Today we started watching the Chinese film, “To Live”, set in the mid 20th century, and it brought up some interesting points. Throughout the movie, the audience is given the viewpoint of townspeople in a small village, and how they are forced to react to the rising tide of communism. The film shows how in a lot of cases, what would pass for common sense in western culture was vilified and repressed by communist values. For example, when Chairman Mao begins his  Great Leap Forward, party officials began collecting every scrap of metal in the village, including pots, pans, and braziers. For all the trouble the town went through to create the steel, all they made was a relatively small ingot, barely enough to make a few cannon shells. The logic was, any food you need can be found at the communal kitchen. Water can be delivered to your home.  In addition, there is the absurd interference in daily life by the Party representative. Marriages, jobs, and housing are all arranged in accordance with the party’s whims. Party loyalty demands were unrealistically high, leading to unfounded accusations of leaders, or anyone at odds with anyone else. Any educated individuals were labeled as reactionaries and imprisoned.  This included academics, lawyers, even doctors, resulting in woefully inadequate medical facilities. I expect that this lack of medical availability will impact the film when the daughter of the main character goes into labor. I found it extremely interesting that the technology levels evident in the movie during the late 60s was comparable to what you could find in the US during the 20s. The disconnect between Chinese upper echelons and commoners has persisted to this day.

On Tuesday, a South Korean court began the trial of the former president, park Geun-hye. Submitting a plea of not guilty to charges of bribery, leaking state secrets, and abusing state power, she potentially faces life in prison. The accusations raise concerns from many South Koreans who still remember the authoritarian governance that dominated the state until democratic reforms in 1987. And their concerns are far from unfounded. When politicians are able to become so disconnected to abandon ethics and responsibility, a government is failing.

Following Ms. Park’s removal, an election was held in which liberal Moon Jae-in won by a comfortable margin. He promises to be a starch difference to Ms. Park, hoping to thaw relations with North Korea while strengthening ties with both Washington and Bejing. In addition, his planned reforms for the economy aim to boost them from their current 5 year low. Currently, there is concern over President Trump’s stated intentions to make unspecified changes to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. If the United States loosens ties economically with South Korea, China could stand to gain from the high tech industry in South Korea.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39996218?intlink_from_url=http://www.bbc.com/news/topics/68f68d12-c2d9-4173-9ed3-178363e46344/south-korea&link_location=live-reporting-story

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-05-08/south-koreas-new-president-will-face-challenges-from-all-directions

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