[Column] New Charm Capital: An Inclusive Culture Created by the People

Lee Manui / President of Korea Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Recycling Association (Former Minister of Environment)

Lee Man, Former Minister of Environment, President of the Korea Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Recycling Association

Literally, it is a "New Year." While the time indicated by the clock continues to flow without any real change, does the rising of a new sun truly bring about newness?

The practice of replacing the life guide calendar and establishing rituals for bidding farewell to the old year and greeting the new one likely stems from the intention to continually correct and refine people's minds and civilized institutions by segmenting time. Since the Greek era, time has been distinguished as chronos and kairos, recognizing that although everyone is given the same resource of time, how it is used leads to different outcomes depending on each person's will and effort.

Today, the brand and influence of the Republic of Korea (ROK) can genuinely be called global, but to be frank, this is the result of the entire nation coming together with patriotism and hard work over the past 50 to 60 years. Having overcome ridicule such as "How can roses bloom in a trash can?" and achieved what is called the "undisputed miracle of the 20th century," the country has not so much reached the status of an advanced nation through gradual steps, but rather through compressed rapid growth and swift democratization, making it difficult to internalize potential issues in a healthy way. As a result, traditional challenges and problems faced by advanced societies remain intertwined, and considerable opportunity costs must be borne to resolve these many sources of conflict. Nevertheless, it is necessary for everyone to re-recognize that this is a "nation of infinite possibilities."

Compared to the days of coastal fishing with small boats, now, with large vessels actively traversing the world, the journey of overcoming difficulties and achieving remarkable advancements in technology, experience, specialized personnel, and international cooperation comes with many hardships. Standing at the dawn of the new year with countless challenges such as unexpected martial law crises, impeachment turmoil, US-China confrontation and the "Trump crisis," the strengthening of North Korea-China-Russia cooperation, economic instability from high inflation, high exchange rates, and export barriers, overlapping social conflicts, the rapid reality of low birth rates and a super-aging society, and signs of regional extinction, we must calmly fulfill our roles as citizens with the belief that every problem in the world has an answer. It is also necessary for each sector and level to make practical contributions through intellectual leadership and dedicated commitment, so that society can make the right choices.

It seems that not only individuals, but also families, society, and the nation as a whole, must now embark on "expanding their capacity." Let us come together to make this a year in which an inclusive and harmonious society matures and blossoms. Let us resolve existing conflicts and leap forward as a nation that embraces the world. In today's culture, where a keen sense of winning and losing prevails, if we, through our own efforts, allow winners to embrace losers and losers to accept winners, creating together beautiful people, regions, societies, and a nation, then Korea can truly become an attractive country, a model nation, and a pivotal power. Diversity becomes a competitive edge, failure becomes a catalyst for renewed challenge, and hyper-connectivity and convergence become the foundation for the grand transformation that is so desperately needed. The ESG movement, which is emphasized both domestically and internationally, will also shine even brighter.

The foundation of an inclusive culture is the willingness to acknowledge and humbly accept "difference." Our society often mistakenly believes that being different means being wrong. In many cases, when dealing with issues and agendas, there is a tendency to lean more toward emotion and sentiment than reason and logic, and to choose quantitative over qualitative measures. We must overcome the trend of following interests and power based on the geopolitical, geoeconomic, and occupational geography characteristics of a peninsula, in order to gain the respect and centrality of the global community. As Confucius emphasized, the spirit of transcending at least the four narrow-minded attitudes?"no arbitrary judgment, no certainty, no stubbornness, no self-centeredness"?is a universal key to an inclusive society in advanced nations.

The new year is not about the calendar, but about each of us flipping the switch that connects our minds and hearts. The true agents who can transform regressive, backward cultures?where political groups and others shake the nation and society with plausible slogans and disguised gestures for their own interests?into a genuinely advanced, inclusive, and harmonious society are the people. Let us raise the flag of "bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new" as a long journey for the people to grow and develop into greater citizens. We, the people, can do it!

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.