Is it right for LCC airlines to continue developing?

 

BY Lee Seung-Ho

Jamsil Middle school

 

 

Two years ago, my family traveled to Jeju using Jin Air.  It was a small carrier and I felt comfortable at first. However, the flight was suffering from turbulence for one hour and the flight attendants who wore jeans looked very nervous, rather than professional. It was a short experience to use an LCC but the next time my family traveled, we decided not to use an LCC because of dangers, inconvenience and dissatisfaction.  That’s why I can say LCC looks so low-costing but it turns out to be high-costing in the end.

To begin with, LCC is operated without a long break. LCC airlines don’t have many carriers so they move very frequently without enough care and clean up for the quick service. According to the news article, LCC is compared to a baseball team consisting of only 10 main players with no substitute players. That implies LCC can be very dangerous as the number of flights increases. After the flights, all the carriers need detailed care with “repair team.” The flights without enough care can cause more serious and dangerous accidents in the end.

Next, it’s very difficult to change and cancel flight tickets with LCC. Sometimes it’s known to be impossible to cancel the tickets. According to my aunt, it even costs extra charge for a reservation too high in case of foreign LCC airlines.

Lastly, LCC is not satisfactory to some people having high expectations to seek pleasurable moments during flights, considering the aim of travel is for pleasurable convenience. Flight attendants are now well aware of the service. Low cost makes very few services to the passengers aboard. People travel in order to get out of the everyday tiredness, and in order to seek more satisfactory and pleasurable moments. When we get enough service from the flight attendants, we tend to get more service in the other places by spending more. In turn, we tend to consume more money as a result.

Even if LCC began operating in 1990s in America, Korea has just started operating LCC airlines. Some people are satisfied with UCC because of reasonable prices, but LCC needs more improvement by providing safe care of the flights, more convenient service and more pleasant services. LCC is one of the flights with “Welcome Aboard.” By doing so, LCC airlines help people say “LCC is definitely Lucky Customer Carriers.”

sngho411@naver.com

Cha Baek-Seong: biker, traveling around the world

Do you enjoy riding bikes? If yes, try traveling around the world with your bike. Bikes are known to be a humane tool even if technologies have improved dramatically in recent years. Here, I would like to introduce an adventurer who travels around the world with bikes. Cha Baek-Seong, a 63-year-old biker, has traveled around the world for 14 years.

Cha succeeded in crossing the American continent and Hawaii. He also made it from Kyushu to Hokkaido in Japan, which measures about 5,000 kilometers. New Zealand and China became parts of his bike travel history, too. The 2006 German World Cup was another special memory for Cha because he rode 2,006 kilometers from Turkey to Frankfurt, in order to deliver the news of victory to Korean soccer team players. He also published two travel review books “America Road” and “Japan Road,” which helped him became a bike promotion ambassador by the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Why Cha is remarkable is that he quit his job of holding a high position in a major company and pursued his dream. When asked why he started biking at the age of 49, he answered that the timing couldn’t be more perfect. He was ready to bike, mentally and physically. His father, a former university professor passed away in an accident when Cha was only six years old. It was a big shock to him then and Cha began to ponder about “dying well.” After earning and saving enough money, he finally decided to move on to the second stage of his life.

Cha is one of my role models because I dream to travel through the world with a bike. When I ride a bike, I feel free and fresh. Traveling is another form of freedom and expression. My own voyage will be the one with bike riding. I can test my own limits, like Cha did. Surely, if you’re one of the bike lovers, you could purchase his travel review books and practice riding bikes more vigorously.

sngho411@naver.com

 

BY Lee Seung-Ho

Jamsil Middle school

Is the spread of the Korean Wave advantageous for Korea?

 

BY Lee Seung-Ho

Jamsil Middle school

 

 

Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, refers to the increase in popularity of Korean culture over the past two decades. Hallyu has helped many Korean industries with economic gains, and it has helped improve Korea’s international image by drawing in many tourists from all over the world.

Since the 1990s, many Korean drama stars and singers have gained popularity in China and other parts of East Asia, including Japan and Taiwan. Even countries farther away, such as India, Iran, Israel, Turkey, Russia, and the United States have developed a growing interest in the Korean Wave. As a result of the interest in Korean shows and actors, many people have become interested in Korean products used in shows or promoted by actors.

To illustrate, actors Jeon Jihyun and Kim Soohyun are both expected to earn 50 billion won in the year 2015 due to their roles in the popular show “You Who Came from the Stars.” As a result, many Chinese corporations and consumers have become interested in products that the two celebrities have been promoting, reflecting just how influential Korean dramas and pop culture are to China. According to The Chosun Ilbo, the fashion brand ‘ShesMiss’ is experiencing a huge surge in sales due to a winter coat that Jeon wore in a recent episode. A representative of ShesMiss stated that, after the program aired, all 2,500 of the coats that were in stock at their stores sold out almost immediately.

The Korean Wave has also helped to attract many tourists from all over the world. Many fans of Korean dramas wish to see the real sites where dramas have filmed. The popular tourist site, visitkorea.or.kr, includes many filming locations as themed tours. Tourists now have the opportunity to learn more about Korean entertainment firsthand.

Promoting ethnocentrism will do nothing to further the Korean economy. We have achieved our current world status due to the Korean Wave. Due to technology, today’s world is a world of global citizens. We can accept this truth and take advantage of it, or we can reject it and fall by the wayside.

sngho411@naver.com

The Korean Wave (Hallyu): controversial but meaningful

Back in 2010, I lived in the States and attended West Park Elementary School, Newark, Delaware. At that time, some people were very interested in Korea. While studying in my ESL classes, my teacher Maria was interested in Korean soap operas and singers. I was very happy to hear this. She said that she would visit Korea someday. The Korean wave makes some Koreans living in foreign countries glad because it can serve well as an ice breaker for Koreans to adjust to a new environment. Besides, we can have more tourists visiting Korea, inspired to experience the Korean wave. However, a startling number of foreigners were disappointed by the poor infrastructure while visiting. There are not many good chances to meet Korean stars and not many cultural sites providing the tourists with experiences to enjoy the Korean wave. With this kind of situation, what should be the plan for the Korean wave?

Many concerns about Hallyu are noticeable. Some tourists interested in the Korean wave are very disappointed by the poor infrastructure when they visit Korea. That is, contrary to the expectations that many tourists can enjoy experiencing unique Korean culture and meeting with K-pop stars and K-drama stars in person, they don’t really have opportunities to meet with Hallyu stars or to enjoy activities on the filming sites. In addition to this, it’s a problem that the Korean government is depending upon the Korean wave too much. It’s a little absurd that the 17th Asian Games let the actress Lee Young-Ae carry the last torch in the sports events. Of course, she has completed many helpful actions, such as building an elementary school near Hangzhou, China and spreading Korean culture with her lead role in the historical drama “Dae Jang Geum.” However, other wonderful sports stars could have been the last torch bearer. Moreover, many entertainment corporations are focusing on the foreign countries’ market rather than the domestic one. As a result, numerous K-pop stars are trying to earn money outside of Korea.

However, there are good things about Hallyu. Nami island or Namiseom and some sites in Chuncheon are well known to Japanese tourists because the soap opera “Winter Sonata” was filmed on that island. Also, since the release of “Gangnam style” by PSY in 2012, many young people in their 20s began to visit Korea to experience the uniqueness in Gangnam and Korea. The Korean wave is definitely a source for tourism and an attractive income source for many people in tourism industry. Thanks to many famous K-pop stars and K-drama stars, many Chinese people are coming to Korea, too. The last time I traveled to Busan, I noticed bus signs were written in Chinese characters. This surely proves the high number of Chinese tourists inundating our country. Moreover, according to some people who traveled to Jeju, another island located south of Korea, they were surprised by the number of Chinese tourists in Jeju. It’s no wonder that many tourists are visiting Korea, because many Korean stars are promoting themselves in countries like China, Japan, America, and even in Europe.

Korea is very unique in culture and history. We can attract people all over the world not because of the beautiful Korean singers but because of the unique characteristics of Korea. We don’t have to make efforts to make money solely through the Korean wave. Instead, we have to express our own culture through the Korean wave. Then, more and more people will be fascinated by Korea and it will benefit all. Therefore, I can say Korean wave is controversial but ultimately meaningful.

sngho411@naver.com

 

BY Lee Seung-Ho

Jamsil Middle school

Should we welcome artificial intelligence into today’s society?

 

 

BY Lee Seung-Ho

Jamsil Middle school

 

Last year, my grandmother underwent large intestine surgery after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Most people agree that any type of surgery can be frightening, especially if performed on a loved one. However, in an attempt to quell my fears, my mother informed me that the surgery was actually a “robot surgery,” performed by a machine using artificial intelligence.

Robotic surgery assistants can help doctors in many ways. To begin with, they have the ability to pinpoint problem locations on the human body very precisely and they keep track of surgery paths for doctors to follow. Additionally, surgeries performed by AI assistants generally result in decreased blood loss, less pain, and a quicker healing time for patients. Even before such surgery is necessary, smart medical technology can help diagnose patients or warn patients of potential risk factors.

A doctor in Asan Medical Center strongly recommended the artificial intelligence surgery to my grandmother last year, and I am very thankful that he did. In the case of my grandmother’s surgery, it would have been extremely difficult for even an expert surgeon to carry out the procedure without the help of AI technology. If artificially intelligent robots can do this today, just imagine what they’ll be capable of in the future!

sngho411@naver.com