[Column] The meaning of rain

By Jeong Nam-gi, Editorial Writer

Rain has always been a symbol of abundance. When it rains, there's a bumper crop, and when it doesn't, there is a poor harvest. Waiting for rain has always made the people uneasy. It's why every culture had rain rituals. The best were performed by the Native Americans. They always got it to rain. The secret was simple: they kept at it until it started to rain. Their devotion would move the heavens.

Rain is still important, even with the development of science and technology. What is different is that instead of folk rituals, there are now man-made attempts to force the clouds to make it rain. General Electric (GE) was the first to succeed, in 1946. Scientists used dry ice and silver iodine to create condensation nuclei to get tiny drops of water to stick together in the clouds and fall as rain.

Manmade rain is becoming common technology. China has developed it the most. Whenever clouds gather near Beijing, they launch rockets designed to trigger rain. They have a high success ratio, too. It can result in as much as between 30 to 80 millimeters of rain accompanied by rain and lightning. The idea is to stop the increasingly serious problem of "yellow dust." China is an "advanced nation" in the area of manmade rain, having close to 5,000 rocket launchers designed especially for the purpose.

The , or "Professors' Newspaper," recently chose as the four-character idiom that best characterizes the past year. It means "a situation when there are clouds but it still won't rain." Now, suddenly, all the presidential hopefuls are declaring they are going to make it rain. Former prime minister Goh Kun says he is going to , or "move the clouds to make it rain," while former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak talks about , or "making it rain in the midst of severe drought." The ruling Uri Party says next year it is going to be the year of , or "having clouds gather if you free your mind of selfish ambition."

There remains an entire year until the presidential election, however, and the political situation is quite frustrating. If someone thinks he or she has what it takes, why not make it rain right now and ease everyone's mind immediately, instead of promising to make it rain later?

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