한국의 국제적 위상에 가장 위협적인 요인은?

오늘자 뉴욕타임즈 기사 원문이다. 별로 달갑지 않은 내용으로 전세계 지면을 장식하고 있는 한국의 위상에 실소가 나온다. 비록 많은 사람들이 이 뉴스를 접하지는 못하더라도 비중있는 일간지에 이러한 내용으로 실렸다는 것만으로도 한국이라는 나라의 이미지는 어떻게 잡힐지 불을 보듯 뻔하지 않겠는가? 추가로 해석을 달진 않겠지만, 마지막 글에 방점이 찍혀있으니 그 부분 만이라도 위정자들은 곱씹을 필요가 있을 듯 하다.

* An Original Article from NYT *

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/opinion/international/south-korea-targets-dissent.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0

South Korea Targets Dissent

South Koreans can be as proud of their country’s emergence from dictatorship into a vibrant democracy as they are of the rags-to-riches development that made their country a global industrial powerhouse. So it is alarming that President Park Geun-hye appears intent on backtracking on the democratic freedoms that have made South Korea as different from North Korea’s puppet regime as day is from night.

Last weekend, tens of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets to protest two repressive government initiatives. One would replace the independently selected history textbooks now available to South Korea’s educators with government-issued textbooks. The other would change labor laws to make it easier for South Korea’s family-controlled business conglomerates to fire workers.

Ms. Park is also attempting to control criticism and dissent on social media and the Internet. On Saturday, Lee Sir-goo, the co-chief executive of South Korea’s most popular messaging app, stepped down. He is facing criminal charges for failing to prevent teenagers from posting lewd photos, but critics contend the real goal is to punish him for resisting government surveillance efforts and refusing to curb users’ opinions critical of the government.

Ms. Park is the daughter of Gen. Park Chung-hee, who was an Imperial Japanese officer in the colonial era and South Korea’s military dictator from 1961 to 1979. Rehabilitating her father’s image appears to be one motivation for making sure South Korea’s students learn a whitewashed version of their country’s history — especially the period when democratic freedoms were seen as an impediment to industrialization.

South Korea’s economy has been hit hard this year by an outbreak of MERS respiratory disease and a slowdown in demand from China and other Asian countries. The biggest risk to South Korea’s reputation abroad, however, is not economic but political, chiefly Ms. Park’s heavy-handed attempts to rewrite history and quash dissent.

"한국의 국제적 평판을 위협하는 가장 큰 요인은 경제가 아니라, 역사를 새로 쓰고, 반대 세력을 억압하려는 박근혜 대통령의 강경 일변도 정책이다."