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Personal Development

"Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it,
than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes
to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate
or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful,
evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced
with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him
who has the vision to recognize it as such."
—  H E N RY  M I L L E R

Korea’s new ambassador meets Kurdistan’s leaders on first visit to Erbil

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (KRG.org) – In his first visit to the Kurdistan Region, this week Korea’s ambassador to Iraq met President Masoud Barzani, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and senior government officials to congratulate the new cabinet and discuss ways of enhancing bilateral ties.

Ambassador Heyon Meyong Kim met President Barzani to discuss how to strengthen bilateral relations between Korea and the Kurdistan Region. President Barzani said, ‘Korea is an important and advanced country and has a valued position within the international community. We hope that we can benefit from your experience and encourage Korean business to establish a strong presence in our region.’

The Republic of Korea currently has an Embassy Office in Erbil and is headed by Consul General Joo Joong Chul.

Over time and through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Korea has offered training and scholarship programmes to officials in the Kurdistan Regional Government. Ambassador Kim said, ‘I’m very impressed by the excellent leadership of Kurdistan that has led to so much progress, and I hope this leadership will lead to further peace and prosperity for the Kurdish people and that it will spread to other parts of Iraq as well. And, in this process, I think that the Korean experience in development is very important, and we want to share it with Kurdistan.’

The President congratulated Ambassador Kim on his new assignment and confirmed his readiness to support his mission in Iraq in order to ensure its success.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Nerchivan Barzani, Ambassador Kim congratulated him on the formation of the seventh cabinet and said that he was pleased with the KRG’s ongoing efforts to reach out to the international community and for its support to the private sector. He said, ‘Political security and economic growth are the key elements of a progressive people, and I am impressed with the ongoing progress of Kurdistan.’

Prime Minister Barzani congratulated the ambassador on his new assignment and reflected on the previous Korean Zaytun Division that was based in Kurdistan, saying their contributions to local communities played a strong role in establishing political and economic ties between the two sides. He added that the KRG appreciated KOICA’s ongoing technical assistance and human capacity programmes to the people of Kurdistan.

The ambassador also met with the Head of KRG’s Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Falah Mustafa, to discuss Korea’s positive contributions to Kurdistan and its people. He said, ‘Our employees have benefited greatly from the courses and scholarship programmes that KOICA provides. We want to encourage further exchanges of visits between us and also invite technical experts to provide knowledge and experience in the fields of agriculture, industry and tourism.’

Fantastic Philosophical Hub

Night life in Korea: work dinner, norae-bang, age denial

I’ve decided to start sharing more about my cultural experiences in Korea.  I figure, this also makes for a more “colorful” and interesting blog.

After work dinners are quite the norm here.  There is no happy hour because it appears Koreans feel that any hour (any day) is a good hour for drinking.

Work dinners typically comprise of a lot of meat, garlic, onions, spicy paste, a few leafs of lettuce (to wrap around the garlic/onion/meat goodness) and a whole lot of soju and beer.  Basically, I can’t eat anything. I’m not a fan of stocking up on onions and garlic because not only does that do a number on the breath, it also does a number on the way a person smells.

I decided to venture to the Korean dominated table and had a conversation with my branch manager, the head honcho, of our academy:

Me: “How are things?”

Him: “ohh like crap!”  said with a Korean accent and a smiling face

Me: not really sure how to respond, “oh really?”

Him: laughing, “Yeah, everyday always smashed! I’ve been so stressed out.  Always the same thing, work all day, drink every night.”

This is an odd conversation for multiple reasons.  First of all, in America, your boss would never tell you if he’s having a truly bad day, nor would he admit that he gets wasted every night.  However, we’re in Korea here and it is anything but unusual.

The past two weekends, I’ve felt the urge to experience the night life  and have been a bit more adventurous.  I still have no desire to intermingle much with the expat drinking scene and pretty much avoid those areas altogether.  You know, gotta go where the locals go for real culture.

My closest girlfriend leaves Korea in a month and I’m trying to maximize our moments.  Saturday night, commenced with Japanese ramen, a huge thing of sake and then my Korean girlfriend convincing me to go to a singing room. Yes, I’m talking the norae-bang, busting out karaoke style.

We walk down stairs, into what appears to be a seedy underground club where you could rent rooms and do inappropriate things to hookers.  However, each room was really clean and set up with a huge flat screen, a nice trendy couch, a table, a light up floor (for dancing), two microphones and books in Japanese, Korean and English to choose your songs.

One hour later, two really bad renditions of “Hotel California” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” I realized a) I have no businesses singing and b)neither does anyone else in the bulding.

On my way out of the bathroom, I ran into a cute (yes, the asian’s are growing on me) Korean guy.  He, of course, spoke no English, but I knew was asking for my number and if I could speak Korean.  I also knew he was younger than me.  The one thing I’ve noticed, other than the brutal honesty, they ask you for your phone number even before getting your name.  His friends spoke some bad English and next thing I knew, we were in their singing room having a choppy conversation.

The whole honesty thing is really getting to me here.  As I’ve mentioned before, they will tell you that you look old, fat, ugly, tired, etc quite often.  My students, as young as 9, are aware of their too largely, rounded face, short legs, fat body, large forehead, small lips, not white enough skin, and so on, so forth.  In my semi-inebriated state, I decided to lie about my age and said I was 25 (I know, I know, I’m still 26), but the point is, this whole age nonsense is getting to me.

I realized later, I’m too young to be lying about my age already.

Reason #20 why I can’t live in east Asia forever.

Iraqi Kurdistan eager for Korean investment

Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- Erbil, The capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, is known to us only as the base of the Zaytun Unit, a contingent of Korean troops. In fact, Erbil is a growing market in the Middle East. With reconstruction underway, the Kurdistan autonomous region of Iraq has become a new economic battleground for multinational corporations. The Korean government banned Koreans from traveling to Iraq after the beheading of Kim Sun-il in 2004, but since February it has been issuing limited permits for travel to Erbil. 

Some 3,700 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq since 2003, but American businessmen are still rushing into the country. It's common to see young men in sunglasses speeding through the streets in Toyotas or Land Cruisers with the Stars and Stripes emblazoned on their doors.

Some 400 multinationals from the U.S., Britain, Turkey, Dubai, and even Norway have arrived in Erbil. The hotel occupancy rate downtown exceeds 90 percent. A Lebanese enterprise is building a giant shopping mall in the center of town with an investment of some W1 trillion (US$1=W944). 

Why is Erbil, a city with no serviceable factories, so popular? Oil. Iraqi Kurdistan sits on a huge oil field, estimated to hold six percent of the entire world's oil deposits and 40 percent of Iraq's oil reserves. In addition, security here is relatively better than it is in other regions of Iraq. Thus Erbil is functioning as an outpost for companies looking to advance into the other Iraqi regions in the future. 

Local residents are very interested in Korean companies. Not long ago senior officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government invited a group of Koreans to dinner. During the dinner, the Korean soap "Stairway to Heaven" was playing on the TV. 

The tablecloth featured the logo of the Red Devils, supporters of the Korean national soccer squad, along with the word "Corea." "The Koreans are our friends," the Kurdish government officials stressed. 

The successes of the Zaytun Unit have left a favorable impression on the Kurds, but the Korean business presence in the area is still negligible. 

The most Korean companies have done in the region is small-scale construction projects, including a government hospital being built by the Korea International Cooperation Agency. "Within the Kurdistan Regional Government, the atmosphere is much more favorable to Korea than to Turkey, the U.S., Britain or China," said Sinjari, the chairman of KoriKurdi, a Korean-Iraqi joint venture. 

"The government is very regretful that Korean businesses have so little presence here." 

chosun com 

Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule in part of the country. Today's teenagers are the first generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In the new Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan region. Kurdistan region has all the trappings of an independent state -- its own constitution, its own parliament, its own flag, its own army, its own border, its own border patrol, its own national anthem, its own education system, its own International airports, even its own stamp inked into the passports of visitors.

Another KAIST student takes his own life

By Kim Rahn

A sophomore from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) committed suicide at his home in Incheon, Thursday ― the fourth suicide related to the school this year.

A yogurt delivery woman found the body of the student, 19-year-old Park, at the entrance of his apartment building at 1:20 p.m. and reported it to police.

Park obtained a leave of absence from the school Wednesday. 

Police suspect Park killed himself by jumping from the apartment building, given that he submitted a diagnosis of depression to the school when applying for the leave. His sweater and wallet were found on the 21st floor of the building.

Park’s death came after three students also took their own lives earlier this year. KAIST students blamed the school’s scholarship and credit system which they claim drives them to severe competition.

School President Suh Nam-pyo said he would abolish the controversial scholarship system, which imposes tuition to students whose grades are poor, starting next semester. KAIST students are exempted from tuition in principle, but 12.9 percent of them paid tuition last year due to poor

performancesrahnita@koreatimes.co.kr