Hyon-Joo’s Everyday Life

Former Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun died in a suicide on May 23, 2009 Saturday at the age of 62. He jumped from a 100-foot (30 meter) high cliff behind his house in Bonghwa. Roh was rushed to a hospital in Busan around 8:15 am and died around 9:30 am (local time in Korea).

In most English articles about his suicide that I read, his death was generally understood in this kind of context:

Former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun admitted that his wife and a relative received six million dollars from a business man Park Yeon-cha during his presidency. Many Koreans were disappointed that he was accused of such allegations of bribery especially when he became a president vowing clean politics.

So is that it? Contrary to his image, this former Korean president Roh shamelessly received the bribes of $6m, felt embarrassed after it’s revealed, and avoided pain and humiliation by committing suicide?

As a Korean who deeply feels sorry about his death, I should shout that’s never it! I feel I should write about it more in detail as much as I know because I think many articles read by non-Koreans are based on the reports from Korea’s mainstream newspapers and broadcasting companies, which many Koreans find unfair and untrustworthy.

The biggest problem here is that the prosecutors were not fair at all in conducting the investigation against him. The investigation “timely” started as Roh’s criticism of the current President Lee Myung-bak became stronger and more effective.

Typically, when the prosecutors start an investigation, they do it because they have suspicion of a crime. That is, they have suspicion first, they find a suspect and then they begin an investigation. But in Roh’s case, they started the investigation first and then tried to find suspicion as if they “wanted to” find a crime. That’s why the investigation was even nicknamed as “afflicting Roh Moo-hyun”.

They continued the investigation for weeks without any apparent evidence, very frequently, almost everyday “kindly” leaking unestablished suspicions against Roh to the media so that the conservative media could join in “afflicting Roh Moo-hyun”.

Even some prosecutors inside opposed the investigation, pointing out that there was no political base to charge him with the bribery in regard to the money that his wife took. Yet, the Prosecutor’s Office added several more prosecutors as weeks went by and continued the investigation to find whatever little dust they could find.

Let’s closely look at the allegations against Roh.

The prosecutors’ allegations against former President Roh Moo-hyun were that he was involved with six million dollar bribes: during his presidency, his niece’s husband had received five million dollars and his wife, Kwon Yang-sook had received one million dollars, both from Taekwang Industrial Chairman Park Yeon-cha.

For the five million dollar bribe, the prosecutors themselves admitted that it was a legitimate investment. For the other million dollar bribe that Roh’s wife received, the prosecutors announced a far-fetched report: the president Roh called Park Yeon-cha and “asked for” the money, and Park wired the money to a USA bank account.

According to Roh’s wife Kwon, she received money to pay their son’s tuition and down payment for a condo from Park Yeon-cha, who’s a very close family friend and a long-lasting supporter.

Why did they wire the money between two bank accounts that are apparently so easy to trace with their real names? Or if they were kind of people who would take a bribe of one million dollars to help their children study, why didn’t they embezzle the president’s public activity funds? It’s well known that Roh often donated the most of the public activity funds to the poor and not-haves during his presidency.

Like this, the prosecutors couldn’t prove that the money was received for a political compensation or Roh’s involvement in this.

Of course, as a wife of a country’s president, Kwon should have known better and been more careful in making such a decision especially when Roh was trying so hard to set examples of clean politics. I don’t think that this was something that several of Korea’s top prosecutors should spend time on for months. But they did it anyway and they “believed” that they proved the money was a bribe for an obvious political interest. Then, why didn’t they indict Kwon when they found it out in February?

To me, it’s inevitable to think that from the beginning their target was not Kwon or other family members, but former President Roh.

According to a former top aide, Roh did not know about this money till February, this year, and he almost fainted when he heard about the news from his former representative - he’d been already physically weak because of the pressure and stress caused by the investigation that had been lasting for months.

Because Roh tried so hard to break the cycle of corruptions during his presidency and for his whole life, he could not bear the dishonor that he and his family caused to Koreans. He believed that he and his family wouldn’t have problems in legally defending against the allegations, but morally he felt very remorseful about what happened. On his community blog, he posted an apology to Koreans that he damaged his morality and he couldn’t be a symbol of the values that Koreans pursue any more.

When he left for Seoul for the investigation on April 30, he apologized to the Koreans again for the disappointment that he caused. He also wished the investigation would be concluded faster with his cooperation whether there would be indictment or not.

Yet, the prosecutors intensified the investigation and put off any indictment decision for days, directing the conservative media to pursue the alleged accusations against him and his family.

“Thanks to” their voluntary leaks, the newspapers and broadcasting companies kept themselves busy driving Roh and his family to the corner of deadlock, “surveiling” his every action for 23 days. As he posted on his blog, he had to live his last days as if he had been imprisoned.

Roh devoted himself in establish an independent Prosecutors’ Office after a long history of the vicious cycle of corruption. It was such a shame that his efforts and accomplishments were thrown away, and the Korea’s Prosecutor’s Office has become a meek subordinate staff of the corrupted and prejudiced political power.

Koreans have so many reasons to believe that it was a political investigation from the beginning and Roh’s death is rather a “political murder” directed by Cheongwadae with the assistance of the prosecutors on the land of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism that he fought to break for his whole life!

Cheongwadae: The Blue House, Korea’s president’s office and official residence

Mt. Geumo (Mt. Keumo, Komosan)
3202 feet (976meter). Located in Kumi, Kyungsang-bukdo, S. Korea.

The mountain is full of steep cliffs and rocks and hiking to the top can be tough even though it’s only a 1.3 mile trail. At the end of the Goryeo dynasty, they built fortress walls, Geomo Sansung, to prevent Japanese invasion. Some of traces of the fortress walls can be easily spotted during hiking.

For non-hikers, there is a cable car that runs every 15 minutes till sunset (in winter, till 17:30). I think the cable car runs to Myunggeum Watherfall, but not sure. It usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes to get to Mt. Geumo by taxi from Kumi bus terminal or train station. Also, No. 12 bus is one that runs to Mt. Geumo only.

Official Mt. Keumo Website: http://www.geumo.net/

- A Fortress Wall (Built in Goryeo dynasty between 918-1392)

I love Mt. Keumo not simply because it’s located in Kumi, my hometown, but because it’s very personal to me.

When there was not enough food or not enough of anything in early 20th century during colonization, my grandfather walked more than three miles to get to the mountain and gathered up firewood. He sold the firewood to buy food for his family. Illegal or not, the Geumo mountain was a line of life of his family.

When I was twelve, my late uncle took my brother and me to the mountain, and we all hiked to the top. I was a type of a girl who spent the most of her awake time sitting still, not moving or exercising much. Naturally, it wasn’t a smooth hiking for me. But I did it at last, and when I had a great view of my hometown Kumi from the top, I started to feel good about myself. It was a great feeling.

Many grad schools in Kumi have an excursion to Mt. Keumo once every six months. At least, that’s how it worked when I was a kid. It might not have been a fun for my mom to prepare all kind of snacks, including kimbap, or it might not sound that much fun, but it certainly was a pleasant event for me to go to Mt. Keumo instead of to go to a boring classroom.

When I got old enough to make friends from other cities, I invited them and hiked in the mountain. The farthest point that we usually made was the cascade of the mountain, Daehye Flying Fall. Actually, I’ve made trips to the fall countless times with my parents, sister and brother, relatives and friends.

The mountain is very personal to me and brings me a lot of fun memories.

Yet, I hiked to the top of Mt. Keumo only once with my late uncle and brother.

So, last fall when I visited Korea, I hiked Mt. Kuemo with mom for the second time.

Don’t forget to get Mt. Geumo Tourism Guide from the entrance. It’s free and it’s still helpful even though English description is limited.

- Three Stone Pagodas

- A Gate of Geumo Sansung (Fortress Wall)

- There is a small exercise area. Mom’s working out hard!

- Daehye Pokpo (Daehye Flying Fall) aka Myeonggeum Pokpo (Myunggeum Waterfall)

- Their milestones are pretty well done.

- Mom climbing Halttak Gogae (Can’t-breath-any-more-hill). Quite steep. (I love the name! Ask your Korean friends how it’s named.)

- There is a good vista point after Halttak Gogae.

- There are more than twenty point sticks on the trail.

- Frog Rock!

- This helicopter parking lot is not used any more.

- Yaksa-am entrance, bunch of hikers having lunch in the shade. We had good talks about Mt. Keumo and hiking.

- Bell in Yaksaam. Unfortunately, it’s not allowed to walk to the bell.

- Yaksaam (Yaksa Temple)

- The rocks worry me…

It’s said that Yaksaam was build in the Silla Dynasty (57BC ~ 935AD). It’s amazing that they built such a temple accompanying the rocks perfectly.

- Just the same way three pagodas were built.

Mom and I had some errands to take care of in the afternoon, so we skipped a few spots such as Doseon Cave and Maaebosal Ipsang. But these spots are definitely recommended.

One of the good things about living outside Korea is that I’m rarely called ‘ajumma’. I guess I’ve just admitted that I don’t want to be called ajumma. However, believe it or not, I don’t have strong resistance against being ajumma - because I am, but I’d be still surprised a little bit if someone bluntly calls me ajumma in a market or café. I’m not quite ready for that yet only because I haven’t experienced it a lot.

Am I making it too big a deal to be called ajumma? Maybe. Am I subconsciously fearful about being called ajumma? Um… The thing is the word doesn’t show respect toward married women in Korea.

The literal meaning of ajumma is ‘married women’ or unofficially ‘women who look old enough to get married’ (it’s common that people are heavily judged by their appearance in Korea).

The actual meaning of the word is a lot more than that. It’s kind of a label for women who are chubbier and have short curly perm hair, so called ‘ajumma pama’, as if taking care of their hair is the last thing that they want to pay attention to, women who can sprint faster than Ben Johnson for a spot in a jammed subway or bus, women who don’t mind yelling at a vendor for bargaining, women who cut in in a long line, or women who grab another woman’s hair to show she’s right.

- Kim Ji-young from Forever the Moment (u-saeng-sun) shows the power of ajumma so well along with other heroines. The picture shows what ajumma pama is.

Of course this is not at all how I want to define ajumma, but this is how married Korean women have been described in a typical Korean context with the name of ajumma.

When the society mocks or contempts ajumma group like that, it’s certainly not being considered that they have to run for a vacancy because most of them are just so tired working two jobs - their regular nine-to-whenever job during the day and their job as a housewife during the night at home. It’s not being considered that their hair is actually the least important thing in their lives because their income is already held for kids’ tuition, medicine, clothings, food and so on. It’s not being considered that they get chubbier because they usually manage their dinner late at night after all the house work and don’t have workout time. Oh, there is a magic of huge drop of metabolism.

It’s not productive that I become cynical about the culture and ask questions like why the word ‘ajeossi‘ to address male adults who are married or look old enough to get married doesn’t imply this kind of hostility, why Korea hasn’t moved on that much from patriarchal norms or why Koreans still bicker each other based on gender and age.

The Korean culture is actually changing. Less and less ajummas focus only on their or their family’s interests when they do have to consider other people.  It is never right for ajumma or whatever group of people to put their own comfort or interest on top of everything no matter what.

I’d just like to see non-Koreans understand the meaning and the context of the word better when they encounter a situation to use the word. (I ran into a blog where its blogger complained how uncivilized ajummas are in Korea and it has been bothering me.)

The word ajumma(아줌마) is also used to address a female employee in a store or restaurant when she “looks” married - probably you won’t know if she’s actually married because Koreans don’t care wearing a wedding ring . The polite form of this word is ajumeoni(아주머니).

But to be safe you can say ‘jeogiyo(저기요)’ or ‘yeogiyo(여기요)’ to get their attention. They mean ‘there’ and ‘here’ respectively. These two words can be used both for male and female. Because of all the prejudices above explained, there is a slight chance that you might have to wait for your dish double times when you call them ‘ajumma’.

Most of those who work in a Korean restaurant in the USA will understand ‘excuse me’. I guess that’s the safest bet.

- Mom with an ox in 1960.

Why am I always reminded of big plaintive eyes whenever I hear of hwangso(ox)? Well, it’s because oxen do have big round eyes. Then, why sadness?

It’s hard to clearly point out the reasons. There is something sad about the way they “open and close” their eyes. To me, it’s different from blinking. It looks like they close the world, pause there for a tiny bit of a second, and then open their eyes to the world again. Somehow that looks doleful to me.

Maybe it’s also because of the way they moo or “cry” - in Korean, we say they cry. Their cry eummae and that just sounds mournful. Probably it’s because oxen have a deep and low voice.

Maybe it’s because of this famous painting by Lee Joong-seop.

Or maybe it’s because oxen work so hard, at least in the traditional Korean society. Until the late 19th century, Korea was an agrarian society and the significance of oxen was great in the farming. Farmers used oxen to plow the land and carry carts of the crops, farming tools or people.

That’s why Koreans say that if you were born in the year of ox, it’s the best that you would be born during the night time because it’s the only time when oxen can rest. I was born in the year of ox and I
believe I was born early in the morning. My mom says it’s not as good as the night time, but still a better time to be born in the year of ox.

 

It’s funny that it looks like that I have to work hard to get by like most oxen in the old Korean days no matter what time I was born. Or maybe most ordinary people in this modern age have to work hard to survive or succeed. Working, working, working…

At least hwangso(ox) in the old Korean society was always valuable. An ox was generally one of top assets in a farmer’s family. It was the main capital that a family could rely on. With this capital, parents sent their children to schools and even supported them in getting married in the traditional days or even in the early 20th century.

Now, the value of Korean oxen has significantly dropped. Korean farmers didn’t need oxen for farming any more when better and more efficient machines were introduced. When Korea started to import cheaper US or Australian beef for eating, even its importance and popularity in beef industry have decreased too.

Yeah, they are not even eaten much in Korea. Considering the devotion that they had to make for Korean families, these changes are definitely sad. Maybe that’s why they still look sad even in this modern time.

=========================

I’ve heard that this Korean independent movie “Old Partners(Warnangsori)” about an ox and its owner is receiving very good reviews. I Can’t wait to see it!

=========================

Asian Zodiac

1.자(子, Mouse or rat), 2.축(丑, Ox), 3.인(寅, Tiger), 4.묘(卯, Rabbit),
5.진(辰, Dragon), 6.사(巳, Snake) , 7.오(午, Horse), 8.미 (未, Sheep),
9.신(申, Monkey), 10.유(酉, Rooster), 11.술(戌, Dog), 12.해(亥, Pig)

According to an old myth, on one new year’s day, the above twelve animals were told to race to compete for the heaven’s positions. Even if all the animals prepared for the race very hard, the ox was the most diligent one and expected to win the race. The mouse figured out that it would never win the race because of its size, and came up with a trick. It jumped on the ox when the race began and jumped down to the finish line a second before the ox got there. Hence, the mouse got the first, the ox the second and the rest of them followed in the above order.

But it’s more convincing that the order was determined according to their role in time and direction - this Asian zodiac also applies to the hours of a day. The animals were picked up for their time based on how many toes they have and what time they are the most active.

Traditional Korean Horary Signs

1.자(子, Mouse or rat) 23 ~ 01 when mice get most active
2.축(丑, Ox), 01 ~ 03 when oxen get ready to work
3.인(寅, Tiger), 03 ~ 05 when tigers get most valiant
4.묘(卯, Rabbit), 05 ~ 07 when rabbits are shown in the moon (Korean myth that rabbits live in the moon)
5.진(辰, Dragon), 07 ~ 09 when dragons fly and get ready to make rain
6.사(巳, Snake) , 09 ~ 11 when snakes are asleep and not harmful to people
7.오(午, Horse), 11 ~ 13
8.미 (未, Sheep), 13 ~ 15 when sheep eat weeds, resulting more weeds growing
9.신(申, Monkey), 15 ~ 17 when monkeys cry most
10.유(酉, Rooster), 17 ~ 19 when roosters get back to their nest
11.술(戌, Dog), 19 ~ 21 when dogs start to guard the house
12.해(亥, Pig) 21 ~ 23 when pigs are having sound sleep