Korea’s Online Procurement System Going Abroad

The Public Procurement Service (PPS) is one of Korea’s central administrative bodies that provides public institutions with materials, facilities and services from supplying companies that they need. With the rapid spread of the Internet and Korea’s advanced level of Information Technology, the nation’s procurement system, also, is going online. Furthermore, a growing number of developing countries where issues of budget waste, lack of transparency and corruption are considerable are trying to import! and benchmark Korea’s online e-procurement system.

Procurement officials overseas visit Korea to learn

Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) conducted a training program “Public Procurement System Establishment” for 18 participants from 8 countries including Uzbekistan, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, and Uganda. From September 2 to 18, the participating officials took various courses on the strategy for establishing the e-Government and e-Procurement system.

Costa Rica imports Korea’s e-procurement system

Costa Rica’s e-procurement system which opened in July 2009 was constructed by Samsung SDS for USD 8.3 million. Recently, a total of 9 systems were launched including the electronic bidding, security/authentication, electronic contracts, electronic payments, electronic documents, document distribution and others. Samsung will support the operation until December and then transfer the controls over to ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad). 

  

With the introduction of the system, the Costa Rican government will be able to operate efficiently through integration, standardization of procurements. Also, it is expected to contribute to the transparency of procurement and the efficiency of the bidding companies.

Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica said, “I am very pleased because the e-procurement system improves the efficiency of public institutions and provides high-quality services of government agencies; it provides equal benefits to all the citizens.” She also thanked South Korea’s embassies and Samsung SDS for their efforts in making the successful launch.

Through the project to spread Korean online procurement system to foreign countries, Korea’s software and IT consulting companies are accumulating their know-how on overseas projects and improving their international competitiveness. Also, efforts are being made to make the Korean e-procurement system a global standard.

Not so many people are aware Korea has an advanced procurement system like this. Promoting it to the world must surely be a way to raise Korea’s brand value! 

Seoul, Nigeria celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations with performances

The Korea Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) announced Monday (September 20) that an exchange performance will take place in late September to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Nigeria. KOCIS is an organ of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Abuja Arts Troupe from Nigeria will showcase a traditional dance, “A Giant in the Sun,” at KB Haneul Youth Theater of the National Theater of Korea (NTOK) this coming Tuesday, Sept. 28. In return, NTOK will perform a traditional Korean folk dance, “Hanmadang” at the Abuja Hilton Hotel in Nigeria on Wednesday (Sept. 29).

Prior to the Nigerian performance, there will be a special reception to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Korea-Nigeria diplomatic relations at the outdoor stage of NTOK and KB Haneul Youth Theater, attended by top officials from both countries.

Organized by the Nigerian government, the Abuja Arts troupe is one of the premier dance and performance groups in Africa.

However, their performance in Seoul is not the first such exchange between Korea and Nigeria. In May this year, a Korean performance team featured traditional dance, taekwondo, and b-boy moves in their performance in Nigeria’s capital, followed by a Nigerian art exhibition in Seoul in June. 

“This cultural exchange has contributed greatly to enhancing the friendly ties and maturing cooperative relationship between the two countries. We intend to keep holding these kinds of events,” said an official at the Culture Ministry.

source:Korea.net

Foreigners overtaking Korean language grad courses

Bao Lun, a student from China, speaks Korean as if it was her mother tongue, easily holding her own in a Korean conversation.

She nurtured a dream of becoming a Korean language professor and majored in Korean language and literature at her university before coming to study at the graduate school of Yonsei University in Seoul in 2009. She wished to share her knowledge with the growing sector of Korean translators and prospective Korean company employees in China. 

Now she is on the next step in obtaining her Ph.D. in Korean.

Lun is part of a new wave of foreign students, numbering around 1,000, to hit Korea in order to obtain a doctorate in Korean. 

One out of three students in graduate Korean language programs is a foreigner, an analysis of Seoul’s top universities shows.

An increasing number of students, many of whom are Asian, are enrolling in the Yonsei University’s graduate course of Korean language and literature. To meet the demand, Korea’s oldest private university has developed classes especially for these students.

In one of these courses, made to help foreigners adjust to Yonsei’s Korean language programs, you hear a variety of languages other than the Korean of an average university class. Many of these students are from surrounding Asian countries like China, Sri Lanka and Thailand, but there are also students from halfway around the world.

The high numbers are found not just at Yonsei, but also at Seoul National University, Korea University and three other top Korean universities. The number of foreign students in their Korean language graduate programs averaged around 30 percent.

Most of the students interviewed are interested in going back to their native country and teaching Korean as a second language.

“Like most other foreign students here, I am studying to become a Korean as a second language teacher. I plan to return to my home country and become a professor,” said Lun.

“In China there are not a lot of distinguished professors, so I want to fill that gap and return home as one, said a 23-year-old student from China on the condition of anonymity.

There were some students who were interested in using their Korean for other purposes.

“In the future, rather than become a professor, I would like to start my own research on Korean,” said a student from China, who also wished to remain anonymous.

Many of the students also had a similar answer to how they became interested in Korean. A lot of the influence seems to have come from Korea’s pop culture.

“Korean soap operas are what started my interest in Korean,” said Phyu Phyu Aung, a 26-year-old student from Myanmar.

“Rather than traditional Korean culture, Korean celebrities are the ones sparking interest in China,” said Liu Han Ler, a graduate student from China.

“Chinese people are gaining interest in Korea, especially because of Hallyu, like fashion and cosmetics,” said Gao Fei, a graduate student from China.

While most of these Hallyu inspired students studied Korean as part of their undergraduate studies, they are faced with a greater need for Korean and hanja Chinese characters proficiency for their graduate programs and are struggling to get by. Even with specially catered courses, like those at Yonsei.

“At my university we learned Korean through a grade scale of one through six, but in graduate school it is not about learning simple Korean, it is about learning the root meaning of words. So there is a huge difference in skill,” said Aung.

“When I first came to graduate school, I didn’t understand what the professor was teaching. I think it was because I didn’t adjust to the classes. Now, it’s not difficult but there is a lot of stress. During my undergraduate studies, we learned writing, listening and speaking but as a graduate student we have to research the deeper meaning of words and that creates a lot of stress for me,” said Yuan Sijia, a Chinese student at Korea University.

“In my case, we do not learn hanja in Thailand so now that I am in graduate school, learning hanja is the hardest part for me,” said Ksongpseng Sopsa, a Thai student at Korea University.

Foreign students feel they need something more to help them cope with the academic demands of Korean graduate programs.

“I think the gap between undergraduate and graduate programs might be too great. I think if the university could pair us with Korean students, that might help,” said Liu Shan Shan, a Korea University student from China.

“We have to know a lot of hanmun Chinese characters so it would be nice if they could have a good course to help students with hanmun,” said Aung.

“There is a sort of Korean exclusiveness. So foreigners have a hard time being included in groups. It would be nice if Koreans and foreigners could have a lot more chances to build friendships.

With the growing number of international students, Korean students and universities are faced with the need to make these foreign students feel welcome.

“When Korean students go abroad to study they have the opportunity to receive many scholarships. But foreign students have a much harder time studying and adjusting to life in Korea. I believe that foreign students in Korea should be presented with the same opportunities,” said a staff member at Korea University, on the condition of anonymity.


SOURCE:KOREA TIMES

인도에서 온 공주 허왕후는 각색한 역사물

역사학자 이광수 교수, 설화 확대재생산 과정 추적 “‘인도 아유타국에서 온 공주’ 허왕후는 후대의 ‘역사만들기’에 의한 결과물일 뿐이다.” 인도 델리대학에서 역사학을 공부한 이광수 부산외국어대 교수는 최근 펴낸 <인도사에서 종교와 역사 만들기>(산지니)에서 문헌을 더듬어 설화의 확대재생산 과정을 분석해 이렇게 지적했다. 또 1970년대 한 아동문학가의 문학적 상상력에 일부 학자가 가세하고 일부 신문에 의해 부추겨지면서국가주의의 색채마저 띠고 있다고 비판했다. 8세기 혜공왕대 김유신 가문의 후예들이 편찬한 것으로 보이는 ‘개황력’ 또는 ‘개황록’을 시작으로 1076년(고려 문종조) <가락국기>, 1281년 일연의 <삼국유사> ‘가락국기’로 전승되면서 변모를 거듭한 허왕후 설화는 인도 아유타(아유디야)에서 배를 타고 온 공주가 수로왕과 결혼한다는 이야기. 이 교수는 이 설화가 다른 건국설화와 달리 끊임없이 확대재생산된 점과 그 근원지가 신라중기 무열왕계, 김해주변의 사찰, 허씨·김씨 문중으로 특정할 수 있는 점에 주목했다. 남편 수로왕에 대한 현창은 금관소경 설치, 문무왕 때의 수로왕묘 제사 등과 함께 이뤄진 것으로 추정한다. 이 시기는 김유신, 문명왕후 등 가야계 후손들의 권력이 정점에 이르렀던 신라중대 이후. ‘개황록’은 일련의 현창작업 중 하나로 추정한다. 허왕후의 결혼모티브는 나말여초에 삽입된 것으로 본다. 수로왕과 부인 허씨를 지칭하는 ‘세조’, ‘왕후’가 그 무렵에 쓰인 점, 국가와 불교교단의 이해가 맞아 떨어진 불국토 관념이 널리 유포된 시기라는 것이다. 허왕후의 출신지라는 ‘아유타’는 나말여초 불학연구 분위기에서 ‘인도’라는 의미로 삽입되었다고 본다. <경상도지리지>(1524)가 허왕후 출신지를 아유타와 무관한 남천축국으로 기술하거나, <경상도속찬지리지>가 허왕후를 보주태후로 기록한 것도 그러한 추정근거다. ‘보주’의 ‘보’는 산스크리트어 ‘비슈와’의 의역으로 보편적 진리라는 뜻. 보주는 ‘불교의 땅’ 인도라는 의미일 뿐이라는 것. 일부에서 그것을 중국의 보주와 관련짓는 것은 어불성설이라고 이 교수는 말했다. 허왕후 설화는 18, 19세기를 거치면서 ‘장유화상’이라는 허왕후의 오라비가 등장하는 등 확대재생산되는데 김해 명월사(현재 흥국사), 경남 산청의 왕산사, 김해 은하사, 남해 금산사 보리암, 김해 해은사 등의 연기설화에 등장한다. 영정조 때 많이 늘어난 불교사찰을 통제하려 하면서 사찰들이 살아남기 위해, 또 재가신도를 확보하기 위해 영통력을 높이려는 시도와 관련된다고 본다.또 임진-병자 양란 이후 족보가 양산되면서 시조에 대한 윤색작업이 추진되었는데 두 명의 허씨 관찰사의 행적이 주목된다. 허엽은 1580년 수로왕릉을 보수하였고, 허적 역시 1647년 이를 재보수하면서 ‘보주태후허씨릉비음기’에 수로왕의 열아들 중 두 아들이 허씨성을 하사받았음을 기록하였다. 열아들 출산 모티브는 조선초기 송인의 <이암집>에 처음 등장하는데 일곱 아들은 칠불, 칠선 모티브로 대중화하게 된다. 이 교수는 “2002년 김해김씨종친회가 인도의 아요디야에 탄생기념비를 세움으로써 허왕후 설화가 역수출까지 되었다”면서 당시 이를 후원한 인도국민당의 집권을 정당화하는데 일조했을 가능성을 제기했다. 이데올로기의 중심을 아요디야에 둔 이 정당은 1992년엔 신화 <라마야나>의 라마사원을 복원한다면서 기존 이슬람 사원을 파괴하고 232명의 인명 살상 초래하는 등 극우파쇼적 행태를 보인 바 있다. 확대와 윤색을 제거하면 허왕후 설화의 원형은 ‘물에서 올라온 지모신’이라는 게 이 교수의 주장이다. SOURCE:blitz@hani.co.kr

Korean diplomat’s book becomes a bestseller in China

A book that South Korea’s mission chief in Shanghai authored has become a bestseller in China.

It is “English Vocabulary Workshop,” an English vocabulary build-up guide, which was published by consul-general Kim Jeong-kee, 50, last June. 

According to China’s largest Internet bookstore, dangdang.com, Kim’s book is ranked ninth in the foreign language category, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.

Kim was a famous English teacher in South Korea 20 years ago. Most South Korean college students at that time read his book to ramp up their English vocabulary. 

Kim graduated from the State University of New York with honors. He worked for President Lee Myung-bak when Lee was a presidential candidate. Since June last year, he started his diplomatic mission in Shanghai.

His book, a translation of the Korean edition, was a product of 3-year-translation work by Peking University professors. 

In Korea, Kim’s book sold more than a million copy. 
source:Korea Times

Korea takes a step towards reverse discrimination and a proactive immigration policy

In a misguided attempt to help multiethnic families and their children and to bolster falling birthrates, the Korean government took another small but important step towards reverse ethnic discrimination both as a means to aid multiethnic children as well as encourage more multiethnic unions.

According to reports, all "multicultural" children regardless of income will enjoy free daycare services from the government starting next year, the government announced Thursday. About 28,000 multicultural children are expected to benefit. Children between birth and age five will be eligible and under the program, parents will receive a state subsidy to enroll their multicultural child in daycare centers. Currently, only parents who earn less than 2.58 million won are eligible.

Korea Times welcomes reverse discrimination

While we personally find any form of legalized racial discrimination appalling, the Korea Times newspaper appeared to cheer the decision in an editorial that in some sense was more disturbing than the government's decision itself.

"This is a welcome proactive move by the nation toward embracing multi-ethnicity," it said. "This is a desirable step to inject vitality into the nation through a proactive immigration policy."

However, the paper warned that there could be a backlash from native Koreans. Obviously, government policies that favor one ethnic group over another, especially foreign, is likely to engender resentment. (As it should)

"The multicultural families enjoy a right not granted to Korean families with children of the same-age," the newspaper conceded.

"Korean parents are eligible for the program only when a family of four has a monthly income of less than 4.5 million won. The threshold rises to six million won for a double-income family. About 70 percent of Korean families with children have access to the program. All multicultural families will be beneficiaries. Although there are rich multicultural families here that will benefit as well", the paper explained.

What's more, the Korean government plans to hire 100 instructors to help immigrants learn the Korean language. Citing President Lee Myung-bak, the paper said that "the government should take care of multicultural kids in providing daycare services and language training... the programs are necessary as their foreign mothers are not fluent in Korean."

But why any child born in Korea should have trouble with the Korean language puzzles us. To be sure, regardless of whether one or more parents speak the native language, children pick up language like a sponge soaks up water.

Short of learning disabilities or mental handicaps, we think there has probably never been a child born into a society and experienced difficulty learning its native language.

Equal but different

Ironically, the newspaper noted that while children born to parents of mixed ethnicity are Korean, they should not be limited to just free daycare services but apparently receive even more benefits, including guaranteed "good education" and equal treatment from peers at school. The paper recommended that "Korean children should receive orientation not to alienate their multicultural peers in class."

To be sure, these are nice ideas, but we wonder how can it be possible for people and by extension their children not feel "different" towards multicultural children (and how can they help themselves from feeling different) when society officially identifies them as something less than the same?

Arguably, what is the "same" or "different" is ultimately a matter of perception. And when government officially recognizes the perception that a child born from the union of Vietnamese and Korean parents, for instance, are "different", then the fact that they are dissimilar is surely to become socially institutionalized.

Proactive immigration

Furthermore, the paper editorialized that the country had no choice but to pursue a "proactive immigration policy" as a result of Korea's falling birthrate.

"Without input from immigrants, Korea will have difficulty in maintaining vitality in society and contributing to the economy," it said.

And in this vein, it noted that the government may have to accept as much as 2 million immigrants or four percent of Korea's population in order to stave off population decline.

But in our opinion, population replacement is a sadly misguided and equally shortsighted idea.

source:Korea Times

Migrant mothers pass on mother tongues

There are certain first moments that are magical for mothers: The birth of their first child, when their child makes first eye-contact, their child’s first steps, and the first time their child says the word “mother.” 

For Tsagaan Ankhtuya from Mongolia, that last magical moment took four years.

“I forced myself to speak Korean to my son for the first three years of his life,” said Ankhtuya, who left her home country to marry a Korean taxi driver eight years ago. “People told me if I spoke Mongolian to my child, he would fail to speak any languages at all so I at least wanted him to speak Korean properly.”

Ankhtuya realized what she had been told was totally wrong when she first visited a multicultural library called Modoo, meaning “all-together,” in Imun-dong, Seoul. Unlike many other Korean-immersion multicultural institutions, the library staff encouraged her to speak her own language to her child. It is still emotional for Ankhtuya to recall the moment when her son first called her “aeja,” “mother” in Mongolian when he was 4. 

“I felt this must be it,” she said. “This is how it’s supposed to feel when your child calls you mother. I never got such a feeling when he called me ‘eomma’ ‘mother’ in Korean the whole time. It just wasn’t the same.”

Opened in 2008, the library Modoo is small in size but unique in style. It is one of the very few multicultural institutions in Korea that offer a cross-cultural learning environment involving migrant mothers’ mother tongues and cultures. 
 

Tsagaan Ankhtuya (far right), a migrant mother from Mongolia, poses with other immigrant mothers at a multicultural library Modoo in Imun-dong, Seoul (Claire Lee/The Korea Herald)

Filled with books from Mongolia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, China and even Iran, the library offers both resources and reading education for migrant mothers and their children who are unfamiliar with Korean culture and language. 

But they don’t just learn Korean language at Modoo. Parents read stories from their home countries to their children in their mother tongue books they had read as children. 

Sung Ji-yeon, one of the officials at the library, said learning about their mother’s native culture and language is very important for children of multicultural families in Korea. 

“It tells them it is more than okay to be different,” said Sung, “and be proud of who they are, and who their mothers are.”

According to Sung, many mothers who come to the library have not spoken a word to their newborn child until they entered kindergarten. 

“Most of them don’t speak Korean very well and are forced not to speak their native language to their child by those around them,” Sung said. “So they end up not speaking at all. And not having enough verbal communication with their mother as a newborn can severely damage a child’s intellectual and psychological development.

“Most of these women marry Korean men of low-income households. Many family members on their husbands’ side don’t know much about what to do. They just assume that if a child learns a foreign language as a baby, they won’t be able to learn any languages later on, and force such an idea to the migrant mothers. 

“But it’s scientifically proven that young children are capable of learning multiple languages at the same time; having a bilingual environment only betters their linguistic development and cultural understanding.”

The National Folk Museum of Korea’s new multicultural learning resource, Cultural Discovery Boxes, which contain audio-visual materials and cultural bjects from Vietnam and Mongolia (Claire Lee/The Korea Herald)

Hence every mother who visits Modoo for the first time is encouraged to make a special statement, called the “mother tongue nurture declaration.” It is designedto remove the undeserved sense of guilt women have about their inability to speak Korean, and to encourage them to proudly start speaking their mother tongue to their children. 

For many women, it’s a very emotional moment.

“I am the mother,” the declaration says. “The words come out of my heart, for my lovely child has my soul and duty toward him ... so when the time my child has to walk alone on the road of his life, these words can be a guide for his mind and soul.” 

Established by a non-profit organization Purun Citizen Community, Modoo has managed to collect 1,000 books from more than seven countries. But for cultural education sessions, it’s always good to have resources such as costumes and traditional artifacts. 

Last month, the National Folk Museum of Korea introduced two special “CultureDiscovery Boxes” about Mongolia and Vietnam, two of the many Asian countries where a high number of women marry Korean men. The cultural resources are exclusively researched and designed for multicultural education, especially for children of foreign-born migrant mothers. 

“Up until now, multicultural education in Korea has been extremely Korea-oriented,” said Jang Jang-sik, senior curator the museum, who has visited Mongolia numerous times to collect cultural items. 

“The kids would only read and write in Korean, and only learn about Korean culture. Now that has to be changed. Multicultural education must be cross-cultural and develop mutual understanding. Both Korean children and multicultural children need to learn about other cultures, where their mothers or their friends’ mothers are from.”

Supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the boxes contain audio-visual materials, as well as cultural objects ranging from an elementary school report card in Vietnam to traditional silver plates from Mongolia. Each drawer of the boxes will have traditional costumes, musical instruments, puppets, maps and reading material. Participating children will be able to touch, observe, imagine, listen and “try on” the culture and stories of almost every nook and cranny in Vietnam and Mongolia.

While the two big boxes will always remain in the museum for visiting children and teachers, 14 boxes of smaller size, categorized by different themes such as history, food, culture and music, will be available for free rental to any multicultural institution in the country.

“There are so many tragedies and problems with regards to migrant women and mothers in Korea,” said Jang. “We hope this project can ease and heal such conflicts.”

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, over 150,000 immigrants currently live in Korea, married Korean men. More than 45 percent of them have experienced domestic violence within the past year. In July, a 20-year-old Vietnamese woman was killed by her husband only eight days after arriving in Korea. Last week, another married immigrant from Mongolia was stabbed to death by the husband of her friend.
source:Korea Herald