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Korea Herald

[Kim Seong-kon] Standing before the sign, 'not a through street'

When I lived in New York a long time ago, I frequently saw street signs marked 'dead end' here and there. While I stayed in Provo, Utah, for one year, I saw 'cul-de-sac' road signs before dead-end alleys. Now I am living in Hanover, New Hampshire, where I frequently see another sign: 'not a through street.' 'Dead end' sounds intimidating because it implies that there is no way out and you are stuck there. Naturally, you are likely to be frustrated, dismayed and may even despair when you reach a dead end. 'Cul-de-sac,' which means 'bottom of the bag' in French, metaphorically suggests the 'end of the road.' Compared to them, 'not a through street' sounds much more neutral, just inferring that you need to turn around and come back on the same pathway if you enter. These days, many Koreans who support conservatism seem to feel that South Korea is now facing a 'dead end,' perhaps due to the ramifications of losing the recent presidential election. It is undeniable that South Korea is now confronting unprecedented crises, both domestic and overseas. For example, the country is currently caught at a crossfire between two superpowers that ask sternly, 'Whose side are you on?' South Korea also must survive the technological challenges from its neighboring countries that would directly affect its economy. Undoubtedly, two of the most urgent issues South Korea must tackle today are, firstly, the heavy tariffs the US wants to impose on Korean products and, secondly, the cost-sharing of the US troops stationed in Korea, which will be astronomical if the Korean government consents to the demands of Washington. Both will hurt the Korean economy severely if negotiations are protracted and enter a dead-end alley. South Korea is also concerned about the change of status of the US troops in Korea, from countering North Korea to expanding its operations to East Asia. All in all, the future voyage of South Korea seems to be perilous due to hidden reefs and torpedoes in its passages. However, not everything is grim and gloomy. For example, Reuters recently reported that the US wants South Korea to join efforts to counter its adversary in shipbuilding. If so, shipbuilding will surely bridge South Korea and the US in the future. In the cultural sphere, the future of South Korea looks bright, too. In Travel + Leisure, Thessaly La Force wrote about her experience at the international art fair in Seoul. The title of her article was 'Asia's New Art Capital Is Flashier and More Fabulous Than Miami or Basel — Here's What to Know.' The worldwide popularity of Hallyu, too, assuages the Korean people's anxiety about the future of their country. Recently, I came across a YouTube video in which the YouTuber introduced the touching story of Olivia Sinclair, a features writer and video journalist for the BBC. She flew to South America to cover the K-pop concert held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with her cameraperson, Nigel. Sinclair was an advocate of individualism, 'high art' and highbrow Western culture. Naturally, she was critical of K-pop, which, she thought, was tainted by noise, uniformity and totalitarianism. During the concert, the steel arch structure supporting the big screen on stage collapsed, causing Nigel to become seriously wounded. He required an immediate blood transfusion. The problem was that he had hemophilia and Rh-AB blood. Unfortunately, Rh-AB blood was not available. But while Sinclair agonized in despair, Koreans in Brazil came in as saviors: using social media, they tried very hard to locate Koreans who had the rare Rh-AB blood and finally succeeded in bringing several people to the hospital just in time and saved Nigel's life. Watching their sincere and tremendous efforts to help strangers, Sinclair was deeply moved by the Korean 'bonding' with and 'jeong' for others who needed help. The YouTuber said that Sinclair's experience in Brazil changed her perspective completely. In the past, Sinclair found in K-pop concerts nothing but factory-made smiles, mechanical movements and collective action that did not allow individuality. Now, she realized that Korean unity was, in fact, a beautiful human bond among individuals. She discovered that Korean unity had diversity and thus a nicely accomplished harmony. In Sinclair's eyes, the group-friendly culture of Korea creates 'fences' for individuals to protect them, not to oppress them. At the K-pop concert, therefore, Sinclair found 'harmony,' instead of 'noise,' and the 'community spirit,' instead of 'totalitarianism.' Just like Sinclaire did, we, too, should perceive positive things in our country, instead of negative things. If our culture brings empathy, sympathy and harmony to the globe, we cannot give up our hope for the bright future of South Korea just yet. We may not have entered a 'dead end" road yet. Perhaps we are simply standing before a sign marked, 'not a through street.' If so, we can turn back and take a broad street instead, which will take us to our destination safely.