Professor Choi Jaecheon: "Deliberation Needed to Escape Hellish Society"

Ecologist Professor Choi Jaecheon Publishes New Book 'Sukron'
"Sukron Means Discussion with Mutual Consideration and Respect"
"Korea's Sukron Culture Disappeared During Japanese Colonial Era"
"I Want to Gift 'Sukron' to Lawmakers Who Can't Debate"

"The character '토(討)' in '토론' (debate) means 'to strike.' So when we say 'debate,' it feels like people are just hitting each other and arguing, making it impossible to have a proper discussion. I wanted a different feeling from debate. I hoped people would restrain from trying to overpower each other, listen carefully to the other person's words, think while talking, and reach a consensus. That's why I thought of '숙론' (Sukron, meaning 'deliberation')."

Professor Choi Jae-chun, Distinguished Professor at Ewha Womans University’s Department of EcoScience, explained this reason for emphasizing '숙론' instead of debate at the press conference for the publication of '숙론' (Kim Young-sa) held on the 7th at the Roh Moo-hyun Citizens’ Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. He stressed 숙론 as a form of debate that considers and respects the other party. He insisted that to end the severe division in Korean society, 숙론 is necessary, emphasizing that 숙론 is a process of finding what is right, not who is right.

Professor Choi referred to the situation where protesters holding candles are in Gwanghwamun, and just a few hundred meters away in front of City Hall, protesters holding Taegeukgi flags are present, saying, "I feel like our society is a place where every imaginable conflict is pouring out all at once." He added, "Before dumping your frustrations on the internet or rushing out to the streets, if we sit down politely and talk, and think that there are people who have different opinions from mine, we wouldn’t have to live in a hellish society."

Choi Jae-cheon, Distinguished Professor of the Department of Eco-Science at Ewha Womans University, is answering questions at the press conference for the publication of "Sukron (Gimm-Young Publishers)" held on the 7th at the Roh Moo-hyun Citizen Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Gimm-Young Publishers

Professor Choi explained that although it is hard to find a culture of respecting opposing opinions in today’s Korean society, our ancestors had a culture of 숙론. He cited the Hwa-jeong (harmonious dispute) philosophy of Monk Wonhyo and the royal court discussions between kings and ministers during the Joseon Dynasty as examples. However, Professor Choi noted that it seems we lost the tradition of 숙론 during the Japanese colonial period. He said, "Japan erased the tradition of 숙론 by imposing uniform ideology and delivering knowledge unilaterally through education to colonize us."

Professor Choi said that although Japan is academically very advanced, proper debates hardly take place even in Japanese universities today. He mentioned that his students who studied abroad in Japan complained that classes were not interesting because proper debates did not happen.

The feeling that classes were not interesting due to the lack of proper debate was also something Professor Choi experienced when teaching in Korea.

Ecologist and animal behaviorist Professor Choi Jae-chun majored in zoology at Seoul National University and earned his Ph.D. in zoology while studying at Harvard University in the 1980s. While working as a teaching assistant at Harvard, he experienced student-centered discussion classes. After joining Seoul National University as a professor in 1994, he continued to conduct discussion-based classes. However, Professor Choi confessed, "To be honest, I never found it fun," adding, "It was really difficult to conduct discussion classes in Korea." There was a lack of active opinion expression.

Professor Choi said that the only place where he enjoyed discussion classes was Harvard University. "At Harvard, there is a saying that if you lead a discussion class, you should bring a 'dirty sock' to class. It means you have to shut the mouths of one or two students who dominate the discussion with a sock. Harvard students love to debate. Compared to other Ivy League schools like Yale, there is a big difference. Harvard places great importance on speaking well. That’s why there are very few people from Harvard who are poor speakers."

Professor Choi said, "I have a firm belief that for education to be proper, discussion classes must be firmly established," and this belief was the motivation for writing '숙론.'"

Choi Jaecheon, Distinguished Professor of the Department of Eco-Science at Ewha Womans University, is answering questions at the press conference for the publication of "Sukron (Gimm-Young Publishers)" held on the 7th at the Roh Moo-hyun Citizens' Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Gimm-Young Publishers

Professor Choi also said that since the loss of the culture of respecting opposing opinions happened during the Japanese colonial period, which was not long ago, we can quickly regain that culture. He even compared contemporary Korean society to fin-de-si?cle Vienna (Austria).

"Sometimes I have the illusion that our society today is like fin-de-si?cle Vienna. At that time, the Habsburg Empire was collapsing, and society was very chaotic, but the salon culture in Vienna flourished brilliantly. Many people gathered in salons every evening to talk, and it was an amazing era where literature, science, medicine, economics, and various academic fields developed. I think Korean society is almost ready to do the same now."

Professor Choi emphasized, "Korea has now reached nearly the world’s top level in most fields," adding, "we just haven’t strung the beads together yet."

Finally, Professor Choi said he would like to gift '숙론' to all members of the National Assembly. "The group that is worst at 숙론 in Korea is the National Assembly members over there in Yeouido."