(토요모임) [13rd, May. 2017] Saturday meeting Topic

[Scarlet]

Howdy ! 

It's me Scarlett !   

This week we have 3 topics. 

◈ Time management : To Be More Creative, Schedule Your Breaks

◈ South Korea's presidential election

---------- South Korea’s Brilliant Idea: Make Elections Better With ‘Game Of Thrones’ 

---------- Moon Jae-in: Big tests ahead for South Korea's new leader

---------- An Agenda for South Korea’s New Leader

◈ Political issue : French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron tells US climate scientists: 'Please come to France'

Hope you enjoy the topics. 

With luv 

Scarlett

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To Be More Creative, Schedule Your Breaks

by Jackson G. LuModupe Akinola, and Malia Mason/ MAY 10, 2017

Imagine that on a Friday afternoon, before leaving work to start your weekend, you are asked to solve two problems that require creative thinking. Do you:

- Spend the first half of your time attempting the first problem and the second half of your time attempting the second

- Alternate between the two problems at a regular, predetermined interval (e.g., switching every five minutes)

- Switch between the problems at your own discretion

If you are like the hundreds of people to whom we posed this question, you would choose to switch between the two problems at your own discretion. After all, this approach offers maximum autonomy and flexibility, enabling you to change tracks from one problem to the other when you feel stuck.

But if coming up with creative answers is your goal, this approach may not be optimal. Instead, switching between the problems at a regular, predetermined interval will likely yield the best results, according to research we published in the March issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Why is it the case that switching at your own volition, the approach most participants in our study took, may not generate the most creative outcomes? Because when attempting problems that require creativity, we often reach a dead end without realizing it. We find ourselves circling around the same ineffective ideas and don’t recognize when it’s time to move on. In contrast, regularly switching back and forth between two tasks at a set interval can reset your thinking, enabling you to approach each task from fresh angles.

In an experiment, we randomly assigned participants to one of the three approaches. Participants who were instructed to continually switch back and forth between two problems at a fixed interval were significantly more likely to find the correct answer to both problems than participants who switched at their own discretion or halfway through the allotted time.

A second study focused on creative ideation. In this experiment, the problems we posed had no right answers. We wanted to find out whether the benefits of stepping away from a problem at regular intervals transferred to other types of problems warranting creativity, such as brainstorming.

We once again randomly assigned participants to one of our three task-switching approaches and asked them to generate creative ideas for two different idea generation tasks. As in the first study, most people believed that they would perform best if they switched between the two idea generation tasks at their own discretion. We again found that participants who were instructed to switch back and forth between the two idea generation tasks at a fixed interval generated the most novel ideas.

The issue with both other approaches seemed to be that people failed to recognize when rigid thinking crept in. Participants who didn’t step away from a task at regular intervals were more likely to write “new” ideas that were very similar to the last one they had written. While they might have felt that they were on a roll, the reality was that, without the breaks afforded by continual task switching, their actual progress was limited.

The creative benefits of switching tasks have been supported by other research. For example, Steven Smith and his colleagues found that individuals instructed to list items from different categories while continually switching back and forth between the categories listed more novel ideas than individuals who listed items from one category before switching to listing items from the other. In a similar vein, other studies have found that brief breaks during idea generation can increase the variety of ideas generated. These researchers’ findings, coupled with ours, suggest that the hustle and bustle of your daily work life may facilitate your creativity if it leads you to step away from a task and refresh your thinking.

When you’re working on tasks that would benefit from creative thinking, consciously insert breaks to refresh your approach. Set them at regular intervals — use a timer if you have to. When it goes off, switch tasks: Organize your reimbursement receipts, check your email, or clean your desk, and then return to the original task. If you’re hesitant to break away because you feel that you’re on a roll, be mindful that it might be a false impression. We tend to generate redundant ideas when we don’t take regular breaks; ask yourself whether your latest ideas are qualitatively different. Finally, don’t skip your lunch breaks, and don’t feel guilty about taking breaks, especially when you are feeling stuck. Doing so may actually be the best use of your time.

• Jackson G. Lu is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia Business School. He studies how human behavior is shaped by salient global phenomena, including multicultural experiences (individual and team levels), task switching (job level), job autonomy (job level), global warming (societal level), and air pollution (societal level).
• Modupe Akinola is the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Associate Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. She examines how stress affects individual and collective performance outcomes and explores the psychological, physiological, and organizational forces that reduce inclusiveness and inhibit the success of all employees, particularly underrepresented groups, in organizations.
• Malia Mason is the Gantcher Associate Professor of Business in the Management Division at Columbia Business School. She was a postdoctoral fellow in cognitive neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

Article source : https://hbr.org/2017/05/to-be-more-creative-schedule-your-breaks?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

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< Questions >

Q1. How do you deal with the situation when you reach a dead end and find yourself circling around the same ineffective ideas? 

Q2. How do you reach to a creative thinking? Do you have your own secret way? 

Q3. What is the definition of task-switching approach? 

Q4. Have you ever tried below therapies to develop creative ideas? 

- Spend the first half of your time attempting the first problem and the second half of your time attempting the second

- Alternate between the two problems at a regular, predetermined interval (e.g., switching every five minutes)

- Switch between the problems at your own discretion

Q5. This article suggest that alternate working style will enhance your creative thinking by changing your angle. For example, when it goes off, switch tasks: Organize your reimbursement receipts, check your email, or clean your desk, and then return to the original task. How about you? Do you prefer working alternately or working one task consecutively? Why? 

Q6. This article suggest that if you're hesitant to break away because you are on a roll, be mindful that it might be a false impression. We tend to generate redundant ideas when we don't take regular breaks. Do you agree with this idea? If yes, do you have similar experiences? 

Q7. How long do you take a rest in a day? 

Q8. What do you usually do in your spare time? How often do you have your break time while you are working? 

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Graphic News May 9, 2017

Five candidates are in the running to succeed South Korea’s disgraced former president Park Geun-hye, with opinion surveys placing liberal candidate Moon Jae-in as the frontrunner.

https://www.graphicnews.com/en/pages/35347/SOUTH-KOREA-Presidential-candidates?var=d

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South Korea’s Brilliant Idea: Make Elections Better With ‘Game Of Thrones’

Maybe U.S. networks should give it a try, too.

By Willa Frej ,  Andy Campbell

South Koreans voted for a new president on Tuesday. News outlets used a little pop culture inspiration ― and a lot of computer-generated imagery ― to count down the final, ahem, battle. 

Remember that moment in season five of “Game of Thrones” when Drogon, one of the dragons, swoops into the arena and saves Daenerys Targaryen’s life? Seoul Broadcasting System re-created that, replacing the mother of dragons with election winner Moon Jae-in.

Moon and his opponent, Hong Joon-pyo, were also re-imagined as two warriors from that series riding into view in fur capes. A thorough analysis of the choice of capes and horses, plus the background landscape, failed to determine whether the candidates are meant to be Jon Snow and Robb Stark or Theon Greyjoy and Ramsay Bolton. You decide:

Broadcasters also spoofed some of South Korea’s favorite video games ― familiar reference points in a country where, by many accounts, more than half of the citizens play such games. Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation did several renderings of the candidates competing in Mortal Kombat.

Moon himself released custom Starcraft maps that, when one zoomed out, spelled his name, Engadget reported. Starcraft has been popular worldwide since its release in 1998, but it’s especially so in South Korea, where it has sold some 4.5 million copies and launched a professional e-sports league that lasted 14 years.

Seoul Broadcasting System also parodied the movies “Rocky” and “Terminator.”

We would be remiss if we didn’t include this artful dabbing from the candidates themselves.

With or without all the cornball pop-culture pandering, the final voter turnout was expected to hit record numbers at a time of high political tension in South Korea. Some forecasts suggested 80 percent of voters would go to the polls. As of this writing, the National Election Commission of South Korea has reported that early voter turnout was at 60 percent, according to the British newspaper The Independent.

Article source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/south-korea-election-game-of-thrones_us_5911fb06e4b050bdca5feafd

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Moon Jae-in: Big tests ahead for South Korea's new leader

By Dr John Nilsson-Wright/ Chatham House

The outcome of South Korea's presidential contest, while not quite an electoral landslide, certainly represents a seismic shift in the country's political centre of gravity.

Moon Jae-in's success in winning the contest with some 41% of the vote, while not a foregone conclusion, confirmed the expectations of many observers that the population would move leftwards rejecting the trend of the past eight years that has seen conservative candidates occupying the presidential residence, or Blue House, since 2008.

At 64 years old, Mr Moon's personal biography epitomizes South Korea's progressive politics and the civic activism that shaped the democratization movement that transformed the country in the 1980s and 1990s.

The eldest son of North Korean refugees who fled south in 1950 at the height of the Korean War, Mr Moon grew up in poverty, and like many of his generation spent his student days actively protesting against the authoritarian government of Park Chung-hee who dominated the country from 1961 to 1979.

Trained as a human rights lawyer, Mr Moon spent the 1980s working with Roh Moo-hyun - another progressive lawyer, who would himself go on to become president in 2003 - opposing the military regime of Chun Do-hwan, Mr Park's successor.

The personal connection with Mr Roh allowed Moon Jae-in to secure a ring-side seat in the Roh administration, ending up acting at the president's chief of staff and paving the way for his eventual rise to prominence as the lead of the Democratic Party, the country's main opposition force.

Inside: Calls for reform

Mr Moon's experience of challenging the establishment has made him the natural candidate for the broad cross section of Koreans who pushed for the impeachment of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye (the daughter of the former dictator), now incarcerated and on trial for a range of offences including seeking to extort $70m (£54m) from the country's economic conglomerates or chaebol.

Mr Moon's key political challenge will be to realize the political aspirations of the populist, reformist movement that swept Ms Park from power and which is eager to see the transformation of the corrupt, elitist corporate and political culture that has dominated the country for many years.

Post-war economic development was premised on a narrative of collective hard work and national unity and the belief that all Koreans would be the beneficiaries of rapid growth. Today, however, this image of common endeavour and gain has been challenged by widening wealth disparities and narrowing professional opportunities, especially for young Koreans.

Mr Moon's reputation as a pragmatic and experienced politician should help him grapple with this challenge, but he will face a number of critical obstacles.

The unique circumstances of the impeachment crisis, means he has no transition period in which to appoint key allies to leading government positions, and he will need initially to work with bureaucratic and political appointees from the previous administration.

In the national assembly, his allies in the Democratic Party have a plurality but not a majority of seats, and Mr Moon will need to build a coalition of support to offset the influence of the conservative Liberty Party that occupies 35% of the seats.

Needing to reach out across the political aisle, Mr Moon has already announced that he "will become president of all the Korean people".

However, rhetoric is easy (Ms Park said much the same thing when she became president in 2013), and Mr Moon will need to lower expectations of an immediate, radical transformation of the country's political and corporate culture - not least because many of the privileges and abuses associated with the country's elites are also to be found more widely distributed throughout society as a whole.

Outside: A plethora of challenges

If domestic reform was not enough of a problem, Mr Moon will confront a plethora of foreign policy challenges.

Top of the list will be confronting the nuclear threat from Pyongyang. This involves not only deflecting Kim Jong-un, the 33-year-old North Korean leader, from his single-minded pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile tests, but also finding a constructive way of working with US President Donald Trump who appears to share Mr Kim's predilection for military sabre-rattling, brinkmanship and unilateral decision-making.

Mr Moon walked a narrow tightrope during the campaign, making clear his preference for engagement and dialogue with the North, but avoiding any overtly confrontational stance towards Washington.

The South Korean left has a long history of anti-Americanism, but Mr Moon's experience of government under President Roh is likely to make him wary of needlessly antagonizing Washington even though he will eventually want to distance himself from the more hawkish and uncompromising approach adopted by the new US administration.

Ultimately, the road to Pyongyang runs through Beijing, not least because China provides the bulk of North Korea's energy and food supplies. The recent deployment to South Korea of US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) missile defence batteries has polarized Sino-South Korean ties with the Chinese government clumsily discriminating against leading South Korean firms and seeking to bully Seoul into reversing its decision.

Mr Moon will want to keep Beijing on side, in order to help secure movement with Pyongyang, but without compromising the autonomy and sovereignty of his new administration.

Another potential source of bilateral tension will be with Japan. The administration of PM Shinzo Abe favours a hawkish posture of maximum deterrence and pressure on North Korea and appears supportive of Mr Trump's high-stakes approach, confident perhaps that it is not in the front line of any immediate military fall-out if the situation deteriorates into a physical conflict.

For the South Koreans, a more accommodating posture may be more attractive given the exposure of Seoul and its 20 million inhabitants to the North's short-range artillery. Also, bilateral historical tensions over the status of Korean "comfort women" - sex slaves from the Japanese pre-war colonial period - are likely to be back on the diplomatic agenda as progressive politicians in the South lobby to re-open an issue that will almost certainly prove extraordinarily challenging for the new president.

Ultimately, Mr Moon will need considerable diplomatic flexibility, negotiating guile, and policy-making foresight to confront these challenges - not so much a case of completely defying political gravity, but at least finding a way of floating above the fray.

Dr John Nilsson-Wright is Senior Lecturer in Japanese Politics and the International Relations of East Asia, University of Cambridge and Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia, Asia Programme, Chatham House

Article source : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39457385

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An Agenda for South Korea’s New Leader

By ROBERT E. KELLYMAY 9, 2017

PUSAN, South Korea — South Koreans elected Moon Jae-in as their new president on Tuesday against a backdrop of heightened United States-North Korean tensions. Yet North Korea did not dominate the campaign. South Korean voters were focused on the economy, corruption and other domestic issues like air quality. Before the voting, only 23 percent of voters said that international security was the most important issue to them.

Mr. Moon, a center-left human rights lawyer who will take office as soon as this week following the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye in a corruption scandal, is a dove inclined to start negotiations with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. His candidacy was most likely bolstered by President Trump’s tough talk against the North Korean regime, which is widely seen here as dangerous bluster.

South Korean equanimity toward the North’s threats surprises Westerners, but the South Koreans have lived for decades with Pyongyang’s provocations and, more recently, the nuclear program. Young South Koreans increasingly consider the North Korean menace a fact of life. South Korea’s vulnerability to a devastating attack from the North — Seoul’s northernmost suburbs begin just 20 miles from the demilitarized zone — adds to the sense here that the South should do everything it can to avoid war.

An overture from the incoming Moon administration to start talks with Pyongyang should be made with caution. Engagement with North Korea has a mixed, if not poor, record, and new talks would be more effective if started from a position of strength. It is vital that Mr. Moon pursue policies to decrease his country’s vulnerability to attack, while dangling the possibility of talks. Beijing and Washington are key to any deal with North Korea, but Seoul can do a lot on its own.

South Korea spends only 2.6 percent of its gross domestic product on defense. To strengthen Seoul’s negotiating position, Mr. Moon could indicate he will spend more on military preparedness. Civil defense (preparation of the civilian population for North Korean urban strikes), improved pay for conscripts, more intelligence, homegrown missile defense and stronger cyberdefense would help make up for Seoul’s military vulnerabilities.

South Korea and Japan could work together much more to show a united front. Such coordination is undercut by persistent tension over the history of Japanese colonialism in Korea. South Korea’s historical concerns with Japan have legitimate roots, but there is too much exaggeration — such as routine suggestions in the media that Japan is remilitarizing with designs on Asia — and not enough recognition that modern Japan is a liberal democracy and a potential ally against the North.

Seoul and Tokyo should agree to avoid separate deals with the North and reject Pyongyang’s efforts to play them against each other. Mr. Moon and his left-wing base are hostile to a recently signed South Korea-Japan intelligence-sharing pact, but he should consider that South Korea benefits from it more than Japan. Military cooperation in adjoining air and sea spaces would be ideal.

To further improve South Korea’s position, Seoul and Washington need to persuade Beijing to reduce trade with North Korea. Pyongyang is dependent on China for resources and access to the world economy. Cutting off North Korea would slow the nuclear and missile programs, and a reduction in luxury imports would put pressure on the regime elite.

Beijing is already obligated to enforce the existing sanctions against Pyongyang but does so haphazardly because it fears a North Korean implosion. Mr. Moon should work with Beijing to reassure its anxieties over a post-North Korean order, including the possibility of United States forces on the Chinese border, which prompted Chinese intervention in the original Korean conflict in 1950.

Given Seoul’s vulnerability to attack, Mr. Moon should also do much more to encourage the decentralization of the country away from the Seoul area. Fifty percent of South Korea’s population lives in the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon corridor — 26 million people in a space roughly the size of Connecticut, directly abutting the border. The South Korean presidential residence is only some 23 miles from the demilitarized zone. It is long overdue for the government to start halting Seoul’s uncontrolled growth.

Previous efforts to move the capital have failed. President Roh Moo-hyun tried unsuccessfully to move it 75 miles south to Sejong City — though some government ministries and administrative departments have relocated there since 2004, showing decentralization is possible. There are also tax and regulatory incentives in place for South Korea’s conglomerates, like Samsung and Hyundai, to relocate out of Seoul, but many remain centered in, or directly adjacent to, the city.

The South Korean government already intervenes heavily in the economy. Why not do so to encourage more dispersed settlement?

South Koreans have seen it all from the boy who cried wolf to the North and know what to expect from a third iteration of the Kim dynasty. What no one knows is what Mr. Trump will tweet next. South Koreans don’t know whether Mr. Trump realizes just how vulnerable their country is to attack. But despite their differences, Mr. Trump and Mr. Moon now have a chance to build on their countries’ decades-long alliance.

Robert E. Kelly is an associate professor of political science at Pusan National University.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTOpinion).

Article source : https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/opinion/an-agenda-for-south-koreas-new-leader.html

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< Questions >

Q1. On the 9th of May, every nation casts a ballot for a candidate who they are supporting. And now we have one president. Even though we have only one president, all the urgent agenda developed by all the candidates would be integrated into one and carried out by representative of Korea. In this perspective, what is your wish or the most urgent agenda for next administration? 

Q2. The saying, "Every nation gets the government it deserves" has been tossed around. Do you know the meaning of this sentence? Do you think you do your best  to foster and to select the best leader for future Korea? 

Q3. What is the most challenging issue to be tackled during President Moon's term? For instance, tension between North Korea and U.S., the sluggish economy, corruption and other domestic issues like air quality can be addressed. 

Q4. What is the most impressive policy of next administration? 

Q5. Do you like playing online games? Do you know 'Game of Thrones'?

Q6. How much did you enjoy the broadcasting program for presidential election? It was one of the eye-catching view by world wide citizen. I think this program shed new light on modern Korean history. What do you think about this brilliant idea? 

Q7. During approximately one month, we had a chance to witness the interaction among various political parties. What do you think about the multi-party system? Could you tell us the advantages and disadvantages of this system? 

Q8. Even though we choose one leader for Korea, the other candidates were proved to be great leaders as well. Do you have any wishes for them?  

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French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron tells US climate scientists: 'Please come to France'

Donald Trump has ordered some US scientists not to speak publicly, appointed climate sceptics to key positions and threatened to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change

Friday 10 February 2017 10:15 GMT

A candidate in France’s presidential elections has appealed to climate scientists, engineers working on renewable energy and others to leave the United States and move to his country.

In a video message released on social media, Emmanuel Macron, speaking in English, said he had a message for US scientists: “Please come to France … it is your nation.”

Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed scepticism about climate change, appointed several outright deniers and people with links to fossil fuel companies to key positions, and threatened to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Some US government scientists have also been ordered not to speak publicly about their work and the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget and staff numbers are expected to be slashed. The gag order has prompted the creation of "rogue" social media accounts, purportedly run by officials who still want a voice, and a March for Science is to be held in April.

Addressing “American researchers, entrepreneurs and engineers working on climate change”, Mr Macron, a former economic minister in France's Socialist government, said they would be “welcome” in France.

“I do know how your new President now has decided to jeopardise your budget, your initiatives, as he is extremely sceptical about climate change,” he said.

“I have no doubt about climate change and how committed we have to be regarding this issue.

“So I have two messages. The very first one is for the French and European researchers – we will preserve our budgets, we will reinforce our investment, our public and private investment, in order to do more and accelerate our initiatives in order to deliver in line with COP21 [the Paris summit on climate change].

World-renowned climate scientist calls for 'rebellion' against Trump

“And second, a message for you guys – please come to France. You are welcome. It is your nation.

“We like innovation, we want innovative people, we want people working on climate change, energy, renewables and new technologies.

“France is your nation. Thanks.”

Article source : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/french-presidential-candidate-emmanuel-macron-donald-trump-us-climate-change-scientists-please-come-a7572811.html

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Emmanuel Macron: France's ambitious man 'on the move'

7 May 2017/  From the section Europe

At the politically tender age of 39, Emmanuel Macron - the newly-elected president - has shaken up French politics with the skill of a seasoned veteran.

In a vitriolic TV debate during campaigning on 3 May he also showed that he could hurl insults as forcefully as his nationalist rival, Marine Le Pen. The name of his movement - En Marche - is also an apt description of the ambitious former economy minister himself - a man "on the move". He undoubtedly gained extra votes thanks to the sleaze scandal that hit the conservative Republicans candidate, François Fillon.

Mr Fillon denied impropriety over payments that his wife and children received. But his ratings slumped and he came third in the first round, which Mr Macron won. "My aim isn't to bring together the right or the left but to bring together the French people," Mr Macron said last year, announcing his presidential bid.

After four years as an investment banker with Rothschild & Cie, where he became an associate partner, Mr Macron had his first taste of government under Socialist President François Hollande.

Ms Le Pen, as well as traditional left-wing Socialists, scorn Mr Macron as a product of the French elite and suggest that his agenda for change is phoney. Some on the left deride him as a "copy-and-paste Tony Blair".

But Mr Macron's bold seizure of the centre ground has left the Socialists and the Republicans - the decades-old political elite - reeling.

Despite many voters' gripes about the EU he has argued passionately for European integration. The EU market is vital for France to re-energise its sluggish economy, he says.

Initially he worked as a presidential economic adviser before taking up the post of economy minister in 2014.

Although little known initially, he soon forged a reputation with the controversial "Macron Law" - reforms that allowed shops to open more often on Sundays and deregulated some sectors of industry.

The law was forced through by Prime Minister Manuel Valls despite large protests and opposition from left-wing party rebels. In an interview with the BBC's HARDtalk, Mr Macron insisted his Socialist opponents were tiny in number.

For much of France's business community he became a breath of fresh air, with a list of pro-business policies aimed at boosting economic growth. He championed digital start-ups and prompted a long-distance bus market.

But he is still a political novice - never previously elected and little versed in the tough cut-and-thrust of French politics.

Macron's meteoric rise

Born in the northern city of Amiens, Mr Macron was educated at the prestigious Henri-IV public secondary school in Paris. It is regarded as one of the most demanding sixth-form colleges in France.

His parents were both doctors and well-to-do. He studied philosophy at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre, and got postgraduate degrees at Paris's prestigious Sciences Po and the elite ENA college.

ENA is traditionally the incubator for France's top civil servants.

He joined Rothschild & Cie in 2008, where he worked as an investment banker.

He first met François Hollande in 2006 and although he was courted by the centre-right, he felt more at home with the Socialists. He has never been elected an MP.

He raised eyebrows in 2007 when he married his former drama teacher Brigitte Trogneux, 20 years his senior.

She was quoted by Paris Match magazine as saying: "At the age of 17, Emmanuel said to me, 'Whatever you do, I will marry you!'"

She is reckoned to have had some influence over his politics: his manifesto (in French) highlights education as the top priority.

Soon this protégé of President Hollande developed political ambitions of his own, and his position in government became increasingly awkward in April 2016 when he set up En Marche.

He was threatened with the sack by Mr Hollande. "If you don't respect the rules, you're out," the president said.

At a protest in June held by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union, Mr Macron was told to "get lost" and pelted with eggs after telling a union member "the best way to afford a suit is to work".

He resigned in August and began preparing his presidential bid.

At one point in the election campaign he appeared to be outsmarted by Ms Le Pen, in an uncomfortable repeat confrontation with angry workers.

He was booed and heckled at the Whirlpool factory in his hometown Amiens - after Ms Le Pen had posed for selfies with workers at the factory gates.

What does he stand for?

His En Marche movement now counts more than 200,000 followers and he has developed a platform that mixes public investment with business-friendly policies.

At the heart of his ideas are plans to end France's 35-hour week for younger workers. "When you're young, 35 hours isn't enough. You want to work more and learn your job," he told Le Nouvel Observateur.

As for workers in their 50s, he argues they should have the choice of a shorter working week.

There are radical plans for a cut in some primary school class sizes and a "culture-pass" for every 18-year-old.

He is a polished performer on stage and has attracted a loyal following.

When he raised his arms to the heavens and cried "Vive la France!" at a rally in December, his fervent style was widely ridiculed. But it only served to get his message across.

He has had the occasional wobble. A claim that France's colonisation of Algeria had been a "crime against humanity" led to an outcry and a brief setback in the polls.

But an early boost to his campaign came from veteran liberal François Bayrou, an ex-presidential candidate who threw his weight behind him.

He has shown a deft touch in handling slurs on his private life. Rejecting lurid claims of a gay affair, he told supporters that his wife Brigitte "shares my whole life from morning till night and she wonders how I could physically do it!"

Article source : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37221220

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< Questions >

Q1. What do you know about France President Macron?

*** Who is Macron?

Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (French: [ɛmanɥɛl makʁɔ̃]; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who is the President-elect of France. A former civil servant and investment banker, he studied philosophy at Paris Nanterre University, completed a master's of public affairs at Sciences Po, and graduated from the École nationale d'administration (ENA) in 2004. He worked as an Inspector of Finances in the Inspectorate General of Finances (IGF) and then became an investment banker at Rothschild & Cie Banque.

A member of the Socialist Party from 2006 to 2009, Macron was appointed as deputy secretary-general under François Hollande's first government in 2012. He was appointed Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in 2014 under the Second Valls Government, where he pushed through business-friendly reforms. He resigned in August 2016 to launch a bid in the 2017 presidential election. In November 2016, Macron declared that he would run in the election under the banner of En Marche!, a centrist[1] political movement he founded in April 2016. Ideologically, he has been characterised as a centrist[2] and a liberal.

Macron qualified for the runoff after the first round of the election on 23 April 2017. He won the second round of the presidential election on 7 May according to preliminary results; the candidate of the National Front, Marine Le Pen, conceded. At 39, he will become the youngest President in French history and the youngest French head of state since Napoleon.

*** Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Macron

Q2. Emmanuel Macron is 39 and his wife is 64. How do you think about a couple with a big age gap? 

Q3. It was revealed that half of Macron's legislative election candidates are women. How do you think about his resolution? 

Q4. What criteria do you use to select a boyfriend or a girlfriend?  

Q5. If Macron was a candidate of Korean presidential election, would you cast a vote for him?

Q6. How do you think about Macron's climate change policy?