Circles and Squares

William McKenzie: the first American to “go native” in Korea

I have spent much time thinking about my role in Korea and the significance of my work. Having lived in Korea now for almost five years, I realize that a critical issue in one’s success, in every action, is how one is perceived by Koreans, and that how Koreans perceive one it related to how one perceives oneself and one’s role.

In this age, there are increasing opportunities for internationals to play a role in Korea beyond the rather limited roles played by internationals in the previous generation. In fact, I meet internationals who come to Korea because they think there is greater opportunity here than in their own countries. Read more of this post

The remarkable emergence of women as the critical political force in Korea is best embodied by the meeting on January 17th, 2012, between Representative Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the Grand National Party’s emergency committee, and Han Myeong-sook, chairwomen of the  Democratic United Party. Needless to say, it is the first time that the leaders of two major Korean parties are both women.

The meeting was filled with no small degree of irony. Park is the treasured daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, well known for his efforts to suppress by any means his opponents. Han was one of the victims, spending two years in jail in 1979 for political reasons. Her husband spent 13 years in prison. Read more of this post