| [ HUFSan ] in KIDS 글 쓴 이(By): HUFSan (무지개) 날 짜 (Date): 1998년 8월 16일 일요일 오후 01시 15분 10초 제 목(Title): time지 한국건국50주년 전문1/ At the dawn of its second half-century as a republic, Korea is looking to the old virtues for help in the tough times that lie ahead BY DONALD MACINTYRE Seoul o understand why millions of Koreans stayed up until dawn to watch 20-year-old golf sensation Pak Se Ri win the U.S. Women's Open in July, consider how she got where she is today. When Pak was a teenager, her family couldn't afford to send her to a gym. So she strengthened her legs by running up and down 15 flights of stairs in her neighbor's apartment building. Korea's golf courses are priced for the rich, so Pak practiced her bunker shots from the sandy banks of a reservoir near her home. To toughen her nerves, her dad even made her practice her swing in the deserted cemetery where her grandfather is buried. Her plucky example was a welcome tonic for a country that has had little to cheer about lately amid one of the worst economic crises in its 50-year history. For Koreans, Pak made it big thanks to the same traditional values on which their resource-poor country has always relied: grit, self-sacrifice and a taste for hard work. Says Park Young Moon, a sports commentator for the Korean Broadcasting System: "Se Ri proved to Koreans that our can-do spirit can get us through these tough times." There is another reason Pak's success resonates so deeply with Koreans. When she started to pull down trophies as a young adult, a corporate sponsor eventually paid for a workout room and plenty of time on the greens. But still she didn't start doing things the easy way. The obvious choice was the Japanese golf circuit, where Pak would have cleaned up. Instead, she headed to the U.S. to test her mettle in the toughest league in the world. So when Pak sank the winning U.S. Open putt, many of her compatriots saw a hopeful metaphor for their country's chances in a tough new era of free markets and global competition. The economic crisis has shattered Koreans' confidence in their home-grown brand of crony capitalism. And it hammered home a message: traditionally closed to the outside world, Korea must open up or fall behind. As Koreans race to reinvent themselves, Pak's win gave a gloomy nation a welcome shot of confidence. The country's most famous dissident, now sitting in the presidential Blue House, is a great fan of Pak's--and the chief cheerleader for a more open, outward-looking Korea. Since coming to office in February, Kim Dae Jung has pushed his vision of a free-market economy balanced with the kind of democracy he has fought for decades to install. The President has set the tone for the great national debate now unfolding, stressing the need for reconciliation as this country of 47 million people puts its sometimes bitter past behind it. Not everybody is buying Kim's blueprint, of course. But Koreans mostly agree on the need for a decisive break with the past. "Korea is at a crossroads," says Kim Jong In, a former presidential adviser on the economy. "Now that we have a consensus, this is a great opportunity for reform." So as South Korea this week prepares to mark its 50th anniversary as a republic, the world should take note. The country may currently be in the rough--gross domestic product is expected to decline by 4% this year--but a more robust democracy and a stronger economy could emerge from today's turmoil. Surviving the crisis is the biggest priority for most Koreans right now. But here and there are signs of what the new Korea may look like. For a preview, take a stroll through the bustling streets of Seoul's fashionable Myongdong district. Ten years ago, its lively pubs and restaurants served only Korean beer. The market was tightly closed to imports, and the Doosan conglomerate's OB brand was the national brew. These days, flashy ads for Budweiser, Heineken and Corona plaster the walls of Myongdong watering holes, competing for space with a clutch of domestic brands. What's more, even OB isn't as Korean as it used to be. The young people glugging tankards of the stuff may not know it, but Doosan sold control of Korea's best-known beer to a foreign company in June. Cover: Photograph for TIME by Shonna Valeska. Hair and Makeup by Tomasina. Styling by Mario Wilson. -Warren G, DRU Hill, Graham Bonnet, Boyz List, Boston Kickout, Areosmith,Shawn Colvin, FireHouse, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Toni Braxton, Kenny G, Mark Owen, Donna Lewis, Scolpions, Gloria Estefan, REm, Suede, Enya, Take That...n' HUFSan |