Koreans, and Asians in general, have the mindset of ‘the community before the self.’ That is, an individual should be willing to put aside some of his or her own desires for ‘the greater good.’ This, of course, contrasts starkly with the American ideal of the self and individuality.
Moreover, Koreans have this notion that the individual is, in essence, a representative of one’s country. However, this seems to be an attitude more reserved for its own citizens – that is, Koreans feel this way more towards fellow Koreans who are going abroad – and this belief does not generally get applied to foreigners. I feel that this belief stems from two things: Koreans’ painful awareness of its small territory amongst the nations and their fierce pride as a nation-state.
Despite centuries of constant provocation from its giant neighbors of Japan and China, a near half-century of occupation by the Japanese – during which some of the worst atrocities against humanity were committed – and the Korean War which split the country apart, Korea has emerged as an economic powerhouse in this modern day and age, ranking as the 14th most affluent economy in the world gives immense pride to the people of Korea. Although the people of South Korea are still torn that South and North Korea are still two separate entities, the fact that South Korea was able to pick itself up from the rubbles and debris of the Japanese occupation and the following Korean War is source to powerful nationalist sentiment. However, the Koreans often feel that they are looked down on in the world stage because of their small territory. Just how true this is, I cannot say for sure.
Because the Koreans have such reasons to be proud, they feel that their actions are representative of their country. At least, that is the general sentiment amongst the older generations. It probably stems from their education and beliefs about themselves as a nation when Korea was still developing in the 1960s and 70s, when there were still relatively few Koreans abroad. It was probably because of such few numbers of Koreans were abroad at the time that the people of the older generation were taught that if they ever were in another country, they should act as stewards for their home country and behave themselves.
However, as more and more Koreans are going abroad, this sentiment has begun to weaken in Korea, especially amongst the younger generations, who understand that foreigners, especially with their individualistic world view, will not judge an entire nation based on the actions of a few individuals who may or may not be accurate portrayals of their country of origin. But just the fact that such a sentiment existed says something about the history of Korea: about its struggle to come to grips as once having been a force to be reckoned with in the East Asian theatre, to slowly being degraded in status until they were annexed by Japan, liberated with the help of Americans, only to be wrenched into two by a terrible civil war. In recovering, the Koreans must have adopted the idea that the world would be watching them, and judging them, and therefore, they must show the world that Korea may have been down, but certainly wasn’t out – and prove it they did.
Sources:
South Korean economic ranking:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ks.html
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(Hi Scott!) I decided to comment on your blog because our countries are neighbors, and I have so many Korean friends who have warmly supported me since I came to the States. Even though I thought I already had much knowledge of Korea, your blog articles gave me new insights that I would love to discuss with my Korean friends from high school. This time, I particularly want to comment on this article because I do know that people cannot avoid a topic of the wars when talking about our countries history. It always makes me feel a little depressed when I think about how Japanese people hurt my Korean friends’ grandparents’ generation of people. I cannot deny myself who feel reluctant to listen to the stories of the wars because they are too painful for me, even though we, Japanese people, are not the victims. Reading your blog article helped me have a better understanding of how Guatemalans wanted to avoid telling their taboo stories because I found myself feeling in the same way. I become silent when facing “the taboo zone.”
ReplyDeleteThe war history of Japan and Korea created all four kinds of violence we learned in class. The Japanese army invaded Korean land and later forced some Koreans to immigrate to Japan and even join the army as “Japanese soldiers,” thus the oppression on Koreans started with direct political violence including physical force and terror by official Japanese authorities. Despite their participation in labor work and in the army, the Korean immigrants were treated unequally during and after the war and faced severe financial difficulties. This socio-economic status difference created structural violence which came from inequality and poverty. After WWII, the discrimination of Koreans did not disappear but became worse because in those days there were not enough jobs and Japanese people considered Koreans as “cumberers.” Unfairness was not just in job settings, but the Korean children tended to be a target of bullying in school, and the Korean women were left out from neighbors. Japanese people saw Koreans not as individuals but as an ethnic group who devastate Japanese society, which consequently created symbolic violence (racial stereotypes in unequal structure). Even today, the aftermath of the war affects Koreans lives in Japan. In my last blog article, I wrote about my closest friend who is half Korean and half Japanese. Her struggle with identity confusion by looking at how her family has been struggling with making their lives in Japan shows how attachment of violence to social norms and stereotypes create everyday violence, which refers to the routine violence within social life. Also, I think Koreans in foreign countries cannot help but put an emphasis on and be proud of their identity because of Korea’s tragic history and its rapid recovery of the society. I guess this Koreans’ tendency can also be described as a result of everyday violence because they are to some extent forced to show their strength when dealing with the stereotypes which stemmed from the history of the war.
Korea and Japan are very close to each other, but in some way, I feel that Korea is the most distant country from Japan. I really wonder what has gone wrong between our countries and how to fix the problems. After taking cultural anthropology class, I do think that Japanese people need to cease the routine of violence toward Koreans by removing the fixed, wrong stereotypes living which Japanese people unconsciously insist on in daily life. As we learned in class, violence which took place in nation-wide settings comes down to individuals’ lives and shapes their everyday practice. If so, in order to cease the violence, we need to start working on making a change in individual level, which should eventually go up to the nation level and make a difference. I am being a little too idealistic here, but whenever I think of my Korean friends, I feel in this way. Thank you for sharing interesting aspects of Korea in your blog and hope we can talk more about them. Good job!