The late President
Roh Moo-hyun
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

After retirement, former President Roh Moo-hyun regretted his decision to cut taxes while in office, confessing the measure was driven by political considerations.

He thought of himself as an ``unfortunate'' President.

``The previous liberal government was determined to cut taxes to curry favor with the media and public,'' the late Roh wrote in one of a series of essays compiled by his aides and published posthumously in a book, titled ``The Future of Liberals.''

In an effort to describe the ineffectiveness of the tax cuts to help boost the economy, Roh used the analogy of a dying patient who is destined to die no matter what medication he takes, believing that doing so will make him better.

``The truth is that there was not much redistribution during my presidential term. Nevertheless, I was painted by the media as a leader going on a spending spree of redistribution.''

The aides released the book Wednesday. It was culled from Roh's writings on his personal Web site and also words he spoke to his aides.

Roh described himself as an ``unfortunate'' head of state, as he wasn't able to follow through on his signature policy for the poor, attributing what he called a failure in fulfilling his commitments to the nature of the presidency.

He said those who are in power are forced to do the work in a way they don't quite agree with in the name of national interest ― which is why he referred to those who hold the top job as ``unfortunate.''

He regretted his administration's decision to dispatch troops to Iraq and not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Korea, saying these were examples of instances when he was unable to follow his heart.

Roh said labor turning against liberals was the main reason the then-ruling party's candidate was defeated in the presidential election in 2007.

``When I was in office, the government introduced a set of measures to create a flexible labor market. We weren't courageous enough to define the outsourcing of a workforce as illegal and as a result, this hurt workers,'' he said.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) said Wednesday it will seek the passage of a revision bill that would give it the power to trace bank accounts independently.

Under the bill, the commission would be empowered to trace ranking government officials' tax payments; financial transaction records, including banking details; military and international flight records; and property registration records, ACRC officials said.

The measure also calls for the anti-corruption commission to be run under the direction of the President, instead of the prime minister.

If the bill passes through the National Assembly, the ACRC chairman would have the right to speak at Cabinet meetings and propose anti-corruption related bills to the prime minister.

ACRC Chairman Lee Jae-oh expressed his intention to strengthen the state-funded supervisory body's investigative power early this month at the National Assembly.

The main opposition Democratic Party, however, criticized the ACRC's move, saying it is a political maneuver to empower Chairman Lee, who is known as President Lee Myung-bak's right-hand man.

President Lee appointed Lee Jae-oh, who successfully spearheaded his 2007 presidential election campaign, as the chief of the commission in September.

Lee Jae-oh was one of the most influential figures in the then-main opposition Grand National Party, serving as floor leader, secretary general and member of the decision-making Supreme Council.

He left for the United States in May last year after being defeated in a parliamentary election. He returned to Korea in March after a self-imposed 10-month exile.

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr

Korean supermodel Daul Kim, who was regarded as one of the most beautiful models in the world, was found dead by French police in her Paris apartment, Thursday, her modeling agency Next Management said in a statement. She was 20 years old.

``She was a top model and a great friend to all of us at Next. Please respect her family's privacy at this time of sadness. We will all miss her very much,'' it said.

No other details of her death have been made available, though some reports speculate that she committed suicide.

An official from Esteem, a Seoul-based agency representing Kim, said, ``We heard the news from our Paris agency and don't know any details yet.''

A world-renowned model, Kim was named No. 17 on Fashion Time Magazine's ``Top 20 Hottest Models'' list in 2008.

Known for her quirky personality, Kim has been celebrated for her sense of style.

She ran a blog called ``I Like to Fork Myself'' for two years, posted the song ``I Go Deep'' by Jim Rivers under the title ``Say Hi to Forever'' on Nov. 18 ― the day before her death.

On Nov. 8, she posted, ``Time is too short. Memories are too painful. I don't have to make any more painful memories, do I?''

The 5-foot-10 (178-centimeter) model began modeling in Korea in 2006, appearing in several Korean Vogue editorials. In 2007, she debuted at the fall Chanel, Dries Van Noten and Maison Martin Margiela shows in Paris. After her debut, she built her fame as a top-class model in the international fashion world. Kim was a painter and video filmmaker.

Korean fashion magazines and netizens mourned her death, speculating that she took her own life due to the pressure of modeling.

South Korea Calls for Closer EU Cooperation on N. Korean Nukes

By Na Jeong-ju
Korea Times Correspondent

BEIJING ― President Lee Myung-bak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed Saturday to push for an early conclusion of the free trade deal between South Korea and the European Union (EU), stressing the role of Asia and Europe in moving the global economy forward.

President Lee called for closer cooperation between South Korea and the EU to press North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and fulfill its obligations as a member of the international community. France is the only EU member that has no diplomatic relations with North Korea.

During their summit here on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the leaders exchanged views on the global financial situation and agreed to work together to help the world find quick solutions to the worst global crisis since the Great Depression.

At the end of the biennial meeting, 43 Asian and European leaders reached a broad consensus on ways to deal with the global financial meltdown and will present their views at the Group of 20 financial summit slated for Nov. 15 in Washington.

``President Lee expressed hope that Korea will be able to conclude the Korea-EU free trade deal by the end of this year. Sarkozy stressed closer economic ties between Asia and Europe and promised to work for an early conclusion of the deal,'' Cheong Wa Dae Spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.

Working group sessions are now underway between the two sides to narrow differences on automobiles, tariff reduction, rules of origin and non-tariff barriers. France currently holds the rotating presidency at the EU.

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, was also on hand at the Lee-Sarkozy meeting and shared the view that both South Korea and the EU should further accelerate working negotiations on the deal, the spokesman said.

Trade volume between South Korea and the EU came to $89.8 billion in 2007. The EU is also the largest foreign investor in South Korea, with outstanding investment reaching $44.8 billion at the end of 2007.

Sarkozy criticized the United States for the global financial crisis, saying Europe and Asia should work together to improve the international financial system. In response, Lee said Asia's emerging economies should be allowed to talk with advanced countries to work out anti-crisis measures.

The French President said European countries will hold a summit on Nov. 7 to fine-tune European positions ahead of the Group of 20 summit.

``The outcome of the EU summit will be immediately delivered to South Korea and other Asian countries through special envoys and diplomatic channels,'' the spokesman said.

This year, over 670,000 students took the College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT). Competition was fierce, as always, and opinions differ on how difficult the English language portion of the test was. According to the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Examination, this year's CSAT English test was similar to last years. Meanwhile, experts from the private education industry said the exam may have been more difficult than the trial exams.

It was estimated that the number of students with perfect scores may have decreased to approximately 5000. Amid measures taken to curb private education, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology promised that the exam would not be difficult. At the same time, the government has been struggling to limit the number of students with perfect scores, as parents have raised questions over the capability of the CSAT to assess students' English abilities.

Students gave varied responses regarding the difficulty of the exam. The English-language portion of the exam had more advanced level questions than other subjects, meaning that the competition among students with the highest scores depends on their English scores. Other students said that due to unfamiliar passages and the speed of the listening comprehension section, they found it to be challenging.

Tips from Past Examinees

Lee Soo-jung, 21, an undergraduate majoring in education at Yonsei University said, "Usually students repeat similar mistakes. The most important thing is to analyze passages and questions until you get it right, and invent your own strategy to interpret long passages. This method applies to any other subject." When asked how she prepared for the English portion, she replied, "The CSAT itself is about time management. Especially, in the last stage of preparation, it is essential that you watch your time when solving problems, so you do not panic when you encounter unfamiliar questions during the actual test."

Many students emphasized that building vocabulary is essential to getting a high score. Park Chan-myung, a student in the economics department of Korea University, said, "I used almost every method I could to increase my vocabulary. I would look up every new word I found and made my own vocabulary lists. Online classes also helped, as they often provided useful tips.

"However, the ideal way to improve English is absorbing it in a natural way, rather than simply memorizing new words."

To improve reading comprehension, experts advise students to expose themselves to various reading materials including novels and short stories. Reading opinion pieces and editorials in newspapers are also effective ways to improve one's reading skills, as they tend to have a simple, logical structure. This may be helpful especially for solving long passage questions on the CSAT.

Private Education and CSAT

Indeed, the best strategy to get a high score on the CSAT, or any other English test, is to spend time in a natural environment that encourages students to become more comfortable with English. In reality, however, public education cannot provide such an ideal environment. Parents typically look to the private education market to fulfill this need. Therefore, the nationwide obsession for English education is seeing students either going abroad to study or enrolling in private cram schools.

The government has been trying to accommodate such demands by enforcing educational reforms and hiring native English teachers at public schools. Previous installments in this series of articles ― "Tips for Getting High Score on English Test" (Nov. 15) and "English-Language Test Requires Analytical Mind" (Nov. 19) ― also suggested various alternatives to private education.

The CSAT is focused on assessing the general comprehension skills of students rather than their communication abilities. Either way, the demand for private cram schools has continuously expanded. In a society where a high CSAT score leads to better higher education, which is then perceived to guarantee a promising career, parents and students are desperate. This has made the CSAT more a major national event than a mere college entrance exam.

Future Prospects for English Education in Korea

English education on a larger scale means more investment in human capital, and a greater degree of globalization. For Korean students, English education means far more than achieving a high CSAT score. The fundamental purpose is to utilize English as a communicative tool and a method to access a vast amount of information.

After entering university, students become more exposed to English and must be able to comprehend texts originally written in the language. More classes are being conducted in English, meaning that students are required to have some verbal and debating skills too. This leads to the conclusion that primary and secondary English education must quickly evolve.

Kim Yu-sun is a junior majoring in economics at Korea University.