New Year`s phrases

Korean language scholar Yang Ju-dong used a comical story to close his essay “Book of Studying Hard,” in which he describes the joy of reading books in a glaring writing style. At a time when he was only learning Chinese characters as a young boy, he was self-studying English and bumped into the term “third person singular” in English grammar, which he could hardly understand despite repeatedly reading about it for days. Yang ended up walking 12 kilometers on snowy roads and grew exhilarant to learn about it from a new teacher at an elementary school in his township. This is what Yang wrote in his memo: “I am first person, you are second person, and `usumabal (all the other things)` save `I and you` are third persons.”

Usumabal literally means “something useless and a nuisance like cow urine and horse feces.” In Asian medicine, "usu" means plantain that grows in paddies, and “mabal” refers to mushrooms that grow in dead tree. What it means is that they are so cheap and common, but are essential as medicinal herbs. A great doctor does not get flustered to say “Even a dog’s feces are hard to find for medicinal use.” Han Yu, a famed writer of China’s Tang Dynasty, described a doctor`s wisdom as gathering and depositing all usumabal and waiting until they need to be used, stressing the importance of mixing smart and less smart people and allowing them to assume ranking government posts.

If they were actors in a movie, usumabal are ordinary people rather than actors or supporting actors. These anonymous individuals, however, can join forces and change the world. The Jasmine Revolution spawned a massive sandstorm of democratization in the desert of oppression, and the seed of “Capitalism 4.0” was planted by overcoming the silence of the 99 percent. Far-reaching social network services are crossing national borders and freely changing public sentiment and opinion. As Korea will hold its two most important elections in 2012, how the geographical landscape will be reshaped and reinstated will depend on voter sentiment among "jangsamisa" and "usumabal."

The presidential office in Seoul singled out “limsaigu” as its New Year’s phrase. This means that the nation should pool wisdom carefully in the face of difficult times and major tasks. What the government and political circles should feel wary of the most is usumabal. The presidential office’s phrase for 2011 was “ilgigaseong," or "finishing work instantly and seamlessly, and that for 2010 was “ilroyeongil (enjoy happiness and comfort through the efforts of today)." Korea`s usumabal always did their best but could not enjoy comfort due to politics that failed to achieve ilgigaseong. Those in power are hoped not to grow afraid of usumabal and give the latter a message of hope in the New Year.

Editorial Writer Lee Hyeong-sam (hans@donga.com)