Sungkyunkwan University English Magazine

Vol.355 Monthly NOVEMBER 2015

It Was Nice Meeting You, The Bridge of Life

Jeonse Crisis: Koreans Struggle to Find a Home Long and Winding Road: European Refugee CrisisFour Legged Angel, Blood-Transfusing Dog

C O N T E N T S November 2015 Vol.355 MonthlySungkyunkwan University English Magazine

07 Drawing Beauty, Giving Confidence First Generation Makeup Artist, Kim Sun Jin

15 Long and Winding Road: European Refugee Crisis

26 My Public Transportation, Faster Than Walking, Cheaper Than Taxi

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04 SKKU News

07 Drawing Beauty, Giving Confidence: First Generation Makeup Artist, Kim Sun Jin

10 It Was Nice Meeting You, The Bridge of Life

12 Jeonse Crisis: Koreans Struggle to Find a Home

15 Long and Winding Road: European Refugee Crisis

20 Sportsmanship: Dignity Beneath Heated Competition

22 Me-too Strategy: An Attractive, yet Dangerous Marketing Strategy

24 A Farewell to Pines

26 My Public Transportation: Faster Than Walking, Cheaper Than Taxi

29 With Great Label, Comes Great Work

32 Hanbok, Mesmerizing Beauty, Dragged into Present

34 Vaccination: Right or Obligation?

36 Four Legged Angel, Blood-Transfusing Dog

Editor’s LETTER

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.” - Alexander Graham Bell

November is the second to last month of the year. It is now time to think about the goals we made on New Year’s Day. Some might have achieved their goals, but some might already feel that they have failed. When people think they have failed to achieve their goal, no matter how much time is left, they often give up. Those people might think that it is too late to achieve the goal and pass it over to next year. This attitude, however, should be avoided. We should not be obsessed with the failures from the past, but rather should focus on the new opportunities we are to face.

Let Bygones Be Bygones

The Sungkyun Times is the official English newsmagazine of Sungkyunkwan University. Established on June 15, 1970, the Sungkyun Times is published monthly throughout the academic year except the summer and the winter vacations.

Publisher President Kyu Sang Chung

Publishing Office Sungkyunkwan University

Director Professor JaeWon Kim

Copy Editor Rachel DockeryEditor-in-Chief Wonchul Shin

Editors Eunsun Shim, Dongeun Lee

Hyung Jun ChoiStaff Reporters

Yoonhee Hwang, Hyo Min Choi, Heejeong Seo, Yesol Choi, Dahyun Lee

Cub ReportersYuhyun Lim, Donghwan Kim, Dongwon Lee, Juyoung Kim, Changwan Kang, Seyon Park,Seunghee Kang, Jaeeun Lee, Yonghee Lim

Voice ActorsJin-hee Park , Jong-june Lee

Designed and Printed by Jeung Design

Editorial Office located in Humanities and Social Sciences CampusSungkyunkwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03063, Korea Editorial Office located in Natural Sciences Campus Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do 16419, Korea Tel. 82-2-760-1246 / 82-31-290-5371E-mail sungkyuntimes@gmail.com Website http://skt.skku.edu

Readers’ Opinion The Sungkyun Times is always glad to hear your comments and suggestions. Please send your opinion via e-mail to sungkyuntimes @gmail.com and our website.Join the SKT You are eligible to join The Sungkyun Times if you are a student of Sungkyunkwan University and you want to be a reporter for the official English newsmagazine. We recruit new members at the beginning of every semester.

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By Wonchul Shin, Editor-in-Chief

swonchul@skku.edu

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SKKU NEWS By Hyo Min Choihyominchoi@skku.edu

Sungkyunkwan University to Offer Software Education to Students

Starting from the 2016 school year, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) is to offer software (SW) education programs not only to those majoring in related subjects, but to students admitted into the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as the Department of Fine Arts. For these students, the SW education program will focus on teaching computational thinking rather than the more technical programming skills that are required of students majoring in programming �elds. Computational thinking refers to the process of defining the core points of a problem and logically organizing data in order to come up with a generic answer to an open-ended question. The process of receiving SW education is divided into three distinct categories. First year students will be required to take at least two SW courses in order to ful�ll the required liberal arts credits. Students who are already enrolled in SKKU and are in need of basic SW education will be able to receive an SW certi�cation mark on their diplomas once they obtain 18 credits in SW-related subjects, while obtaining 36 credits will be accepted as an interdisciplinary program, which is separate from a double major, for students who wish to deepen their knowledge of the SW �eld.

High Performance Transistors Constructed from Opening Band Gaps in Graphene

A team of researchers, led by Professor Young Hee Lee at Sungkyunkwan University and the Institute for Basic Science, has developed a new method to construct graphene-based transistors by opening a band gap in graphene. Graphene, while it has great potential to be used as a transistor, has no band gap, which means that it does not have an “off” state and is always conducting electricity. However, by artificially creating a band gap, an energy barrier is formed, and it becomes possible to control when electricity is conducted, allowing for use as a transistor. Scientists open a band gap in bilayer graphene by applying a vertical electric

�eld, which results in different electric potentials within the layers. While similar studies had been conducted in the past, previous methods had used a dual-side doping technique, in which different chemicals were used on bilayer graphene in order to induce an electric field; nevertheless, the usefulness of this method was limited, as it damaged the structure of graphene. Studies have shown that this new method creates a memory transistor with the highest on-off ratio, jumping from 26 to 76.1, while still maintaining graphene’s

natural conductivity and retaining graphene’s highly ordered structure.

setcor.org

Categories Education Program

Humanities, Social Sciences, Fine Arts Depts.

- Establishment of SSEN (Sungkyun Software Education) to be in charge of the education of non-majoring students

- Mandatory basic SW education (2 lectures, 4 credits) for all freshmen

- Receive an SW certi�cation mark on diplomas after taking 18 credits in SW education

- Accept SW as interdisciplinary program after receiving 36 credits in SW courses

Programming Majors

- From 2017, the software and computer engineering majors will be combined and the student quota raised:

- 50 students from SW major + 85 from comp. engineering + additional 15 = 150 students

Enrollment Standards

- From 2018, a new admission category will be set for students specializing in SW.

- Addition of SW as a subject for essay examinations

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November 2015

Professor Jong-seo Chai Designs Dual Head Gantry Radiotherapy System

Professor Jong-seo Chai of the IT Accelerator Engineering Research Center at Sungkyunkwan University designed a dual head gantry radiotherapy system, which uses X-band frequency accelerators in order to kill cancer cells. A key difference between the dual head gantry system and the preexisting gantry system is that, as the name implies, the dual head gantry system has two heads, which fire radiation beams onto the tumors as opposed to one beam in the gantry system. This cuts the duration of the procedure down by 30% when compared to the preexisting system, which allows patients to recover more quickly and

with less physical strain. Moreover, the x-band frequency is higher than the s-band used in gantry systems, increasing the precision with which the beams hit the tumorous regions and decreasing the damage to the surrounding healthy cells. All the designs for the dual head gantry system have been completed, and researchers are currently working to develop a prototype. If this new radiotherapy system were implemented, it would not only reduce the physical strain that is put on the cancer patients undergoing treatment, but it would also allow for the treatment of early stage cancer, providing a more efficient and affordable cure for patients.

Professor Jae Hyung Park’s Smart Nanoparticles Research Nominated as “Top 100 R&D Performances” of 2015

The research on smart nanoparticles c o n d u c t e d b y P ro f e s s o r J a e Hyung Park of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Engineering has been nominated as the “Top 100 Research and Development (R&D) Performances” of 2015, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Science, Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) and Future Planning. Park’s research on nanoparticles led to the development of smart nanoparticles that could be used in both the diagnosis as well as the treatment of cancer. Given the nature of cancer cells’ preference to low oxygen environments,

Park’s nanoparticles specifically targeted such conditions and injected the treatment directly in the cancer cells. Furthermore, low oxygen environments are also key properties of illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and ischemic brain stroke, which means that these smart nanoparticles could be used to diagnose and treat such illnesses as well. The nomination process for the “Top 100 R&D Performances” began in 2014 with the selection of around fifty thousand R&D projects, chosen by the ministry. The selected works are then evaluated once more by a selection committee composed of corporation members, scholars, and researchers. After strict and careful scrutiny, the top 100 projects are chosen. The inauguration ceremony for the chosen R&D performances was held on October 15 of this year at Gyeonggi Province.

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SKKU NEWS November 2015

Sungkyunkwan University Denies Rumors Regarding the “Pyeongtaek Campus”

S t u d e n t s m a y h a v e heard of a new campus being established in the city of Pyeongtaek, and many rumors arose due to such news. However, according to the section chief of the school ’s Construction Planning team, while the school had indeed considered t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f

inviting external research organizations and promoting cooperation between the school and corporations, it was only

under the condition that the business itself, carried out by the city of Pyeongtaek, was successful. These considerations were made when the city announced the business in 2010, but were abandoned in 2014 when Gyeonggi Province canceled the plans for the business itself. The school emphasized that the recent development plans for Pyeongtaek mentioned in the rumors are unrelated to the school and are led by the city independently. In relation to the rumors about the relocation of certain majors into Pyeongtaek, the section chief explained that even in 2010, when the school was considering the business negotiations, no such plans were mentioned. In conclusion, the school would like to explain that the rumors are indeed just rumors, and that students need not be concerned with them.

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New Faculty Hall to be Established in the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus

Sungkyunkwan University has alluded to the construction of a new building in place of the current Faculty Hall, which the students may have heard being referred to as the “Second Business Hall.” However, according to the school’s Construction Planning team, the building will serve as a new Faculty Hall,

having all the same resources as the current building. These resources include staff rooms for the purpose of education and research, as well as lecture and seminar halls that students may use. While the new Faculty Hall will be located in the same area as the current one, rather than a simple remodeling project, the existing Faculty Hall will be completely demolished and the new building established in its place. Professors will relocate to a temporary Faculty Hall that will be in use until the construction is completed. Though there are rumors about the new building being connected to the Business Hall and the Central Library, speci�cs are still unclear, as a connecting bridge, such as the one between the Humanities and Economics halls, is under strict regulation and rather costly. However, it is certain that if a connection were made, it would only be between the new Faculty Hall and the Business Hall, excluding the Central Library. Construction is to begin mid-March of 2016, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.

The current Faculty Hall in the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus

Plans for the City Business Before Cancellation

Drawing Beauty, Giving Con�denceFirst Generation Makeup Artist, Kim Sun Jin

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Q1. Please introduce yourself to Kingos.Hello, my name is Kim Sun Jin. I entered Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in the year of 1985 and majored in the Department of Art Education. I have worked as a makeup artist since 1989. Makeup is my main work, and I also work for magazines, movies, and advertisements. I am also a CEO of a beauty shop and my own cosmetic brand. Recently, I have expanded my career as a global makeup artist.

Q2. How could you become a makeup artist, even majoring in the Department of Art Education?When I �rst began teaching, I immediately realized that I am not a person who fits in teaching others. Therefore, I changed my path to become a member of a magazine publishing company’s editorial department. During the time I submitted applications and waited to graduate, I thought it would be great to use this time learning how to put on makeup well before I enter into my workplace. That is why I enrolled in a short-term makeup

By HeeJeong Seohjsea216@skku.edu

The scale of the beauty industry is growing faster day by day, and more and more people want to work in this field. Then, here

comes a question: since when did the market of beauty become so prevalent, and how did it develop? Kim Sun Jin, an SKKU graduate, played a leading role in the Korean makeup industry. She is considered as one of the �rst generation makeup artists. Maybe many would have seen her on TV as the wife of famous Korean actor Cho Min Gi, but she �rst became famous as a makeup artist of top-stars such as Sim Eun Ha, Ko So Yeong, and Son Ye Jin. She has now achieved many successful careers. She has earned success as the CEO of CLOE beauty shops, as a professor, as an entrepreneur launching her cosmetic brands, and as a makeup consultant of many famous brands. On the Korean TV show “TAXI,” the program’s MC asked her staff what kind of person Kim Sun Jin is. She answered, “Fast, accurate, and nice.” During an interview with Kim Sun Jin, the Sungkyun Times (SKT) could realize what this phrase meant.

Kim Sun Jin

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course. Then, it started to get more and more exciting. So I changed the short-term makeup course to the regular course. Due to this very coincidental chance, my life has totally changed. Just after graduating from the University, I opened a small studio in front of Ewha Woman’s University without any fearful thought. Soon after, I luckily got an opportunity to study in Paris. These happened quickly, but I did not feel any hardships since the work was so exciting for me.

Q3. At that time, the concept of makeup artist was not clear. Were there any challenges you had to face when choosing your job?I think this uncertainty rather made me excited. The things that I have never expected also became a huge chance for me to do this job. I was a member of SKKU club Yeongsang Chon (Movie Village). I joined the circle because I just loved to watch movies. There were lots of circle seniors who worked in the industry of movies. When they heard about my job, they coincidently connected me to their �eld. These small chances gathered, and they became huge experiences for me. Of course, my parents �rst asked me several times whether it is truly what I want since I gave up the stable life of being a teacher. However, they �nally respected my opinion and trusted me.

Q4. It is amazing that you not only opened your own beauty shop, but also launched your own cosmetic brand. How could you achieve this challenge, and what is your aim?Owning one’s brand is the final goal of any makeup artist. Fortunately, I had a great chance to launch my brand. Since I am a makeup artist, I have my own know-how, such as which colors suit well with each other, or how people could do makeup to look professional while using the least makeup products. Therefore, I pursue products that help anyone do makeup quickly and ef�ciently in the busy modern society.

Q5. Can you tell us what current makeup trend is?To speak frankly, I cannot be sure what the trend is these days. The trend means the mainstream of various styles that were popular in that period. For example, we call some specific or characteristic styles trendy because of a certain look or make up. This means there were some styles that seemed stylish and beautiful to us, and we followed. In the end, we can assuredly evaluate later when we look back into the past and analyze which style was the most preferable and copied one. Therefore, maybe things you see often and feel beautiful in would be the trend of these days.

Q6. Since the trend of beauty changes according to the times, it would take a lot of effort to follow the trend?Yes, of course. Trends change quickly according to the times, and I must try to figure out the sense of today. To look with the perspective of the older generation like me, there are some generation gaps of what constitutes as beauty. For example, when the old generations look at light makeup these days, they think, “Has she applied her lipstick? Is the color washed while eating?” Therefore, I try to communicate with the younger generations, especially with my daughter. To �nd out the senses such as colors or styles that I have never thought about, I try to observe the appearance of my daughter and her friends. Which clothes they are wearing or which colors and which products they are using are all my interests. I also read the popular magazines or comic books that are common among younger generations.

Q7. What was your most memorable moment while working as a makeup artist?It seems weird, but I cannot pick one specific moment. Every moment has been so precious for me, and this answer would not change. When I watch the movies I worked on, I feel reminisces at each movie and become happy. It is because I really love my work, and all the works were heart-throbbing experiences.

Q8. Is there any speci�c style that you pursue at your work?I always focus on maximizing the strength of a person rather than showy makeup with various colors. Therefore, my makeup has an advantage of making a person become beautiful without heavy makeup. For example, since my daughter has deep-set eyes, it becomes weird and unbalanced when I use various colors for her eye makeup. Therefore, in this case, I focus on drawing the line of her eyes and lips clearly to de�ne the lines and make her appearance tidy, without using many colors of eye shadow.

Makeup on Her Daughter at TV Show Program

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Q9. Makeup artist is a job which now many want to have. What advice would you give to the dreamers?There are many people who are wanting to enter the field of beauty works since it seems splendid. Looking closer, however, this work also has many hardships. Like any other job, this job is not always fancy. Working through the night is common, and we should start working from early morning. A makeup artist cannot start from the main works, but should start from the underworks. Therefore, it is easy to think, “Why do they give me this kind of work? I did not mean it.” Enduring this hard time is important. Like other works, it is important to maintain one’s �rst intention and dream. When people suffer hardships, most of them try to give up or try one thing or another. Chasing after another dream at the same time, people would end up losing both of them.

Q10. If you could go back in college, is there anything you want to try on or challenge? Of course, Language! Despite which language it is, many more opportunities would have been given to me according to how many languages I could speak. Even now, it leaves much to be desired that there are lots of things that I am missing since I cannot speak various languages.

Q11. Do you think you would choose the same career path as you had if you could go back into your youth?Absolutely. I love my work, and I think there are some given directions to people in their lives. Therefore, whether I could go back into my youth, I might have felt the same emotions when I �rst went to schools for teaching practice or when I �rst learned the skills of how to do makeup. I think I could walk down this path since it reflected my preference and interests. I will keep trying to follow my fortune as I have done in the past.

Q12. How would you like to be remembered by people when they hear the word “Makeup artist Kim Sun Jin”?A person who is good at makeup. A person who quickly reads and grasps one’s face.

Q13. Could you tell us about your future plans?My cosmetic brand is now launched in China, so I am planning to promote the products more. Moreover, I have been chosen as the Asian-representative global makeup artist at Mary Kay. This is the first time that an Asian was chosen as the representative makeup artist of Mary Kay. So, I am going to work as a makeup artist and represent all of Asia at that brand.

Q14. Give last words to Kingos!I try to handle all the works that are asked for me to do with an idea that someone would already do my work if I hesitate. I have mentioned earlier that I believe there are some given directions to people in their lives. I think whether one is lazy or not is the difference. Indolence makes people lose all the opportunities that were given to them. I hope Kingos would do any works they desire with enthusiasm and pride. You will achieve anything you want with the mind “Just try once!” and not hesitating with “Should I do it or not?”

Thomas A. Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” After interviewing Kim Sun Jin, the SKT could �nd out that her attitude of “Do not hesitate, Just try!” already shows why she would succeed. She was con�dent and sincerely loved her work. The SKT thanks Kim Sun Jin for taking her time to interview even with her busy schedule. She gave us sincere good advice, and the SKT hopes the readers could also be inspired by the warm advice.

A Scene from a �lm for her cosmetic brand promotion in China.

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The Bridge of Life, the first storytelling bridge in the world, has moved many visitors and served a significant role in reducing the rate of suicides in Seoul, Korea. The Bridge of Life has been recognized in 39 fields at international

advertising festivals as a meaningful campaign since its inception. Though it was supposed to be demolished in September 2015, which has already passed, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has pronounced that the bridge will be maintained through the end of this year, and subsequent events are not yet planned. The reasons are conjectured from a variety of views such as the issue of expense and the practical effects of the bridge. Does this ending mean that this noble campaign ends in failure? The Sungkyun Times (SKT) examines the beginning of the Bridge of Life, its ripple effects, and the alternatives after its removal.

It Was Nice Meeting You, The Bridge of Life

The Birth of “the Bridge of Life,” a Talking Bridge The Bridge of Life is the other name to call Mapo Bridge and Hangang Bridge, which were reborn with new facilities created a few years ago. The idea of building the Bridge of Life was first designed by Cheil Worldwide Incorporation and was put into practice by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Samsung Life Insurance. The intention of constructing the Bridge of Life was to change the perception of people towards the bridges over the Han River and offer words of comfort to many visiting citizens. This thought began with the insight that the people thinking about committing suicide on the bridge have nobody to talk with and listen to them. Why was the Bridge of Life created on the Mapo Bridge out of the 31 different bridges crossing the Han River? Mapo Bridge is highly accessible from the subway station compared to other bridges, which made this bridge have the highest rate of suicide by drowning. This place also had a higher suicide rate than many other places in Korea. Because of this, the Seoul Metropolitan Government had been steadily working on countermeasures, but there were no practical effects. The government finally changed its approach, in a word, from stopping to assuaging.Due to the situation regarding the suicide rates mentioned above, Mapo Bridge was chosen as the place for the first Bridge of Life. For the first time in 2012, the bridge was dressed up with the electronic display at its rails. To deliver messages more dramatically, cutting-edge sensor technology reacting to the movements of pedestrians was applied to the electronic display. The bridge, which senses pedestrians' steps to light up a message lamp, is the world’s first example showing communication between the bridge and people. The messages were selected from thousands of stories and writings of citizens, and the message lamps were once changed to replace old with new ones in June 2013.

In September, 2013, the second Bridge of Life was built on the Hangang Bridge. Seoul Metropolitan Government, Samsung Life Insurance, and Korea Health Promotion Foundation supported the construction of the new bridge of life. Unlike the first Bridge of Life, the messages on this bridge were mostly words of celebrities in Korea. Eight sculptures were designed and produced by 80 university students majoring in arts, and these works of art were also installed on the bridge.

Positive Effects Brought by the Bridge of Life When the bridge was first constructed and opened, it became a big hit for the public. A complete renewal of the bridge was fairly refreshing, and people who visited the bridge began to spread the revitalization via Social Networking Service (SNS). More and more people came to know about the Bridge of Life, and it became a tourist attraction in Seoul. There are many people saying that, by chance, they have been encouraged by the bridge, but it basically

By Yesol Choickc6025@skku.edu

“Do you dream of love?”

blog.naver.com/lovekck

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targets the people who attempt suicide on the bridge. A number of �gures and statistics show the impact of the bridge on the rate of suicide attempts. After the Bridge of Life was constructed in 2012, the survival rate of people going up to the bridge to commit suicide increased from 54.5% in 2012 to 94.6% in 2013. During the same period, the rate of suicide attempts decreased by 47%, and the death toll decreased by 83%. The effective operation of emergency response systems such as CCTV and SOS telephone, along with the Bridge of Life, seems to have contributed to the decrease in death tolls on the bridge. Analysts also believe that societal concern and awareness towards suicide were raised by the construction of the bridge, and this also brought many positive effects on decreasing the suicide rate.

Negative Effects of the Bridge of Life and Its Termination The ostensible reason for suspending operation of the Bridge of Life, which was announced by Samsung Life Insurance, is the maintenance expense for the bridge, which is approximately \100 million per year. It is dif�cult, however, to accept this explanation since the net profit of the company per year is estimated at \1.3 trillion. The actual reason is that the Bridge of Life sometimes became an attraction for suicide rather than preventing the attempts. The number of people stepping onto the bridge with the intention of trying to drown themselves in the river increased from eleven in 2011 to 93 in 2013, and then spiked to 184 in 2014. The Bridge of Life, the �rst storytelling bridge in the world, has moved many visitors and served a significant role in reducing the rate of suicides in Seoul, Korea. In the end, there are many indirect causes to this sizeable increase, but the main cause seems to result from the bridge’s excessive exposure to media. Many point out the drawbacks of the messages as the main factor leading to the demolition of the bridge. People critique the messages on the bridge for no longer having a great effect in modern society. Since it took a year to build the Bridge of Life, it is practically impossible to change the contents of the messages regularly. This might be a problem as time passes since the messages are already widely known to the public, diminishing the newness and overall impact of their contents. Repetitive encounter with unchanging sentimental words is bound to be less effective. Another drawback of the messages is that they could accidently lead people on the bridge in the opposite direction from the purpose of the Bridge of Life. To elaborate, an emotionally immature and mentally disturbed person may become more offended and emotional or more pessimistic. This is also related to the present situation of the bridge in which various people keep walking around peacefully with their lovers, families, and friends. The overall atmosphere of happiness on the bridge could make

some people feel isolated and lonely, which leads to abrupt and impulsive behaviors. Additionally, the messages have a reverse effect associated with people’s tendency of unconditional disobedience. The meaning of the messages and the people’s conception towards the success of the bridge paradoxically instigates people who visit the bridge to think more about committing suicide. The possible process of their thinking is that they want to be more certain about their determination against the messages.

People’s Reactions to the Demolition of the Bridge and Future AlternativesA citizen that the SKT met on the Bridge of Life mentioned that it is pitiful to lose a place where citizens tired of living can go to feel comfortable. Another citizen expressed his regret, saying that the bridge has always served a role as a warm, healing place for everyone, free of charge. He added that it surely deserves to be maintained because it is now a tourist attraction in Seoul and has become part of the welfare for citizens. Is there any brilliant idea that can replace the Bridge of Life? The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that after the removal of the Bridge of Life, it will hold a contest for citizens to propose an idea for a new suicide-preventing campaign or facilities. It is possible to strengthen or expand the existing suicide-preventing systems such as “SOS, Lifeline,” which is an emergency counseling public phone installed at the middle of the bridge. Many citizens, however, emphasize that the thing which should be changed is not a facility itself, but the social systems, structures, and the atmosphere among them.

In this context, there are plenty of anecdotes of a policewoman saving people’s lives by persuading him or her with warm words on the bridge. In April 2015, a heart-warming story was posted on the Facebook page of Seoul City Police. The story goes on as below. “What is wrong?” “Let us walk together.” A high school student with a �rm resolution went to drown herself in the Han River. A constable belonging to Mapo Police Station found the girl in the midst of the rain and earnestly consoled her pain. The warm words of comfort and the policewoman’s heart helped the student.

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Having heard the news regarding the removal of the Bridge of Life, people are hurrying to visit the bridge whether they have seen it or not. There are numerous pictures showing off the visit to the Bridge of Life on SNS nowadays. What should we be thinking about at this time? Is it still the fact that “my favorite beautiful bridge is soon to be torn down”?

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What is “Jeonse?”

The Concept of Jeonse

Jeonse is a unique system of renting a house that is commonly practiced in South Korea. In this system, a tenant who plans to rent a house gives the landlord a lump-sum deposit when the contract is �rst signed. Instead of paying monthly rent, a large amount of money is deposited to the landlord at once. A couple of years later, when the contract is �nished, the landlord returns the deposit to the tenant. Jeonse settled as Korea’s representative home lease method because both the tenant and the landlord stand to benefit from the deal. On the landlord’s side, a large amount of money deposited from a Jeonse contract can be put to a pro�table use such as investing and collecting interest from the bank. On the

other hand, Jeonse has worked as an opportunity for tenants who do not own a house to live in a rental house at a relatively low price. Without rent payments, they are able to save a substantial sum of money in the meantime to contribute to their plans to eventually buy a house. From an economic perspective, it seems unreasonable to lease a house at half the price because it goes against the nature of pursuing pro�ts. However, the system of Jeonse was widely used by Koreans because the price of housing had been continuously rising for decades as Korea experienced rapid economic growth. For Koreans, it was conventional wisdom that the price of a house always goes up. When housing prices increase, a house owner could use the Jeonse deposit money like a loan with no interest. The owner could use the money to invest in other real estate, possibly to buy another house, or to move to a better neighborhood. Rather than receiving small amounts of rent money every month, owners are able to invest at a larger scale thanks to the lump-sum deposit. The increase in a housing price allowed landlords to obtain a considerable amount of marginal pro�t at the end of the deal. Historical BackgroundMany foreigners who come across this concept might have a hard time understanding why such a system exists. In order to fully understand Jeonse, one needs to know the historical background of how it was rooted in Korean society. Historical evidence

Jeonse Crisis: Koreans Struggle to Find a Home

By Yoonhee Hwang yhgenuine@skku.edu

To many Koreans, “Jeonse” comes as a familiar concept of renting a house for several years. Jeonse has been a representative form of buying a house in Korea. Recently, however, the Jeonse system has faced great challenges, as

current economic circumstances are leading to system malfunctions. Despite constant supplies of housing by the construction industry, many Koreans are struggling to �nd a home in today’s real estate market. In this article, the Sungkyun Times (SKT) introduces Jeonse, which is a housing rental system peculiar to Korea, and describes how the system has unfortunately become a burden to many Korean citizens desperate to �nd homes.

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suggests that Jeonse, in fact, has been a prevalent form of renting a house for a very long time. Although there is no speci�c proof of the origin, scholars claim that the concept was borrowed from ancient China’s “Jeon” system. In that system, an owner leased real estate at a certain price and paid the money back to the client at the end of the deal when he retrieved the land. Starting with the Koryo dynasty, a similar system has been practiced among Korean people, and this system has passed down to the Choseon dynasty and eventually to modern Korea. The current form of Jeonse was established during Korea’s rapid industrialization period. The government imposed restraints on loans available to households in order to provide maximum capital for building up industries. Therefore, saving was encouraged as a virtue for many people, while the industries were granted a huge amount of loans. As more people congregated in the metropolitan area, the demand for housing surged greatly. Many people who were short of money to �nd a house turned to Jeonse. Large increases in the real estate price and high-interest rate policies have caused many landlords to find Jeonse as an effective investment technique.

Jeonse Crisis Today

The problem is that Korea is no longer experiencing rapid economic growth. Housing prices fluctuate often, increasing the risks involved when tenants take a Jeonse deal. The old conventional wisdom that “housing prices always rise” is no longer true. Furthermore, with the advent of a society with low interest rates, landlords are unwilling to lease their houses for Jeonse as the interest rates are very low. They cannot bene�t much from depositing money in their bank account. This is placing the Jeonse market in a huge crisis. Instead of using Jeonse contracts, landlords increasingly prefer monthly rents in order to generate higher pro�t. For this reason, there are very few houses on sale for Jeonse. Many landlords also increased Jeonse prices in order to make up for the loss they suffered from low-interest rates, which prevents many people from extending the Jeonse contracts.

A major problem in the market is the reversal of Jeonse deposits and housing prices. In some extreme cases, the price of Jeonse deposits is higher than the sale price of a house. According to recent research, the Seoul metropolitan area’s average rate of Jeonse deposit price over sales price was 72%. This number means that a tenant needs to pay 72% of the price of a house in order to rent for Jeonse. The number set the highest record of all time. In some areas of Seoul such as Seonbuk-gu, Gangseo-gu, and Dongjak-gu, the rate is even higher, surpassing 80%. Side EffectsJeonse BullyJeonse bully is a term used to refer to a landlord who buys houses and sells them for much higher prices. Jeonse bullies choose houses with small differences between the Jeonse deposit price and the sales price. Then, they abuse the shortage in Jeonse by raising the deposit price to an extreme level after the purchase. In this way, they buy a house at a relatively low price and resell it at a much higher price while pocketing the difference. Jeonse bullies often conspire with realtors to sharply bring up the price. Jeonse bullies are further aggravating the current Jeonse crisis by making it more difficult for people with less money to afford a house.Blood-Free Investment (“Fee-Free Investment”)Blood-Free Investment is a recently-coined Korean term to refer to an investment without any loss on the landlord’s side. It means that one’s money, which is metaphorically as precious as one’s blood, is not lost in the investment. This is accomplished by forcing the tenants to pay a higher price. There is an advertisement that claims, “You can buy a ￦300 million house if you only invest ￦10 million.” It seems impossible, but such situation really takes place today. For example, one purchases a house for ￦300 million and leases it for Jeonse at ￦240 million. At the end of the deal when the tenant asks for a renewal, the landlord increases the deposit by ￦50 million. In this way, the owner only invests ￦10 million for the ￦300 million house because the rest of the investment money is provided by the tenant. Despite the landlord’s excessive demand for a price increase, tenants have no choice but to accept the deal because there are only a few houses for Jeonse on the market. Empty Can JeonseEmpty Can Jeonse is a term used to refer to a case where the landlord is unable to pay back the deposit to the tenant. This happens when a landlord cannot pay the overdue loan interests to the bank. If the delay is carried on, the house is eventually put up for auction. In such a case, it becomes very dif�cult for the tenant to retrieve their deposit. Like an empty can that is easily kicked away, tenants in this situation are left with empty deposit money and are kicked out of their house. The biggest contributor to empty can Jeonse is the extremely high amount of the Jeonse deposit in comparison to the sales price. Low interest rates make it hard for landlords to make enough pro�t with the lump-sum deposit. Therefore, some landlords fail to keep the high amount of money by the end of the contract.

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Signs outside a real estate agency advertising homes for sale. It is getting increasingly dif�cult to �nd houses put up for Jeonse.

Jeonse Refugees

The bottom line is that those who suffer most in the Jeonse crisis are people with small capital. Tenants who fail to pay for the deposit increase are forced to either move out or borrow an excessively large amount of money that creates a vicious cycle of debt. One real estate agency, “Real Estate 114,” reported that an average of ￦70 million is needed to extend a two-year Jeonse contract in the Seoul metropolitan area. The cost has increased by 35.7% over the last two years. Loans for Jeonse deposit have also surged dramatically in recent years. The data of Korea’s six major banks showed that Jeonse deposit loans increased from ￦2.281 trillion in 2010 to ￦18.4925 trillion in August of this year. This indicates that the loans increased more than nine times over the past �ve years. The statistics directly show that a great number of people are �nancially burdened and unable to afford a house. Although tenants carry the burden to deposit a huge amount of money in Jeonse, many still prefer Jeonse to monthly rents because they believe Jeonse is more promising to accumulate money in the long term. Such �xed preference worsens the problem by making it easier for the landlords to exploit the preferences of the tenants.

Different Views on Crisis Management

The government has made some efforts to tackle the recently-intensified Jeonse crisis. Different approaches of media outlets reporting on the topic show the varying views on the government’s crisis management abilities. Each view points out different factors that have led to the aggravation of the problem.

Last September, the government announced a measure that attempted to stabilize the residences of the middle class, known as the “September 2nd Countermeasure for People’s Residence.” Among various policies suggested in the measure, the “New Stay Policy” in particular targeted the middle class to move to high-end monthly rent houses. The policy was immediately criticized in many aspects. Experts pointed out that it failed to in�uence the potential target group, as most middle-class families in the metropolitan area firmly prefer Jeonse over monthly rents. Some voiced doubtful concerns over the actual goal of the policy. The policy included plans for the reconstruction of certain districts designated to supply housing for the “New Stay Policy.” As Gangnam was one of the districts in the plan, people criticized that the policy’s actual aim was Gangnam’s reconstruction rather than helping citizens harmed by the Jeonse crisis. In fact, reconstruction in Gangnam is expected to worsen the situation in the real estate market as it brings increased demand for moving when Jeonse supplies are already insuf�cient. A good portion of people are demanding the government’s active intervention in this matter. As of yet, the government’s approach has leaned toward revitalizing the sales in the market. Instead of this, critics are demanding that the government pass practical measures to tackle the side effects of Jeonse system.

Some people, on the other hand, claim that political intervention is not needed for solving the current problem. They interpret the current situation as an inevitable economic return caused by a low economic growth rate and low-interest rates. They oppose government’s impractical intervention, including its attempt to place an upper limit to the rate of Jeonse supplies or support for switching to monthly rents. These critics warn that such restraints might worsen the current situation.

To many youths in Korea, owning one’s own house is regarded one of the most important life goals to ful�ll. A house is considered the most important basis of everyday life and critical for the establishment of a family, so social matters related to housing could have a direct impact on many people’s lives. Therefore, the recent Jeonse crisis in Korea may tell us that many families are coping with both �nancial burdens and psychological adversity. The SKT hopes that this article has given Kingos a chance to think about �nding a house as potential tenants in upcoming years.

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A government of�cial is announcing the “New Stay Policy.”

The Government Is Responsible

Political Intervention Should Be Minimized

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Current State of the Refugee Crisis

Europe has been the destination for African and Middle Eastern refugees for quite some time, but starting from 2015, the number of refugees heading to Europe has increased radically. The rapid increase in numbers is largely due to the intensification of the Syrian War, as the Islamic State (IS) became involved in the Syrian War. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in 2015 alone (until October), more than 4.1 million people have lost their homes and �ed for their lives, and it is estimated that more than half of the Syrian population (11.4 million) have lost their homes and became refugees since the outbreak of the Syrian War. Even though Europe has been the main actor in the European Refugee Crisis, most of the Syrian refugees do not point their feet to Europe. 66% of the refugees in Syria are wandering around Syria, and the rest (34%) of the refugees are going to other nations. Most of these “other nations” do not include European countries, but rather neighboring or other Islamic states, such as Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iraq, and others. The table to the right compares the number of refugees in countries near Syria to the number of refugees in Europe.

As shown in the table above, Europe has not been the main player, yet most of the discontentment has arisen from Europe. Hopefully, however, the overall public opinion has changed after the picture of the Aylan Kurdi’s1) dead body was spread. Several European nations decided to open their doors to refugees, although a number of nations’ borders still remain closed. Furthermore, as time progressed, nations that opened their doors could not support the in�ux of refugees; therefore, nations that opened their doors closed down their borders once again. Frequent changes in these policies have only darkened the chaos among the seekers of new their home.

After wrapping up the Greek depression, another hot potato caught the attention of the world: the European Refugee Crisis. Numerous refugees attempted to move to Europe, but European nation states have been busy

lining their own pockets. Continuous changes in policies have only darkened chaos and heightened the discord between the members of Europe. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) explains the current situation, the dilemma of European nations, the possible solutions, and what the European Refugee Crisis means to Korean society.

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※UNHCR

1) Aylan Kurdi was a victims of a shipwreck in the Mediterranean sea; the picture of his dead body received attention from the world as part of the European Refugee Crisis.

Long and Winding Road: European Refugee Crisis

By Donghwan Kimkimdh155@skku.edu

Nation Number of Refugees

Turkey 1,940,000

Pakistan 1,500,000

Lebanon 1,120,000

Iran 1,000,000

Ethiopia 660,000

Jordan 630,000

Europe 800,000

By Jae-eun Lee2wodms@skku.edu

Al Jazeera

European representatives gathered to �nd a solution and have agreed upon a new resolution, the Refugee Quota System, on September 23, 2015. The Refugee Quota System sets the number of refugees that each European state will take. Even though this was designated as the plan, the proposed resolution has its limitations, and many of the Eastern European states disagree with the provision. Other present conventions such as the Dublin Convention and the Schengen Agreement also came up with possible alternatives, but these conventions have their own restrictions as well. The inability to �nd a resolution that everybody can agree on has only created more cracks in the European Union (EU).

Problems in Decision-making

Problems in the International AgreementRefugee Quota SystemThe Refugee Quota System is a plan instigated mainly by France and Germany, in which EU countries will hold a to discuss the allocation of the number of refugee reception. The conference will take into consideration each member state’s population, economic strength, existing number of refugees accommodated, and unemployment rate. The problem with the Refugee Quota System is that it does not guarantee any effectiveness or have any forcefulness as a fundamental solution to the refugee crisis. For instance, there have been signs of disunion between Western Europe and Eastern Europe. At the Foreign Ministers’ meeting held in Luxembourg on September 5, 2015, Eastern European countries, including Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, initiated strong opposition under the pretext that the Refugee Quota System will only allow more refugees to cross the boundaries. With faltering economies and no properly established social and physical infrastructure for refugees, simply allocating numbers of refugees will not genuinely solve the problem. The day before the meeting, the four countries also expressed that the method of accepting refugees should be on the basis of solidarity and spontaneity, from which they displayed reluctance to accepting

the obligatory and permanent quota system. Further adding to their hesitation, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor once stated that Muslim refugees are going to undermine the foundation of Christianity as well. The Dublin RegulationThe Dublin Regulation prescribes that the �rst country a refugee steps into should assume responsibility for that refugee. Discussions on incorporating seven more countries, including Macedonia and Albania, in addition to the current 32 signatories are occurring. The debates, however, have become rather controversial as critics say that this solution shifts the burden to countries at the frontier line of the routes through which refugees come. As a result, refugees will be trapped in the border area - not being able to move inwards to wealthier European states, and thus �nancial burdens to Eastern European countries, Spain, Greece, and Italy are expected to rise. Moreover, a number of refugee-related organizations point out that the lengthy waiting time for asylum seekers is also a problem that the Dublin Convention should seek to remedy. As mentioned above, social and physical infrastructures for refugees are still lacking in many countries, which prolongs the process of recognizing asylum seekers as refugees. Once they have agreed to receive the refugees, they should be able to take responsibility for them as soon as they can rather than neglecting the refugees while they are sitting on the streets.

The Schengen AgreementThe Schengen Agreement allows all refugees to freely move within the countries signed up within the Schengen Area, provided that the refugees are in possession of the member states’ visa and nationalities. However, the Schengen Agreement is often accused of violating national sovereignty and making treaty powers expend too much effort on border control. For instance, both the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland share an area classi�ed as the Common Travel Area, which is a travel zone in which British

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people and Irish people are given permission to freely travel both countries. The problem is that when the UK joins the Schengen Agreement, then regardless of Ireland’s intent, it will automatically be dragged into accepting refugees as long as the Common Travel Area subsists.

Problems in the Currently Enacted Solutions Refugee CampOne of the plans proposed establishing refugee camps near Turkey and Africa in order to prevent refugees from coming into Europe. However, this way of dealing with refugees will only hasten the problem. “We are just staying, waiting here, for what I do not know,” says Shabani, one of the Congolese refugees. Tens of thousands of young people with boundless potential are wasting their lives while con�ned in refugee camps. This is a large loss of international manpower, and with no clear aid plan to integrate them somewhere as valuable human resources, the problem will remain. Furthermore, the more the refugees amass in certain areas, the more brokers and criminals become systematized, leading to various types of offenses such as drug and human traf�cking. This could bring about a hotbed of international crime. EritreaEritrea has also been at the heart of the debate, as a few European countries had summit talks with Eritrea’s dictatorial government. In June, the solicitor general of Norway visited Eritrea and proceeded with negotiations on returning refugees from Norway back to their homeland. The finalized talks state that approximately 2,000 Eritrean citizens are expected to be sent back by the end of this year. Recently, Britain and Italy have joined the negotiation with the same intent. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki was given economic aid or relieved from economic sanctions under the premise of reinforcing the sealed border. While this seems like a viable solution, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

said that if European countries continue to offer economic aid to the Afwerki regime, it will only aggravate the decimation that is taking place in the border area.Involvement in WarsSeveral European countries, including Britain and France, are already involved in the Syrian War through launching airstrikes, justifying their involvement by saying that the refugee crisis could not be solved simply by receiving more and more refugees. The countries believe that being involved in the war can lead to a genuine solution to the current situation because putting an end to the war will also stop the creation of more refugees. The circumstances are becoming even more complicated as Russia has indicated on October 5, 2015, that it is examining expansion of its military action, which has been previously con�ned to air strikes, to sending ground forces to Syria. Not only is Syria the biggest exporter of oil for Russia, but also its anti-government democratic movements hinder Russia’s sphere of in�uence. The international relations and interests surrounding the area will only magnify the possibility of a military collision and will create more refugees as a result.

Possible Solutions

The problem that lies at the heart of the refugee crisis is obscured by European countries confronting each other with their national interests. It is time to overcome myopic self-centeredness and find effective measures that will put an end to the crisis. As the above supranational movements suggest, institutional devices have proven futile in solving the refugee crisis, but the role of civil society in Germany, which shed its nationalistic way of thinking, is coming to the forefront as a potential solution.German Government’s Current Position On August 31, 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin at a Federal Press Conference mentioned that Germans “can be proud of the humanity of our constitution” because it recognizes the right of asylum for refugees due to political persecution. Although Germany ostensibly seems well-disposed towards refugees, something of the opposite is happening behind the scene. For instance, the German National Assembly discussions are ongoing on whether the country should reduce subsidies for the refugees to less than 300 Euros, which barely meets the minimum level of standard living. The Assembly is also planning on increasing the number of signatories for the Dublin Convention. Furthermore, despite the increase in exports in 2014 and 2015, which enabled a significant tax boost with its GDP higher than $300 trillion, only $1.2 billion (0.4%) was allotted for refugees.Civil Society’s ResponseGerman Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) perceive the refugee crisis as an opportunity, rather than a critical situation, that would be able to present the right path to the serious problems such as low birth rates and an aging population that Germany is currently

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The map shows members of the Schengen Agreement.

facing. They assert that refugees should be taught the German language, German culture, and political and social constitution so that they can naturally be assimilated into German society as an outstanding workforce. A number of actions have been taken in order to achieve the goals suggested by the CSOs. For example, on October 10, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra offered to perform at a charity concert free of charge. The pro�t made during the event will be used to help refugee relief. Moreover, there have been voluntary movements among students to help the children of refugees adapt to school and the new environment by assisting with their homework or by being a simultaneous interpreter. It is expected that their activities will also have an effect on the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), which could lead to efforts to create conformity in common European issues such as a unified asylum law, the Aliens Registration Act, and an integrated financial law. The INGOs could make use of the opportunity to create a new and unprecedented sense of unity in Europe. For countries that have similar problems as Germany with respect to their social structure, the actions of CSOs could be a helpful reference to break through the common problems of the wealthiest countries.

What About Korea?

Door is BiggerIn comparison to other Asian countries, South Korea is a nation that is rather generous towards refugees. South Korea has signed several conventions related to refugees, such as the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (in 1951) and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (in 1967). Furthermore, Korea was the �rst country in Asia to enact the Refugee Act in 2013; the Refugee Act forbids deportation, supports refugees �nancially, and supplies other materials that refugees need upon arriving in Korea. South Korea also has a system called “humanitarian status holder” for the rejected refugee status applicants. Humanitarian status holders are given this status usually because their home country is in a devastated condition that makes them unable to return. By holding the humanitarian status, the possessor can legally be

employed and treated as a normal worker in Korea. The length of the status is one year, though this can be extended. At present, the South Korean government shows a tendency to accept refugee status applicants as humanitarian status holders, and most of the Syrian refugees who fled from the Syrian War received this designation. The statistics show that in 2014, out of 713 refugee status applicants, 577 applicants were accepted as humanitarian status holders. Considering that only 177 people were given humanitarian status holder prior to 2013, this big rise suggests that South Korea is opening its doors.Room for Improvement Even though there are more lights for refugees in South Korea than in other Asian nations, some shadows remain and need to be removed. By looking at the �gures, one can see that South Korea is behind world standards. First, South Korea devotes less support towards refugees. South Korea’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) compared to Gross National Income (GNI) was 0.06% in 2010, and 0.1% in 2011. This percentage is quite low compared to that of the EU (0.41%) and Germany (0.41%), which are currently the most active supporters of refugees. Currently, the acceptance rate of refugees in Korea is 6.7%, but if comparing this percentage to that of the world (38%), the rate is quite low. This low allowance rate is mostly due to dif�culty in being acknowledged as refugees in Korea; the South Korean government is very cautious in recognizing refugees because of the confusion caused in Korean society when accepting large numbers of refugees at once. In addition, the South Korean government is worried about whether they will be able to maintain control over the situation if there is a massive in�ux of newcomers. In 2012, UNHCR encouraged the South Korean government to lower boundaries for admitting refugees, but no big changes have been made. To provide an example of the stagnation, Syrian workers in Korea wanted to invite their family from Syria to help them escape from the threats of war, but this request was rejected by the National Assembly. Additionally, the current humanitarian status holder system has problems as well. Even though the system allows the refugees to stay and work in Korea, the refugees cannot receive basic rights such as medical insurance and compulsory education. The humanitarian status holders, therefore, cannot afford to go to the hospital because the economic burden is too great.

Even though urgent actions are needed, the South Korean government is not currently active in the resolution of the refugee crisis for several reasons. Foremost of all, South Korea is exceedingly far from Europe, and, therefore, massive numbers

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Germans' warm welcome attracted attention.

Many applicants are accepted as humanitarian status holders, not refugees.

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귀하의 난민인정 신청에 대하여 난민법 제18조제2항에 따라 2014년 03월 06일 아래의 사유로 난민인정을 하지

않기로 결정하였음을 알려 드립니다.

Pursuant to Article 18(2) of the Refugee Act, this is to notify the non-recognition of your refugee status due to the reasons below on 06 Mar. 2014.

다만, 인도적 측면을 고려하여, 난민법제2조 제3호의 “인도적 체류자”결정하였음을 알려드립니다.

Nevertheless, the applicant is granted as a “humanitarian status holder” on the humanitarian aspect, pursuant to Article 2(3) of the Refugee Act.

Should the burden of the Syrian Refugee Crisis be only on Europe’s shoulders? The ongoing crisis is a concern that requires worldwide attention, and Korea is not an exception. Helping the Syrian refugees will improve South Korea’s position in the international community, but the support should not from the calculations. Providing provisions for the refugees should start from the basis of the society, and the transformation of the Korean civil society is needed.

of refugees are not yet coming to South Korea. Because of the distance, South Korea is not directly feeling the crisis. Another critical reason is that South Korean society is not ready to accept refugees. South Korea is a nation with strong racial homogeneity, and there can be confusion within society if a massive number of refugees are allowed to penetrate this homogenous culture. Lastly, the financial aid required to sustain refugees is considerable, as refugees need support in every area of living - including education, housing, clothing, food, and other necessities. The stance of Korean society towards Syrian refugees is skeptical. Park Ji-Hoon, the director of “Help Syria,” has commented that the reaction of Koreans towards Syrian refugees has been rather cynical or that some Koreans are totally ignoring the situation. The negativity that Koreans show towards foreigners could also be the result of the negative image of Islam in Korea due to the presence of radical groups such as IS or the Taliban.

Possible Direction for Korea's Refugee Treatment

Is It Necessary?Humanitarian StandpointSince the Korean War, South Korea was able to maintain its sovereignty as various nation states around the world have offered assistance to it in order to impede North Korea’s aggression to occupy the South. In this context, offering humanitarian aid to the people who are in despair over their country’s ruination is the basic attitude that should be cultivated to keep world peace. Global PositioningAt present, the UN Secretary General is Korean, and if Korea takes the lead in managing refugee problems such as the Syrian Refugee Crisis, its diplomatic position in the international community in Northeast Asia will be strengthened. For instance, it has been proven that Qatar has supported Syrian refugees prior to Saudi Arabia’s intervention. Although Saudi Arabia is the leading power among the Arabian nation states, the new Qatari king, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, decided to support the Syrian Refugee Crisis before Saudi Arabia did in order to be rid of the sphere of in�uence of Saudi Arabia. This eventually resulted in receiving international support.Long Term Policy for Korea-Syria RelationsDespite the fact that it is not recommendable to be calculating when facing people who are in need, international relations are often portrayed to be super�cial and calculative where the strong prey upon the weak. However, Arabians do not forget people

who spare no material or emotional support on them in the time of their need. For example, the Jordanian king had supported Saddam Hussein in 1991 during the Gulf War, despite the fact that the West, especially the United States of America, imposed economic sanctions against Jordan. Iraq and Jordan have shared a strong relationship since then. If, from the current situation, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime collapses and a new government emerges and regenerates the normal function of the state, Syrian refugees who have received support from the Korean government will be able to return to their homeland. There will be people who are willing to become government of�cials among the returnees, and they will remember the active support from Korea. This will serve as momentum for Korea and Syria to become allied nations in all sorts of �elds, especially in politics and economy. This might make a telling solution to the endemic problem of the diplomatic offices and major conglomerates of Korea in the Middle East, which are always in pursuit of short-term outcomes. If Syrian refugees are treated and accommodated with a long-term view as a foothold for business, Korean companies will be able to advance into Syria and its neighboring countries after Bashar Assad’s regime is ousted from power.

How Should Korea Progress?It remains true, as mentioned above, that Korea has a stronger basis for civil society to act when facing the refugee crisis compared to other East Asian countries. However, this does not mean that South Korea can be complacent about their role in the situation. There is still a lot to change in order for society to recognize the need to show compassion towards the refugees. Even the countries directly involved in the refugee crisis are having dif�culties fostering this maturity. For the vast majority of students at Korean universities, there is a great deal of pressure on them to conform. Since they try their best to earn good grades and increase their market value to employers, their ability to have critical minds to their surroundings or the society in which they belong is relatively lacking compared to that of German students. Citizens should always ask critical questions, and when there is a problem, they should be able to identify and rectify it. By extension, political parties should embrace the ideas from the citizens and put those into practice for the betterment of society rather than giving populist policies to earn more voting counts. When these structural reforms in Korean society as a whole take place, only then will the refugee crisis be manageable. This change requires some efforts from below: the civil society.

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Physical and Verbal Abuses

Sports have always been competitive activities that convey ferocity. Emotional reactions are frequent, and injuries often follow. When sports were mere variants of entertainment, these were not big problems, but rather were just considered as part of the game. As sports gained more and more popularity and started to be dominated by money, competitions became extremely aggressive. Consequently today, injuries, violence, verbal abuses, doping, and match-�xing have become an everyday problem of sports.Injuries Due to Violent PlaysViolent plays in sports games are the most frequent accidents that harm sportsmanship. Some rough plays go too far and become a direct threat to an athlete's career. Moreover, these acts of violence are sometimes intended and planned

On September 6, Luke Shaw, a member of the England national soccer team, suffered a double fracture on his leg, which requires nine months to fully recover. Hector Moreno, who tackled Shaw, sent another player to the sidelines with an injury on the same week due to another violent play. This case suggests that violent plays are

habitual for some players, and they are not awareof the damages caused by their unsportsmanlike and overaggressive play.Violence Verbal Abuses, Including Personal InsultsEvery sport has “unwritten laws” that prevent undesirable events

during the game. In a baseball game, for example, attempting a bunt or stealing a base in a predetermined winning game is considered unreasonable. Moreover, not provoking the opponent is a basic level of respect that is understood in every sport. Breaking these rules leads to an overheated atmosphere. The excessively competitive atmosphere is often even more impassioned in an international match. In the final stage of the Asian qualifiers in 2013, the manager of the Iran national soccer team gave an insulting gesture to Korean players after winning the game. The Korean national basketball team had a similar incident in China when Chinese press corps asked insulting questions to Korean team manager Jae Hur. They asked, "Why didn’t Korean players stand up straight when the Chinese national anthem was playing?” and "Did you expect that the Korean national team would play such a close game against the Chinese national team?” These questions were intended to provoke Hur, and he left the press conference immediately. Despite accepting the result of the game and winning team’s performance, these unsportsmanlike behaviors toward rival players cannot be excused.The incidents above are the results of a competitive atmosphere that is too heavily focused toward victory. Behaviors against basic principles of sportsmanship drive athletes into risky and inappropriate situations, bring nations into con�icts, and degrade the values of sports.

Main Causes of the Damages

Popularity and MoneyWith globalization and the development of broadcasting, sports have gained huge popularity and massive financial investments.

Sportsmanship: Dignity Beneath Heated Competition

18 citizens were killed in Indonesia; 70 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured in Egypt; and the revenge planned for three years almost crippled an innocent person. These sequences are not stories from crime

or thriller movies. They are the ugly component of sports, and they are just the tip of the iceberg. Lack of sportsmanship and fair play is always a huge threat to athletes, supporters, and sports themselves. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) examines the problems caused by lack of sportsmanship and introduces efforts that try to maintain and encourage the values of sportsmanship and fair play.

By Changwan Kangchangy95@skku.edu

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Chris Coghlan tackling Jungho Kang

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The United States has the world's largest sports market, with an estimated worth of $422 billion. The scale of this market is twice as big as the automobile industry and seven times bigger than the film industry in the US. In England, the English Premier League (EPL) recorded $8.07 billion in total transfer fees in a single transfer market during the 2015 summer. However, the drastic influx of investments is not limited to western countries. Billionaires of East Asia and China are joining the money race in sports as well. In spite of the fame and popularity sports have gained, the money can be problematic due to its position as the top priority to some people. These people treat sports as a tool to earn money, and the atmosphere of materialism is now all over the sports market. Money, which initially upgraded the sports market, is ironically at the same time damaging sportsmanship .Associations and RulesBecause sports associations often cannot or do not have the power to mitigate unsportsmanlike conduct, these organizations are not effective solutions to this problem. Main roles of association include monitoring and punishing violence, unfair plays, and doping in order to minimize the cases of such events and the harm to victims. Many associations, however, have failed to ful�ll these functions or have performed these functions with irregularity. Their monitoring is too weak, and their punishments are too light and inconsistent. The rules of sports should be created in such a way that everyone can understand their rightfulness, but most associations are showing a conservative attitude toward revising the defective rules in a game. Technologies that can improve the accuracy of of�ciating and safety exist, but a number of attempts to introduce the technologies have been rejected by associations. For example, goal-line technology (GLT), which can accurately decide whether a ball crossed the line or not, was belatedly introduced in 2012 even though the technology had been fully developed earlier in the 2000s. Delayed responses of associations lead to cheating that aims to take advantage of blind spots within the rules.Continuous failures of associations to make teams, athletes, supporters, and even referees respect and uphold the rules and safety of the game are both insensible to injustice and damaging to sportsmanship.

Reviving Sportsmanship

SportsmanshipSportsmanship is a basic concept of sports that includes moral attitude, honesty, courage, endurance, respect, and many other values. Fair play is at the core of sportsmanship and is carried out in the form of respecting rules, referees, opponents, and the match itself. With the realization of proper sportsmanship and

fair play, the values of sports increase and even common citizens can cultivate virtue in society. However, m a i n t a i n i n g a n d reviving sportsmanship will require sacrifice and self-awareness from associations, teams, athletes, and supporters. Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) combined to launch a campaign called “Respect,” which is one of the biggest campaigns trying to defend and revive sportsmanship. In 2008, the movement began in England, in�uenced by continuously mounting verbal and physical abuses. The campaign intends to build a culture of mutual respect among the four main agents of sports: athletes, managers, referees, and supporters. FIFA and UEFA encourage half time advertisements and obligate attaching the “Respect” patch on the uniforms of players and referees in international games to let people know the purpose of the campaign. The campaign has spread globally, and the Korea Football Association (KFA) �nally joined the campaign in April 2014 with the “Respect proclamation ceremony.” In order to successfully launch the campaign, KFA introduced a green card to award fair play teams and players, “Respect” patches, UCC contests, and the KFA referee award.Efforts to defend sportsmanship are not limited to professional athletes or referees on the �eld. The Korean Olympic Committee provides human rights education and counseling services to student players and instructors. In Japan, traditional school provides personality education regardless of whether participants are professional athletes, amateur athletes, or supporters.Realization of SportsmanshipPeople admired the honesty of German soccer player Miroslav Klose when he voluntarily refused a penalty given by a referee’s incorrect decision. They found respect when MLB (Major League Baseball) fans gave a standing ovation to New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter’s honorable retirement regardless of which team they supported, and supported when Jan Ullrich waited for Lance Armstrong’s malfunctioning cycle only 9.5km before the finish line at the world’s most prestigious cycling competition “le Tour de France.” These are cases where sportsmanship surpassed the willingness towards ugly victory, and all these exhibitions of sportsmanship have been remembered and praised as beautiful defeats. Defending sportsmanship by showing tolerance, observing rules, and respecting others is just as important as desiring thrill from the game.

The word “sport” is derived from the Latin word “deporatare,” which literally means entertainment, and sport is a general term of physically entertaining competitions that human participants play in an effort to pursue pleasure. The pleasure can be maximized when the process and result of sports are in accordance with noble values of humans. With an abundance of anti-fair play and unsportsmanlike conduct, the signi�cance of sportsmanship and respect needs to be emphasized and revitalized.

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Me-too Strategy, What Is It?

Definition of Me-too Strategy

The me-too strategy is a strategy where a company imitates a popular product of rival company in order to take advantage of the original product’s popularity. On the one hand, me-too marketing is justified because it prevents the market from monopoly and expands the scale of the market. The strategy, however, is sometimes criticized from an ethical perspective.

Current Examples

Innovative Imitation of Xiaomi.Xiaomi is rapidly rising in the smartphone market. X i a o m i d e l i b e r a t e l y imitated products of Apple, and its cheap price appeals greatly to many consumers. Such strategy by Xiaomi is called innovative imitation,

but it is uncertain that Xiaomi can surpass Apple even in the perspective of brand value.Kakao Talk and WhatsAppKakao Talk, which emulates WhatsApp, is a representative example of successful imitation. WhatsApp entered the market earlier than Kakao Talk, but WhatsApp entered as a charged service. Kakao Talk provides messenger service for free, and it makes profits from linking diverse services such as emoticons and other applications. In addition, Kakao Talk cleverly targeted

the niche market between PC-based messenger and cell phone messenger run by telecom companies. In other words, Kakao Talk succeeded through efficiently imitating and improving the pioneer’s product in order to achieve nice positioning.

Prevalence of Family Entertainment Programs The popularity of family entertainment shows began with “Dad Where Are You Going” on MBC. As the program became popular, KBS soon produced “The Return of Superman,” which has a similar format to “Dad Where Are You Going.” “The Return of Superman” gained more popularity than the original program “Dad Where Are You Going,” which ended due to low ratings. After the success of “The Return of Superman,” other family entertainment programs such as “Oh My Baby” and “Take Care of My Dad” appeared, but these too-late followers suffer from low ratings.

Strengths of Pioneer Brand and Me-too Brand

Pioneer Brand

Many people call a sticky note a “Post-it” rather than rather than a “sticky note” This example shows the biggest advantage that pioneer brand can have. Human recognition is selective and

By Dahyun Leedahyun2@skku.edu

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The left one is Xiaomi's smartphone, the right one is Apple's.

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Who reached the moon �rst? Neil Armstrong. Then, who reached second? Many people probably do not know the answer to this question. This representative example highlights the impact of a pioneer. In the market, just as in

the questions above, the label as a pioneer is very attractive to many companies, so many of them try to develop innovative products. A number of examples, however, prove that followers can sometimes surpass the pioneer. The strategy of the followers is called the “me-too strategy.” In this article, The Sungkyun Times (SKT) talks about this attractive, yet dangerous strategy in more detail.

Me-too StrategyAttractive, yet Dangerous Marketing Strategy

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limited, so one cannot perceive and comprehend infinite stimuli. Think about studying a textbook. For many people, it is easy to recall the front part of a textbook, but it might be more dif�cult to recall the

latter part. This phenomenon is called “primacy effect.” Pioneer brands can take advantage of this effect. Moreover, consumers feel uncomfortable when they cease buying the original brand’s product and start consuming another brand’s product. This is because switching brands requires many costs, including research costs and psychological opportunity costs. Experts call these costs “switching barriers.” The switching barrier is the key point in raising customer loyalty. The higher the switching barrier becomes, the higher customer loyalty is. Many consumers tend to stick with the original brand because of the switching barrier, especially when the pioneer brand has already constructed higher switching barriers.

Me-too Brand

The advantage of the pioneer brand is clear, but it does not ensure an absolute dominant position in the market. Although consumers remember the brand they encounter first, the pioneer brand that does not �t consumer needs might be easily forgotten because consumers �lter out these products. Successful positioning involves the process of differentiation in the market. Without successful positioning, consumers could think that the pioneer brand is not so innovative and novel. When this happens, there are no more advantages to pioneers. From this point, the me-too brand has an opportunity to appeal to consumers.The biggest advantage of the me-too brand is that it can get a free-ride with far lower cost than the pioneer’s invested money. The me-too brand does not need to worry about uncertainty. Early access to an uncertain market poses considerable dangers. For example, SONY had made VCR with beta mode in advance, but subsequently developed VHS mode, which became more popular. VHS mode �nally became general mode, so SONY, the pioneer, suffered a great loss. As this example shows, it is dangerous to be a pioneer within a market. The me-too brand does not have to face the same risks as a pioneer does. Furthermore, the me-too brand can avoid the error of incorrect positioning, which a pioneer could �nd unavoidable. In the case where pioneer brand does not succeed in positioning, the me-too brand can position itself on an ideal spot, based on the pioneer’s failure. In the early

90s, Samsung launched the cell phone, but this attempt seemed to end in failure because of the high technology of Motorola, the competitor. Samsung, however, announced a new cell phone with the brand name Anycall and the slogan, “Strong- in Korean land.” Samsung, by using the fact that Motorola is not a domestic brand, succeeded in positioning and soon took over first place in the national cell phone market.

Limits that Me-too Strategy Faces

While me-too strategy certainly has its own strengths, there are still some concerns and limits to this marketing approach. For instance, many imitative products may appear because of the original item’s proven popularity. Through imitation, it is possible to easily start sale without new development. However, as similar items appear over and over, consumers will be more likely to lose interest in the item. As a result, the once-popular item in its introductory stage soon experiences a transitions into decline stage within a short period. In 2011, white soup ramen attained great popularity, and after the success of the first white soup ramen, many imitative products appeared. However, the manufacturers soon reduced production of the white soup ramen altogether. The severe problem here is that this phenomenon of too many me-too brands could damage even the image of the original brand that �rst developed the hit item. Rash imitation is also proven to be fatal for the me-too brand. For consumers recognizing a me-too brand as a distinct brand, the me-too brand has to create a unique position in the market. However, this is never easy, and inadequate positioning is the biggest reason why a number of me-too brands fail. Moreover, me-too brands could give consumers negative images, as they start from the imitation of others. Legal experts say that there is no practical restriction on imitative products. However, the absence of legal regulation does not mean that copying another’s item can be justi�ed. Me-too brands should seriously consider this ethical problem and the impact that it has on consumer demand.

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Steve jobs often mentioned this quote from Pablo Picasso. It is worth thinking about the reason that even Steve Jobs, who can be named as the most creative innovator, emphasized the importance of imitation. However, just because it is popular does not mean that imitation is always good. Rather than just copying another’s result, how about making something creative with inspiration copied from others?

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Several Kinds of White Soup Ramen

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Me-too StrategyAttractive, yet Dangerous Marketing Strategy

Subtropicalization Demonstrated in Figures

Sensing Subtropicalization in KoreaThe subtropicalization of the Korean peninsula is easily observed through numerous �gures. Above all, winter has become shorter, while summer has become longer. In fact, it is now not precise to say that Korea has four distinct seasons. According to the National Institute of Meteorological Research, the number of days in winter plunged by 22 days to be a mere 49 days, while spring and summer have seen increases of 10 and 15 days on average respectively in the last 80 years. The prolonged heat wave is another observed sign of the subtropicalization. From 1981 to 2010, the heat wave lasted for an average of 11.2 days. This �gure rose to an average of 12.7 days in the last �ve years. Although this increase seems trivial in common sense, the addition of another day of the heat wave results in severe suffering of the elderly population and agriculture industry. The nights have also become hotter, as the number of tropical nights has jumped from 5.3 to 9.7 days.

Speed of SubtropicalizationKorea should be especially alert to the relentless speed toward reaching the subtropical climate. In the last 100 years, the temperature rose by 0.74℃ globally and 1.5℃ in Korea. The impact of the rise in global temperature by 1℃ goes beyond our expectation. It will result in the thawing of glaciers in the Andes Mountains, and will consequently result in 50 million people suffering from water shortage. The reason behind this particularly negative outlook of Korea is because the Korean Peninsula is situated in the temperate zone of mid-latitudes. In general, mid-latitudes are more sensitive to climate change than high-latitudes, where much of sunlight is consumed on thawing the glacier. Thus, unlike high-latitudes, the solar energy directly causes the rise in temperature in mid-latitudes. Furthermore, the high emission of greenhouse gas per capita due to heavy industrialization and the automobile distribution rate has also contributed to this phenomenon.

Subtropicalization Around Us

AgricultureTropical agricultural products are gradually replacing indigenous ones. For instance, tangerines that had long been a specialty of Jeju Island now grow in South Jeolla and North Gyeongsang Province. Tropical fruits such as mango and papaya have taken over Jeju Island orchards instead. Moreover, 23 farms in Jincheon-gun, North Chungcheong Province, have begun raising passion

I t seems that the lyrics of the national anthem of Korea are valid only until the end of this century. The problem lies at the beginning of the second verse, “The pine tree on Namsan Mountain,” because we

cannot sing of something which will have become extinct in the Korean Peninsula. Although the pine tree represents our traditional virtues and has been the source of inspirations for many invaluable works in

literature, we have no choice but to let the climate change push out the pine grove to a small fraction of land in Hamkyung Province. Once seen as something distant and abstract, a clear manifestation of subtropicalization of the Korean Peninsula is arising. This phenomenon is especially signi�cant for Korea, as the speed of rise in temperature and sea level is two to three times that of other countries. With the current situation, our great grand grandchildren will live in a subtropical climate similar to Okinawa. In this article, the Sungkyun Times (SKT) will investigate the degree to which the subtropicalization of the Korean Peninsula has progressed and what solutions are being prepared.

literature, we have no choice but to let the climate change push out the pine grove to a small fraction of land in Hamkyung Province. Once seen as something distant and abstract, a clear manifestation of subtropicalization of the

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A Farewell to PinesBy Juyoung Kim

wn2028@skku.edu

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Prediction of Each Season in 2050

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Pines, No More Green nor Alive

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fruits this year, though th i s f ru i t ’s or ig in is in south Brazil. Additionally, the �nest apples are no longer produced in Daegu and Andong City, but in Pyeongchang and Yeongwol of Gangwon

Province. In the last decade, the area apple orchards account for more than double the production in Gangwon Province. Considering that an apple is one of the temperate fruits, the Maginot line of Korea’s temperate climate zone can be inferred roughly.FisheryThere have also been noticeable displacements in the species caught in seas. The changes are especially salient in Jeju Island and the East Sea. The National Fisheries Research and Development Institute reported that the marine temperature nearby Jeju Island rose by 1.5℃, which is triple the amount reported in the global scale. Consequently, 23 and 43 different tropical fish species were identified in 2011 and 2013, respectively. The East Sea has also seen drastic changes as it became the habitat for squid instead of Pollack. Until the 1980s, Korea had a reputation for catching the most Pollack. As Pollack moved north with the cold current, the amount of this �sh started plummeting in the 1990s and reached one ton in 2010. Goseong-gun of Gangwon Province has been holding the “Goseong Myeongtae (Pollack) Festival,” the annual celebration of Pollack, without the locally-caught fish. Rather, Goseong-gun annually faces a situation in which they have to use 34,200 Pollack imported from Japan for the festival.Vector-borne DiseasesExperts expect that an in�ux of infectious tropical diseases running rampant in Korea will happen in just a matter of time. Vectors such as mosquitos do not have their own body temperature. Instead, the body temperature rises in accord with the external temperature. The vectors grow faster and reproduce more quickly with a higher body temperature. Furthermore, there is now a better chance of survival of vectors that tourists have carried from abroad to Korea. It has been discovered that Aedes albopictus, culex, and anopheline mosquitoes, each responsible for carrying Dengue fever, West Nile fever, and Malaria, are distributed around Jeju International Airport.Pollen-Caused Respiratory DiseasePollen-caused respiratory diseases such as rhinitis, asthma, and atopy have become more prevalent. The subtropicalization causes this phenomenon in two ways. The longer the summer, the longer the period during which pollen levels are high. The length of this period is steadily expanding to include early spring and late autumn. Furthermore, the toxicity of the pollen becomes stronger when the climate is warm and there are more air pollutants. The number of

children who suffer from respiratory diseases caused by pollen has increased by about 130% from 2005 to the 2010s.

Preparations for Subtropical Korea

Introduction of Tropical CropsThe two main tasks for the Korean agricultural industry are developing species immune to high temperature and tropical pests, and widely distributing the cultivation of tropical species. These should be implemented as soon as possible since it takes at least a decade to develop new species and even more time to make them practical and widespread. In response to such needs, new rice called “Asemi” has been introduced. The japonica rice species, which Koreans consume, is threatened as the total production of rice is expected to be reduced by 29% by 2100. The ears of rice do not ripen appropriately in tropical climates. The test cultivation of Asemi rice conducted in a tropical region in the Philippines, however, discovered the possibility of raising this type of rice twice a year. Moreover, the Jeonnam Agricultural Research & Extension Services encouraged domestic farms to raise tropical produce by designating �ve tropical fruits, including mango and papaya, and six tropical vegetables such as kohlrabi and asparagus as promising crops of the future.Trends Toward Energy-saving BuildingsHouses are blamed for being a major source of total energy loss. Thus, efforts to equip houses with energy-saving features that will minimize energy loss are continuously being made. The spread of the “passive house” is an example. Passive houses have walls and windows through which energy does not leak out as much. Releasing and trapping heat in summer and winter, passive houses cut down unnecessary energy expenditures. In fact, the residents of passive houses can save up to 80% on energy costs. The government is also rolling up its sleeves for this matter. The Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport set out the “Green Remodeling” program. Green Remodeling �nancially supports those who wish to renovate old and energy-inefficient buildings into energy-ef�cient ones.

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The consequences of the subtropicalization of the Korean Peninsula span over all of our society. Since the climate change is out of human control, the only option we have is to adapt to the changes. Thus, it is imperative that we are aware of the signs of subtropicalization and respond accordingly.

How Passive House Works

Promotion of Passion Fruit Grown in Korea

By Yonghee Lim yongheelim@skku.edu

Faster Than Walking, Cheaper Than Taxi

My Public Transportation

What Is the Public Bicycle System?

The PBS is a public service that cities or countries initiate to encourage their citizens to ride bicycles as daily transportation. It is a bicycle-sharing system that cities or countries provide for various reasons. The system decreases environmental problems, solves traf�c congestions, increases convenience, and encourages the health of citizens. This system is far different from the familiar private bicycle rental system that rents bicycles to visitors in certain areas such as the Han River Park. In the past, bicycles were commonly recognized as private property, but the PBS enables bicycles to become an easy transportation option for anyone to use.Grab a Bicycle for YourselfThe PBS users can rent and return bicycles by visiting the bicycle stations located in places where citizens stay or visit frequently. Therefore, any citizen who wants to ride a bicycle can visit the closest bicycle station and rent one. After riding, he or she can return the bicycle to a different station near their destination. It does not matter which station the user rents or returns the bicycle. One of the interesting attributes of this system is that there are no workers in the bicycle stations.

Instead of workers, the system runs automatically. Each of the stations has three important components that enable this to work: bicycles, kiosks, and docking stands. The kiosk is the machine that facilitates the automated rental process. The docking stand is a mechanism between the bicycle and the kiosk that secures the bicycles when not in use and releases the bicycles once they are booked at the kiosk.

“Daddy, hold my back and do not let me go alone!”Remember the anxious moment when you �rst rode a bicycle with your father’s gentle guide? For some people,

the word “bicycle” can bring back warm memories of their childhood. Nowadays, bicycles are becoming a useful and eco-friendly public transportation option for short distances. There is a global trend devoted to establishing bicycles as part of public transportation, and we call this the “Public Bicycle System (PBS).” Many cities in the world have launched this system, and Korea also has some successful precedents. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) will give Kingos an overall explanation of the Public Bicycle System by analyzing several examples, including the Korean PBS, which can eventually become our daily transportation.

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The Three Components of the PBS : Kiosk, Bicycle, and Docking Stand

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History of the PBSExperts of transportation have various opinions towards the origin and history of the PBS. Some of them de�ne the PBS in a limited concept that only includes systems modernized with current technology. The SKT, however, would like to de�ne the concept of the PBS on a larger scale that includes the bicycle-sharing system without the application of advanced technology. By this de�nition, the PBS started in Europe and spread to other countries including the US, Canada, and Korea. This system has developed over 50 years, and its history can be organized into three big stages.• 1st StageIn the 1960s, the Netherlands had a movement called Provo Manifesto, which protested against authoritarian society. “The White Bicycle Plan” was one of the main events that was created to oppose authoritarian automobiles. The color white was a symbol of simplicity, and this marked the start of the PBS. The bicycles were free and operated in an unconstrained condition. Renting bicycles was free for anyone, and the bicycles had no lock systems, which actually led to the demise of this system because of bicycle damage. • 2nd StageIn 1995, Copenhagen developed a bicycle share system called Bicyklen. This system was different from the former one in that the public bicycles were stored in the stations. Historically, Denmark was a country that had high percentages of people using bicycles. Therefore, the system received favorable responses from the citizens, and the PBS still remains successful in Copenhagen along with private bicycles.• 3rd StageMost modern examples of the PBS belong to this stage. The bicycle became “smart” with the introduction of new technologies. These developments include not only services that enable computers to check the number of bicycles in the terminal and manage membership systems by computers, but they also include smartphone applications that increase accessibility of the PBS. Through constant developments of the PBS, users all over the world are gaining advantages in terms of convenience for riding bicycles.

Effects and Various Aspects of the PBS

Positive AspectsSince the system was launched in various countries, many studies have analyzed both positive and negative aspects of these efforts. The positive results can be organized in three main categories. The �rst one is regarding the effects of the bicycle itself. With the growing role of bicycles as a means of transportation, citizens’ health and economic situations have improved. According to

research of Kyung Hee University in 2009, people who had regular bicycle exercise for four months saved \40,000 in medical expenses per year compared to people who did not. The second major positive effect is the partnership between the city and companies for the PBS launch. The partnership generates synergy to both parties; the city can get economic support from the companies by allowing the companies to advertise their brand or products on parts of the PBS service. For instance, New Balance, the famous shoe company, had sponsored the bicycle-sharing system in Boston and put the brand logo on bicycles. Finally, environmental advantages are also notable. Kiosks in bicycle stations are usually operated by eco-friendly methods. Bixi, the PBS in Montreal, Canada, operates the kiosks by solar energy generators. According to research of David Rojas-Rueda, the city of Barcelona, Spain, experienced a huge decrease of carbon dioxide after the entrance of the PBS. He said that the bicycle system helped to reduce 9,062 tons of carbon dioxide per year in the city.Negative AspectsEven though there are lots of positive results from the PBS, precedent also suggests undeniable negative consequences. The typical loophole of the PBS is related to economic aspects. Goyang City is one of the cities that suffered from economic problems. One of the employees claimed that even though the participation rate for the PBS was remarkable, there was a budget de�cit. Initial development cost was \11.7 billion, and maintenance expenditures for ten years were \41.7 billion. It seems that the city did not forecast the expenditures enough prior to the launch, which ultimately resulted in this severe economic problem. In addition, restrictions on the age of users puts limits to the spread of the service. For instance, people under the age of 18 are restricted from buying a one-day ticket for Tashu, the PBS of Daejeon, on the basis that minors need consent from their guardian.

Global Examples of the PBS

Similar versions of the PBS are operated in 535 cities with over 520,000 bicycles throughout the world. Specific details of the service, such as tariff policies, are different depending on the cities. Generally, citizens can use the public bicycle by purchasing a one-day ticket or joining a membership in accordance with the city’s policy. Tariffs are inexpensive, and the price for using a bicycle for an hour is usually under \1000. The SKT would like to introduce two major examples of the PBS that have highly contributed to their own cities.

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One of the most famous PBS in the world is Velib of Paris, France.The term is a mixture of “velo” (the French word for bicycle) and “liberty.” After the fervent response of the �rst French PBS in Lyon, Paris launched a similar program with 10,000 bicycles at 750 stations. Citizens of Paris gave an enthusiastic response, and the number of bicycles increased to 23,000. This service is famous for its high participation rates and exporting the PBS to other countries.For a second example, China has public bicycles in various cities. One example is in Hangzhou, a city of seven million people that is located in southern China. According to the website of the Hangzhou Public Bicycle System, its trial operation started in 2008 with only 61 bicycle terminals and 2,800 bicycles. Now, Hangzhou’s PBS is the largest bicycle-sharing system in the world with over 50,000 bicycles across 2,050 bicycle stations. The city plans to expand the number of bicycles to 175,000 by the year 2020. The key factor that aids the success of the system is that the city integrated the PBS with ordinary transportations, such as the bus or subway. For instance, transfers are allowed between methods of transportation, and the �rst 90 minutes of using a bicycle is free if someone uses the public bicycle after taking a bus.

How About Korea?

Many cities in Korea, including Sejong City and Daejeon Metropolitan City, provide their own PBS for their citizens. The cities have their own reasons for implementing these systems; some have launched for the convenience to citizens, while others have started this to attract visitors. Below are two typical examples of successful implementation of the PBS.Citizen-Centered PBSNubija, the PBS of Changwon, was the �rst public bicycle system attempted in Korea. It was launched in 2008, and the term Nubija is the combination of two words, “nubida” (meaning going around in Korean) and “bicycle.” As the meaning implies, this system

achieved great success and led other cities in Korea to launch the PBS. The major factors that allowed Nubija to �ourish were the city’s steady efforts and citizens’ consistent participation. The city intended for citizens to use this system for their commutes. As a result, the city created bicycle lanes and enrolled insurance for every citizen in Changwon to prepare for possible bicycle accidents. The system also provided NFC chips to the members of Nubija. Citizens could rent a bicycle by scanning chips to the docking stand. In addition, the city designated September 22 as the “Day of Commuting by Nubija.”Tourist-Centered PBS Yeosu has the system called Yeosu-rang which means “with Yeosu” in Korean. The city targeted tourists as the main user of Yeosu-rang and built bicycle stations in 20 main tourist spots. The �rst launch was in 2011 and attracted tourists successfully. According to authorities involved, 65% of the total users are tourists and students in their twenties or thirties. The city has also announced that they are planning to construct two more stations in Yeosu Expo train station and Dolsan Park. Both of these locations are famous tourist spots of Yeosu. People who use Korea Train Express (KTX) arrive at the Yeosu Expo train station, and Dolsan Park is a famous touring site with a marine cable car.

The PBS in SeoulSeoul also started its original PBS system in 2010 with 43 terminals. Originally, the terminals were only located in Yeouido and Sangamdong, but after the initial operation, many citizens requested extension of the system for more terminals in various places. Therefore, Seoul Bike, the former name of Seoul’s PBS, reorganized and started test operations beginning this September.

During the extension of the system, the name has changed to Dda-reung-i (ting-a-ling in Korean) as the result of an idea contest. The city announced that it planned to have 10,000 bicycles by 2017 and 20,000 bicycles by 2020. Furthermore, the city is expecting to locate bicycle terminals every 300m. According to the blueprint, there will be terminals near SKKU, which is a good news for students looking forward to trying the PBS.

The PBS in Seoul

Dda-reung-i, the new PBS of Seoul, is becoming our new daily transportation.

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The Public Bicycle System has developed for years in various countries. According to a survey from Seoul in 2010, citizens that depend on public transportation account for 64.3% in daily shift. It is fortunate that we can include the bicycle as one of the convenient public transportation options. In the near future, we will commonly see the new public bicycles in the streets of Seoul. How about trying one of the bicycles while feeling the falling leaves and the chilly wind of the autumn days?

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Background InformationBeginning of the Internet in Korea

Korea was the second country to c rea t e moder n In t e r ne t infrastructure in 1982. Before 1982, the concept of Internet only existed in the United States (US) and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for military purposes. Jeon Gilnam, a professor at Seou l Na t iona l Un ive r s i t y during this time, strived to

create a System Development Network (SDN) between Seoul and Gumi and eventually succeeded. The network technology

People often call Korea a powerful IT country for the following reasons: rapid Internet speed and the wide

penetration rate of Internet. However, in spite of the noticeable development in those areas, Korea is criticized for owning this nominal title, “powerful IT country.” Many IT engineers and scientists in the country are poorly treated despite their arduous works. In addition, web standardization seriously suffers in Korea. For instance, the recently released Windows 10 does not set up Internet Explorer as a default browsing program, which makes it hard for Korean users to adapt because many have used Internet Explorer for a long time. Active X, which faded from the history of the Internet in most countries a long time ago, is still utilized on Internet Explorer even though it has been proven that Active X is vulnerable to outer cyber-attacks. Our school, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) also forces students to use obsolete Active X to access GLS, demonstrating how Korea and its websites have struggled with Internet standardization. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) will examine whether Korea truly deserves the title as a powerful IT country.

By Lim Yuhyunchoigold21@skku.edu

With Great Label,Comes Great WorkInvestigation on the IT Industry in Korea

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Dr. Jeon Gilnam forti�ed the foundation of modern Korean Internet.

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later spread to surrounding Asian countries and eventually became prevalent after several years. Before the project came into reality, the Korean government invested large amounts of money in helping Professor Jeon, believing that IT would sustain the Korean economy in the near future. The success that Professor Jeon brought at the early stage of the IT industry gave some confidence to Korea and led to constant support for the industry. The development of high-speed communication networks became the goal of the Korean government in the late 90s, and the IT industry once again experienced exponential growth. The Kim Daejoong administration invested $1 billion to create a high-speed communication network over the entire land of Korea, providing a basis for becoming a world IT leading country. Along with aggressive investment and interest in the IT industry, the small size of the territory and the population also contributed to the rapid spread of Internet infrastructure.

Success Gained After StrivingThe entire process that Korea has taken has contributed to the creation of the image as a powerful Internet country. One of the instances that substantiates this point is Korea’s record with the E-government system in the United Nations. E-government refers to the use of IT technology to shorten administrative procedures for the sake of efficiency. The history of the Korean government’s attempts to digitalize administrative services is extensive. The first effort for E-government appeared in 1971 when the Korean government established an E-government Service Center to digitalize statistics and data. The government attempted further expansion of E-government in 1978 and 1987 in different departments. During the regime of Kim Daejoong, the Electronic Government Act was enacted to facilitate the sharing of electronic information in different departments of government to better provide necessary services for the nation. The use of the Internet enabled the filing of a report of birth, death, location change, employment change, and many other types of information without visiting government agencies. The current government is going even further to create a cloud that provides big data and administrative services for private individuals.

Problems of the IT Industry in KoreaStandardizationDespite these praiseworthy histories and achievements, Korea has suffered in other areas of the IT industry. The first issue is standardization. Korea uses an online-certificate that enables Korean users to verify other users’ identities online. However, the online-certificate, which no other country has, is criticized for its inconvenience and vulnerability. Active X and NPAPI are other examples of programs that many Korean websites utilize even though other countries have long considered them obsolete. These programs are susceptible to hackers, and therefore, many foreign websites regard websites with Active X as containing malicious software. Even more serious is the fact that Internet users are not given other choices besides Internet Explorer. Many Korean websites do not provide access to users unless the users’ computers have Active X installed. Active X is a comparably easy program for developers to make, so its usage continues to be prevalent in Korea. However, Active X has now become an obstacle for users who care about the security of their computer. Lacking ContentsKorea has made noticeable achievements in IT hardware, but experts worry about the contents of these achievements. Korea has been a great consumer of a variety of programs and platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Adobe programs, Antivirus software, and many other developments, but it has made little progress in or contribution to creating those contents. Even within the software market in Korea, the top five major companies are all foreign. While the US has 74 software companies in the top 100 world ranks, Korea has none. Even though there have been cases where Korean companies provided certain platforms prior to other foreign companies, these platforms fail to gain popularity in the world market. For instance, Cyworld, which was a platform made to connect people in different places, became popular only in Korea. Facebook, on the other hand, which provides a similar function, gained worldwide popularity with simple user interface and low barr iers to entry, demonstrating that Cyworld lacked certain elements to attract foreign users. Poor Treatment of IT EngineersOne of the most important issues, however, is the poor treatment of IT engineers who participate in almost every part of the issues mentioned above. According to a 2013 survey of workers in the IT industry, the average yearly working hours of IT engineers was 2,980 hours. This number is 40% higher than that of workers in different industries. Moreover, this reported average of working hours goes beyond the limit set by the government, which is 70 hours per week. Only 10% of

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Once the most popular SNS platform in Korea, Cyworld, failed to gain worldwide popularity.

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IT engineers received extra payment for their longer working hours, and 50% of them answered that they are not satisfied with their current conditions, payments, working hours, welfare, and social status. The US, on the other hand, provides wages between $6,000 and $8,000 every month, which is much higher than that of Korean engineers.

Cases of Other Countries and KoreaIndiaIndia is widely known for having a strong IT industry as well. The country produces thousands of programmers every year, and only a few are given opportunities to go to foreign countries to work. Many multinational corporations have their offices in India for recruiting Indian developers, and 70% of Microsoft software developers are Indian. India, however, is also limited by the fact that even though there are many developers and engineers, only a few talented people can go to foreign countries, while the rest have to stay in India and be subcontracted. Some call this phenomenon labor exploitation. However, the IT industry is still a great opportunity for Indian people to escape from poverty, since social status can be raised once they become IT engineers. The Indian Institute of Technology is known as the best university for Indians to study IT, and its level of course difficulty

surpas se s many o ther curriculums from different universities. Continuous i n v e s t m e n t i n t h e I T industry and education s y s t em ha s g ene r a t ed a great atmosphere for engineers to work and has changed India into a leading IT country.

ChinaThe Chinese government is also very interested in the IT industry and has recently reformed the country to facilitate more growth in this industry. In March 2014, the Chinese government deregulated several barriers for fledging IT enterprises. Before June 2015, almost five million IT-related companies were established, and the total amount of the investment was almost $13 billion. Half of the investment went to software companies. The current Chairman of China, Xi Jinping, also publicly announced that China would lower its barriers to entry for foreign IT investors and, furthermore, would increase protection for intellectual property. China has been called a copycat by many foreign countries, and such

label has led to hesitation for many foreign investors. Xi’s new clarification implied that China will stand up as a leading IT country and will protect domestic IT enterprises. Many Chinese IT engineers are going back to their country to start a new business, as China is becoming an easy country for launching a startup.

United StatesOne of the most well-known countries for having good working conditions is the US, with the most famous location for IT development being Silicon Valley. Many prominent engineers go to Silicon Valley to start a venture company. The immigration laws of the US make it easy for intelligent engineers to move to the US and start a business, and such policy has attracted many ambitious engineers and scientists. Engineers who move to the US also gain great social respect and feel satisfied with their jobs and working conditions. Hardware and software companies collaborate to open up new businesses with cutting-edge technology. So far, the US seems to lead the world IT industry.KoreaKorea also established a new strategy in the early 21st century called u-IT 839 in order to maintain its title and reputation as a powerful IT country. The new strategy aimed to create more connections between eight major services, three major infrastructures, and nine new industrial engines and also worked to prioritize the development of software. Pangyo Techno Valley was constructed to create new growing power for the Korean industry along with Guanggyo Techno Valley, Bundang IT Valley, and the Paju LCD complex. Even though Korea developed a grand strategy and vision, what really matters is standardization, creativity for innovative products, sense of security, and basic treatment of engineers. Unless these basic elements change, Korea does not have the right to call itself an IT leading country.

Satya Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft as an Indian in 2014.

Xi's interest in the IT industry has facilitated more investment in China.

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Fast Internet and wide availability of Internet perhaps are not the best criteria for assessing an IT country. The title “Powerful IT country” was earned by the pioneers of the Internet, but the successors failed to maintain this title today. Grand vision is necessary, but only if the country has fulfilled elements, such as basic treatment of engineers, perception of Internet security, and other elements. It is time to look back and examine whether Korea truly deserves the great title, “ IT leading country.”

Beauty of Hanbok

Before looking into the beauty of Hanbok, the above picture shows the basic components of Hanbok for males and females, respectively.Hanbok represents the aesthetic sense of Korean traditional costume, mostly in two points. First is the combination of curved lines and straight lines. These two elements are well-harmonized, giving the impression of splendor and elegance at the same time. Another beauty of Hanbok is found in the elegant flow of its natural line. No matter whether the wearer is a Westerner or an Asian, Hanbok �ts most body types, creating a silhouette of the wearer that �ows over the body accordingly. Moreover, Hanbok has an approach of wearing several clothes in layers, thus also making its own line through natural richness from layered clothes.

Hanbok, Constantly ChangingHanbok in the Joseon Dynasty and that of modern day are vastly different. Form and structure of Hanbok have continuously changed to reflect the daily culture and also the aesthetic sense of those days. Through these changes, however, Hanbok has maintained its basic frame. Directly after Korea’s liberation, during the period of chaos and poverty, Hanbok was a means for expressing patriotism as well as Korean daily dress. The former president Rhee Syngman enjoyed wearing a white ramie fabric Durumagi, a traditional Korean overcoat. In the 1950s and ‘60s, despite the shortage of goods, people still wore Hanbok as everyday dress. With considerable growth in the Korean fiber industry and the introduction of imported fabric in the late ‘60s, various kinds of materials from nylon to velvet were utilized to make Hanbok. Practicality and beauty were highly regarded, which resulted in the shortening of Jeogori, a basic garment, and the narrowing of the waistline. Next, in the 1970s and ‘80s, there was a tendency of people pursuing exclusivity and dignity. Some kinds of Magoja, an outer coat worn by men over their jackets, started to be decorated using golden ornaments and Durumagi. This garnishment added elegance to the male Hanbok. Unfortunately, however, Hanbok has receded from daily use in Korea since this era. Now, Hanbok is primarily recognized as a costume only worn on special holidays such as the New Year's Day or Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving Day.

Hanbok Returns with Modern AttractionsThough Hanbok has largely disappeared from our everyday lives since the 1970s and '80s, Hanbok is now making a

W hat image comes to your mind when you think of “Hanbok”? Just a few years ago, most people described Hanbok as a traditional costume that is expensive, uncomfortable, and worn only for special occasions. At present,

however, Hanbok is making a new fashion boom among Korean youth, mostly as a result of Saenghwal-Hanbok, a modernized form of traditional Hanbok. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) explores this interesting phenomenon, introduces the beauty of Hanbok, and explains how Hanbok has varied time to time to reclaim popularity in the modern day.

Hanbok,Mesmerizing Beauty, Dragged into Present

By Se Yon Parkseyon1031@skku.edu

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comeback with a new modernized form, most ly in f luenced by people in their 20s and 30s. Wearing Hanbok in daily life i s becoming a new cul tura l phenomenon, particularly among youth. This special phenomenon mos t ly occurs on the bas i s o f S o c i a l N e t w o r k S e r v i c e (SNS). In the case of Facebook, communities related to Hanbok,

such as “Gathering of People Who Like and Love Wearing Hanbok” and “A Nice Day to Wear Hanbok” were formed in recent years. Thousands of people are “liking” these pages to subscribe to the regular news. Through both Facebook and Instagram, people post their everyday life with Hanbok: they usually go to many historical attractions like Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun, or even to the trendy area of Hongdae. Following this tendency, taking pictures of traveling while wearing the traditional attire is also becoming a trend during travel to nearby places in Korea like Jeonju as well as travel to foreign destinations. There is one instance where the “Hanbok traveler” climbed Mount Everest wearing Hanbok. In fact, there are over 150,000 photos with the hashtag of “Hanbok” on Instagram, which exhibits the new fad of uploading photos while wearing Hanbok. Along with these new developments and uses of Hanbok, programs suggesting that people try Hanbok are also increasing. In Jeonju, Hanok Village, nearly 30 stores provide a Hanbok-rental program, and over 500 Hanboks are borrowed every weekend. According to Chaehwan Lee, who works at a store designed to let people experience Hanbok in Bukchon Hanok Village, the demand of Korean visitors is remarkably growing since last year, increasing the Koreans-to-foreigners ratio from 5:5 to 7:3.So what caused this phenomenon? One of several reasons

is the reaction to cultures coming from abroad. Because the young have ceaselessly continued to keep in touch with foreign cultures, they seem to be tempted more by the traditional Korean features. According to the explanation of Myongwoo Roh, the professor of sociology at Ajou University, the young are recognizing that they cannot pursue their own uniqueness through Western-style fashion anymore. Therefore, the prevalence of Hanbok, combined with SNS, is a kind of natural circumstance. Another reason for this phenomenon is the popularization of Saenghwal-Hanbok. Saenghwal-Hanbok is Hanbok that is transformed partially from the original Hanbok in accordance with the daily lives of modern people. It has two main advantages: low cost and higher comfort. Saenghwal-Hanbok is a kind of an alternative to traditional Hanbok, which people have been reluctant to wear due to the high cost and inconvenience. Saenghwal-Hanbok costs about one-tenth of the original Hanbok, which ranges from \600,000 to \1,000,000. Additionally, people love to wear Saenghwal-Hanbok because it is comfortable for daily routines such as eating food or walking on the street. Saenghwal-Hanbok is like an intermediate form of traditional clothing that lies between Hanbok and modern clothes. It can even be matched to ordinary clothes like a shirt or jeans. Numerous Saenghwal-Hanbok brands have sprung up, including Leesle and Tchaikim, and they produce various kinds of Hanbok that suit the taste of youth, thus setting a new fashion trend. Cheollik dress is the most representative type, which is inspired from Cheollik, an of�cial uniform of an ancient military attache. Some major brands are known to make a pro�t of \25 million in monthly sales. It seems that this high demand of Saenghwal-Hanbok has made a great contribution to the sudden increase in the popularity of Hanbok.

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Korean traditional attire Hanbok, which had once seemed to be disappearing from our modern society, is now trying to go deep inside people’s daily lives once again in a newly reinterpreted form. This is de�nitely a positive phenomenon; thus, the most important thing is that we should not make it a one-time fad. We should emphasize the value of Hanbok to Korean tradition, and most importantly, we should understand the value and criteria of maintaining its charm for the “appropriate” dress of Hanbok. Have you been on the street wearing Hanbok yet? Then how about trying out this new phenomenon? The future of Hanbok lies in our hands.

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Hanbok in the 1950s

Hanbok in the 1970s

Saenghwal-Hanbok, the mordenized form of the traditional Hanbok.

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In 1796, an English boy received a shot to protect against Smallpox. At that time many people did not believe in vaccine: some people even thought that the shot would turn the boy into a cow. However, the vaccine was successful,

and it was spread to the world soon thereafter. The �rst vaccination was initiated by English medical scientist Edward Jenner. Since then, many medical scientists like Louis Pasteur in France or Ji Seok-Young in Korea made efforts to develop vaccinations. Consequently, many infectious diseases like Smallpox, Epidemic Typhus, and Malaria are not prevalent today. In modern times, however, people who cast doubt on the validity of vaccines have appeared. The Sungkyun Times (SKT) looks into people who deny the usefulness of vaccinations.

By Seunghee KangWriter1714@skku.edu

Vaccination:Right or Obligation?

+ What Is the Anti-vaccine Movement?Vaccination consists of injecting an attenuated form of an often- deadly virus into our body. Through this attenuated form of the virus, our body increases its level of immunity. Then, our body develops antibodies for the virus. Moreover, vaccination increases herd immunity. The more people get vaccinated, the less opportunity for the infectious disease to spread. Many scientists claim that humanity can avoid epidemics through herd immunity. Despite these facts, an anti-vaccine movement has appeared. The movement argues that people have freedom to decide against getting vaccinated and further claims that the vaccine is just the pharmaceutical company’s business strategy. Actually, in western nations, the anti-vaccine movement is

prominent, and therefore some incidents have occurred. In California, an anti-vaccine demonstration was held in 2015. This demonstration was held because the California state government legislated a law that compels vaccination for children. Rand Paul, a presidential candidate of the Republican Party, even mentioned this demonstration. As he told CNN, “I've heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children, who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines. I think parents should have some input. The state doesn't own your children, parents own their children, and it is an issue of freedom.” Because of this movement, the immunization rate of the western part of the US has decreased. Their immunization rate was 50 to 86%, which is even lower than the average of advanced country’s immunization rates, which is 95%. Islamic countries have also seen the anti-vaccine movement. The Islamic radicals were against vaccination because their religious persuasion does not condone receiving the vaccine. Korea has also experienced this anti-vaccine movement. In Korea, the “Party for Safety Vaccination” argues that the vaccine is useless for increasing the level of immunity. They recommend drinking urine, exposing the body to wind, and fasting to increase the level of immunity from disease. The organization claims that if we purposely catch a cold regularly, we can increase our level of immunity. Members of the “Party for Safety Vaccination” have increased to 17,000 after being at just 6,000 in 2012. However, the “Party for Safety Vaccination” was dismissed by the government. All these anti-vaccine movement groups have something in common: distrust in existing scienti�c knowledge.

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Geographic representation of Disney Measles Outbreak in the states marked in yellow

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+ Vaccine VS AntivaccineThe anti-vaccine movement argues that vaccinations are useless or that the value of vaccines are severely overstated, but the scienti�c community refutes the anti-vaccine movement’s arguments. Here are the arguments of both sides:

+ Outcomes of the Anti-vaccine MovementThe anti-vaccine movement has provoked some incidents. The first incident caused by the anti-vaccine movement occurred in Swansea, Wales. Swansea’s immunization rate decreased by 34% between 1995 and 2013. Perhaps as a result of this, there was a measles outbreak in Swansea. From this infectious disease, one person died, and hundreds of people were infected. After this incident, the government of Swansea legislated a new law requiring that all children should receive vaccinations prior to entering school. As a second incident caused by the anti-vaccine movement, the measles broke out in the western US at Disneyland in California in January 2015. This situation received

attention due to the declaration by the US Department of Health that measles had been exterminated in North America. According to the investigation of the US Department of Health, most of the �rst people to contract the measles did not get vaccinated against this disease. Because of the spread of the infectious disease, 178 people were infected in 24 states. Moreover, the measles spread to Germany, causing a diplomatic con�ict between Germany and the US. After the incident, “Vaccine Obligation” became a hot potato in the political realm in the US. Although there have been instances of the outbreak of diseases, the anti-vaccine movement still defends the freedom of individuals and refuses to believe the scienti�c community. Therefore, con�ict between the anti-vaccine movement and vaccine supporters is ongoing.

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Satirical Cartoon Depicting Anti-vaccine Movement

Every individual has a freedom. This freedom, however, is valid only when one’s freedom does not obstruct other’s freedom. If someone’s freedom obstructs the others’ freedom, this freedom can justi�ably be restricted. Therefore, if the anti-vaccine movement is injurious to our whole society, it will make it hard for vaccine supporters and the general public to respect the freedom of those wishing to avoid vaccination.

scienti�c community refutes the anti-vaccine movement’s arguments. Here are the arguments of both sides:

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Anti-vaccine Movement1. Bacteria and viruses are nonexistent. According to Dr. Morishita

Geichi’s thesis, viruses are produced from erythrocyte. This means that viruses are not infectious diseases, and even if you are vaccinated, you cannot prevent disease. In other words, vaccines are useless.

2. Vaccine supporters claim that vaccines help develop levels of immunity. However, statistics show that there are no differences in mortality whether a person is vaccinated or not.

3. The region with low immunization rates has a low death rate when the infectious disease breaks out. This suggests that vaccines are useless to develop the level of immunity. If vaccination works, how can vaccine supporters explain this low death rate in unvaccinated populations?

4. Infectious disease is not from a virus. If a disease is from a virus, why do some people catch a contagion, while other people do not? The disease develops from cell modification. People exposed to similar environments have similar cell modification. That is why people within the same area are susceptible to the same diseases. Consequently, it looks like an infectious disease. However, in this scenario, vaccines do not give much help to prevent people from getting sick.

5. People who get diseases without vaccination are difficult to find. On the other hand, people who do not get diseases without vaccination are easy to find, suggesting that the vaccine was not effective to prevent disease.

6. Every individual has freedom. Therefore, society should respect people’s personal choice not to get vaccinated. If government forces people to vaccinate, it will be a violation on individual freedom.

7. There are many children who suffer mental disorders after getting vaccinated. This means that vaccines are an unreliable treatment. Therefore, all parents should be given an option to choose whether they will vaccinate their babies or not.

Vaccine Supporter1. There is not enough evidence

to support the thesis that bacteria and viruses are nonexistent. Bacteria and viruses can be observed by microscope, and there are many infamous viruses such as Ebola or AIDS.

2. When an infectious disease breaks out, people who were vaccinated have a lower death rate than those who are not vaccinated; therefore, vaccines are useful to increase the level of immunity.

3. Vaccine’s purpose is not to reduce the death rate, but rather to reduce the rate of infection. Vaccinations help to prevent disease but does not help cure disease. The attack rate of diseases is lower in regions that have high immunization rates. This shows that vaccines prevent people from getting ill.

4. If infectious diseases came from cell modification, people in America and people in Asia would not get the same infectious disease. However, people exposed to totally different environments are attacked by the same diseases. Let us look at AIDS or SARS. Infectious disease was from the virus, not cell modification, and these diseases are preventable by receiving the vaccine.

5. Because of herd immunity, if surrounding people are vaccinated, the level of immunity of those who were not vaccinated also increases. In other words, immunization of oneself can also save people who did not get vaccinated.

6. Because of herd immunity, the anti-vaccine movement not only decreases the individual level of immunity, but it also decreases the group’s overall level of immunity.

7. The possible side effects of vaccinations are one in a million. Moreover, side effects from vaccines are often caused from error in the manufacturing process, not from the vaccine itself.

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What Is a “Blood-Transfusing Dog”?

According to a Medical Dictionary, blood transfusion refers to the “transfer of blood or blood components from one person (the donor) into the bloodstream of another person (the recipient). Blood transfusion may be done as a lifesaving maneuver to replace blood cells or blood products lost through bleeding or due to depression of the bone marrow.” Accordingly, blood-transfusing dogs are a fairly new-formed concept where dogs are raised with

the sole task and purpose of providing transfusions for other dogs that are in need of a blood donation. The organizations responsible for these dogs operate with this rationale: “Humans can donate blood but dogs cannot. Therefore, these blood-transfusing dogs will help supplement blood to your dogs.” To qualify as these blood-transfusing dogs, the canine must weigh over 30 kilograms, pass and receive all vaccinations and health exams, be free of anemia, and lastly, not ever have been pregnant. The choice of blood-transfusing dogs usually specify to fully grown Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, and Grey Hounds. The dogs usually start fulfilling their roles as blood-transfusing dogs at the age of two and continue until they reach the age of seven. These dogs, on a typical routine, have 300 milliliters of blood drawn once every month. The blood collected is sent to the “Korean Animal’s Blood Bank,” where it is used to provide surgical assessments. These blood-transfusing dogs repeat this process until they are unable to work any longer and are euthanized.

Current Status of Blood-Transfusing Dogs

The ratio of blood-donating dogs is extremely low compared to the amount of blood-transfusing dogs. The lack of practice in adopting blood-donating dogs creates the demand for blood,

Four Legged Angel, Blood-Transfusing Dog

Recall the exposition of the story in the movie Mad Max, where the main character was used merely to provide blood for another

character. Have you ever wondered what life would be like living in such conditions? Although the portrayal of a blood-transfusing human shown in the movie is a radical example, the case of blood-

transfusing dogs actually exists. Dogs, just like humans, need blood in case of emergencies and during surgery. In contrast, however, dogs

cannot wilfully donate their blood, thus creating the concept of blood-transfusing dogs. In this article, The Sungkyun Times (SKT) introduces readers to the interpretation of these blood-transfusing dogs and explores problems and solutions within this controversy.

By Dong Won Lee dongwonlee@skku.edu

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but the shortage of blood supply results in the use of blood-transfusing dogs. In 2003, South Korea was ranked as the second overall country to raise the most blood-transfusing dogs, enlisting between 100 to 200 dogs. Following the trend, in 2012, it was estimated that there was an increase to around 300 blood-transfusing dogs in the country. Presently, although the number of these dogs is unclear, it is estimated that the amount of blood supply in storage is plentiful enough to give up to two household dogs a blood transfusion in every animal hospital constructed in Korea. These blood-transfusing dogs reside primarily by the Korean Animal Blood Bank located in Dongmyeong-dong, Sokcho City, Gangwon Province. Additionally, many populate some of the big university hospitals located in Seoul. On average, four to �ve packages of blood drawn from the transfusing dogs are used and bought for \300,000 to help in aiding other dogs.

Blood Transfusion Process

Canine Blood Types

Animals such as dogs and cats have cell surface antigens that indicate blood type. Respectively, differentiating from human blood, the canine blood subsists of 13 different groups of blood called Dog Erythrocyte Antigens (DEA). Of these DEA types, eight DEA types have been recognized and accepted as an international

standard. Although ideally it would be best if dogs receive the blood type that matches with their own, dogs are able to receive any type of blood in the �rst transfusion because their immune system creates antibodies to form and remain in its body, making the usage of blood-transfusing dogs effective and useful. During the second transfusion, however, the receiving dog’s immune system remembers the blood, recognizes it as an intruder, and ultimately rejects it. For this reason, it is crucial to identify the type of blood and match it for the second transfusion.

Using the Blood of the Blood-Transfusing Dog

Although the usage of the blood collected from the blood-transfusing dogs cannot alter the extremities between life and death, it is a crucial tool in aiding or healing other dogs that are in need. The blood is �rst extracted from the dog’s hind leg or cervical vein located in the neck without the aid of anaesthesia. One of the most obvious ways that the obtained blood can be used is in circumstances of injury where the recipient animal is externally bleeding and is in need of blood and surgery. Another form of using the blood of the transfusing dogs may occur if the recipient dog is suffering from anemia or an internal parasitic attack. Transfused blood can help to bolster the removal of damaging harms from the blood system and to maintain a healthy quantity of red blood cell counts. Additional processes that require the blood of transfusing dogs can include increasing antigens in the recipient dog’s system or treating recipient dogs that have caught a sudden epidemic disease relating to a certain blood disorder. Furthermore, even though this may be a radical occurrence, sometimes the blood of the transfusing dog is used to increase the health and immune system of the recipient dog because the blood given by the transfusing dog has already received all necessary vaccinations. Many people �nd vaccinations to be inhumane and cruel, hence the transfusion can be an alternative to improving the immune system. Despite the transfusion of the dog’s blood being effective, many questions have arisen regarding the safety and ethical regularities of this behavior.

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Legislation

Korea

In Korea, there are not many laws securing the safety and boundaries of these blood-transfusing dogs, nor are there stable programs constructed to reduce the number of blood-transfusing dogs and create a better system for the canine animal blood bank. However, the Animal Protection Law that was recently enforced on January 20, 2015, stands as the best case in defending the rights of the blood-transfusing

dogs. The law states that it protects the animals’ basic rights because it emphasizes responsibilities of citizens over animals, proscribes appropriate breeding conditions, prohibits animal abuse, regulates animal operations and surgery, and supports animal rescue. However, even with these provisions, the stance in defending blood-transfusing dogs is limited because the law focuses upon the general restricted acts without going into detail. For example, in the Animal Operation and Surgery Act, the law only states that one should not cut certain parts of the body or conduct gruesome acts in humiliating the corpse. This does not necessarily help in defending the rights of transfusing dogs. Although many animal rights activists have been trying to change the legislation for the sake of these dogs, little progress has resulted. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has tried to intervene because it felt that there was a problem in the blood-transfusing system, but it was dif�cult to make progress toward managing and inspecting these concerns because of licensing issues within industries.

Other Regions

To use the approaches of America, Europe, and Canada as a comparison, the community of animal rights and interventions are skilfully structured and have already launched many actions for blood-transfusing dogs. Even though these nations mostly interact only with blood-donating dogs rather than blood-transfusing dogs, there are certain safety protocols and measures

to regulate blood-transfusing dogs. For example, California Senate Bill 1345 states that the industry must not only care for these blood-transfusing dogs, but must also set up special facilities for these dogs where they can exercise, socialize, and interact with people for emotional purposes. They must also give out specific details and directions on how much blood will be collected and the intervals between withdrawing the blood. The bill also states that the industries must prepare a retirement plan for these dogs after they are done with their life as a blood-transfusing dog and requires an annual inspection by the government in order to maintain their license. These nations also have stable programs to aid blood-transfusing dogs. For example, in Europe, animal rights supporters created the New Life Saving Dog Blood Donor Program, leading to the screening of 1,200 pet dogs and canine law-enforcement officers during early 2014 in order to develop a group of 200 to 400 regular donors. Program such as these aim to slowly remove the concept of blood-transfusing dogs and create a structure of blood-donating dogs.

Ethical Issues

The borders of ethical issues are very thin and hard to define. To further explain the issue, the SKT intended to interview the Animal Blood Bank regarding blood-transfusing dogs, but this interview was bluntly declined due to the industry’s “security issues.” The problems created by the concept of blood-transfusing dogs are evident and clearly depicted. The main ethical controversy stands with the question of dealing and raising blood-transfusing dogs, as well as using their blood for medical purposes without their direct consent. In the case of humans, one is able to communicate and willingly donate their blood, while dogs, without their consent, forcefully have blood draw in the name of science and health. Another question that arose as an ethical issue is whether it is right to take the blood of a transfusing dog for the sake of healing a personal household dog. Both dogs are gifted with a source of life, but using one’s life to support another has been an argument without a clear answer. In sequence with the last question, a further ethical issue arises in euthanizing the dogs after their duty as a blood-transfusing dog is completed. This stands as a major violation of animal rights and cruel and unusual punishment. Many people have protested this practice, saying that it is inhumane to permit this gruesome act, but no legislative change or legal enforcement has happened to date.

Blood-transfusing dogs have clearly brought many merits and advantages to society and household dogs. Whether countries should adopt the concept of these blood-transfusing dogs has been long debated over the century without a clear answer. The act of using their blood for healing cannot be overridden of the fact that these dogs are sacri�cing their life and vice versa. Nevertheless, one must be cautious in regarding both sides of the argument and evaluate both values for this case.

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Book Written about a Former Blood-Tranfusing Dog

MonitoringThe Advocator of a Love Triangle: Ashley Madison

The uncomfortable truth, the prosperity of a ‘cheating website.’ The overall design was good, especially the broken heart image on the top of the article, since it accurately indicated how the usage of this website could completely break a couple’s, or a family’s, happiness. However, it would have been better if ‘Reactions of the Nations’ came before either ‘Hacking Attacks’ or ‘Economical

& Social influence’ for better content relativeness. While the statistical data showing the number of countries the website has in�uenced and the current number of members were very shocking, readers could at the same time think about whether the action of hacking and revealing personal information could be justi�ed or not, as well as whether they should be considered as victims, or deserving a punishment. The article makes us rethink about what family is, and what love is. Of course, from one point of view such as Biderman’s, life is short and having a secret affair may indeed be thrilling. However, would you, after reading the article, choose to risk your happiness?

The Tales of Kim Kwang Seok, the Bard

This article was my favorite because I really like Kim Kwang Seok’s songs. It was nice to learn about his singing career and some of his keywords. Overall, the article was very informative and useful not only to his fans, but also to people who are interested in the music industry in general. Even though I often listen to some of his songs, I didn’t know anything about the background of

them, so it was good to learn about that. Furthermore, the title summed up the whole article very well, and I especially liked the word ‘bard.’ I think it’s the perfect word to describe Kim Kwang Seok. The layout and music paper background was beautiful and really went well with the article. I wish the SKT would publish more articles such as this one in the future.

Fathers of Modern Korea and Singapore: Park Jung Hee and Lee Kuan Yew

Park Jung Hee and Lee Kuan Yew are often compared as two charismatic leaders of the roaring East Asian countries. The similarities Park and Lee share from surviving a time under rapid changes of society are indeed very interesting and noteworthy. The article did a nice job in introducing various perspectives on viewing these two leaders. The piece �rst supplies the readers with basic

background information about Park and Lee, then continues

on to further explicate the similarities they share as leaders of two complex nations going through historic transitions. These similarities were clearly organized and presented by the enlistment of three different aspects: economic, political, and social. The differences of Park and Lee were also brie�y stated, highlighting certain numbered incidents, but they seemed to be a lacking deeper analysis that the readers might have been anticipating. The third body, however, presented an interesting de�nition to the legacies of the two men, enticing the readers once more. The visual aids interwoven throughout the piece were very powerful, encompassing a strong, evocative message and a story of the lives that the two in�uential �gures had lived.

E-Pass: The New Ticket Issue System of Express Bus

Thanks to the SKT, I got to know the E-Pass,which is still very new to me. It is very interesting that we can take express buses just as we use any other bus in a major city: you put any card with a transportation function next to the reader and you get on the bus. I am probably going to try the E-Pass next time I take an express bus. However, I feel like I would need more

details on how to properly use the E-Pass. I thought it would be more helpful for the readers who actually wish to use the E-Pass in their everyday lives if the article included step-by-step instructions. In addition, it was not easy to read the white letters in lightly colored boxes. Despite of the comments I wrote, I loved to read the latest trend on transportation uses in Korea.

Mobile Payment: The New Cashless Future

As soon as I saw this article’s title, I thought that it was an appropriate subject for the SKT, whose readers are in their 20’s, because it is a recent trend issue. The article was well -organized and it read well, giving enough information to satisfy our curiosity. It also provides pros and cons of mobile payment. For example, this article enhances our degree of understanding about actual

usage of coverage mobile payment by writing �ve representative kinds of usage. In addition, it explains the technology used in mobile payment, which helps us understand the principle of operation for this system. Moreover, the article shows the differences between existing mobile payment services used by various companies through comparisons. Each photo is appropriately inserted in each section, which helps us understand the article well, the blue and orange colors give the article a trendy feeling. Overall, this article is bene�cial and deals with a recent and relavant subject.

Tae Kyoung Kang

Myeong Eun Lee

Minjae Song

Jiwon Park

Giseob Park

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