娛樂資訊:“漢江奇蹟”與《江南風》

T he phenomenal success of Gangnam Style, a video by Korean rap artist Psy that has been viewed 280m times, is a quirky (and rather catchy) indication of South Korea's rising fortunes. The dance video gently sends up the nouveau-riche, plastic surgery-enhanced lifestyle that has been made possible by an economic transformation so extraordinary it is known as "the miracle on the Han River".

韓國說唱歌手樸載相(Psy)的音樂視頻《江南風》(Gangnam Style)大獲成功，點擊量高達2.80億次，它以一種怪異的（而且頗爲吸引人的）方式體現了韓國的財富增長。這段舞蹈視頻溫和地嘲諷了那種暴發戶式的、靠整形提高的生活方式。一場非同尋常的經濟改革讓這種生活方式成爲可能，這一改革被稱爲"漢江奇蹟"。

But something curious is happening. Just as South Korea is growing more confident on the world stage – culturally, economically and diplomatically – it is going through something of an existential crisis at home. Suicides are drastically higher, fertility is perilously low and the electorate is flirting with the idea of jettisoning traditional presidential candidates in favour of an untested IT entrepreneur.

但如今出現了一些奇怪的現象。就在韓國在國際舞臺上變得更有信心——在文化、經濟和外交方面——之際，該國國內卻在經歷一場"存在性危機"。自殺率高得驚人，生育率低得讓人感到危險，選民們還生出了這樣的念頭：拋棄傳統的總統候選人，支持一位毫無從政經驗的IT企業家。

It seems an odd moment to be having a national nervous breakdown. Samsung and Hyundai have established themselves as premier consumer brands from Canberra to Cupertino. Korea's per capita income of $30,000 is fast closing in on the EU average of $33,000. And whether it is winning $20bn nuclear contracts in Abu Dhabi, pouring money into emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil, or vying with Japan to be Washington's best friend in Asia, Seoul is having a global impact as never before.

這個時候出現全國性的精神崩潰似乎令人費解。三星(Samsung)和現代(Hyundai)把自己打造成了一流的消費者品牌，從堪培拉到美國庫比提諾，它們在世界各地扎穩了腳跟。韓國人均收入爲3萬美元，緊逼3.3萬美元的歐盟(EU)平均水平。不管是贏得200億美元阿布扎比核項目合同，還是大舉投資印度、中國和巴西等新興市場，或是與日本競爭成爲美國在亞洲的最好朋友，韓國都顯示出了以前從未有過的國際影響力。

That is not how it feels at home. The more that the residents of the fashionable Gangnam district live it up, the more Koreans feel their economic model is skewed towards a privileged elite. Some statistics suggest Korea is among the most unequal of advanced countries. Chaebol conglomerates, the pride of the nation abroad, are considered by many to be economic bullies at home, blamed for squeezing suppliers and pushing small businesses into bankruptcy.

但韓國國內卻沒有這樣的感覺。時尚的江南區的居民過得越快樂，韓國人就越覺得本國經濟模式向特權精英階層傾斜。一些統計數據表明，韓國處於最不平等的發達國家之列。在國外，"財閥"(Chaebol)是韓國的驕傲，但在國內，它們卻被很多人視爲商業界的霸王，人們指責它們壓榨供應商，連累小企業破產。

Whatever the impressive macroeconomic data suggest, more Koreans feel poor, overworked and weighed down by social pressures. Chief among their concerns is the stress and expense of putting their children through "exam hell", even in the knowledge that there are too many graduates chasing too few well-paid jobs. No wonder Korea's birth rate has plummeted – to 1.23, well below the 2.2 replacement rate and lower even than Japan, at 1.4.

不管引人注目的宏觀經濟數據表明了什麼，如今有更多的韓國人覺得自己窮、工作過量、社會壓力太大。他們主要擔心的問題是讓孩子經歷"考試地獄"(exam hell)的壓力和費用，即使在他們明白畢業生太多而高薪工作太少的情況下也不得不這樣做。難怪，韓國的生育率下滑至1.23，遠遠低於2.2的人口替換率，甚至低於日本（1.4）。

The outgoing conservative government of Lee Myung-bak was good at putting on an international show. It hosted the G20 summit with aplomb. It attracted attention with its "green growth" agenda. But John Delury, assistant professor at Yonsei university, says it neglected domestic social and economic issues. Suicide rates have doubled over the past decade and are now the main cause of death for people under 40. The position of women has advanced at a much slower pace than the economy.

即將卸任的保守的李明博(Lee Myung-bak)政府擅長上演國際秀。這屆政府滿懷自信地承辦了20國集團(G20)峯會。它的"綠色增長"議程獲得了人們的關注。但延世大學(Yonsei University)助理教授魯樂漢(John Delury)表示，政府忽視了國內的社會和經濟問題。過去10年來韓國自殺率上升了一倍，現在自殺已成爲40歲以下人羣死亡的主要原因。女性地位的提高速度遠遠趕不上經濟增速。

Nowhere is the sense of dissatisfaction more apparent than in the campaign for December's presidential election. The surprise package has been Ahn Chul-soo, a university professor and founder of Ahnlab, an antivirus company, who has gained a cult following especially among Korean youth. The 50-year-old independent – a sort of "anti-politician" – is polling above 40 per cent even though he only declared his presidential ambition this month. Mr Ahn is running against two establishment figures. Park Geun-hye is a conservative from the same party as the presidential incumbent. On the liberal establishment side, the Democratic United party has selected Moon Jae-in, aide to a former president.

韓國將於今年12月舉行總統大選，而人們的不滿情緒在競選活動中表露得最爲明顯。大學教授、殺毒軟件公司安博士(Ahnlab)的創始人安哲秀(Ahn Chul-soo)是一匹黑馬，他贏得了很多選民的支持，特別是在韓國年輕人中間。儘管本月才公佈參選意向，但這位50歲的獨立候選人——一種"反政治家"——的民調支持率高於40%。安哲秀的競爭對手是兩位顯赫人物。朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)是一名保守派，與現任總統同屬一個黨派。在自由派陣營方面，民主統合黨(Democratic United Party)選舉文在寅(Moon Jae-in)爲該黨總統候選人，此人曾是一名前總統的助手。

It is a measure of how much Koreans want a break from the past that Ms Park saw fit this week to apologise for the human rights abuses of her father, the dictator Park Chung-hee, who ran the country for 18 years until he was assassinated in 1979. (On hearing of his fate, his pragmatic daughter's first words were said to have been "Is the border secure?") Ms Park has felt it necessary to ditch her impeccably conservative credentials by moving towards the centre. She has taken to talking about "economic democratisation", a buzz phrase that embraces the idea of weakening the stranglehold of chaebol and fostering a more even distribution of wealth.

表明韓國人多麼希望擺脫過去的一件事是，朴槿惠本週就其父親、韓國前總統、獨裁者朴正熙(Park Chung-hee)侵犯人權的行爲致歉。朴正熙統治韓國18載，直到1979年被暗殺。（據說在聽到他被暗殺的消息後，他那講求務實的女兒的第一句話是"邊境安全嗎？"）朴槿惠認爲，通過向中間道路靠攏放棄她無可挑剔的保守主義立場是必要的。她開始喜歡討論"經濟民主化"，這個時髦詞彙支持削弱大財閥的桎梏，並促進財富的更平均分配。

Mr Ahn, whose supporters compare him with Barack Obama – the promising 2008 vintage, not the corked 2012 version – represents a rejection of old-style politics. "Moon is the man of the past, Park is a relic of the past, Ahn is the man of the future," is how Jang Sung-min, a former parliamentarian puts it.

安哲秀的支持者把他比作巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)——是2008年份那個大有希望的奧巴馬，而不是2012年那個受到掣肘的奧巴馬——他代表着對舊式政治的拋棄。前議員張誠岷(Jang Sung-min)稱："文在寅是過去的人，朴槿惠是過去的遺蹟，安哲秀則是未來的人。"

The three-way race makes the election result highly unpredictable. Many expect Mr Ahn and Mr Moon to come to some sort of last-minute pact. If they do not, they risk splitting the liberal vote and handing victory to Ms Park, a result that would appear to be at odds with the anti-establishment mood.

這場"三足鼎力"的角逐讓大選結果變得極爲不可預測。很多人推測，安哲秀和文在寅將在最後一刻達成某種協議。如果他們沒有達成協議，那麼他們可能會分流自由派的選票，把勝利拱手讓給朴槿惠，這種結果似乎將與反當權派情緒相悖。

One possible interpretation of the political mess in general and the popularity of the political novice Mr Ahn in particular is that Korea is going through a crisis of democratic legitimacy. That would be quite the wrong conclusion. The country that threw off dictatorship in 1987 is now as robust, if imperfect, a democracy as any in Asia, a rebuke to those who argue that Confucian societies or "Asian values" are somehow incompatible with the ballot box. Far from suggesting that democracy is failing Korea, the noisy tussle around the presidency shows a system adapting to the popular will. That, at least, should brighten the national mood.

對總體政局混亂、特別是政治"菜鳥"安哲秀頗受歡迎的一種可能的解讀是，韓國正經歷一場"民主合法性危機"。這樣的結論將是大錯特錯的。韓國早在1987年就拋棄了獨裁統治，現在是一個不遜於亞洲其他任何一個國家的穩健（即使不完美）的民主國家，這是對那些辯稱儒家社會或"亞洲價值觀"與選舉不相容的人們的駁斥。圍繞總統之位的吵鬧絕非是在暗示民主正讓韓國走向失敗，而是展現了一種順應民意的體制。至少，這應會讓國民情緒好轉起來。