【时代周刊】亚洲新奇迹——怒吼韩国

A few weeks ago, I returned to my old neighborhood in Seoul for the first time in 10 years, and much to my surprise, Lee and the Jell are still there. But it wasn't the same place where I shopped in the 1990s. Lee no longer sells food: foreign goodies can now readily be found at supermarkets and Costco outlets. Instead, Lee has built a private club for wine lovers, where he hosts tastings for members who pay a $900 annual fee. In its earlier form, the Jell catered largely to expatriates; today the wine club's members are nearly all locals. Koreans have caught on to the pleasures of a good wine. "Korea has changed a lot," Lee says. "Koreans are opening their minds."

The results are striking. Thirty years ago, Korea was poorer than Malaysia and Mexico. Since then, its GDP per capita has surged by a factor of 10 to $17,000, more than double the levels in those countries. GDP growth was 0.2% in 2009, when much of the rest of the world was contracting, and is estimated to be 6% this year. Yet when I left Korea in 2000, it was an open question whether its success could continue. The embarrassing memories of the 1997 Asian financial crisis were still fresh, and Koreans were worrying that they would lose out to a rising China. Over the past decade, however, Korea has reinvented itself — it's an Asian miracle again. Korea has become an innovator, an economy that doesn't just make stuff, but designs and develops products, infuses them with the latest technology, and then brands and markets them worldwide, with style and smarts. Samsung and LG, not the Japanese electronics giants, are dominating the hot new LCD-TV business. In 4G phone technology, Samsung is poised to become a leading force, while Hyundai Motor, an industry joke a decade ago, is a top-five automaker, its rising market share fueled by quality cars and nifty marketing. "'Made in Korea' used to be synonymous with cheap and imitative," says Bernie Cho, president of DFSB Kollective, a start-up that markets Korean pop music internationally. "Now it's become premium and innovative." New industries, from online games to pop music, have emerged as powerhouses. Politically as well, Korea is stepping out of Washington's shadow and becoming an influential voice in its own right. Symbolic of that new role, Seoul is hosting the G-20 summit on Nov. 11 and 12, the first Asian country to do so. This nation is a global leader-in-waiting。

Part of Korea's success is simple commitment. Koreans spend some 3.5% of their GDP on R&D, compared with 1.5% in China and less than 1% in Malaysia and India. Innovation, however, isn't something that can be conjured up in government offices or corporate boardrooms. You can tell people to work harder or build a more modern factory, but you can't order them to think better or be more creative. That change has to take place inside people's heads. In Korea, it has. Koreans have become more accepting of diversity and outside influences and quicker to shed old prejudices. Such an outlook was brought about by a fundamental (and continuing) reformation of Korean society. Koreans are breaking down the barriers that held the nation back, a process fostered by political freedom and a passionate embrace of the forces of globalization. Says Cho: "Korea has gone from being a hermit kingdom, from a closed door, to open arms."

A Stranger No More

Globalization has always been the engine behind Korea's economic miracle. Be

ginning in the 1960s, a destitute Korea capitalized on its cheap labor to competitively export toys, shoes and other low-tech goods to consumers in the West. That jump-started income growth; as costs rose, Korea shifted into ships, microchips and other advanced products. Yet to Koreans, globalization was a one-way street. They were happy to sell things to the world, but wanted no more than the profits in return. Koreans didn't care much for foreign cars, foreign investment — or foreigners. Empty taxis would ignore my frantic hails, while locals sometimes swore at me while I walked in Seoul with my Korean-American girlfriend (now wife). Behind its crenellated walls, the Korean economy developed on its own dynamic, and boosted by their unexpected economic success, Koreans came to believe their system was special, even superior. But dangerous problems were festering. Companies were shielded from competition and heavily supported by tight links to the government and banks, allowing them to borrow and invest willy-nilly while building up frightening debt burdens. When I would mention these flaws to businessmen or officials, I got brushed off. The normal rules of economics didn't apply to Korea.

首都闪耀的都市风光反映了它变革之地的本质。

1996年，我从美国纽约移居到韩国首府，首尔市，我发现这座城市充满生机令人着迷，同时又异常地狭隘。韩国人无论吃什么都喜欢加泡菜，尽管我也是吃辛辣主食长大的，但对家乡食物的渴望和自身消化系统的脆弱，使我偶尔也需要从铺满辣椒的大白菜那里解脱一下。这被证实为极具挑战性。除了在一些快餐店和五星级酒店的昂贵餐厅之外，很难吃到西式食物。这就是我对Lee Je Chun印象如此美好的原因。Lee在德国学习和工作时，喜欢上了欧洲口味的食品，因此他在1992开了一家名叫Jell的店，卖红酒、奶酪、意大利面、香肠和其他进口的美味佳肴。我便偶尔买一块切达干酪来寄托对遥远故乡的思念之情绪。

不再陌生

几周前，我去了我在首尔的旧居，这是我十年内第一次回去，令我惊讶的是Lee和Jell还在那里。但它已不再是我在90年代购物时的样子了。Lee不再卖食品：外国食品在超市和好市多量贩店可以很容易买到。Lee反而开了家红酒爱好者私人俱乐部，在此他为交900美元年费的会员举办品酒会。早期模式的Jell主要是为了迎合移居海外的人的需求；今天红酒俱乐部的成员几乎都是韩国人。韩国人也开始欣赏好酒的妙处。“韩国改变了许多”Lee说，“韩国人正开放他们的思想。”

结果是惊人的，三十年前，韩国比马来西亚和墨西哥更贫穷。从那时起，它的人均国内生产总值就以十倍的速度增长到了$17,000，高于那些国家增长水平的双倍。2009年当世界其他国家都在紧缩时，韩国国内生产总值增长0.2%，今年预期增长6%。当我2000年离开韩国时，它的成功能否继续下去还是个悬而未决的问题。1997年亚洲金融风暴的尴尬回忆还历历在目，韩国人担心他们会输给崛起的中国。但在过去十年里，韩国重新振作了起来再度成为亚洲奇迹。韩国成为了革新者，一个不仅仅制造产品的经济体，同时还设计和发展商品，为其注入最新科技，进行品牌包装，使之独具风格和品质，并向全世界推广。三星和LG，而不是日本电子巨头，在主导新兴的液晶电视行业。在4G手机技术方面，三星准备成为一个主导力量，而现代汽车，十年前还是一个行业笑话，如今已是全球五大汽车制造商之一，日益增加的市场份额因优越的品质和俏皮的营销而扩大。“‘韩国制造’曾经是廉价和仿冒的同义词，”Bernie Cho说，“现在它却等同于品质和创新。”Bernie是DFSB Kollective的董事长，这是一家新成立的全球营销韩国流行音乐的公司。新兴行业，从网络游戏到流行音乐，如发电厂般涌现。同样，韩国在政治上正走出华盛顿的阴影，凭借自身力量成为一个有影响力的声音。作为这个新角色的象征，首尔将在十一月11、12号举办G-20峰会，这是第一个承办此活动的亚洲国家。韩国是未来的全球领导者。

韩国的成就可部分归功于单纯的投入。韩国将国民生产总值的3.5%投入到研究和发展上，相对地，中国只投入1.5%，印度和马来西亚还不到1%。但是创新却不是某种能在政府办公室或者企业董事会上召唤来的东西。你可以叫人们更勤奋工作或修建一座更现代化的工厂，你却不能命令他们更善于思考或更具创造力。这种思想的转变必须发生在人们自己的意识中。韩国的情况正是如此。韩国人变得更能接受多样性和外来影响，更快地摆脱旧偏见。这种景象是由韩国社会的根本（并继续）变革引起的。韩国人正打破阻碍国家发展的藩篱，这一进程得益于政治自由和对全球化力量的热情拥抱。Cho说：“韩国已由一个隐士国家，一扇紧闭的国门转变为一个敞开的怀抱。”

全球化一直是韩国经济奇迹背后的推动力。早在20世纪六十年代，贫穷的韩国就开始利用它的廉价劳动力参与向西方消费者出口玩具、鞋子和其他低技术含量商品的竞争。这举带动了收入增长。随着成本增加，韩国转向了船舶、微芯片和其他高级产品。但对韩国人来说，全球化仍是一条单行道。他们很高兴能向世界销售商品，除了回报的利润外别无所求。韩国人并不在乎外国车，国外投资或者外国人。空的士也不理睬我焦急的招手，而当我和韩裔美国女友（现在是我的妻子）走在首尔街头时，有时还会受到韩国人的唾骂。在它的雉堞状的墙壁后，韩国凭借自身的活力发展经济，并取得了出人意料的成功。韩国人开始相信他们的体制是特别的，甚至优越的。但危险的问题正成为毒瘤。企业没有竞争，政府和银行对企业间的紧密联系和大力支持允许其漫无计划地借贷和投资，同时背负起骇人的沉重债务。当我向商人和官员提到这些缺陷时，我被断然拒绝了。经济学的正常规则并不适用于韩国。

That self-delusion evaporated during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. As Korea's most prominent companies collapsed into bankruptcy and the government endured a humiliating $58 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, Koreans had to rethink the ways they did business, managed their careers — even their entire economic system. The crisis "was the catalyst" for change, says financier Tom Kang. "The old ways didn't work."

这种自欺欺人在90年代后期的亚洲金融风暴中消失了。韩国最著名的公司破产，政府羞愧地签署了一份联合国货币基金组织580亿美元的紧急援助。韩国人不得不反思他们发展经济、管理事业的方式——甚至是他们整个经济体制。这次危机是改变的“催化剂”，金融家Tom Kang说，“过去的方式行不通了。”

Kang would know. In 1999, George Soros purchased control of a brokerage then called Seoul Securities and plucked Korean-American Kang from Wall Street and inserted him as CEO. Kang created an instant stir. CEOs in Korea were expected to work their way up the seniority-based corporate ladder, and the incumbent managers at Seoul Securities were outraged that a 37-year-old outsider was now their boss. Local media got wind of his Wall Street — level compensation, and he got dubbed "the $3 million man." Kang became a symbol of evil foreigners taking advantage of Korea's moment of weakness. Kang had entered a securities industry that didn't operate by international standards. Poorly trained brokers would flog stocks to old ladies based on rumor and press clippings. Kang got to work applying what he had learned on Wall Street, cleaning up the firm's risk management and expanding and strengthening new businesses like institutional sales and investment banking. As profits rose at Seoul Securities, other brokerages copied Kang's imported ideas. The industry has changed so much, Kang says today, that if he arrived now as CEO he wouldn't create nearly the same commotion. Koreans "are much more open, have much more global experience," says Kang. "That's the real drama. You can talk about government policies, but [the difference] is the people." What happened in the securities industry was replicated in other sectors. The 1997 crisis broke apart the cozy government-banking-corporate networks, forcing the big companies to become truly profitable, independent and internationally competitive for the first time. That process was egged on by a new influx of foreign money, ideas and people. Foreign investors began to play a much larger role in the domestic economy, increasing competition. Korean companies brought low by the financial crisis in banking, autos and other industries were sold off to international giants. Storefronts in Seoul now boast more foreign names than I thought possible in the 1990s, from H&M to Kate Spade to Zara. After Apple's sudden success in a Korean economy where foreign handsetmakers had almost no presence — its iPhones claimed more than a quarter of the local smart-phone market in the first half of 2010, according to research firm IDC — Samsung was pressed to accelerate its own product development. The number of foreigners living in Korea has exploded, from fewer than 250,000 in 2000 to more than 870,000 in 2009. Business before the financial crisis "was more like a club," Kang says. Now "there's a lot more competition, and that's forcing people to be innovative. If they don't, they're going to die."

Kang对此很清楚。1999年,乔治·索罗斯购买了名为首尔证券的经纪公司的控制权，并把美籍韩裔的Kang从华尔街拉来安插进该公司做首席执行官。Kang立刻引起了一阵骚动。韩国的首席执行官被认为应该努力工作爬上在以资历为基础的企业晋升制度的顶端。首尔证券当时的现任经理非常气愤一个37岁的门外汉现在成了他们的老总。当地媒体获悉了他的华尔街的酬金水平，他便得了一个“3百万美金男”的绰号。Kang成为了邪恶的外国人利用韩国危急时刻谋利的象征。

Kang进入了不按国际标准操作的证券行业。训练不足的股票经纪人会根据谣传和新闻剪报向老太太兜售股票。Kang必须应用他在华尔街学到的经验，清理公司的风险管理，扩展和加强新的业务比如机构式销售和投资银行业。随着首尔证券的盈利增加，其他经纪公司也开始复制Kang的外来理念。今天，Kang说：行业已发生如此大的变化，如果他现在来做首席执行官就不会引起那样的骚乱了。韩国人“变得更开放，并有更多国际经验，”Kang说，“这才是真正的戏剧。你可以说是政府政策改变了，但真正有所不同的是人民。”证券行业发生的变化也在其他领域得以实现。1997年金融危机打破了惬意的政府-银行-企业网，迫使大公司第一次真正地盈利、独立并具有国际竞争力。这个过程是由一股新的外国资本、理念和人员的流入鼓动起来的。外国投资者开始在国内经济中发挥更大的作用，加剧了竞争。银行、汽车以及其他行业中因金融危机而倒闭的韩国公司被出售给国际巨头。现在首尔夸耀地悬挂着外国名称的店面比我在20世纪90年代时想象中的还要多，从H&M到Kate Spade再到Zara。在韩国经济中几乎没有外国手机制造商的存在，但是苹果却在韩国取得了巨大成功——根据研究公司IDC的数据，在2010年上半年，苹果公司的Iphone夺取了智能手机市场超过四分之一的份额。三星被迫加速它自身的产品开发。在韩国生活的外国人口数量急剧增加，2000年还不到25万到2009年已超过87万。“金融危机之前的商业更像是一个俱乐部，”Kang说，“现在则有更多的竞争，这将迫使人们去创新。如果不这么做，他们就会消亡。”

That reality altered Korea Inc.'s view of the world, and made its companies fiercer competitors. Korean corporate offices used to be for Koreans only, but now firms like carmaker Hyundai Motor recognize they have to be more open to outsiders and foreign ideas to compete on a global scale. "When we went to overseas markets, we tried to control everything from headquarters and by Korean staff; most [Korean] companies were doing that," says Han Chang Hwan, a senior vice president who spent much of the past 12 years posted in the U.S., India, Malaysia and Germany. "Ten years ago, the president of Hyundai Motor America was a Mr. Kim or a Mr. Park. We realized it was ridiculous. Nowadays, all the overseas subsidiaries are handled by local staff. It is a process of globalization." That's made Hyundai much more responsive to local markets and creative in its sales efforts. During the worst of the Great Recession in early 2009, for instance, the U.S. operation offered to take back Hyundais from buyers who lost their jobs. The marketing coup was devised entirely by Hyundai's U.S. managers and likely helped the company outperform its rivals during the downturn. Hyundai is even integrating foreign experts into its Seoul management team. Now the headquarters cafeteria offers salads, steaks and other Western dishes at lunchtime. "In the 1990s, we couldn't imagine!" Han exclaims.

现实改变了韩国企业对世界的看法，使他们变为更强有力的竞争者。韩国公司的办公室以前只面向韩国人，但现在公司如汽车制造商现代汽车承认，要在全球范围内竞争，他们必须对外界和国外思想更开放。“当我们走向海外市场时，我们试图从总部由韩国员工控制一切。大多数韩国公司都是这么办的，”高级副总裁Han Chang Hwan说，过去12年里他多数时间待在美国、印度、马来西亚和德国。“十年前，现代汽车在美国的总裁是金先生或者朴先生，我们意识到了这很荒唐。今天所有海外分公司都有当地员工打理。这是一个全球化的进程。”这使得现代更适应当地市场，在为销售努力时更富创造力。比如，在2009年初经济衰退最严重的时期，美国分公司提议向失去工作的现代汽车购买者回收汽车。这个营销方案完全是由现代汽车的美国经理们设计的，而它可能帮助公司在经济衰退中胜过对手。现代甚至将国外专家整合到首尔的经营团队中来，现在总部的自助餐厅在午餐时间供应沙拉、牛排和其他西餐，“这在90年代是不可想象的。”Han嚷道。

Breaking Down Barriers

That same attitude also bolstered the career of my friend Sue Kim. I met Kim only days after my 1996 arrival in Seoul, when she was a young media-relations staffer for the chairman of the LG group of companies. Soon after we met, she told me that she intended to become a top executive at an LG company. That sounded absurd. Female senior managers at big corporations were practically nonexistent. Most women were relegated to minor tasks and expected to quit after they got married. For those bold enough to stay on, Korean corporate culture made it almost impossible for them to get ahead. Unlike her male counterparts, Kim was required to wear a uniform, a practice she found so embarrassing that she changed into business suits whenever she left the office. After work, her male colleagues would often bond at hostess bars called room salons. Kim was left out. But she persevered: she felt she was offered a rare opportunity to show just how valuable women could be to Korean companies. "I felt responsible, that I had to do well," she says. "I wanted to prove myself, that I'm not different from my male peers."

同样的态度支撑了我的朋友金苏的事业。我在1996年移居首尔后不久遇到了她，当时她还只是LG公司主席的一名媒体关系职员。我们相遇后不久，她告诉我她想成为LG公司的一名高级主管。这听起来太可笑了，大公司的女性高级主管几乎不存在。大多数女性职员被限制在次要任务上，而且被认为在结婚后就该辞职了。对于那些敢于继续职业生涯的，韩国企业文化使得她们几乎不能成功。与她的男同事不同，金被要求穿制服上班，金觉得这个规定非常令人难堪，所以每次她都换成西装离开公司。下班后，金的男同事会经常到叫做沙龙房的舞女酒吧里聚会，金被拒之门外。但是金坚持了下去：她感到自己得到了一个难得的机会去证明女性在韩国公司里能实现多少价值。“我感觉有责任，必须做好，”她说，“我想要证明自己，我和其他男同事没有什么不同。”

She succeeded. In March this year, Kim, 39, was promoted to bujang, or senior manager, in the investor-relations department of LCD-panel maker LG Display, at a pace somewhat faster than that of many of her male counterparts. The rank is so lofty that many managers never get promoted again, if they even make it up that high. Kim's climb was partly due to her willingness to play the game. To endear herself to her officemates, she would often join them in after-work power-drinking sessions, occasionally downing 10 boilermakers in an evening. But she also believes the old prejudices against women are slowly melting away because of the trials of global competition, which, Kim says, are forcing Korean executives to place merit over gender. "Korean companies look at their employees by what they can bring to the table," Kim explains. "As the global market becomes fierce, the focus has been on maintaining talent rather than the old discrimination."

她成功了。今年三月，39岁的金被提升为LG显示器LCD制造的投资事物部门部长，或称高级经理。比她的许多男同事晋升更快。这个职位是如此之高，以至于很多人如果能够升到这个经理位置，也再不能往上晋升了。金的晋升部分是由于她想要参与这个游戏。为了和同事搞好关系，她经常下班后参加他们的豪饮会，偶尔一晚上就喝十瓶。同时她也相信，因为全球化竞争，对女性的旧偏见正在消逝。金说，全球化迫使韩国总裁将利益放到性别差异前面，“韩国公司在意的是员工能带来的价值，”金解释到，“随着全球竞争愈演愈烈，注意力集中到了维护人才而不是旧偏见上。”

Other biases are evaporating. When I lived in Seoul, smart, young Koreans had a very narrow path to success: study your brains out in high school, pass the tough exams necessary to get accepted at one of a handful of elite universities, then join the government or a big company like Samsung or Hyundai. Anything else was considered an embarrassment in Korean social circles, and parents usually dissuaded their sons from charting their own course. Not anymore. Koreans have become much more accepting of different life choices. That's encouraged an army of young people to start their own companies, often in innovative IT or high-tech businesses.

其他偏见也在消散。当我住在首尔时，聪明的韩国年轻人只有一条非常狭窄的成功之道：在高中学习苦读，通过进入少数精英大学必经的艰难考试。然后加入政府或大企业如三星或者现代等，其他的任何选择在韩国的社会圈里都被认为是丢人的，而父母通常都阻止他们的儿子规划自己的人生。现在再不是这样的情况了，韩国人已变得对不同的人生选择包容了很多。这鼓励学多年轻人开始自己创业，特别是在创新信息技术和高科技行业里。

Typical of the new breed is Kim Jin Cheon. For eight years, the engineering Ph.D. had a dream job carrying out semiconductor research at Samsung Electronics. But in 2008, Kim, then 36 years old, did what would have been unthinkable in the 1990s: he ditched Samsung and invested $45,000 of his savings in a software firm he named Company 100, to design browsers for mobile phones. Kim says he was inspired by other young entrepreneurs who founded world-beating companies in Seoul, like gaming outfit NCsoft. With more money available to support start-ups, Kim got a $900,000 infusion from a local venture-capital firm in 2009. He says Korea's new spirit of entrepreneurship represents something larger — a longing for more freedom among Korea's youth. "Samsung became a global company, but what did I contribute?" Kim says. "I felt like just one part, not a leader. The younger generation want to do what they really love."

Kim Jin Cheon是这其中的典型。这位工程学博士干了八年在三星电子公司做半导体研究的理想工作。但在2008年，36岁的Kim做了90年代根本无法想象的事：他辞去了三星的工作，拿出4万5千美元的积蓄投资了一家他命名为公司100的软件公司，该公司为手机设计浏览器。Kim说他是被许多在首尔创立了闻名世界的公司的年轻企业家们所激励，比如游戏公司恩希软件。随着更多资金用于支持初创企业，金在2009年从当地的风险投资公司得到90万美元的资金注入。他说，韩国的新企业家精神代表了更深刻的含义——韩国年轻人对自由的渴望。“三星成为一家全球性公司，但是我做了什么贡献呢？”Kim说，“我感到只是一个零件，而不是主导力量。年轻人想要做他们真正喜欢的东西。”

Cry Freedom

呼唤自由

The reason why Kim chose to follow his dream is intimately linked to Korea's political changes. The country was largely ruled by dictators for 26 years, until massive street protests forced free elections in 1987, and even after that, the government still intervened heavily in the economy. But Korea has become a much more democratic society over the past decade, driven by Presidents Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun, the first leaders to come from an opposition party, and the market-oriented economic reform made necessary by the 1997 financial crisis. That, says Kim Se Joong, founder of software start-up JellyBus, has emboldened Koreans to take more risks — a crucial ingredient to creating an innovative economy. "When the government was big and had a strict system of control, it was difficult to succeed without the support of the state, so parents pushed their children to reach for stability, by working in Samsung," says Kim. "Now the government is smaller and intervenes less. People feel they can become successful, whatever company they work for. The economy of a country is very reflective of the politics of the country."

金大中总统。

Kim Sang Hun takes this thinking one step further. The CEO of NHN, owner of Korea's most popular Internet search engine, Naver.com, says the emergence of new innovative industries like his would have been impossible without Korea's democratization. He remembers the harsh times under the dictators, when police were frequent visitors to college campuses and Koreans were restricted from traveling abroad. "Now the younger generations have become more individualistic and free; they go to Europe on backpacking trips," Kim says. "I think openness is necessary [to have creative industries]. People are not scared to say their thoughts."

Kim选择追随梦想的原因与韩国政治的转变有着密切的联系。这个国家很大程度上被独裁了26年，直到1987年大规模街头抗议才迫使进行了自由选举。即便是那之后，政府仍然大力干预经济。但在过去十年里，在金大中和卢武铉总统的领导下，韩国已变成一个非常民主化的社会。卢武铉是第一个来自于反对党的总统。1997年的金融危机使得市场主导的经济改革成为必要。Kim Se Joong，一家新成立的名为果冻巴士的软件公司的创始人，说：这使得韩国 人更勇于承担风险——营造创新经济的至关重要的元素。“如果政府很大并有严格的管理系统，那没有国家的支持企业就很难成功，所以父母就会迫使他们的孩子去追求稳定，比如在三星工作。”Kim说，“现在政府缩小，而且干预得更少。人们感到无论在哪家公司工作，他们都可能取得成功。国家的经济通常是一个国家政治的映射。”

Kim Sang Hun对此进行了更深入的思考。所谓拥有韩国最受欢迎的网络搜索引擎Naver.com的NHN互联网公司的首席执行官，Kim说，如果没有韩国的民主化进程，是不可能出现如NHN这样的新兴创新行业的。他记得独裁统治下的困难时期，那时警察是大学校园的常客，而韩国人被限制出国旅行。“现在的年青一代更加个人主义和自由化，他们背包旅行去欧洲，”Kim说，“我认为开放对创意产业是必要的。人们不害怕说出自己的想法。”

Freedom has been an important factor in the career of hip-hop star Tiger JK, who performs as the one-man act Drunken Tiger. The story he told me shows the link between Korea's new openness and its ability to innovate. Back in the 1990s, Korean popular music, or K-pop, was popular only in Korea. Its highly stylized, color-by-numbers dance acts were tightly controlled by the industry, and created all the excitement of a sing-along with Barney. Tiger JK had no interest in playing along. After spending his teenage years in Los Angeles, he returned to Seoul in 1995, hoping to break into the hip-hop scene. But his chatty raps and freewheeling shows were too unusual for Korean music executives. Producers of TV shows promoting new music scolded him for diving into the audience during performances. He even got booed.

Tiger JK peddled recordings of his raps at alternative clubs and built up a following at college campuses with his rebellious shows. About five years ago, other, more famous K-pop stars started seeking him out to praise his music — then adopted some of its elements, like shout-outs to the crowd. TV producers began asking him to dive into the audience. "They were waiting for me to do something wild," he says. Last year, Drunken Tiger won some of the country's most prestigious music awards. Tiger JK says it's because he's become "safe." Actually, it's because Korean society has become as audacious as him. K-pop today is considered the cutting-edge force in Asian popular music. Exports of K-pop nearly doubled in 2009 to over $31 million. "Korean artists became the freedom warriors" for young Asians everywhere, says Tiger JK.

Above all, Korea offers a counterpoint to those political leaders — like China's — who believe "state capitalism" is superior to free enterprise, or that they can create an innovative economy without civil liberties. Of course, that doesn't mean the Korean system is perfect. Despite its progress, Korean society still remains too wary of foreign influence and too biased against women in the workforce. Businessmen complain that too much red tape clogs their way. The outdated education system is so rigid that parents flee the country in droves to put their kids into high schools in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Korean economy is still not a fair place where everyone is governed by the same rules. And North Korea hovers as a relentless threat.

韩国为某些国家领导人提供了参照物，比如中国领袖——他们相信国家资本主义优于自由企业，或者他们不需公民自由就可营造创新经济。当然，这不意味着韩国的制度就是完美的。尽管它有所进步，韩国社会仍然谨防国外势力的影响，对职业女性也有着许多偏见。商人们抱怨太多的繁文缛节阻碍他们的道路。过时的教育系统太过僵化，导致许多父母离开国家，把孩子送往美国或其他地方的高中。韩国经济仍然是一个大家受同样规则约束的公平之地。北朝鲜则徘徊附近的持续威胁。

However, the Korea I know is a country that confronts its challenges. I asked my old friend at LG, Sue Kim, what Korea will be like in another 10 years. With more and more Koreans gaining international experience, she believes the great globalization of Korea will continue. South Korea has 75,000 students enrolled at U.S. universities — third highest, behind giants India and China, according to the Institute of International Education. "I think you'll find a much more cosmopolitan Korea," she says. "I think Koreans will bring in more diverse ideas and backgrounds. We're going to extend our presence more globally. We're going to continually grow, and you're going to see a much better country in 10 years." I don't doubt it.

然而，我所知的韩国是一个勇于面对挑战的国家。我问在LG工作的老朋友苏金，再过十年韩国会是什么样子。随着越来越多的韩国人拥有国际经验，她相信韩国的全球化进程将继续。根据国际教育研究所数据，南韩有7万5千名就读于美国大学的学生——位列第三，排在人口大国印度和中国之后。“我认为你会发现一个更具世界性的韩国，”她说。“我认为韩国人会有更多思想和背景。我们会在全世界展现我们的身影。我们会继续成长，而十年后，你会见到一个更美好的国家。”我对此深信不疑。

——————————首尔 尹莉娜报道

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