[Kim Seong-kon] Never look back, move forward

Every man has his heyday. Stars in the entertainment business, especially, have their heydays and reminisce about them with strong nostalgia later. The point is that no one can enjoy his or her heyday forever. It is only, at best, an evanescent and transient moment in one’s life.

Recently, the New York Times carried an intriguing article entitled, “Gangnam Style Brought K-Pop to the World, but Haunted Its Creator.” Referring to the music video, “Gangnam Style,” that enchanted 4.6 billion viewers, the article said, “In 2012, the song took over the internet, and it helped pave the way for the global success of Korean pop. But Psy, the artist behind it, spent years trying and failing to replicate the phenomenon.”

Although Psy was the undisputed pioneer of the worldwide popularity of K-pop, today BTS and Blackpink have overshadowed him. As time goes on, the K-pop king cannot stay on the throne forever. As the article noted, “the chase of global fame that once drove him nearly mad” has faded, and now Psy says he has “made his peace with its absence.”

The article concludes with Psy’s calm acceptance of the situation, “If another good song comes along and if that thing happens again, great. If not, so be it,” he said. “For now, I’ll do what I do in my rightful place.” The caption of Psy’s photo for the article echoed this sentiment, informing us that “a decade on from his lightning-in-a-bottle moment, Psy has started a music label and talent management company.”

Unlike Psy who made a wise choice, many politicians cling to the dream of seizing another heyday. Donald Trump is a good example. In the case of South Korea, a former president cannot run for another term, but lawmakers can. Since they can be reelected repeatedly, Korean lawmakers want to serve as many terms as possible.

For that reason, many of our lawmakers are willing to do anything that is necessary, which often results in losing decency and integrity as a politician. To make matters worse, such a tendency makes politicians think that their primary concern is how to secure their party’s nomination and gain votes in the next election, not the future of their country.

The problem is that such politicians constantly look behind them and want to go back to their former post at any cost, so they can wield power. Indeed, they seldom look ahead or move forward with a pioneering spirit or fresh vision. Consequently, they are dragging the country backward, not forward.

At Seoul National University, I was in charge of three major institutions under three different university presidents. After that, I was president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, which was a ministerial appointment by the Korean government. During the 14 years in the above offices, my motto had always been, “Never look back, move forward.” I followed this motto even after I finished my terms.

That is to say, once I stepped down, I never went back to my former institution, not even for a brief visit. Instead, I always stayed away from it, keeping my affection and moral support from a distance. Of course, I love the institutions I once led, but I want only to look forward and move ahead, not to look back, even though I enjoyed my heyday.

On the other hand, our politicians always want to go back to those good old days when they exerted power. Using the power vested in them, they often hurt other people through political vendettas, and other times lead the nation in the wrong direction. They ruin their political foes’ careers by throwing them into prison. Often, they cause the suicide of high-ranking government officials who worked for the previous president by disgracing them publicly. Instead of regretting it or apologizing, our politicians just want to return to power and do it all over again.

Some politicians want to go back even before the division of the country, and think of North Korea as a brother nation of the same people. When North Korea threatens us with nuclear bombs, therefore, they perceive the crisis as a conflict between the same Korean people. However, someone recently pointed out that we should approach North Korea’s threats as the conflict between two different countries, not between the same Koreans. Indeed, it would be wrong to approach North Korea’s menace with a nationalist sentiment.

We should move forward, not backward. The future is ahead of us, not behind us. Only future-oriented countries can be prosperous and promising. Instead of the presidential commission on the past, therefore, we should have a task force preparing for the future.

As the year, 2022 is waning and the New Year is approaching, we should make plans for the future, instead of going back or clinging to the past. We should never look back, but move forward.

Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are his own. -- Ed.