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21. Deauwand Myers

My country's better than yours

By Deauwand MyersAs an American expat, I’m sometimes surprised at how other countries view the United States. With a mix of inferiority and superiority complexes, some countries take issue with how they feel they’re viewed by the global community juxtaposed to America.Korea is concerned with national identity and national pride. Understandably, North Korea looms large in the shaping of how Koreans view themselves. Plenty of Koreans who travel abroad are shocked and saddened to find folks asking them “are you from North Korea?” or confusing the two countries as if they...

2015-09-21 16:55

The Korean Dream/Myth

China's President Xi will make a splash soon in his first state visit to America. Of course, as often is the case, some of journalists covering China and previewing Xi’s visit are rather ethnocentric and Eurocentric in their views of Asia. They think Xi’s vision of the “Chinese Dream” is a reinterpretation of the American Dream. As with Korea, China has had a kind of national vision of a successful society thousands of years ago, long before there was a United States of America, long before the English language, in fact. Harmony, with the state as its center, is a good, albeit simplistic, en...

2015-09-07 16:35

To Japan: Just apologize (2)

In my earlier piece, I briefly explored the atrocities Imperial Japan committed before and during World War II. Further, I explained that particularly for Japan's closest neighbors, Korea and China (countries most victimized by Japan during this time) Prime Minister Abe's actions continually and needlessly strain diplomatic and economic ties with these nations.

2015-08-24 17:17

To Japan: Just apologize

Korea, China, and other Asian countries aren't happy with Japan, or at least with the conservative Abe government. Why? A little history: Korea was a Japanese protectorate from 1905-1910, and then until the end of World War II, an annexed country under Japanese rule. (Gwangbokjeol, Korea's Independence Day, celebrated on Aug. 15, commemorates Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule).

2015-08-10 16:57

Korea's diplomacy pays off

Good neighbors are quiet neighbors. Regular readers of my columns know I have my own complaints about President Park and her administration: I would like to see President Park propose and pass policies encouraging more equitable pay for women, a more generous social welfare system for the poor and working poor, family-friendly policies for working mothers and fathers of young children (such as more paid maternity/paternity leave and more generously subsidized child care), an anti-discrimination bill for women, racial, and sexual minorities, a more progressive tax policy, and a much-needed re...

2015-07-27 17:11

Welcome to Korea

I’ve been in Korea for several years now. When I first came, I wasn’t as overwhelmed by the new environment as some other expatriates may be, because I already lived in Japan and China. What would have helped me, like any new foreigner, would have been some practical tips on how to acclimate to being a resident in a country that is not my own.

2015-07-13 17:06

Sometimes war is the answer

I am not a pacifist, nor am I pro-war at every turn. The American Civil Rights Movement (and movements like it) demonstrated nonviolent social protests, and the legislative victories attached to them, can be effective.

2015-06-29 17:13

Prepare for the next outbreak

MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) has gripped Korea with angst and panic. Hundreds of schools were recently closed, economic activity has slowed and worries grow among the populace about its containment, mode of transmission and government protocols meant to protect the general public.

2015-06-15 17:02

Wack friends (2)

Again, for the uninitiated, "wack" is an American urban expression meaning "uncool." I had a grand Thanksgiving last year in Tokyo, Japan, attending my good friend’s formal wedding reception.

2015-06-01 16:57

“Liberal.” American conservatives have done a good job of making that word seem highly problematic, particularly in the political sphere. Say what you want about Republicans and the American Right, they are adept at vitriol and demonization of the opposition, and they fight for their ideology with a vigor Democrats and much of the Left often do not.

2015-05-18 16:54

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