How was your summer vacation? Were you not tired of the continuing hot weather? Did you enjoy playing in the water? Did you hear the loud crying of the cicada outside? Did you see the dark green trees or colorful flowers?
You were overcome by the heat. Absolutely, you are exhausted by the intense heat. Your whole body must have been soaked with sweat. Sunscreen felt sticky. Air conditioning and fans were essential. But it would have been frustrating because you could not turn on air-conditioning freely. Sometimes, you would say summer is the worst season.
But it is too early to be disappointed. After the hot weather of summer, you can eat abundant grains and ripe fruits. The cool wind makes you feel good. The second semester of school begins and the campus is filled with students’ voices. The weather turns chilly and the trees turn red. It means that it is the perfect time to hang out with your friends.
Seasonably, The Chosun World prepared fun activities and things to enjoy with your friends in Gwangju. I hope you enjoy reading these articles because they contain activities that you can enjoy for free and other various contents. Do not forget to try the puzzle, too. You can receive a gift voucher through a lottery. Thank you!
Many people know that philosophy is important. However, when asked what philosophy actually is, it is hard to answer. What is philosophy? Is it difficult to understand and not necessary in life? I interviewed Kim Jae Kyung, a professor of liberal arts, in order to remove the prejudice of philosophy and to inform about the importance of philosophy.
Q. What made you interested in philosophy? A. When I was young, suddenly I could not understand why I was there. It was shocking to me. That is why I am interested in philosophy
Q. What was the most interesting part of studying philosophy? A. There is a certain limit already. It is very difficult to think of the origin of 'having' with the limit, or 'none' without limitation. It is almost impossible. On the other hand, when I was young like a fresh fish, as the absurd reality of my sadness and anxiety, I was most serious about being thrown into such a world. This was the most interesting part to me.
Q. What do you think is the biggest problem with the current education system in Korea? A. It is a cramming education focused on the national college entrance exam. It only forces the right answers and prohibits "thinking." It's like 'disturbing' the idea. They just focus on the results and ignore the process. But life has no answer.
Q. Why do you think students are not interested in philosophy? A. Because It does not attract young people. Now the generation has gotten used to video from their mother's womb. But the language of learning that we call philosophy consists of writing. It is also written in a highly abstract language that is very difficult to understand. For our generation who are used to funny and entertaining videos and games, I think the language of that philosophy is almost an inaccessible ‘alien language’.
Q. What do you think is the essential role of the university? A. Training in critical thinking. In order to do so, we need to abolish the current system of relative evaluation. It must line up and grade your opponent. As a result, the system divides A and B by 0.1 points. Not only in Korea, but almost every university in the world is emphasizing 'creative thinking.’ What creative thinking is possible when a gap of 0.1 points divides A and B, and the competition is absolute? We need to abolish the relative evaluation and switch the evaluation method to absolute evaluation, or P/F evaluation. And then you can think freely, discuss together without being aware of the competition, and develop critical thinking that breaks the traditional framework. Creative thinking that every university is aiming for comes naturally when we think critically. In that sense, I think the essential role of universities is to foster critical thinking.
Q. Why is philosophy important in this age of artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution? A. Even if the world changes 10 million times, as long as humans exist, the question 'What is ~' does not end. If artificial intelligence were to penetrate our lives in full scale it would be very likely that things would go beyond predictions. Even if you had predicted it, the results could be going in the wrong direction. When that happens, we throw the question "Why?". To solve the problem, philosophy provides the power to solve it.
Q. The definition of a communication device has changed as it has evolved from a public phone to a smartphone. Likewise, do you think that philosophy, like science or technology, is a thing that develops with time? A. Yes, this is evidenced by the philosophers of the East and West. But the present time, because the speed of technological development exceeds the imagination, philosophy is not able to digest it. (This also explains why current philosophy is excluded from the real world.)
Q. What is your philosophy of life? A. I am an ordinary person. I am alive so I do not have to stop asking what life is. Death will come someday so I have to ask what death is. I do not know the reason why I exist but I always reiterate, "Thank you."
Philosophy sticks to its own slow path when everything goes by quickly. Philosophy can be an important point in our society where we think speed is the answer. Just as frogs living in the well do not know the wide world outside, we would be like frogs if we ignored philosophy. No matter how advanced technology, society will not develop unless it improves human thinking.
So, How about we open our mind to the prejudice against philosophy?
Are you a global student?- Interviewing Global Chosun(국제협력팀)
Q. What is the main role of Global Chosun (국제협력팀)? A. There are three main roles in Global Chosun. One is managing international students, another is exchanging between Chosun University and foreign universities, and the other sending our college students to foreign universities.
Q. There are five programs that Global Chosun supervises; Language Study Abroad, Exchange Students, Double Degree, International Volunteer, and ISS. Could you introduce each of them? A. To sum it up easily, there are middle-long-term programs and short-term programs. In the case of Language Study Abroad, China and USA make up the middle-long-term programs. The students who participate in this program go abroad for almost a semester. Of course, students should go abroad during the semester. On the other hand China, Canada and other English-speaking countries like Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore make up the short-term programs. The students who participate in this program go abroad for a short time during the vacation. Also, there is a program called, Self- Design. The students who want to study languages other than Chinese or English, like German or Spanish can go the the corresponding countries’ universities or language institutes if the funds are available. Next, there are programs called, Exchange Students and Double Degree. We proceed with those two programs by going abroad for at least more than a year. In the case of Exchange Students, the USA, China, Japan, Russia, and Germany are available as destinations. In the case of Double Degree, which is a program that students should proceed with for two years, the students who participate in this program spend the first and fourth grade in Chosun Universirty in Korea and spend the second and third grade in a foreign university. This is the one that students can get a bachelor’s degree in both universities. The USA, China, and Vietnam are available as destinations in Double Degree. Another program is International Volunteer. In this case, we proceed once a year, summer vacation or winter vacation, and proceeded in winter vacation more than summer vacation recently, I think. We select students who are not just simply doing well at school but talented as a priority. We also select normal students indifferently in competition. The other one is ISS, which means International Summer School. We proceed with the program only in summer and only with Siji Oka University in Japan. So, every summer, six Chosun University students go to Siji Oka University to learn Japanese and experience Japanese culture and vice versa.
Q. What is the most popular program in Chosun University? A. I think International Volunteer and short-term Language study abroad are the most popular ones.
Q. What are the qualification that students who want to participate in the programs should have? A. Basically, we check one’s sincerity by looking through one’s application form. To be impartial, we select students mainly by school grades. Virtually, the school grade limit is 3.0. We don’t see one’s language scores like TOEIC anymore. Ah, one thing that students should know is that students who are in the first semester in first grade and the first semester in fourth grade cannot apply and participate in programs in Global Chosun.
Q. What would you like to say to Chosun University students? A. In my own opinion, one of the serious problems for Chosun University students is that there are few students who are interested in their future and make their own way. For example, the most popular bulletin board post has 3000 viewers. Allowing for students’ checking twice or more, I can assume that only 1000 students are sincerely interested in the program. I hope that lots of students can join programs that the school provide.
Following Gwangju’s Cultural Footsteps
We conducted an overall interview with a member of the SEESAW MUSICAL COMPANY. We focused on the perspective of an artist and a university student about Gwangju cultural performances.
Q.. What made you start acting and doing musicals?
Ho : I originally intended to become a poet. I loved writing, and was interested in expressing and creating stuff. But I thought I was not a man with great passion. After I was faced with opposition from my parents, I couldn't go to the university or academy where I can learn how to sing and dance. Well, somehow I came back this way like you see. It took me a while, but now I'm happy to sing and act with the Seesaw company.
Yeon : Since I was young, I have realized that I am stage-style. It means I love to go on the stage. Around the time I was a high school student, I wanted to learn how to act, how to stand in front of the camera. But things are not that easy. When I looked at what I wanted to do, I felt I wasn't grown up yet. I wanted to start my hobby when I am truly matured. I am glad to be in the Seesaw company now.
Q.. And do you think this is the time that you are truly matured?
Yeon : I think I am. (laugh)
Q.. It might be difficult to be in a team with many other actors. Do you feel that way?
Ho : I don't think we need to be perfect. My mother is counselor. She says it is like " chin-ups. " In the long run, we cannot always run at a high speed. There are people who can complete the run, but it is really hard. Even if I don't do well in one field, it would be nice to get a ‘gut’.
Yeon : When you look at the people in this field, you may think most of the people follow their beliefs. But I got the impression that they were actually compromising with reality. Especially women often run into problems such as childbirth and marriage. I met an actor who acted in a theater in Seoul. She said she is happy to be on stage and play on stage until she’s in this age. Another actress told me her best moment in her life is, when she wrote “actor” under job title on her resume. Well, I realized that such simple things can make people happy. Q.. What do you think about the future of Korean musicals? Also, do you have anything to look
forward to?
Ho : I think musicals are more commercial than plays, but the performance is based on a similar platform called theater. After the Korean War people ran to the theater first just like a promise. Plays brought people’s needs, a way of releasing the desires of that days. Then why are these plays unpopular these days? In the United States, which is famous for Broadway and Hollywood,the government supports arts, especially those who work in musicals and plays. I think Korean actors
also need financial support.
Yeon : My major is English literature. That’s why I am learning how to connect my major and musical. I wanted to consider musicals and plays with language. I've been thinking about why Koreans are not interested in musicals and plays, and I figured out the main reason that the theater sentiment doesn't agree with our country. Because there are also distinctlydifferent way of speaking, people cannot easily get near to the show. So I want to combine my major studies with my hobby and try to popularize the performance.
Q.. Lastly, is there anything you want to say to Chosun University students?
Yeon : Students must enjoy the culture industry, just like musicals and plays. There are lots of perks and also information. Performance companies like the seesaw company are on the rise these days,
so if you're curious, you can look for it anytime.
Ho : Art is now becoming popular and commercialized. I don't think the entry barrier is as high as you think. If you want to try, you can do it. I think Arts, especially playing with things can be
therapeutic.
Minimum wage
The 19th president of South Korea, Moon Jae-In posted ‘10 thousand won minimum wage’ as a main pledge in last presidential election. However, the government recently admitted that achieving that promise would be difficult during his period. Still the rising range was higher than previous government; 7530 won to 8350 won, which means 10.0% of increase. There are both many advocates and opponents of this policy because of the recent economic depression, so it is controversial these days. Let’s look at what minimum wage is and the impacts of its increase.
The minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can pay their workers legally. It was first introduced in New Zealand in 1894 to guarantee a decent human life of workers. Later, the economists in Germany including W. Eucken first properly insisted the minimum wage in 1940s.Theoretically, by the law of supply and demand, labor supply decreases when the wage in labor market decreases. Therefore, the wage should maintain the optimal level. However, the labor supply did not decline although the pay did not reach the minimum cost of living because the workers would do more labor to make up for the low wage when the wage is excessively low. Eventually, the quality of life of workers got worse in a theoretical situation so the economists started to state that the government should set a minimum wage.
In South Korea, the Congress has been enacting the new minimum wage every year. The minimum wage council composed of representatives from the employer, employee, and member representing public interests decides until August 5th of the year. The law of minimum wage started and has risen since 1988, and its increase rate differs from year to year in accordance with the inclination of regime, economic prosperity or recession.
It is still controversial between economists that the rise of minimum wage effects economy positively or negatively. The recent case study is Seattle in United States. Seattle is the first city to draw up the minimum wage of 15 dollars in 2015 and achieved its goal in two years. Researchers resulted that the average wage has gone up and the number of jobs has not declined during the raise of the minimum wage. Yet opponents insist that this research has limits. The research was only on the jobs in the restaurant field and Seattle is already one of the cities giving the highest wage. In South Korea, supporters claims that the minimum wage equals to the maximum wage in the labor field. In 2017, rate of failure to pay minimum wage in South Korea was 3 times higher than OECD average rate. They also represents the depression is fundamentally due to the deformed economic structure, not just one wage policy. It is hard to predict the economy after the raise of minimum wage but there must be both positive and negative impacts to Korean society. Whatever it would be, the government which won the last election overwhelmingly should not disappoint the nation.
Last May, there was a sharp increase in the number of Yemeni refugees entering Jeju Island and it has created a controversy. This year 549 Yemenis, more than ten times compared to last year, applied for refugee status. Why did they enter Jeju Island in East Asia, which is culturally different and geographically remote? To escape the civil war they first entered Malaysia Islamic country like Yemen. However, in Malaysia, there were no laws and policies for refugees, so they could not settle down and extend their stay. Then, regular flights between Jeju and Malaysia began and they started to come to our country by using ‘Jeju Island no visa system’. It is a system that was introduced to attract tourists to Jeju and permit foreigners to stay for up to 30 days without a visa. That is, they could come Jeju Island using the new direct flight system and no visa system.
People are reacting differently to Yemeni refugees. Some argue that it is wrong for Korea, which used to receive help from many countries during the Korean War, to ignore the plight of foreigners. They believe that in this era of globalization, countries need to help solve problems that cannot be solved with the power of one country. On the other hand, there are people who have negative views about refugees. They stand against refugees for the sake of the safety of the nation, on the ground that Islamic culture and Korean culture are very disparate and there is a danger of terrorism. More than 700,000 people signed a petition to change our current refugee law and its system on the presidential Web site in July. This suggests that many people are taking an opposite stance on the refugee issue.
As public concerns rise, the nation has included Yemen as a non-access country without a visa since June 1st. In addition, the government decide to ban 12 countries from entering Korea without a visa, including the Gambia, Somalia and other countries. It is an active reflection of the opinions of the people who are demanding the abolition of the Jeju Island’s no visa system. If you look at our policy on refugees, Korea joined the refugee agreement in 1992 and the Independent Refuges Act was enacted in 2012. Under the refugee agreement and the refugee law, the nation has taken various steps to accept massive refugee applications. For example, the country provides refugees with subsidies for living expenses up to six months from the date of application so that the applicant can make a minimum living. In addition, the government supports examination expenses for basic items necessary for public health, such as the prevention of infectious diseases, and some medical expenses for emergency treatment such as injuries or surgery. Also, in order to take into account the public safety of Jeju residents and minimize their exposure to life-oriented crimes, the state allowed them to work in the primary industries. Since refugees from the Middle East were brought into Europe due to the war in Iraq and the Syrian civil war, massive refugee problems have continuously occurred in European society. Compared to Europe, the number of refugees currently entering our country is small, but the country appears to be less prepared to accept them. If we continue to accept refugees blindly while not ready, there will certainly be a lot of problems. In the future, the nation should strive to find the best solution to the refugee problem by communicating with the people and to improve laws and systems to prepare follow-up measures and minimize side effects.
An amendment to the Animal Protection Law
Do you know about the Animal Protection Laws? According to National Legal Information Center, the Animal Protection Laws came out with the purpose to protect and respect animals life and safety and make them live in harmony with humans.
In the case of the current Animal Protection Laws, there are a lot of loopholes. The laws are too insufficient to regulate butchering in a brutal manner in areas that were not legal and illegal. And dogs and cats were not mentioned in the Animal Hygiene Control Law, which led to many cases of illegal butchery.
So on June 20th, congressman Chang Won Pyo proposed an amendment to the Animal Protection Laws by pointing out the shortcomings of the existing Animal Protection Laws. He said that ‘Banning the random slaughter of animals is a only way to eradicate it.’ ‘We need a practical solution to the problem, not just a declarative meaning.’ Some of the amendments to fill the loopholes of existing laws are as follows.
1. Allow only the slaughter of animals that are mentioned in the Animal Hygiene Control law and the Livestock Epidemic Prevention Law, so as to protect people’s life and body and livestock’s epidemic.
2. Ban behaviors such as the slaughter of dogs at a dog farm for food and the capture of cats to eat them
3. And the pain must be small when an animal is slaughtered.
Of course, there are some people who are negative about such an amendment to laws. In the case of the Animal Rights Group and the Animal Protection Group, they are in favor of the amendment to the law and support them. They say that ‘This amendment that blocks illegal butchery is currently the most reasonable and powerful thing.’ ‘Please end the contradictory reality of Korea by banning eating dogs and cats, which are recognized worldwide as pets, even 10 million South Koreans own pets.’ However, in the case of vendors who run dog farms or sell dog meat are against the amendment to the laws citing threats to their livelihood like ‘Which one is more important? Dogs or people?’, ‘The amendment to the laws makes me an unemployed person.’
What do you think of the amendment to the Animal Protection Law? Are you still a person who regards human beings rights first or a person who can respect animal rights? As society changes, the public’s perception of animal rights continues to grow. But despite this change, the government has been indifferent, and due to their indifference, many animals have died illegally for decades. Many people are recognizing that the congressman Chang Won Pyo’s amendment to the Animal Protection Laws, which prohibits the slaughter of the animals is for the sake of the public health right, for the public sentiment, and the trend.
Many people are waiting for the government’s response to the petition for an amendment to the Animal Protection Laws, which has reached 200,000 signatures. We are waiting for a society where the same breeds are not divided into pets and food, and a society where animals can live in harmony with humans.
＜exhibition＞ Yang heeju/reporter/[email protected]
Sky of a Thousand, Land of a Thousand.
This year, 2018, is the millennium year when Honam province, where we live, was named Jeolla Province. Universities and organizations in North Jeolla Province and North Jeolla Province are promoting various events and exhibitions to commemorate the millennium. The Gwangju City Museum also planned the "Sky of a Thousand, Land of a Thousand." Instead of a scholarly investigation, the focus was on accessing modern art and breathing the soul of the province. The exhibition, which runs through November 11, 2018, is free and is being held in the main exhibition hall of the municipal museum. There are works of art in Korean painting, Western painting, three- dimensional installation, imaging installation and ceramics. Let me introduce this to everyone.
The exhibition was divided into 'The Germinating Land', ' The Land of Spirit ', 'The Land of Humanities' and 'The Land of an Artistic Home'.
1. The Germinating Land According to scholarsJeolla-do's culture, which thrived for a 1000years, owes much to its natural environment blessed with its southwestern warm sea and vast fields. Favorable to living, its affluent land and exoteric temperament to the life forms residing there. Embracing external cultures without excluding them, just as a sea accepts the several rivers flowing into it, the land has preserved and matured its mutual differences to form Jeolla-do's own distinctive elegance and style.
2. The Land of Spirit In the mid-nineteenth century with social critical potential becoming popular, Donghak's accommodative ideas form the ideological base of Donghak peasant movements, which have had the greatest influence on the nation's history. The land in Jeolla province, which has a strong spirit of mind by nature, became a recluse for those who kept their faith whenever the monarchy was changed, and wrote down on the history of the struggle.
3. The Land of Humanities Virtuous scholars who led lives of study and integrity during the politically turbulent era fraught with struggles among various political factions retired to the Honam region due to a series of political literati purges. A pavilion in a garden was a haven for such hermits and recluses. Such Confucian scholars were intellectuals who practices justice while promoting academic exchanges an educating young students. The formation of schools to respect and worship their ethical academic traditions was the motive behind evolving Confucianism in the Honam region.
4. The Land of an Artistic Home Jeolla-do is the land from which the philosophy of Yun Du-Seo originated. He is a painter and scholar of the Joseon period who considered breaking the frame of conservatism from a modern point of view. It is also the land where two main pillars of the traditional Korean calligraphy scene, donggukjin-che, and chusa-che, were completed and where the southern school of Korean paintings of HeoRyeon, who took Kim Jeong-hui as his spiritual mainstay, was deeply rooted. Jeolla-do art has been dedicated to completing the land of a decent artistic home when it became one and the same with its people's lives spreading throughout the area based on justice and righteousness.
Jeolla-do was the first named administrative district among the five ancient kingdoms of Goryeo, and it has helped the dynamic life of the Jeolla people for thousands of years with little change in name or territory. Now that Jeolla Province, which has a long history, is set to celebrate its millennium, let's give it a chance to recognize its identity anew so that it can demonstrate its vision for the future!
All over the world Artificial Intelligence is booming for a good life in the future. Especially, the Lee Se-dol-and AlphaGO matches were a surprising moment all around world. Before playing go, most people did not expect that capacity of AlphaGo. It was powerful, infinite and it also turned into fear. If AI is getting more capable at everything what do they want? Or can they evolve like a human. Then what should we do? And when did the study of AI begin? So now let’s take AI issues and then look at them through the lens of good and evil.
The history of Artificial Intelligence(AI) started in the mid-1950’s. Young computer experts met for a Dartmouth conference. During the meeting, they created a world which is AI. In the early days of AI it could only solve simple questions based on reasoning and exploration. Therefore, it reached its limit. That was disappointing because many people expected more intelligence. For this reason, the study of AI was shrinking.
However, in the mid 1980’s and 1990’s people were again interested in it. This was about knowledge-based system. If you build a perfect system, it meant you are going to be an expert.It sounds amazing right? But it has a serious problem because you had to type out the knowledge- first. For example, you should teach the AI definitions like a school teacher. “A man has two legs, and two hands. The two hands consist of ten fingers.”
After all, it gradually increased hundreds of millions information about life. An amount of information has a problem with inconsecutive and contradictory knowledge. The people were disappointed again because it seemed to be unsuccessful. Therefore, the experiment of AI was stuck in the mire of stagnation twice.
However, an extraordinary eventhappened to bring new situations for AI researchers. In 2012, for the first time, an AI took part in ILSVRC-ImageNet Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge. A team called Super Vision from the University of Toronto won an overwhelming victory. This competition is when the computer looks at a picture and has to say what is in it. A person can easily distinguish between dogs and cats in the picture. But it was difficult for a computer. And Super Vision finally had eighty-four percentage accuracy. How could they get this level of accuracy in the competition? It is because the use of technology which was called ‘deep-learning’. The biggest benefit of deep-learning technology is that the computer itself creates features or distinctions in the images before the technology came up, people had to describe the characteristics of the image. Although the computer has been learning by itself, a person had to decide what characteristics to learn and which features to learn. But now thanks to deep-learning technology, the computer can learn from tons of information and accept what is important to it.
Therefore, many specialists are expecting AI to be useful to human life. The development of AI could take over dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs. So, we can choose safer jobs and protect our body from laborious tasks. Another advantage takes place in the advancement in diagnostic system used in the medical field. The AI can make a diagnosis faster and more accurately then people which could save more lives. These reasons show why AI is good for people in the future. But we might lose our job because of smarter AI. Maybe they will evolve from the computer system, so they will be change like human beings. Now we must seriously consider the good and bad side. What do you think?
Hwang Soo-Hyun Department of journalism: junior I was interested in the interview with the professor in the department of journalism because she is my major professor. The May articles were good because it contained various themes. Next time, I hope to read “How do I spend my vacation well” or “No Kids Zone”.
Jung Min-Hoe Department of Nursing: sophomore I read the article “Burning” with interest. As a student of nursing, I have heard a lot and it is a matter of constant controversy. These May articles were good because there were was a lot about rising issues. In the following article, I want to know about Chosun university’s volunteer clubs.
Lee Hae-Young Department of English Literature: senior The article about “Gwangju’s Democratization Movement” is most impressed to me. As a Gwangju citizen, that day meant a lot. In this May article, everything is fine expect the Puzzle box. The Puzzle box was not arranged properly.
Jang Seo-In Department of Economics: junior I read the article “No Sexual violence in School” with interest. Gender equality is still a hot issue today. It was good to know more about the gender equality center in school and gender equality through the article. In this May article, It was a good mix of what students might be interested in and what they should know, such as the 5.18 movement. In the Next article, I want to read an article on how we can put a burden on the environment if we use too much energy.
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CHOSUNWORLD EXHIBITION MOVIE PLAY SUMMER VACATION