Searching for True Patriotism: My Love toward the Korean Peninsula

 

by Prof. Tae-Woo Park

Research Professor, Institute of Sustainable Development, Korea University

Visiting Scholar & Professor, College of International Affairs, Dept. of Diplomacy

National Chenggichi University, Republic of China

East Timor Honorary Consul in Republic of Korea

Standing Member of The National Unification Advisory Council, Korea

Non-resident Director of K-water

"Collection of English Columns published in The Korea Times, The Seoul Times, and Korea JoongAng Daily(Sister paper of the International Herald Tribune)"

2012.1

About the Author

Prof. Tae-Woo Park

Prof. Park, Tae-Woo has experienced a wide range of careers as trade diplomat, academics, poet, NGO activist, and as a parliamentary and mayoral election candidate so on. He has lectured Special topics on International Relations, International Organization, Comparative Politics, International Political Economy, International Politics, International Political, Economic Integration, Northeast Asian Politics, European Integration and North Korean Politics, Korean Politics and the Korean Peninsula and so on, at major international and domestic universities such as National Chengchi Univ. Republic of China, Korea Univ. Hankook Univ. of Foreign Studies, KyungHee Univ., DongKuk Univ., SookMyung Women's Univ., MyungGi Univ., in undergraduate and graduate schools and so forth, in Korea.

After getting Ph.D. at the Univ. of Hull, UK(FCO Chevening Award Scholarship) in 1996, he began his dynamic initial career from the academic community; and later served as Director & Auditor of Korean Political Science Association, The Korean Association of International Studies, The Association of Contemporary European Studies; he presented and discussed in the academic seminars and conferences more than 100 times; he is also as of now affiliated with The Institute for Far Eastern Studies as Research Fellow, KyungNam Univ, and The Yoido Institute, the think-tank of the ruling Grand National Party, as a policy advisor. He joined in real politics as Deputy-Spokeman of the Ruling Grand National Party.

Utilizing his International Political Economy & international politics speciality, he was specially recruited by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, and Energy as a Trade Diplomacy Specialist in 1997, and later also worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a diplomat, actively involved in multilateral commercial negotiations of APEC and ASEM for three years. He also contributed as a policy specialist to National Assembly's policy making process and produced policy recommendations to the relevant government Ministries as a chief legislative assistant to a former Presidential Candidate, at National Defense, Unification, Diplomacy, and Commercial Committee of the Parliament.

As a recognized poet, he has published more than 7 poetry books by himself, and has written more than 1000 articles and columns either in Korean and English published in the major dailies and internet news papers such as DongAh Daily News, The Korea Times, JoongAng Daily, Monthly Chosun, The Frontier Times, Breaknews and so on; 7 books of his major speciality was also published.

Recently, he has energetically lectured international issues at the Division of International Affairs, Korea University, and College of International Affairs, KyungHee University; and doctoral courses at KukMin University Gra여ate school of Social Science.

His contribution to society was well recognized when he was awarded with Special Contribution Certificate by Korean Veterans' Association in 2008 for his patriotic activities and writings; Literature & Poetry Awards in 2001, 2001 by the Postmodern Literature Magazine;

Doctoral Thesis: The Political Economy of Regionalism and Globalizatoin : An Analysis of Their Impact upon South Korea-European Union Trade(555 pages in English, 1996, Univ. of HULL, UK)

He could be reached at t517@naver.com

 

*Greetings

I am more than happy to publish my English column E-book this time. My strenuous efforts to search for patriotic motivation as a Korean intellectual has been accumulated to this volume of my ideas and passions toward Korea. Of course, I am not such a renowned public figure in Korea, however, I am confident to say that I have tried and practiced my ideas and ideals for the development of this country's politics and balanced views of the general public which will be crucial for Korea to be a nation of advanced democracy.

In this context, I feel a little shame in that probably I have not met the full qualifications to raise and discuss, and sometimes to criticize the current issues of our contemporary society such as North Korean issues, democratic issues, international politics, South-South conflict in our society, and so on. If my wish to let the people know what the major problems are facing Korea today, is to be realized through this kind of my humble efforts to write right things based upon right philosophy, I will be more than satisfied.

Lastly, I do sincerely hope that college students of future hope and passion loving our society could be more influenced in a positive direction by my small intellectual search for patriotism toward Republic of Korea and The Korean Peninsula.

Thank you. All the best wishes in the year of 2012.

January 2012 Tae-Woo Park

 

*Special Media Coverage on the Author

East Timor Consul pursues aid for Development(The Korea Herald, 2007.11.12)

East Timor, a small Southeast Asian nation that gained independence in 2002, is in need of help in a big way. And that`s where the new honorary consul in Seoul, which holds its opening reception tomorrow, can help.

At the helm is longtime politician, diplomat, writer, poet and current vice spokesperson for the Grand National Party, Dr. Park Tae-woo.

"They have a very sad story," he told The Korea Herald. "They were really in a very miserable situation, in terms of living and political liberties, due to external forces intervening in their internal affairs."

Amongst some of its problems are a literacy rate of almost 60 percent and an average annual income of $300 per person.

During the 1999 anti-independence movement organized and supported by Indonesia, approximately 1,400 Timorese died and 300,000 were forced into western Timor.

During the conflict, homes, irrigation systems, water supply systems, schools and nearly 100 percent of the country`s electrical grid were destroyed.

Still, East Timor, although only the size of Gangwon Province, has abundant natural resources such as oil and gas.

"Korea can help us, in terms of technology and capital investment, and we can provide you with natural resources in exchange," Park said.

As it stands now, several companies have started the process of detection and extraction of oil, but Park said there is much more out there.

"Next year they will take bids for oil exploration, which includes offshore, inland and mountainous areas," he said.

This will give Park enough time to gather information and start talking to local Korean giants about the possibilities of investing in oil extraction in East Timor.

Also on the agenda is to help the Timorese learn to read and write.

"They need Korea`s economic development and educational experience. They were amazed by Korea`s educational fever and how Koreans have pushed education to their children, which has paved the way for Korea`s quick economical development."

Park explained that Korea can assist East Timor by designing efficient economic development strategies from a humanitarian viewpoint.

"They have a similar history with us of being invaded by external forces, so we have to show them how Korea overcame those difficulties to become what it is today."

One of the ways is to arrange for the Korean government to offer capital and technology to develop their natural resources for their benefit and not the benefit of multinational companies.

"As of now, there are companies developing the detection of gas and oil fields. I don`t think they are gaining economic benefit as they should," he said.

He is also looking to find ways of sending necessities like clothing, computers and stationery; "this is just the beginning."

There is a Korean Embassy in Dili but this is the only diplomatic avenue, to date, for East Timor in Seoul.

He explained that their Foreign Ministry has a total staff of 80 people, and a nonexistent budget.

"The only office we have in Northeast Asia is a small office in Beijing with one ambassador and one secretary."

By Yoav Cerralbo

(yoav@heraldm.com)

 

East Timor Seeks Korea’s Investment(The Korea Times, 2007.11.12)

By Kim Se-jeong

Staff Reporter

East Timor has great potential for Korean investors, the honorary consul of East Timor to Korea Park Tae-woo said.

``East Timor with rich natural gas is seeking active foreign investment in its various development projects,'' said Park who has successfully made his name as a scholar in politics and international affairs, a lecturer, a diplomat and a poet. At the same time, he works as the deputy spokesman for the Grand National Party (GNP).

In an interview with The Korea Times, he said that profits from natural gas development have continued to grow, reaching $243 million in 2005 from $41 million in 2004.

Other areas favorable for foreign investment are infrastructure such as roads, highways, power plants and buildings. Furthermore, as its natural environment is still intact, the tourism industry also has potential for Korean investors to build golf courses, hotels and resorts.

``Everything is now just getting ready to be developed, '' Park said confidently based on what he'd learned through friends such as Xanana Gusmao, now prime minister of East Timor, whom he met while he was teaching in Taiwan.

He also sees the potential for a closer bond between Korea and East Timor through history.

Both countries have been under foreign occupation, and he is said to have sensed the same eagerness for peace among people of East Timor. East Timor was under Indonesian rule for almost three decades before it gained independence in 2002. Prior to the Indonesia occupation, it had been under the control of Portugal for nearly 450 years.

East Timor is a very small country _ half of the island of Timor _ and is only the size of Gangwon Province with a population of one million.

Park just finished his third trip to East Timor last month. He said he had seen the country striving hard to get prosperity and build democracy.

``Lights in the parliament didn't go off until two or three o'clock in the morning,'' Park said: ``It was reminiscence of the Park Chung-hee's presidency during which the country was all for economic development.''

Another similarity is religion. Despite a long-term occupation by a Muslim country, the majority of the East Timorese are Christians.

As Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, according to the CIA Fact Book, was only $800 in 2005. Everyday life for the people in East Timor can't be harsher, Park said, asking for humanitarian aid for East Timor.

``The country still needs significant assistance from outside. Helping them can also benefit Korean investors by creating a friendly atmosphere.''

He expressed regret over not having been able to visit an orphanage that he had planned to do during his trip last month. On next visit, he will adopt one or two children to support, for whom only $20 can cover living expense for a whole month.

After declaring its independence in 2002, East Timor has received assistance from many countries including Korea.

In 1999, Korea dispatched the ``Evergreen Troops'' of 440 soldiers to East Timor as part of the U.N. Peace Keeping Force (PKF) and they stayed until March 2003.

Between 1999 and 2005, Korea _ at both the private and government level _ sent $6.2 million worth of humanitarian aid.

The consular office is going to celebrate its official opening on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

skim@koreatimes.co.kr

 

Table of Contents

1. Sub Cover

2. Introduction and greetings

- About the author

- Greetings

- Special Media Coverage on the Author

3. Copyright

4.Main Player on Peninsula

5.Toward Common Global Citizenship

6.Peace Making through Peace Regimes

7.Beyond Two-Track Approach to North Korea

8.Do not redraw a line in the water

9.Unification Prospect of two Koreas

10.Justice and Responsibility to Protect

11.Dilemma of post-Cheonan Diplomacy

12.Stable Group Hegemony of Nuclear Arms

13.US-China Difference over North Korea

14.China's Universal Responsibility

15.Importance of Overseas Value

16.An End of North Korean Brinkmanship?

17.North Korean Mind Games

18.Level Playing Field

19.Olympic Rules needed for Korean Politics

20.Weakened Concept of Axis of Evil

21.Steady as She Goes

22.Return to Rationality

23.We must be Ready for the Northern Flights

24.Our North Korea Strategy only hurts us.