Did South Koreans fall for Uzbeks?

Did South Koreans fall for Uzbeks?

The First Uzbekistan - South Korea Journalism Roundtable 

 The following is an article about the recent Uzbek visit of several Korean journalism professors from February 8th to February 13. The visitors had the first academic exchanges in the field of journalism with their Uzbek counterparts at the main campus of the World Languages University on February 9th. They toured the capital city of Tashkent and the historical city of Samarqand during their sojourn. The rector of the World Languages University signed off on the Memorandum of Understanding with Daegu University. The signed document was carried back to Korea by Professor Kim Sung Hae of Daegu University and will be signed by the president of this university. A new phase in academic cooperation between South Korea and Uzbekistan has been launched and it may evolve into other areas too. 

Upon their return to South Korea, the visitors sent personal messages to the writer that “they are Uzbek-sick.” Their comment implies that they fell in love with the Uzbek people and the country of Uzbekistan, as if they were “home-sick.” The writer does not think that their words were any exaggeration. My hope is that their fond memories of Uzbek friends, their culture and their hospitality will last.  

A tour to Uzbekistan?

There was a word from Jeju Island via email. It is a southwesternmost island of South Korean territory. Very probably, the word was from Lily, who tour-guided me and my two young Uzbek brothers (mening ukamlar) during our Uzbek group’s visit to Jeju Island in October last year. It was a message from “Lily” that read that she wanted to tour Uzbekistan. Yes, she guided our Uzbek group around the island for three days and saw us off at Jeju Airport. At that time our group, representing World Languages University, signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) at Jeju University with the head of international relations department of this university, while Lily and Professor Choi were looking on. Our Uzbek group of three, consisting of the writer, Beruniy Alimov, and Alisher Matyakubov, had real good and useful time in Jeju Island. 

The time has come that our group has to return their warm hospitality. It is our turn to tour-guide them. Going and coming, coming and going (keldi-ketdi, Uzbek word meaning mutual visitation), this may be the spirit of the MOU signed by both sides. Yes, we have to show them around this time. Additionally, one male journalism professor at Daegu University and his son wanted to join the Uzbek tour. Thus, the four Korean visitors were scheduled to travel to Uzbekistan from February 08 to February 13. Some academic activities were also included in their travel plan.

The First Uzbekistan-South Korea Journalism Roundtable Conference

Sounds good. We the Uzbek group will show them around, when they come. However, merely tour-guiding them around this country was not sufficient. We are researchers of journalism, and we have to do some academic work in Korea and in Uzbekistan. The writer wanted to transform their ideas of “mere tour” into something more meaningful. Yes, their ideas of tour should be changed to (an) academic exchange(s). The writer discussed this matter with Uzbek teachers and Korean teachers, and both sides agreed. The writer talked about this with Alisher and Beruniy several times, and the principle and ground rules were established: the presentation session of topics should be carried out in English; Question and Answer & comment session will be open to other languages with translators. Three presenters were selected from the Uzbek side. And three journalism professors from Korea sent me topics of their presentation for the first academic exchange. Each presenter was to do it within just 10 minutes: three Koreans and three Uzbeks were to fill up the sixty-minute presentation session, and afterwards, thirty minutes of Q&A would ensue. 

The topics of presentation for Uzbeks were:

First, Internet journalism in Uzbekistan (Dean & Dr. Alisher Matyakubov, World Languages Univ)

Second, The national image of Uzbekistan as portrayed by the major global media (Beruniy Alimov, World Languages Univ)

Third, Tourism journalism in Uzbekistan (Dilband Abraeva, World Languages Univ. But she failed to show up, and could not deliver the presentation because of some urgency. I was told that she left her notebook computer in the taxi. So, the result was that her paper merely was accepted.) 

Fourth, Current journalism in Uzbekistan (Prof. Nazira, presented in Uzbek with a translator’s assistance. In principle, both sides agreed to do all the six presentations in English without translation, but she sent her Uzbek-language paper to Dr. Seol via Beruniy. Dr. Seol was to play the role of the moderator. After a brief talk of her paper with Alisher, Seol decided that she was allowed to present in Uzbek as the last speaker with a translator. Alisher told me that he discussed Nazira’s presentation with me three weeks ago, but I could not remember. At any rate, she wanted to participate and she sent me her paper. O.K. Welcome to our roundtable!)

It was determined that Dr. Seol WonTai, KOICA Advisor to the World Languages University, would organize the journalism roundtable conference and to play the moderator. He collected presentation papers from both sides by email. Korean presenters sent their papers ahead of the deadline, but one or two of the Uzbek presenters could not meet the deadline. One uploaded his/her paper on the telegram only. The participants needed to cooperate closely with the moderator.   

A snapshot of the roundtable

At 12: 30, February 9th, Thursday, the meeting room on the 7th floor of the main administrative building was not ready for the roundtable. There were some technical problems in the projector. So, the moderator had to improvise the conference until the projector was ready, separately from the pre-planned original schedule. The moderator had to go ahead with the academic meeting and had to keep time and save time. No time was to be lost, because we set up the time schedule very tightly. Sixty minutes should be used for presentation and thirty minutes for Q&A plus commentary. 14 00 was the starting point for our lunch.   

 

<Dr. Seol moderating the roundtable. February 09, 2017. Meeting room on the seventh floor of the main administrative building of the WLU.> 

The first presenter was Professor Choi Nakjin of Jeju University. Choi talked about some aspects of sports journalism in Korea. His topic was purposefully prepared, considering that sports journalism is popular in Uzbekistan. He mentioned several aspects of sports journalism such as nationalism and marketing and so forth.

 Dr. Alisher Matyakubov, Dean of the International Journalism Faculty, uttered a few words of welcome to the Korean participants and spoke about the current status of the Internet journalism in Uzbekistan as the second presenter. 

 Dr. Lee Seo Hyeon of Jeju University analyzed news stories of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS. KBS is a public service broadcaster), and said that the coverage of Uzbekistan by this news organization has been largely positive. It seems that she chose this topic intentionally. Her analysis sounded quite scientific, implying the quantitative and qualitative analysis were conducted for the paper. It looked good.   

Journalism researcher and teacher Beruniy Alimov said that the coverage of Uzbekistan by global news media of the West was largely negative. This analysis seems to indicate that the government of Uzbekistan needs to take some effective measures to counter this trend and to improve its national image in the global community.

Professor Kim Sung Hae showed how new innovative media appeared in the Korean media landscape. He showed that Korean media landscape was very dynamic and innovative. 

Professor Nazira delivered her presentation on Uzbek journalism in Uzbek and a translator did some role for Koreans to understand her.      

After all the presentations were delivered, there ensued a Question and Answer session. One Uzbek student asked a question about differences in television and newspaper and a question concerning media innovation in Korea. One Uzbek teacher asked about the salary levels of Korean journalists. It seemed that they were given sincere answers from the Korean presenters. The moderator concluded the roundtable after making sure that there were no more questions and comments. It really appeared that the roundtable was serious and fruitful, considering that it was the first ever. The moderator thought that some aspects of the presented papers were somewhat superficial, but it was meaningful at any rate, given that it was the first encounter between the two sides. The fact that the two sides started a roundtable itself was important. The writer saw a young Korean university student named Tong Kyu, Professor Kim’s son, giving an interview with an Uzbek broadcast journalist on the sidelines, while the roundtable was still under way.

 

<Koreans and Uzbeks posed side by side after the first journalism roundtable. February 09, 2017. Main building of the World Languages University.> 

MOUs between universities, between faculty and research center signed

During the Koreans’ sojourn in Uzbekistan, two MOU’s were signed. One MOU was between the World Languages University (WLU) and Daegu University, which is located in the southeastern part of Korea, and the other was between International Journalism Faculty and Korea Journalism Studies Institute (저널리즘학 연구소). At the rector’s office on the sixth floor of the administrative building, the two sides sat face to face on February 09. The Rector’s signing on the document preceded the roundtable, that is, from 12 00 to 12 30). During the tea time for the signing ceremony, the rector uttered very significant words to the effect that the two sides should cooperate very closely. The rector emphasized the exchange of teachers and students, in addition to the exchange of educational materials. Given that the MOU will be signed between large-scale universities, exchanges in areas other than journalism are also expected. Now, the first step was taken, and the next is up to us. In fact, the two sides agreed that Uzbek teachers will visit Korea in June, the rector included.    

The signing of MOUs between International Journalism Faculty and Korea Journalism Studies Institute was another achievement. The document was signed between Dean Alisher Matyakubov and the writer, Dr. Seol WonTai. The latter holds the position of the Deputy Director of the Institute. The Journalism Studies Institute specializes in journalism studies, and monthly holds scholarly meetings of journalism. Dr. Seol holds a non-standing post of the deputy director at the Institute. Dr. Alisher and Dr. Seol signed the document and it went into effect on the day. Now the two sides are ready to cooperate in various manners.    

Friendship building: “Just like a large family”

The Korean participants as well as Uzbek participants seemed to be happy with their first academic conference. Now, it was time for Koreans to familiarize themselves with the new environment and their Uzbek friends. Indeed, the five nights the Koreans had in Tashkent and Samarqand were devoted to Uzbek style “feasts,” which perhaps were designed to make friends in such a short period of time.

Быстро! Быстро! Fast! Fast! To the writer’s eyes, the dinners hosted by Uzbek brothers, friends and colleagues were all purported to build friendships in a short period of time. The Uzbeks opened their hearts and their homes. They conducted, so to speak, “intensive courses” for friendship building. The writer did not know that Uzbeks resembled Koreans in that they were very hurried in doing things, I mean, in making friends. Koreans are known for their rapidity in doing things, and sometimes making mistakes for that.

Alisher’s parents opened their home to the Korean visitors on February 9th. It was almost like a surprise party for the Korean visitors. The writer saw them last year, when the writer’s wife stayed briefly in Tashkent in February. At that time, we had dinner only in a very cordial atmosphere. However, this time it was different. We ate, drank, danced together. The Korean visitors and Uzbek friends cooked Osh together in a big cauldron and relished it when Osh was served. A pair of singer and musical instrument player were invited to their home. Even the children at the home, their grandchildren, had a great time, while the visitors had enjoyed themselves, too. This was a scene, where three generations had fun and made close friends. This may be the real spirit of being and enjoying together. At his parents’ home, the writer was granted a seat of honor at the table. My goodness. Indeed, the writer did not want to get old, but the writer was already the eldest in the Korean group. So, the writer had to say a few words. It was great honor and great pleasure for the writer to be there with the Uzbeks. 

Beruniy and Shorat hosted dinner on February 10th and 12th, respectively. At Restaurant Buxoro, where Beruniy hosted dinner, his older brother was also there. Indeed, his older brother drove the Korean visitors in his own car. He said he recently retired after years of service in the police. A thousand thanks to him for driving Korean visitors here and there in Tashkent. He didn’t speak English, but the writer spoke some basic and broken Russian to communicate with him. A little bit of vodka seemed to crash all the barriers in language, culture, age, and religion. It seemed that all the diners at the table became “one large family.” The dinner was in high spirits.

The dinner hosted by Shorat, new deputy dean, provided another flavor to the “large family” on February 12th. Korean visitors just came back to Tashkent from Samarqand trip at around 19 00 and were driven to Khorezm Restaurant near Tashkent Vokzal. It was a festival for all the people there. Very coincidentally, the day was the birthday for Lily and Alisher’s wife. What an unanticipated coincidence! And how did the Uzbeks remember Lily’s birthday? The dinner was all the more pleasurable, because we had two beautiful and intelligent ladies from Korea and Uzbekistan among ourselves. A gentleman does not ask what their age is. For this dinner, wives of other teachers were also invited. There were congratulatory words, songs, and dances. I saw our friendship consolidating. 

 

<Birthdays for two ladies from Korea and Uzbekistan. The diners congratulated their birthdays. Feb 12, 2017. Khorezm Restaurant>

Amrullo hosted “plov lunch” at Nouvot on February 10th. It was just good to taste Uzbek food. Oh, it was a delicious Uzbek lunch. We had some comfortable lunch. 

I was told that Chinese people place emphasis on friendship building before starting business. Friendship precedes business. It is applicable to all the aspects of human life. Yes, building “guansi (관계, 關係. Meaning “connections” in Chinese)” is important. Now that we are building friendship, and now that we have built friendship, the writer is convinced that our business will proceed smoothly. Our business means academic cooperation. This means exchange of teachers, students, materials, knowledge, information, experiences, and assisting the other party in any imaginable manner.   

Tour of Tashkent and Samarqand; Histories were made 

Seeing the sights of old condition (eski holat, in Uzbek) and new condition (yangi holat, in Uzbek) of Uzbek cities may be another way of trying to understand this country, in addition to trying to understand Uzbek journalism. In Tashkent, the visitors experienced the subway (metro). The writer guided them. They walked near the Presidential Office, which is now more “approachable” than before. In fact, the metro station near the Presidential Office is now open. Several weeks ago, while walking along the street, the writer asked a policeman about the opening up of the Mustaqillik Metro Station. Previously, it was closed, but now it is open. Uzbekistan is changing for the better step by step, the writer is sure. In Korea, Presidential Office, called Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House, literally meaning blue-roofed house), has become more and more approachable to ordinary people as time went by. Now ordinary citizens from local areas can see the Presidential Office as passers-by or tourists closer than before.   

In Tashkent, Korean visitors entered the white mosque which was recently built, walked along the canals while having chats, toured a good Uzbek bozor, heard beautiful music at a concert held at Konservator on February 10th. Koreans and Uzbeks feasted our ears with a fantastic music. Mr. Youn Hyun Chul, who teaches Korean as a KOICA volunteer at the main campus of the WLU, gave the tip to the writer about the concert. Thousand thanks to him. While preparing to receive the Korean visitors, the writer talked with Youn several times, and we became closer friends. It was another gain for the writer.

The visit to My Five TV Station was really worthwhile as journalism reseachers. Koreans were surprised to hear that there were almost no restrictions, so to speak, editorial control from the outside. Control only from the inside means autonomy. The explanation offered to the visitors was that the editors have autonomy in selecting stories and gathering news. And this young television channel was created for young Uzbek audiences. The writer met a graduate of the WLU journalism school there. A week or so afterwards, one first grade student at the international journalism faculty said that she saw the Korean visitors touring the TV station. Two Koreans gave an instant interview there. They were Professor Kim and Dr. Lee Seo Hyeon, nicknamed “Lily.” Professor Kim asked many questions at the My Five. 

In Samarqand the writer debuted as a “doctoral tour guide”

 

In Samarqand, Koreans had new experiences on February 11th and 12th. The first day, raindrops and snowflakes were falling, while Koreans forcefully pushed ahead with their visits to sites of various kinds. The sites Koreans visited include tomb of Islam Karimov which lay outdoors, Shah-i-Zindah, Bibi-Khnym Mosque, Registan Square, Ulugbek’s Observatory, Daniel, Afrosiab Museum, Gur-Emir Mausoleum, and so forth. It was a hard trudge. The writer’s Uzbek friend in Samarqand called two taxi drivers and two university students who study the Korean language to serve us at a cost. What struck the writer was that a plain-looking woman at Afrosiab gave a detailed and impressive explanation about the site. Koreans were very attentive to her. After two rounds of her explanations, we saw a slide film about ancient exchanges at the Afrosiab Museum, which houses a mural of ancient visits between neighboring countries. 

The next day, February 12, Sunday, Koreans tried to see the sights all by themselves without the assistance of the locals. It is sometimes worthwhile for tourists to have direct experiences at foreign sites. Our group of five Koreans visited the Mausoleum of Imam Al-Bukhari, Ruhabat, SAG (a place where artificial silk carpet was made), Ruhabad Mausoleum, and so forth. The writer played the role of the travel guide (путеводитель) for other four Koreans. Tour guide means that the writer did not pay the entrance fees for several sites. Indeed, the writer was already there on several occasions. At any rate, the writer was the tour guide for them. The writer was the so-called “doctoral tour guide,” who could explain history, languages, and culture. 

And while having a chat with the young driver named Ikrom in his car, this guy told the writer, “You speak good English. Your are different from other Korean tourists.” The writer’s answer was “I am an American by nationality. At first, I was a Korean, but I got the American citizenship a decade ago. I am guiding my former colleagues.“ Other Koreans who overheard my answer gave a hearty laugh. 

Now, I became a “tour guide” and an “American” during my stay in Samarqand. The young Uzbek driver of the microbus was good at English and very kind, and we invited him to our light lunch of pizza. The writer ordered food in Russian and taught several Uzbek words to the writer’s colleagues. Koreans went to an amusement park to kill time until the train’s departure time of 17 00. We did the firing of rifles (tir. “Tir” comes from “tirer”(verb) in French, which means “to fire” a rifle) and rode on the merry-go-round to have a wider and higher view of the whole city. The driver rode the visitors to his workplace “Registan Plaza Hotel,” which is de luxe and affords free WiFi connection. The writer asked the rate for one night for a twin-bed room. If two persons check in, the rate was 255 US$. Just once in a lifetime, we ordinary people could sleep there for one night. The driver worked part-time for us and it seemed that he wanted to publicize his hotel. The sofas at the lobby were real comfortable. We stayed there relaxed to spend some time until the train’s departure at the Samarqand Station. The weather on the second day was good for our walk. And we came back to Tashkent at 19 00.   

  

Guest House of the World Languages University

I was told that the Guest House of the World Languages University (dormitory for foreign teachers) was not populated until now. It was completed almost one year ago. Indeed, the writer was supposed to live there, because one of the conditions for inviting a Korean expert in journalism was to provide the dormitory (обшежитие, in Russian) one year and a half ago (August of 2015), when the writer came here. At that time, it was not ready. But, while preparing to receive the Korean visitors, the most important thing was to provide lodging. Where to sleep and how much to pay for the sleep were the most important factors in inviting them to Uzbekistan. 

However, the Guest House solved all these problems. Korean visitors could save some money and the writer is sure that reasonable rate or no rate at all for the beds was the decisive factor for them to visit Tashkent. Indeed, sleeping at a reasonable-priced Guest House within the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies compound was the most important determinant factor for Uzbeks to visit Korea in October last year, as far as the writer was concerned. In fact, during the Koreans’ stay in Tashkent, the writer spent several nights at the Guest House with the Korean colleagues, while having in-depth dialogues with them. 

Although, the writer finds the Guest House not completely prepared, he contemplates living in the Guest House, when the current renting contract expires in August. “A house looks like a house only when humans live there.” The writer plans to make the Guest House the true house, where people reside and breathe. The writer expects that with his residence at the Guest House, other foreign teachers may come to live there. The Guest House was truly useful and comfortable.   

 

<Guest House for foreign professors provided comfort to Korean visitors. This photo was taken on Jan 21, 2017, while Uzbeks made preparations to receive their first foreign visitors. Dr. Seol also examined the rooms together with Uzbek brothers.>

Do’stlik among Koreans, between Koreans and Uzbeks

The writer and Professor Kim, aka (also known as) “Harry,” have been friends for almost ten years. He encouraged and helped the writer in completing the doctoral dissertation, when the writer’s first dissertation did not go well. As far as the writer is concerned, Harry was a person of global weight and global research. He studied international politics and journalism at the graduate level in America. His research scope covers international and global. However, this time the writer discovered something new about him. He was carrying gochujang(고추장) and ramyon(라면) for food during his stay in Uzbekistan. His eating habits remain sturdily local. Harry is global in his research and he is local in eating. This may be the biggest finding for the writer, while having time with him in Tashkent. 

This makes a good contrast with the writer. The present writer tries to dispense with the Korean food during his overseas trip. After not eating the Korean food during foreign trips, the writer finds the local Korean food more delicious back in the home country. The writer attempts to think and write globally, and tries to eat and live globally. Isn’t this the age of globalization? Globalisierung (in German), globalisation (in French), глобализация (in Russian), globalizatsiya (in Uzbek), and 지구화(地球化, in Korean). Yeah, we need to think, work, and live globally. We need to have our global friends. We need to cultivate global do’stlik (friendship, in Uzbek). 

Postscript: Xalqaro Pochtamt

 

Professor Choi requested the writer to post a postcard (открытка, in Russian) via the postal service in Tashkent. He said the postcard will arrive at South Korea one month later. It was addressed to his friend in another city in Korea. So, the writer visited the International Postal Office near the Tashkent Vokzal and posted it. It was the first time for the writer to visit the postal office. The clerk at the window uttered a few words perhaps in Russian. “… месяч…” O.K. Ponyal (in Russian, Understood). It will take one month for the postcard to reach South Korea. The writer paid a meager amount of money to post it to Korea. This is the writer’s post-hoc service, and post-hoc “management” of friendship. 

By the way, the writer finds the word “pochtamt” in Xalqaro Pochtamt near Tashkent Vokzal has a weird combination of words. Of course, this word seems to come from Russian, почтамт. Почтамт is defined in the writer’s Russian-English dictionary as “head post office (of a city or town)” Based on my amateurish analysis of the word, Почтамт may consist of “почта(Russian) + амт(German, meaning office, bureau).” The writer began to see many German words in the Russian words. In German, they have the word Amt, whereas Russian and Uzbek may not have the independent word “amt.” In current German, they have the word “Postamt” (Post+Amt). Pochtamt(Uzbek), Почтамт(Russian), and Postamt (German) may be linked linguistically.  

설원태 저널리즘학연구위원 / Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Advisor (2017. 3.)

Professor of International Journalism Faculty, Uzbekistan State World Languages University