Korean Job Discussion Forums

[paperbag princess]

woah the claws are out for this one, eh?

why do we always posit the environment against the economy? it's so stupid.

i feel that the nun's points are valid. i'm pretty sure that before someone embarks upon something like this that they research it thouroughly.

rapier: are there really still siberian tigers in korea? i find that hard to beleive. how do they keep poachers out of the dmz?

[diver]

[paperbag princess]

true enough.

[jaderedux]

This is a tough call...While one can admire her commitment one has to wonder if maybe just maybe there might be something more important to die for or starve ones self for. Something that might need more attention. Sexual slavery in some 3rd world countries. The condition of DDD workers in Korea. So many other horrors that are visited on this earth that might be worth dying over...I don't know..... I respect her resolve but feel such resolve could be better used more effectively placed.

I know the enviroment is important but I read somewhere (Kary Mullis I think) That things become extinct...this is the nature of evolution. No we shouldn't hurry the process along but like it or not since the beginning of time things become extinct because they have either served their purpose in nature or they can't adapt. No killing tigers for coats isn't a good idea ...but we (man) will probably become extinct someday and the earth will heal up just fine without us.

Again perhaps such resolve and strength could be used in a different struggle. (shrug) Not my body....not my call.

Jade and her 2 cents

[diver]

[rapier]

[rapier]

[Guri Guy]

I think what many people are forgetting is that the nun is Buddhist. Buddhists look at life a little differently than most of us. To us, starving oneself to death may be looked upon as stupid because we only get one shot at life. Buddhists however believe in reincarnation and perhaps she thinks her "noble sacrifice" will help others and result in a favourable reincarnation for herself. I have been studying Buddhism myself and find it utterly fascinating.
So making an arrogant judgemental statement is not helpful and shows a lack of awareness of other people and their beliefs. A mature human being recognizes that there are other people out there that do not think the same way we do.
Finally, Rapier you are right on the mark. The DMZ is in big trouble if unification happens quickly. The two Koreas should really push for an international wildlife "Peace Park" or something like that. That would show true wisdom and foresight.

[Corporal]

[phaedrus]

Eurasian Lynx:


Wow! I never saw a picture of one of those before. They look very different from the Canada lynx.

[the eye]

[rapier]

We see no value in wildlife/nature anymore. I realise that most people think this way: the reasons are many..
Urbanisation is the main one as I see it. Over the past century or so most of the human population has come to live in cities and urban areas- cut off from nature and other living things. Flamingoes, lions, elephants and tigers are no more than abstract concepts to us, because we have had no exposure to them. So they have become irrelevant, out of our consciousness. Why would people make any effort to preserve something they can no longer relate to? The only sense of adventure and wonder in our lives comes from playing computer games: we cannot even see the stars in the sky any longer for the air pollution we have surrounded ourselves with.
How many of you have been scuba diving and swum with the graceful sea turtles and dazzling array of corals and brilliantly colored fish?
How many of us have spent a day birdwatching, and had our spirits lifted by the sight of thousands of wild geese, or the glimpse of an eagle circling or dive-bombing its prey?
how many of us have glimpsed a wild Lion or leopard, glorious in its natural environment in Africa?

Not many, is my guess. And if you did, would you seek to preserve the beauty and variety you have seen?
I count myself fortunate indeed that I have seen all three- and I have been imbued with a reverence and awe at nature.
If you believe in evolution, you have to conceed that we are related to every other living thing. We are one and the same life force, all equally deserving of respect for our unique roles and place in this amazing web of life.
If you believe in creation, you must know that although we are over and above nature, we are custodians of creation, charged with its protection.

It is possible for humans to develop alongside nature, one does not exclude the other. In fact, protecting our natural ecosystems worldwide- that provide us with all we eat and need, is the only way to our long term survival.
But we are recklessly destroying everything that we deem having no commercial value, sacrificing everything for short sighted and short term profits.
We can't eat or breathe dollar bills.

[Guri Guy]

[matthewwoodford]

[rapier]

To me the most important environmental issue in S.Korea at the moment is the reclamation of Saemangeum- threatening 400.000 birds which rely on the yellow sea's largest tidal estuary (40.000 hectares of prime marine ecosystem, spawning ground and foundation of the Korean fisheries industry).
Birds like this Spoon billed sandpiper:

- will be gone forever. And many others brought to the brink of extinction.
They are reclaiming it for reasons they aren't even sure about- some want a huge golf course to bring tourists to korea, others want more office space. And yet again the govt is ignoring the courts ruling to conduct an environmental impact assessment first.
I have written many times to the newspapers here on the subject- well researched and scientifically backed letters- they won't publish: only more editorial pushing the "lets waste no more time with development" line.
No hunger striker to publicise it.
-But thats another thread altogether, I suppose.