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• Tuesday, December 13, 2005 02:16 PM

  Size of Korean rice farms

  I lived in Korea from 1971-74 (Peace Corps), and my wife is Korean. The article Andrew refers to in the letter above seems a pretty good depiction. I remember 10 - 30 acres being about average. South Korea is about the size and shape of Indiana, although the latitude is more Missouri. But it's quite hilly, even mountaineous, and there aren't the huge Iowa spreads of flat land to cover with rice fields. The area referred to in the article, the IHT Andrew points to, is the capital of North Cholla province, which has nearby the largest flat area in the country, Kimjae county.

  Since I was there in the 70's, I've managed to get back every 10 years or so, and the urbanization is striking, as is the increasing prosperity. My wife's relatives in North Cholla province, in Chinan county, now raise rice and vegetables, but also tobacco, ginseng, and shitaake mushrooms in the pine woods. So they're not just feeding themselves and some neighbors but raising cash crops.

  Rice is a central part of the culture - "have you eaten (rice)?" is a standard greeting. And much of the history, the way of looking at the world, is from the viewpoint of a rice farmer. They don't have, never have had, water buffalo, but in the 70s farming was hard manual labor, and some people did still use oxen instead of the tricycle tractor rigs that one sees all over Asia...or did see. It's easier now, and many people have moved to the cities and are becoming something different, but there is still that strong tie to the ancestral home. The true Korean national anthem is probably a lovely song called "Spring in my hometown."

  So the objections to the WTO are not just about the price - it's fear of a loss of a way of life.

  .............dan strickland

  —danstr Read danstr's other letters
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