman's status in Korean society changed forever.

One of my wife's favorite movies is "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Why? Well, when we announced our engagement, her older brother attempted to stop the marriage. However, unlike two-generations before, he had no legal authority over his sister. Just like the movie, my brother-in-law invited dozens of Korean men home for dinner. When the movie came out, even my brother-in-law recognized his character as the Greek father.

OBSERVATION: Globalization has contributed to the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. The dramatic changes for the status of women in Asia mirror the modern pressures currently underway in the Islamic World.


Century of Struggle:
The Woman's Rights Movement in the United States, Enlarged Edition (Paperback)

Does anybody know the phone numbers to Rush Limbaugh's pharmacists?

I had a sudden urge to wear a polyester, wild print disco shirt with bell bottom pants. Thankfully, it passed rather quickly...

Mr. Lee singing "Man in the Mirror"

July 2009

Seoul, R.O.K.

Photo of peaceful government protest in Seoul, R.O.K. (July 2009).

Breaking News: North Korean Kim Jong-il Dead?

This may be the first real foreign policy test of the Obama Administration.

As I've already stated in a previous post, since the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the DPRK has been a proxy state of the People's Republic of China.

With the announced death of Kim Jong-il, it remains to be seen how Beijing will respond to any unforeseen internal power struggle within North Korea itself.

Despite the best efforts of Beijing's leaders, it's still possible the death of Kim Jong-il could eventually lead to a crisis similar to what the Chinese themselves experienced following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 (see Gang of Four). Historically, the transition of power within a Communist country after the death of a cult of personality type leader is not uncharted territory. The question remains whether a Stalin or a Gorbachev is waiting in the wings to eventually seize the reigns of power in Pyongyang.

With or without Kim Jong-il, the CCP's economic and military approach to the DPRK will remain the same. For both China and North Korea, the shared political goal for both regimes can best be described with three simple words: Stability. Stability. Stability.

Let me be clear about this next point. Despite its policy to maintain political stability on the Korean Peninsula, if the DPRK ever attacks South Korea, blood will be on the hands of the CCP and the PLA.

"As soon as man began considering himself the source of the highest meaning in the world and the measure of everything, the world began to lose its human dimension and man began to lose control of it."
~ Václav Havel

For this blogger, it's interesting how the weekend passing of a man like Václav Havel contrasts with the death of the DPRK's "Dear Leader".
The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe [Paperback]

...perspective...

North Korean Performers
Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing
June 2008

That was then...

Downtown Seoul, R.O.K. (Circa 1983)

This is now...

Downtown Seoul, R.O.K. (Circa 2009)

Photos by Peter Rimar.

"Taking time to sit back and watch and think about what you've seen is important. Traveling did a great deal to me. I found that when I travel and just sit in the corner and watch, a million ideas come to me."
~ Lionel Richie