편집자 주     본지에서는 전세계 외국인 독자들을 대상으로 한국의 역사와 문화를 정확하게 소개하기 위해 김정기 변호사의 칼럼을 영문판으로 연재를 시작합니다.

한국의 역사와 문화에 관심있는 전 세계인들에게 도움이 되길 바랍니다.

한국어 독자들은 한국어로 번역된 화면이 보이므로 반드시 사이트 상단에서 원문보기로 설정하셔야 영문판으로 보실수 있습니다.
 

 

☆김정기 총장 주요 약력☆

 

● 학력
- 뉴욕주립대학교(StonyBrook) 정치학과 수석졸업
- 마케트대학교(Marquette) 로스쿨 법학박사
- 하버드대학교(Harvard) 케네디스쿨 최고위과정
- 베이징대학교(Peking) 북한학 연구학자

 
● 경력
- 제8대 주상하이 대한민국 총영사(13등급 대사)
- 2010 상하이엑스포 대한민국관 정부대표
- 아시아태평양지방정부네트워크(CityNet) 사무국 대표
- 세계스마트시티기구(WeGO) 사무국 사무총장
- 밀워키지방법원 재판연구원 
- 법무법인 대륙아주 중국 총괄 미국변호사
- 난징대학교 국제경제연구소 객좌교수
- 베이징대학교 동방학연구원 연구교수
- 국민대학교 정치대학원 특임교수
- 동국대학교 경영전문대학원 석좌교수
- 숭실사이버대학교 초대 총장

 
● 저서
- 대학생을 위한 거로영어연구[전10권](거로출판사)
- 나는 1%의 가능성에 도전한다(조선일보사)
- 한국형 협상의 법칙(청년정신사)
- 대한민국과 세계 이야기(도서출판 책미듬)

(NewsKorea=Seoul) Digital News Team = World Story 2 - <Vision 2  by Atty Jeong-kee Kim>

● 100 years of American hegemony

Many Koreans perceive the United States as a neighbor who is both close and distant. They experience the U.S. through studying abroad, working as expatriates, traveling, and other means, but they might still find it unfamiliar because they don’t actually know much about it. I studied political science as my major and history as my minor at an undergraduate level in a U.S. university. I also studied American politics in graduate school and law in law school. I worked as a research assistant during my doctoral studies and served as a sole mediator for small claims cases under $5,000 during my third year of law school. I have also practiced as a lawyer. After returning to Korea, I taught American politics and American law at a Korean university. Nonetheless, there is still much more I don’t know than I do know. Perhaps understanding America is akin to understanding the world, requiring a considerable amount of time and effort.

The United States declared its independence in 1776, and after the Civil War ended in 1865, it entered a period of full-scale industrialization, completing it by the end of the century. The steel magnate Carnegie, the oil tycoon Rockefeller, and the automotive pioneer Ford were successful entrepreneurs during this time. By 1918, after World War I, the U.S. had achieved its dream of becoming a manufacturing powerhouse, accounting for 30% of the world's GDP. In 1943, after joining the Allies late in World War II, the U.S. thwarted Hitler’s dream of a unified Europe on the European front and crushed Hirohito’s vision of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere on the Pacific front. When World War II ended in 1945, the Cold War era began. During this time, the U.S. and the Soviet Union competed for dominance, representing the democratic and communist blocs, respectively. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union two years later, the Soviet Union was decisively defeated in the arms race known as "Star Wars" by the U.S. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a unipolar world centered around the U.S., making it the first country in human history to achieve such a perfect form of indirect global governance.

In 2013, China under the leadership of Xi Jinping, having grown into a G2 power, sought to redefine great power relations and explore changes in the world order, but there is still a long way to go until 2050. The U.S. remains at the center of the world and will likely continue to do so. There are many reasons why the Pax Americana, or the U.S.-centered world order, could last for 100 years. Understanding America fully can evoke a profound sense of fear about it. Even the world-class Japanese, who were once forcibly opened by Admiral Perry's black ships and experienced the terror of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, still feel this fear. Ignorance is not a virtue.

Above all, let’s examine the political order, economic and financial order, scientific and technological order, military order, and cultural order.

First, the United States is a country where the rule of law is perfectly implemented as a free democratic state. It operates with predictability by thinking rationally based on principles and handling matters transparently. The system features a separation of powers into legislative, judicial, and executive branches, which checks and balances each other.

Second, as a market economy country, the United States has dominated the global financial order since the Bretton Woods system of 1944. It is the sole producer of the world's reserve currency, the dollar. After growing into a manufacturing powerhouse following the UK, it developed its financial industry to become a leader in the global investment banking (IB) market and earns substantial stock dividend income through large-scale investments in the world’s top 500 multinational corporations.

Third, the United States, based on its cutting-edge information technology, is the key player in the Third Industrial Revolution, which began in 1991, and is also leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution that started in 2011. Just as the UK led the First Industrial Revolution, which began with James Watt, the U.S.'s 30-year dominance in the information technology era is comparable to the 150 years of the British Industrial Revolution. The U.S. has established a commanding position in the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. Leveraging this information technology prowess, it controls 70% of the global intellectual property market and reaps astronomical royalties.

Fourth, the United States is the only superpower militarily. Based on its economic power, which accounts for about 25% of the world's total production, it spends approximately $850 billion on defense (as of 2023), more than the combined military expenditures of Europe, China, Japan, Russia, and India. Additionally, when considering the cumulative defense spending over the more than 70 years since 1945, the U.S. possesses an unimaginable level of competitiveness as a military power.

Fifth, the United States leads the world in cultural order. Just 30 years ago, Europeans had reservations about American culture, but the situation has changed. A single movie from the U.S. can become a global hit. American pop music has long surpassed chanson. Additionally, brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Starbucks have long been at the forefront of American cultural imperialism.

Next, the competitiveness of the American people, who maintain the aforementioned orders, is unmatched by the citizens of other countries.

First, there is the WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) class, which constitutes over 50% of the American population. Their ancestors were the British, who shaped the world economic map through the Industrial Revolution and spread democracy across the five oceans and six continents through political revolution, demonstrating their ability to dominate the world.

Second, there are the Jews, who have been targets of persecution and suffering. In the United States, Jews hold prominent positions within the core mainstream, dominating areas such as politics, economy, finance, including information technology, the media, academia, and healthcare. Having ended their centuries of wandering, Jews are determined to protect Israel, which they received as a post-World War II prize, from hostile Arab nations. Therefore, despite constituting only 2% of the U.S. population, they are committed to preserving American civilization with great dedication.

Third, there are the professionals who form a massive cohort. Over 3 million professionals, including lawyers, doctors, professors, scientists, and journalists, represent about 1% of the 330 million U.S. population. Among them, 1 million are lawyers who not only monopolize key positions in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the U.S. government but also serve as CEOs of more than 100 of the top 500 global enterprises, playing a pivotal role in defending American capitalism.

Fourth, there are immigrants who come with their final dreams and highly skilled individuals from abroad seeking workplaces where they can conduct research. The physical and intellectual labor provided by these immigrants and skilled professionals is immense. Moreover, most of them come from developing countries with high birth rates, which significantly contributes to the population growth.

For the nine reasons listed above, American civilization will remain robust even 100 years from now.

☆ Author:  Atty Jeong-kee Kim ☆

● Education
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, State University of New York at Stony Brook
-  Doctor of Jurisprudence, Marquette University Law School
- Senior Executive Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Research Scholar in North Korean Studies, Peking University

● Experience
- Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai
- Commissioner General for the Korean Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo
- CEO, Asia-Pacific Local Government Network for Economic and Social Development (CityNet)
- Secretary General, World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization(WeGO)
- Law Clerk, Milwaukee Circuit Court, USA
- Senior Attorney-at-Law, Dr & Aju LLC
- Distinguished Visiting Professor, World Economy Research Institute, Nanjing University
- Research Professor, Institute of Oriental Studies, Peking University
- Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Political Science, Kookmin University
- Chair Professor, Graduate School of Business, Dongguk University
- First President of Soongsil Cyber University

● Publications
- Georo English Studies Series for College Students [10 volumes] (Georo Publishing)
- I Challenge the Possibility of One Percent (Chosun Ilbo)
- The Art of Negotiation (Cheongnyonneongsin Publishing)
- Korea and the World (Chekmidum Publishing)