Korean’s indoors

Korean’s indoors 

In
the course of Korean Studies, at the Institut National des Langues et
Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), the book on Korea in her fables is
a social criticism that the author, Patrick Maurus¹⁾, proposes to
generate reflection on what Koreans say to themselves, without
considering a priori that these Koreans would exist or be assigned to
an indisputable character.

It
is interesting to see the impact of such a publication on the Korean
younger generation for discovering new revised means with aspirations
of political, economic and ideological control or at least
identifying more future prospects as regards the reunification of the
two Koreas.

The
book begins with a “Before saying” that puts us on
confidence with the fifteen-year-old boy discovering South Korea in
1965 during a family trip. Then going on we are following the facts
with eyes within interpretative glasses. Questionings will come with
What do you call Korea? Korea is a victim. Victim of the other? But
victim, Korea has a scar which is her division²⁾.

Indeed,
consulting a map we find that Korea appears in two forms: North Korea
or DPRK and South Korea, or the Republic of Korea, each with a flag
and a different national anthem. This duality can be noted that these
two countries are not on the same level for more than sixty years. No
Korean citizen has ever known Korea other than divided or under the
colonial boot.

However,
if we accept that this is a set of representations, we have a range
of opinions, certainly unlike and sometimes contradictory. Conversely
attempts to explain the division, the relations USA-South Korea, the
nature of South Korea, the legitimacy of the DPRK, the tactical
minjung forces gave birth to coherent and dated discourse that were
well analyzed by Henry Em.

Nevertheless,
the author speaks of Korea in the global sense, with its own roots,
but throughout the five thousand years of history, it has managed to
preserve fiercely out of foreign influences and resistant to many
invasions. Yet in both North and South Korea, it is proposed the
hypothesis that the division does not exist in the value of
boilerplate explanation that the word has been taken in South Korea.
The reason is that this division still follows a remnant of the Cold
War’s structure. On the other hand, the North is also a victim. After
developing a whole series of images on the cult of personality of the
founder of the DPRK Kim Il-Sung (giant statues, realism art,
birthdays festivities…) who represents himself the North Korea, we
return to the idea that we must overcome the division²⁾ as an
universal explanation.

In
addition, Korea is at war with her memory.

Even
the Cartesian remedy “I am divided. therefore I exist, I exist
therefore I am divided” fail to reassure us on the conflictual
core which is used. Thus, Korea is One in the interpretation then is
Two, because each Korean government was established as a State of
complete issues of continuation.

To
understand both the Korea and the Far East, we are facing with Social
Darwinism. This is a design that dates back to the late 19th century,
and which claims to transpose Darwinian theories of evolution to
society as a whole. Social life is then seen as a struggle for
survival, where it would be expected that for current individuals the
weakest are eliminated in favor of those believed to be the
strongest. Then National Socialism is an expression permanently
polluted. Therefore, if the extreme Eastern social Darwinism is not
the English social-Darwinism, it remains tainted by its origin,
despite the mediation. Yet, the author considers nationalism as the
opium of the people and the nation as a bag full of problems.

Who
is speaking when Korea is speaking ?

We
are driven back not only to the victimization but to his land, ie
Confucianism That is a structural element of the image, imagination
and Korean’s imagination. According to André Favre ” while
Buddhism entered Korea with great fanfare (diplomatic exchanges
between China and Koguryo, sending a monk Baekje, Silla martyrs and
miracles) we know nothing definite about the introduction of
Confucianism and it is only over the columns, seeing the
establishment of a particular institution or learning the extent of a
monarch in favor of Confucianism, which can follow the penetration of
this ideology in the Korean peninsula”. Patrick Maurus names
eras, areas and Korean tunes as Confucian impregnations. He proposes
an approach of sociocriticism sensitive to historicity from the time
of the observation, ie presently, today.

In
the chapters, What to believe, who to believe? The miracle, we are
confronted with an economic miracle. After World War II, the United
States invests in non-Communist countries of Asia such as Japan and
South Korea. The latter focused on export of finished products. But
because of the North’s threat, the South is guiding towards the
high-tech industry and processing information, especially in research
and technological innovation. In South Korea, the technology is higly
competent for reducing space and time. The images are broadcasting
flow snapshots. The consumption is phagocyting lifestyles and
cultural resistance to video games, movies, pop musicn etc.

Yet
where is standing Korea ? Here, identity is described both as an
outcome and a process. It concerns also the islands Tokdo and
P’arang, claimed by South Korea. Strangely the USA reallocate at the
last moment Tokdo to Japan and Tsushima to South Korea at the Potsdam
Conference (July 17-August 2nd, 1945), as the basis for the legal
definition of geo-modern Japan.

In
conclusion and after say, the author has confirmed its intention to
understand the Other, He wanted to talk intensively about chamanism,
writers and texts he translated, as well as universities and
companies where he used to work. For him, made by Korea, North and
South, he continues on learning .

Impact
and perspectives

In
fact, it is true that the Korean’s indoors which are representations
may leave the reader under the spell of the discovery of the Other.
Each chapter is explained, with specific references and
biobliographies throughout the fifteen chapters. Regards from Korean
and foreign authors on the Korean question were put into work,
especially in the times of the historical developments of the two
Koreas.

The
issue of reunification was discussed, because of the division.
However, in both North and South, despite contradictions and
disputes, there is a deep desire for reunification, even with
oppositions, which made ​​its way ³⁾. This commitment is not
evident in the representation made by the author. For a country, to
be independent, it is necessary and sufficient that it has to be
governed without any foreign interference indoors. This is not the
case of South Korea, which maintains 28,000 U.S. soldiers still on
the ground. Then, for the people to live in freedom and peace, the
National Security Law, in effect since 1948, has to be abolished⁴⁾.

As
for the cinema both films Shiri (spy movie by Chang Chaegyu, produced
in 1999 partly by Samsung) and JSA (political thriller and drama by
Pak Chan’uk) relate the issue of the North. Shiri in the second part
of the film directs us to the South, on the trail of a beautiful
woman spy, but impossible to locate her in the street.

Concerning
women, through the struggle of the Korean women victims, subjected to
military sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation, the «
comfort women (wianbu) in Japanese military brothels remain
inexcusable dirt of Japanese colonialism. Japanese soldiers have
considered them as willing prostitutes.

The
ultimate struggle of the comfort women by Sébastien Falletti in . Le
Figaro July 06, 2012

.
Credits’ photo : LEE JAE- WON/REUTERS

On
January 8, 1992, The Korean Council introduced the start of the
weekly demonstration in solving the issue of military sexual slavery
in Japan. The event continued every Wednesday at noon at the front of
the Japanese Embassy. Every year on the occasion of Independence Day
of Korea and in the Weeks’ unity of the world, all Asian countries
in a variety of reasons and circumstances victims simultaneously
organize a rally and a mobilization campaign in particular the last
week of December to commemorate the victims’death. Also, Korean
women’s organizations hand over a show on the International Women’s
Day each March 8 and every Wednesday. They also organized with the
Korean Council and various groups of foreign countries in Tokyo,
Japan 7-12 December 2000 the « International Tribunal on Japanese
sexual slavery » (the Women’s International Tribunal on Military
Sexual Slavery by the Japan) with the full support of women’s
rights and international human rights community. This is an
international court⁵⁾ of human rights versus the perpetrators’
guilty of war crimes. This court was referred jointly by the two
Koreas against the Japanese government found guilty of abuse of the
Korean War.

In
conclusion,

We
consider that the book can be classified as an opened sociocriticism.
Written for a pleasant reading and full of annotations it could
impact the Korean younger generation in search of historical sources.
Hence, we are indebted to the author to have described pivotal moment
between the era of modern European imperalism and the era of the Cold
War. He has also summarised an alternative chronology of world events
subjected to forms of colonialism, racism and class oppression.

In
perspectives, we are looking forward to the publication of the “Song
of dragons flying to heaven” that would give a different look at
China other than “hired lending in Africa” ​​or as an
“imperialist trader” towards a number of the Far East
countries.

Nguyen
Dac Nhu-mai

Notes

1)
by Patrick Maurus, Actes Sud, 2010 whos is translator, professor at
the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
(INALCO). He ís directing the collection “Corean letters”
edited by Actes Sud.. Among his books, Bouddhas of the future (Actes
Sud, 1993) is well known. He also is directing the anthropology,
Passport for Seoul (Actes Sud 2002).

2)
op.cit p.55 Division is one of those key-words that all ideas about
any national subject returns: We can not talk about war or politics
without referring to it. …

3)
Robert Charvin and Guillaume Dujardin : Korea, towards reunification
(La Corée vers la réunification): Edited by L’Harmattan, 2010.

4)
Stephen Cho : The abolition of the National Security Law is a
fundamental task for democracy in South Korea (L’abolition de la Loi
de Sécurité Nationale est une tâche fondamentale pour la
démocratie en Corée du Sud) in Conférence de Paris 19 juin 2012,
THE FRONT 7, 2012 pp.18-29

5)
Nguyen Dac Nhu-Mai : Daehan Minguk the land of the cool morning and
challenging encounters : It was also established a day of hearings on
the ongoing violations against women during the war, including those
in Kosovo, Colombia, Afghanistan and other regions involved in armed
conflicts. The verdict was delivered in December 2001 in The Hague
which has charged with war crimes Japanese criminal defendants,
including Emperor Hirohito. 

in
www.zigzag-francophonie.eu/NGUYEN-DAC-NHU-MAI/Vietnam/France July,1,
2011.