South Korean newspaper sends journalist on one-year mission to Finland

Hyun Seok Oh

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By Maria Mustaranta
     
      In a small rental apartment in Vallila moves are afloat that may change the direction of politics in South Korea. At least 29-year-old Hyun Seok Oh hopes that this would be the case.
      It sounds like the bravado of a young man.
      However, in his slightly hesitant English he seems to be more of a conscientious schoolboy than someone with an inflated ego.
      Nor is his hope very much exaggerated. He is a journalist of Chosunilbo, South Korea’s largest newspaper, which reaches two million readers. In September he took on a one-year gig as the newspaper’s correspondent in Finland.
     
Hyun Seok Oh’s main task in Finland is to write about this country’s educational system. Finland’s success in the PISA tests has raised considerable attention in Korea, and there has been some debate about changing the educational system.
      In recent times the debate has extended to the idea of whether or not the country should model itself after the Nordic welfare state. For this reason Hyun is learning more about social policy as well.
      The debate is linked with the Parliamentary and Presidential elections to be held in 2012. Consequently, the articles that he writes could make a big difference.
      “Korean politicians follow the press closely. If I write good stories, it could change things.”
     
The idea of coming to Finland was Hyun’s own. Chosunilbo launched a programme in 2009 to allow young journalists working for the paper to apply for one-year correspondents’ missions. Hyun had written about education and noticed that there was little expertise on Finland in Korea. He then wrote an application to get to Finland to learn about education.
      In recent months he has been visiting schools and interviewed civil servants. Stories have been written on other subjects as well, such as care for the elderly and flexible working hours. Hyun Seok Oh plans to write two books, one on education, and one on Finland in general – particularly on labour in this country.
      Hyun’s dispatches are popular in his country.
      “I used to get maybe one e-mail for each story. Now there are often five or more messages.”
     
Hyun’s parents would have liked their son, who studied law, to become a lawyer, because he would have earned more money that way.
      “After I started my career they have been pleased because I can support myself. There is much youth unemployment in Korea as well.”
      Like many Finnish journalists, Hyun started his career by writing police stories. However, working methods in Korea are quite different. Hyun lived for six months at a police station in his own room. He would sleep in the room whenever he was not accompanying police and writing stories. He would only get to go home on Saturdays.
      “It is the traditional Korean way of professional training for journalists.”
     
His hard work has continued after the rough start. Hyun Seok Oh says that he goes to work at seven in the morning, and does not leave until 11 in the evening. On three or four evenings in a week he will go to a bar with a group of civil servants, hoping to hear some interesting information that they might spill after a few drinks.
      “It’s the only way to get important information before other journalists.”
     
So it would seem that the year in Finland would be a pleasant time. Hyun gets to set his own working hours, and only two or three stories are expected of him each week.
     
Hyun does not seem to take the suggestion of laziness seriously. He goes back to the fact that there is a great need in Korea for accurate information about Finland. In his time off he says that he reads academic articles and tries to figure out the content of Helsingin Sanomat with the help of the Google translator.
      The longer one speaks to him, the less cheeky his comments on Korean politics sound.
      “I need to be diligent, because I am the only correspondent here.”
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 29.3.2011
     


See also:
  From Elimäki to celebrity status in South Korea (22.4.2008)

MARIA MUSTRANTA / Helsingin Sanomat
maria.mustranta@hs.fi