Lessons learned from PyeongChang Olympics

  Time flies. PyeongChang Olympics that lasted for 16 days has ended peacefully.
Wish all of you have enjoyed the wonderful moments.

• The opening and closing ceremony was fantastic, with performances combined with tradition and modern, technology and arts. Korea was very successful organizing this game, with minimum cost and maximum performance. You can watch nice videos of performances, high tech and fireworks here:

Traditional performance opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5QPZfduyJA
Art show opening ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ghITwGhCJs
North Korean cheer leaders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOTnDs-AK38
Robots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiNMWkIJGqA
9 amazing High tech used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuVmljSBzoo
Closing ceremony highlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWMCsalFSQg
Closing ceremony fireworks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-zsiz4Il80

• This is the biggest winter Olympics ever, with 102 gold medals issued.

• Korea ranked 7th out of 92 countries, with 5 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze medals (total 17), exceeding Japan and China in Asian. Korea ranked No. 1 among Asian nations! This is a big success for the country.

• Top 5 countries in this Olympics:
• 1. Norway (14 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze)
• 2. Germany (14, 10, 7)
• 3. Canada (11, 8, 10)
• 4. USA (9, 8, 6)
• 5. Netherlands (8, 6, 6)

• In the beginning of Olympics, hundreds of computers operating for it were hacked and Korea refused to name the origin of crime. Later found out it was Russian military behind the hack. Many people could have thought it since Russia was banned in the games due to previous doping cases. Russian athletes participated, but not in the name Russia, and Russian flags were prohibited to wave. 

• This is the icon of PyeongChang Olympics. It's interesting they designed with Korean symbol ㅍ(p) and ㅊ(ch). PyeongChang is written as 평창.

Kim Jong Un wants to have a talk with the USA.

President Moon insisted the importance of talk between the USA and North Korea if North Korea really wants to solve the fundamental problems in Korea and have a talk between South Korea.

Delegates from North Korea said Kim Jong Un wants to have a talk about the peace in the Korean peninsula.

I hope North Korea stop hostile attitude toward the USA and have a talk in a peaceful way.

http://v.media.daum.net/v/20180225222241679?rcmd=rn

평창동계올림픽을 계기로 앞으로 꾸준한 북한과의 대화를 통해서 한반도 평화적 분위기 조정 기대

평창동계올림픽을 계기로 앞으로 꾸준한 북한과의 대화를 통해서 한반도 평화적 분위기 조정 기대


북한은 정권 유지를 위해서 핵이 필요하다고 주정한다. 미국과 한국은 모두 한반도의 비핵화를 원한다. 이 관점의 차이를 어떻게 극복할 수 있을까?
문재인 대통령께서 북한의 김정은 위원장을 만나서 비핵화를 이끌어낼 수 있다면, 얼마나 좋을까?

북한이 비핵화를 한다면, 북한에 대한 인도주의적인 경제 지원도 가능하지 않을까?

http://www.jbnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=831216

Talking about Environment in Asia

  "Environment" has become a hot topic these days.
Since the Industrial Revolution  2 or 3 centuries ago, people enjoy more convenience in life, but it was also the beginning of Pollution and Environmental destruction.

  Modern day Environmental problem has a deep connection with Economical aspects.
Western states developed earlier, and around 1970s it was the peak of environmental hazard.
Asian nations developed economically with mass industrialization in later half of 20th century, and the environmental problems arose around 1990s.
In recent decades, Europe has decreased emission of pollutants, while the problem becomes severe in fast-developing nations such as those in Asia.

The world witnesses a similar pattern for all countries:

Modernization -> Industrialization -> Mass production, mass consumption
-> Pollution, environmental deterioration -> Need of formal Regulation to improve

  Recently, as big countries like China and India start to take off economically, their immense impact toward environment cannot remain unseen. China's emission of CO2 has ranked No.1 since 2007, and India No.3 in 2009. We cannot forget that these big countries have billions of population, huge scale of market and massive usage of resources.

  However, things become more complication these days.
As industries, products and consumptions go beyond borders, Pollution also transcends borders.
Harmful weathers like sandstorm, acid rain and low air quality often affect neighboring countries.

  There needs a common Regulation with binding force among the Asian region, and EU may serve as a model for this . In the European Union, regulations such as LRTAP (Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution 1979) and Med Plan (Mediterranean Action Plan 1976) are equipped with binding forces of international regulations, which make violations punishable.
On the contrary, Asian states have EANET (Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia 1993) and NOWPAP (Norwest Pacific Action Plan 1989), but they function nothing more than monitoring, and thus are not effective to curb the problem of pollution.

  China, Korea and Japan are the 3 leading nations in the Asian region.
However, each of them still have challenges to overcome:
China - Lack of experience, knowledge in environmental policies and strategies
Korea - Lack of big impact in political and economical arena
Japan - historical issues, lack of political initiative

There are some issues that require us to think beyond borders.

한반도 2025년에 통일?

소설가 김진명님은 한반도 통일은 준비된 상태에서 단계적으로 이루어지는 것이 아니고 어느 날 갑자기 이루어질 것이라고 예측했다.
2025년이 되지 않을까 라고 말씀하셨다.

전쟁에 의한 통일은 누구도 원치 않는다.

궁금하다.
어떻게 갑자기 통일이 이루어질까?
북한에서 폭동이라도 일어날까?

http://news.bookdb.co.kr/bdb/Interview.do?_method=InterviewDetail&sc.mreviewTp=1207&sc.mreviewNo=79686&Nnews

Good story about American goes to north Korea and plays hockey

Via the HOWE international friendship league

https://www.friendshipleague.org

Things to tackle in Regional Level

  In recent decades, people have come up with the idea of forming Regional communities.
Because there are some problems that are too big for national level, and too small for global scale.

  For example, issues like
[Trade (economic) regulations, Environmental protection, Pollution, Epidemic (infectious diseases), Security, Terrorism, Food shortage, Sustainable energy, Human rights]
goes beyond borders.

  Moreover, they have to be dealt with Inter-disciplinary approaches.

The main feature in Asia when we talk about it in terms of regionalization,
is mainly "Informality" and "Consensus" due to cultural backgrounds.

There are some Barriers within the Asian community that need improvement:
1. Economical discrepancy (difference in income, fairness of system...)
2. The history of wars and conflicts to be overcome
3. Lack of experience in modern diplomatic skills and process of negotiation
4. Bureaucratic system (pyramid-structured hierarchy, layers of tasks and responsibility that is hard to cross and break)

In my opinion, the Bureaucracy may be the most difficult to overcome, since
Decision-making power is restricted in those few people with high positions.
Situation is hard to change, since no matter how much good opinions people come up with, they have to be approved by the top decision makers.
This Bureaucratic system can be seen in private businesses as well as governmental sector.

Ideological lectures say nuclear power brought together two Koreas at Olympics

This article should give everyone a laugh.
This is ridiculous.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=15015&cataId=nk01500

The general consensus is that the North won the public image in Pyeongchang

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=15004&cataId=nk00300

Yes, the North played it well with Kim Yo Jong and she did a good job of putting on the charm I guess.
Vice President Pence made himself look bad by not greeting the North Korean delegation and especially not standing when the united Korean team entered the stadium.
I think the trump administration realizes now that they played their cards wrong and I heard something on the radio yesterday that Vice President Pence is all of sudden open to negotiations with the North Korea.

Hockey team lost again with the same score

It is disappointing to see them lose by such a large margin. I was hoping they would get something on the board.
They must be disappointed also and I feel bad for them all.
Still North and South Korea played as a united team and that is what counts the most.

However here is a win by North Korea back in 2015

and this in 2017
hard to say if she is just reciting words of praise for kim jong un or really means it.

they must be under alot of pressure to achieve given this report

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/23/north-korean-athletes-fall-short-of-kim-jong-uns-medal-target-in/

 Choe Hyo-sim on the left cried because she only won silver.

 

rio 2016

 Lee Eun-ju of South Korea and Hong Un-jong of the North

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37018914

Think: Why there's no "Asian Union"?

  "EU (European Union)" has been functioning for decades (although recently we witness some unexpected movements). There are other regional associations in other parts of the world, such as "African Union" and "Union of South American Nations". But how about Asia?

  Last time we talked about "community" which is 'a group of people living in a common area, sharing a common value'. "Union" has a similar concept, only that it has a stronger official binding forces behind. "Unions" are often  established with formal, explicit and strict rules. They are often highly institutionalized (formalized).

  In Asia, the current association that is most likely to function as union may be ASEAN, consisted of mainly South East Asian states. The initial purpose of establishment was Security concerns, for fear that Communist power taking over the area. Nowadays it has grown into more economical aspects, and frameworks such as ASEAN + 3, ASEAN + 6, RECP etc. start to include other Asian states, Pacific states and Oceania.

  However, these frameworks are often not equipped with strong, unified regulations.
When we consider the reason why there is nothing like "European Union", or namely
"Asian Union" in the region, we might want to look at Asia from a historical and cultural perspective.
European states have language and economic diversity like Asia has.
Europe has Christianity as a common value, East Asian states have Confucian identity.
Europe consists of big continent, peninsula and isles, in Asia there is big China, Korean peninsula and Japan as an island.

  The main difference may be that since ancient, Asian states have been accustomed to governance without explicit rules. European thinkers such as E. Kant, J. Locke, J.J. Rousseau, Montesquieu etc. have had a long debate regarding how good societies should work, and came up with the idea of governance by means of social contracts and legislations. European-style-structured nation states are formed around the world within the last 2 centuries, with rigid constitutions, all kinds of laws and regulations. Nowadays nation states in Asia also have strict laws, but in daily life they are more accustomed to tacit understandings, building relations and negotiations.

  There is nothing "good" or "bad" in cultures and customs. It is just the Asian nations have different solutions and interpretations toward modern concepts such as "Democracy" and "Peace".
Nevertheless, identity, network, and sustainability are the key to establish a regional union in Asia.
Sorry for lengthy discussion, since the importance of regional cooperation, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, can never be underestimated.
 

Kim Yu-Na skates to Steve Jablonsky's version of Arirang

thanks to Huseyin for bringing this to our attention.

i didn't know about this folk song which is recognized in North and South Korea.
it was the perfect tune to play at this olympics and i hope it becomes the national anthem when Korea is united again.

this was performed at the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics exhibition gala
you can view it. just click on the watch on youtube link

and here is some information about the folk song

So what is Arirang, and why was it selected for these Olympics?

Arirang is a song that best represents the Olympic spirit of "peace" and "concord." It also speaks to the culture and spirit of Korean people.

Arirang was inscribed on the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.

The folk song was shared among Korean people for more than 600 years. According to UNESCO, there are more than 3,000 variations of the song.

Emotions ranging from love to sorrow is reflected in its tune. The Jeongseon Arirang rendition that was performed in these Olympics is the only version that is designated as Korea’s cultural asset. It's named after the town from which it originated -- Jeongseon in Gangwon province.

The town of Jeongseon is remote from the secular society. Scholars during the Chosun dynasty who took refuge in Jeongseon to avoid the calamity of literary were inspired by their own situations to write lyrics for the Jeongseon Arirang, according to an Encyclopedia of Korean Music.

Putting aside all historical assumptions, Arirang is a song that is widely known to all Koreans, regardless of age. It is even included in 3rd-grade elementary school curricula.

At the moment, Korea is the only nation still divided by war. It has been divided into two countries since the Korean War ended in 1953.

The Korean peninsula portrayed as one under the shared unification flag during the joint march -- with Arirang echoing within the stadium -- was enough to express the pain of separation in a once single nation. And there will be another chance to listen to Arirang if Korea’s unified women’s hockey team rings the victory bell in the upcoming game on Saturday and Sunday.

Asian boss asks South Koreans what they think about the unified team and reunification in general

Some very interesting points of view here and you will notice that the younger South Koreans do not think much of reunification.
Some people also think that the South Korean hockey team was robbed of a chance to win a medal attributing this to politics.
The united hockey team is not likely to win a medal since the team needs more time to function as a competitive unit.
This is a disappointment for fans and players alike however if it opens the door a bit for talks with the north then I think that takes precedence.

I hope Moon Jae-In goes to Pyongyang and progress toward unification is achieved.

Here is the video

drats! United ice hockey team loses first round to Switzerland

oh well.
I can not blame them really as they didn't have much time to form a cohesive group.
for one, there is a bit of a language barrier and second it takes time to get to know each others strengths and weaknesses and allow for that in the game.
Still, it's good just to see north and south operating as a team.
I think they'll do better against Sweden on Monday.
They will review what they did right and what they did wrong and hopefully come out victorious.

This is a good commentary and summary on the game.
It is worth listing to this one.

the team

Arirang 아리랑 , the national anthem of unified Korea

  We know that Korea performs as unified team in PyeongChang Olympic games,
and it has a flag of Korea's geographical shape. But how about national anthem?

  Arirang, a folk song not only known by everyone in both Koreas but around the world,
is used as "national anthem" in the games.
It was composed around 600 years ago, but still fresh to our ears.

Korean lyrics:

아리랑, 아리랑, 아라리요.  아리랑 고개로 넘어간다.

1. 나를 버리고 가시는 님은.  십리도 못가서 발병난다

2. 청천하늘엔 잔별도 많고.  우리네 가슴엔 희망도 많다.

3. 저기 저 산이 백두산이라지.  동지 섣달에도 꽃만 핀다

Meanings:

Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo.  You are going over Arirang hill

1. My love, you are leaving me.  Your feet will be sore before you go ten li.

2. Just as there are many stars in the clear sky,  There are also many dreams in our heart.

3. There, over there, that mountain is Baekdu Mountain,

Where, even in the middle of winter days, flowers bloom.

Music is a world language that needs no words to unite people's hearts.
You can listen to very beautiful and emotional Arirang on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXQgyvLzKPs

Kim Yo-Jong gets a lot of media attention in South Korea

well. at least she's nicer to look at than her brother.

https://sports.yahoo.com/swagger-smiles-kim-jong-uns-mysterious-sister-gets-star-turn-winter-olympics-132105997.html

she is flanked by three bodyguards and they look serious

I did not even know he had a sister
Here is the cheer squad and they are keeping a very close eye on them.

Pictures of the opening ceremony for Pyongchang Winter Olympics

This was quite the opening ceremony!

South Korean hockey player Park Jong-ah and North Korean hockey player Jong Su-hyon

South Korean hockey player Park Jong-ah and North Korean hockey player Jong Su-hyon