In this article I argue that the Korean concept of “seonbi” could be a global norm equal to “samurai,” “ninja” and “knight” and serve as a model for the entire world. The concept of “seonbi” an ideal for the integration of learning and action, proper behavior and moral commitment is quite appealing, but has not been seriously introduced globally.
Korea Economic News
April 21, 2012
한국경제신문
2012년4월21일
Beijing is one of my favorite cities. I recently visited as part of the Future Forest effort to fight desertification through the planting of trees. I picked up a fascinating booklet at that time that describes plans for extensive new real estate developments. Let us start by looking at traditional Beijing and its narrow alleys known as “hutong.” These hutong roads are rapidly disappearing as part of contemporary progress.
I cannot count the number of times that I have heard friends, people from a background similar to my own, remark to themselves, after an election, or just in an idle moment, “I can’t believe how stupid American voters are!” The assumption behind such comments is that ordinary Americans stupidly vote for the demagogues who lie to them so blatantly and that such pathetic behavior is shocking. Also implied by the comment is that we, we cultivated and educated Americans, can see so clearly through the falsehoods and we are much superior to such people.
This article argues that there is much of the democratic tradition in Korea that can be traced back far beyond the democracy movement of the 1980s, back into the Joseon period of the 17th and 18th centuries. The argument may seem somewhat obscure to some, but I would argue that if we see democracy in terms of the balance of power, Korea has a powerful and old tradition that deserves to be treated seriously, and emulated around the world. The Korean model is particularly relevant for China today.
Emanuel will be a discussant on Saturday, March 17, 2012, at a symposium concerning the “DMZ International Peace Residency” established adjacent to the DMZ near Yeoncheon by the Institute for Modern Art of Kyung Hee University.
Here is a short description of the event:
The Institute for Modern Art at Kyung Hee University, taking as its subject the “wound of global conflict” that defines the division of the Korean Peninsula strives to imagine how we can use culture and art to heal that wound.