Politicians United on Value of Laughter

On Wednesday at around 3:00 p.m., the main conference hall of the National Assembly was full of enraged lawmakers yelling over passing a bill to ratify the rice negotiation outcome.

However, a nearby memorial hall was full of laughter.

The National Assembly Humor Forum was holding a special meeting together with Dong-A Ilbo’s 21st Century Peace Institute. Over 100 child educators and parents took part in the meeting, which was convened under the theme, “A Child Good at Making Others Laugh is also Good at Studying.”

Lee Kyeong-jae of the Grand National Party (GNP) said in his opening speech: “To politicians, humor not only brings laughter but also comforts and encourages the public. The Humor Forum was conceived by this idea.”

Chung Doo-un, from the same party who was one of the panelists, said, “I am a living example of today’s theme. Making others laugh equals loving oneself.”

Kim Hyeong-joo of the Uri Party said, “Making others laugh is a demonstration of leadership. I see that among us, those who are good at smiling before the cameras are mostly multi-term lawmakers.”

On how to make others laugh, executive Yoo Soo-yeol of Logos Film said, “To make others laugh, you need to be spontaneous, a good decision-maker, and good at expressing yourself. If you are good at making other people laugh, that means you capture others and have a sense of composure about yourself.”

Chair professor Chung Hong-taek of Sangmyung University said, “Those who make people laugh are good at leading a social atmosphere and know that entertaining others also makes him or herself happy. But you shouldn’t draw laughter by making fun of other people’s disabilities or bullying others.”

Kang-Myoung Chang tesomiom@donga.com