[Choi Won-shik, Kim Hong-jun and Kim Jong-yup] What the World Cup Has Left Us (3)
Tripartite Talk
CHOI, Won-shik Literary critic; professor of Korean literature at Inha University (cws919@inha.ac.kr)
KIM, Hong-jun Film director; professor in the School of Film and Multimedia at the Korean National University of Arts (hjkim@knua.ac.kr)
KIM, Jong-yup Cultural critic; professor of sociology at Hanshin University (jykim@hanshin.ac.kr)
* Time: July 5, 2002 / Venue: Conference Room of Changbi Publishers, Inc.
The Relations among Korea, China, and Japan After the World Cup
KIM, Hong-jun
In order to forget the World Cup for the time being, I'll suggest another topic. There is a piece of news that was overlooked amidst the fever of the World Cup: the government decision to allow the full-scale importation of Japanese popular culture. Though we don't know what the future holds, the South Korean government at least seems to feel at this moment that, using the reconciliatory atmosphere created through the World Cup as an opportunity, it can and should very well open our doors to Japanese popular culture. Though the embargo on almost all aspects of Japanese popular culture has already been lifted, the core aspects still remain off limits. In the case of movies, those rated "age 18 and above" are not allowed. As for animation films, they can be played in theaters but not on television or video tapes unless they are dubbed in Korean. In other words, our importation of Japanese popular culture has been phased and limited. Those importers who cornered Japanese movies with the idea that they would be lucrative when legally shown in Korea for the first time are nearly bankrupt now. In other words, the prediction that Japanese movies would occupy the Korean market at least as much as had Hong Kong movies in the 1980's has came to naught. Popular music and television programs, however, may very well be a different story altogether. Moreover, it's really in the video tape market that television programs and films from Japan have a chance―niche marketing, we might say. Later on, the same will hold true for DVD's. Movies played in theaters, on the other hand, are easy to control because they must first go through distributors and because the market itself is big. Video tapes, however, infiltrate from the bottom. For instance, there is a difference between marketing a movie with 500,000 or 600,000 moviegoers in mind and selling 5,000 to 10,000 video tapes of the same film. The domestic contents market such as the music, movie, and broadcasting markets has grown in the last several years. So it's interesting to think about just how much of the market Japanese products will occupy once the embargo on them is lifted. In my view, television broadcasting is the biggest variable. Though I expect the South Korean government will prevent an all-out importation of Japanese television programs as a premature move, I wonder just how much our youngsters will take to Japanese television programs. In the case of movies, though, the sensibility is considerably different. Because our audience's expectations regarding movies are different from the sensibility of Japanese popular culture, I don't think that Japanese film will affect us very much yet. Anyhow, what's interesting is that things happen and continue even amid and despite the atmosphere created by the World Cup.
CHOI, Won-shik
Nor can we be quite optimistic about the future of East Asia after the World Cup. True, the co-hosting of the World Cup has served as a new beginning for Korean-Japanese relations. The Korean-Japanese Treaty of 1965, which fundamentally defined relations between the two nations during the Cold War era, centers on the establishment of a tripartite alliance among Korea, the United States, and Japan. And this in turn emphasizes Japan's role in the anti-communist network of East Asia. Even in this post-Cold War era, the right wing of Korean and Japan, encouraged by the political ascendancy of George Bush, Jr., is quite unwilling to give up the system established under the treaty of 1965. In this respect, the co-hosting of the World Cup certainly paved the way for post-Cold War relations between Korean and Japan by elevating citizens' alliance between the two nations. Although our press mainly reports aspects of Korean culture and society that are seen favorably by the Japanese, the World Cup seems to have reinforced the Japanese right wing's wariness of Korea to an equal degree. According to a Japanese friend of mine, the issue of history textbooks used in Japanese high schools is to be raised soon. That is why I think we should be careful about opening our doors wholesale to Japanese popular culture. As you said, Mr. Kim [Hong-jun], I don't think Japanese popular culture will affect us much even after we lift the embargo on it. But because it's linked to problems such as the controversy over Japanese history textbooks, we should regulate the speed. After all, the President [21] in effect exonerated the Japanese from their history [22] in a joint declaration issued in Japan several years ago and subsequently compromised himself in relation to the problem of the history textbooks, thus distorting the meaning of the declaration. Korea's careful importation of Japanese popular culture will help the citizens' movement of Japan also. In addition, Korean-Chinese relation, which had been amicable since the beginning, has quite unexpectedly deteriorated since the World Cup. It was all right until our team made it to the preliminaries. Once our team made it to the last eight teams, however, the Chinese press' anti-Korean tone was strengthened, for which we ourselves are not blameless. First, Koreans demonstrating with respect to Beijing's rough handling of North Korean refugees in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul burned the Chinese flag. Second, our soccer fans passionately rooted for Turkey during its match against China. In addition, our government issued only 35,000 visas to Chinese spectators, who originally were expected to surpass 100,000. Fortunately, the Chinese themselves are said to be criticizing their anti-Korean sentiments created during the World Cup. In this respect, I'm glad that our team made it only to the semifinals. Just as the Korean-Japanese Treaty of 1965 tenaciously continues to mar the development of relations between the two nations, the issue of North Korean refugees in China has distorted otherwise amicable Korean-Chinese relations. The source of all this ado, of course, is the division of the Korean Peninsula. For peace on the Korean Peninsula and for the future of East Asia, we must overcome the national division system. After all, our skirmish with North Korea in the West Sea too was affected by the fact that we hosted the World Cup together with Japan instead of North Korea. As has been pointed out already, the internalization of the national flag and the “Republic of Korea” has a plus effect as far as the cohesion of South Korean society is concerned. At the same time, though, it can also be seen as a strengthening of what may be termed “South Koreanism.” That's why I hope that the Asian Games, to be held this fall in Busan, will indeed be a festival for all Asian nations including China and North Korea, which were relatively marginalized during the World Cup.
KIM, Jong-yup
Peace and amity within East Asian are crucial to overcoming the national division system. The World Cup, however, aggravated envy and competition within the region in many ways. Notwithstanding their complex origin, the anti-Korean sentiments of the Chinese press are a representative case. We really should ponder over their causes. What is most important is that, from the standpoint of China as a major power, Korean soccer has become a complex of sorts. For the Chinese, soccer is the only national sport. Despite the Chinese' international renown, sports such as ping pong and track and field are popular only in particular provinces. Because they have never beaten us in international games, the Chinese have a “South Korean complex” in soccer, which after all is their national pastime, akin to how they feel about Lee Chang Ho [23] in relation to go. Of course, that's not our fault. Regarding two other important factors, however, we are responsible. First, Korean spectators one-sidedly cheered for Turkey during its game with China. This reveals, too, that the concept of ally/foe during the Korean War remains vividly alive in our public imagination. [24] Anyhow, the Chinese were extremely displeased by this. The other factor is the problem concerning North Korean refugees that arose during the World Cup. The Chinese seem to feel that South Koreans do not at all aid their northern brothers even though the latter are experiencing economical hardship. In other words, a country that does not even give surplus rice and electricity to its starving brother has no right to say anything according to the Chinese standpoint. Regardless of the reasons, since North Korean refugees live in China, it is in fact the Chinese who materially sustain those refugees. Certain religious organizations and citizens' groups in South Korea have attempted to bring the refugees to Seoul, however, thus creating an image of China as an oppressive and rude nation in terms of human rights and diplomacy. Because the Chinese feel that way, they have come to resent South Korea. Considering all these factors, we must admit that we've been remiss about turning the World Cup into a true festival of all East Asians. Nonetheless, I believe that there's a way for us to maximize the peace-promoting effect of sports and use it to establish peace in East Asia and to overcome the national division system. The creation of an East Asian soccer league would be a possibility. It would mean games among clubs instead of nations, as with the case of Europe. That would lessen envy and competition among the participating countries and promote amicable relations within East Asia. If North Korea were to join this league at an appropriate moment, it would contribute considerably to peace in East Asia. Of course, it's not a good time to create such a league. But, for that very reason, the general public should also try to neutralize and depoliticize soccer. As for South Korea itself, soccer has only one physical center: the entire nation. Cities such as Pucheon, Anyang, and Gwangju have yet to grow as the homes of provincial soccer teams. It's about time we weakened the national basis of soccer at least to a degree by developing truly regional and local centers, which would contribute to peace in East Asia.
KIM, Hong-jun
If Japanese players were to play in the K[orean] League and Chinese players in the J[apanese] League, it would certainly have that effect on the general public.
For the New Discovery of a Theory of the National Culture
CHOI, Won-shik
We should conclude our talk now. I think it's about time we intellectuals humbly reflected on the duality of the emergence of the general public and ways of combining it with existent master discourses such as those of "ethnicity" and the "populace" in order to turn it into energy that can change South Korean society and establish peace on the entire Korean Peninsula. In my view, that above all will take the form of cultural movements of all sizes, movements that are cultural and political at the same time. I hope that you all will create new debates and accomplish much through concrete cultural projects in your respective fields.
KIM, Hong-jun
Though I'm not an activist, I'd like to share with you things I've felt while coming into contact various policies as well as the general public in the field of culture. We're living in an age when small reforms are extremely important. Looking back on the 1980's, a cultural movement led by the elite with cultural training, knowledge based on the liberal arts, and a willingness to sacrifice themselves was appropriate to that era and did indeed succeed to a certain degree. The aftereffects of and consequent disappointment with such success, however, seem to have hid in the very fact that the movement was led by the elite in the first place. As a result, the 1990's saw the absence of a vision for the future, compromise with or capitulation to the establishment, aimless speculation, resignation, submersion in daily routine, and cynicism pervade both the general public and intellectuals. The World Cup has shown that, when the strength of the general public is gathered, a voluntary and dynamic Korea is possible and this is something we should remember. In fact, I feel that the composition and function of intellectuals have changed, too. The democratization of information, popularization of sensibility, and acquisition of an international perspective―because these things have become quite general, a new class of intellectuals may very well emerge. I think that the potentials of "Nosamo" and the "Red Devils" are comparable to the strength that was organized through various groups and organizations in the 1980's. "Nosamo," the “Red Devils,” and the crowds who cheered for our team in the streets are bound to have their own leaders. The proper way of organizing these people is not massive organization from the top but the creation of leadership and organization in small units―whether in terms of local areas or various cultural genres. So our task is to devise strategies and tactics flexibly yet with a precise principle and to establish precedents. And―though this is quite trite―we all should do our best in whatever we each do. In other words, we should retrieve things that have been overlooked or relinquished as "microscopic." It's about time we recovered earnestness.
KIM, Jong-yup
During the World Cup, we keenly experienced the fact that, without any intervention from elitism, the general public could explode by itself. I feel that it was made possible by a history of invisible and small progress and accumulation. Because we've been lazy about examining such small changes, reforms, innovations, and accumulation, it may seem as though the general public has made great strides. In the end, however, we'll be able at least to predict even an approximation of the future and to gather our energy only when we examine the general public closely. After all, intellectuals' primary task is to ponder for a long time over just how this sort of energy has erupted as much as over how it is to be guided. In addition, we should help the general public to understand themselves and to portray their lives and changes instead of trying to lead them. At any rate, what concentrated all symbols through overwhelming fervor was none but the cry of "Go Korea!" in my opinion. I sense the beginnings of something new and positive energy in the curious rhythm of the slogan. It is my strong wish that, in order to prevent the cry and the energy hidden within it from being distorted by certain groups and to use them in marching toward a world where the general public can desire every day, the poor and the oppressed live in equality, and East Asia is peaceful and the Korean Peninsula is united.
CHOI, Won-shik
I feel that communication between literature and other fields in the arts has been rather inactive. In this respect, it is especially meaningful that you have taken part in our talk today. Mr. Kim [Hong-jun] is a representative of Korean cinema, which is seeing its renaissance today. Professor Kim [Jong-yup] has demonstrated outstanding insight into our culture including popular culture. What I wish to stress again in this arena of communication is that we need to begin anew a critical discussion of the theory of national culture, which is the starting point of all our cultural movements, on a new level and with that new phenomenon of the emergence of the general public in mind. We really ought fundamentally to review and creatively reestablish the discussion. To speak metaphorically, the theory of national culture is a respite or a stepping stone on our way to a world of equality. The utopia of Confucianism and a world of one community, that world will be a place where monogamy, the root of private ownership, is abolished, and where all kinds of discriminations―including those based on sex, region, and nationality―disappear; in other words, a space where man's greatest hopes are realized. But because it is so overwhelming, Confucius proposed as a median point the concept of respite so as to prevent chaos. In a world of respite, people think of the world as their home and of one another as family members. In all respects, the theory of national culture then is but a means that both preserves and discards at the same time. I strongly wish that, as a stepping stone to a world of equality and cohesion, the theory of national culture will be rediscovered. I sincerely appreciate both of your participation in our lengthy and serious talk today.
* Editor's note: This is an abridged version of the tripartite talk published in the fall 2002 issue (vol. no. 117) of Changjak-kwa Bipyong (Creation and Criticism).
[21] Kim Dae Jung.
[22] Unlike post-World War II Germany, Japan has yet to apologize sincerely and compensate for its forcible colonization and exploitation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
[23] Dubbed a prodigy in his childhood, he is an internationally recognized professional go (Chinese checkers) player from Korea.
[24] China supported North Korea while Turkey supported South Korea during the Korean War.