The Korean will be in the Motherland for a few weeks. There will be relatively few posts for the next few weeks, and the question-answering will be slower as well. He will have many stories to tell upon his return. See you in a few.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Live Chat -- Friday at 10 p.m.
Sorry about the abrupt cut-off last time. Let's try again -- tomorrow at 10 p.m. EST. See you then.
Quick Hitters on Illegal Immigration
First of all, the Korean recommends everyone to read this remarkable story from Jose Antonio Vargas about how he found success in America even as an illegal immigrant. The article is long, but very much worth the read. Some highlights:
- Vargas' mother sent him away from the Philippines to his grandparents when he was 12 -- Vargas has never met his mother since. He came to America with forged documents. He did not realize his illegal status until he was 16, when he applied for his driver's license.
And again, remember the main point here -- the point is that enforcement of the law (criminal law or otherwise) must comport with the reality. If you want the Korean to give an example of a criminal law (not speed limit) that is constantly broken by ordinary American citizens, he can give dozens of them. Here's a good one -- eating anything on Washington D.C. subway is a crime. John Roberts, now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and then a judge of the D.C. Circuit Court, ruled that a 12-year-old girl who ate one French fry on the subway nonetheless committed a crime. The little girl was handcuffed, taken to the police station, searched and interrogated for hours before she was released to her mother. Is this really the kind of society you want to live in?
People who scream "It's a crime! It's a crime!" are completely missing the point. At the end of the day, "criminal" and "civil" laws are legal terms of art. A tax evasion can be prosecuted either on a criminal or civil basis. The form of the prosecution does not change the wrongfulness of the tax evasion. Same goes with illegal immigration -- calling it a crime or a civil offense changes nothing. What matters is the inherent wrongfulness, and there is nothing wrong with wanting a better life and working to get it.
- Vargas' mother sent him away from the Philippines to his grandparents when he was 12 -- Vargas has never met his mother since. He came to America with forged documents. He did not realize his illegal status until he was 16, when he applied for his driver's license.
- He nearly did not go to college because he was not able to apply for financial aid. He managed to attend San Francisco State based on a scholarship that did not ask about citizenship status.
- Vargas is gay, which means he cannot marry into a citizenship.
- Vargas shared a Pulitzer Prize while working for the Washington Post.
Skimming through the comments to the article, however, the Korean noticed a few recurring themes of ignorance about illegal immigration. Here are some answers to illuminate those darkened minds.
* * *
"I am unemployed, and that's because illegal immigrants like Vargas take American jobs."
Because you can win a Pulitzer Prize if Jose Vargas didn't steal one from you? Vargas is better at his job than 95 percent of Americans are at theirs. He won his job over others fair and square. In fact, the game was rigged against Vargas, but he still won the game.
Even if we were speaking on the low-paying and volatile jobs that illegal immigrants generally take, have you considered, you know, studying hard during school so that you won't have to take those jobs? Or working harder than the guy next to you at your job? Surely, you are not saying you are in a worse position to compete with an illegal immigrant, who is faced with language barrier, cultural gap, poverty and constant persecution from immigration authorities? Even with all that, illegal immigrants apparently find jobs. What's your excuse?
Seriously, what entitles you to a job? Don't you generally belong to the political party that does not believe in giving free handouts to people?
(More after the jump)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Even if we were speaking on the low-paying and volatile jobs that illegal immigrants generally take, have you considered, you know, studying hard during school so that you won't have to take those jobs? Or working harder than the guy next to you at your job? Surely, you are not saying you are in a worse position to compete with an illegal immigrant, who is faced with language barrier, cultural gap, poverty and constant persecution from immigration authorities? Even with all that, illegal immigrants apparently find jobs. What's your excuse?
Seriously, what entitles you to a job? Don't you generally belong to the political party that does not believe in giving free handouts to people?
(More after the jump)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
"We are a nation of laws. Illegal immigrants broke the law. They are criminals."
My ass. You know what else is the law in America? Speed limits. And every day on the Korean's evening commute, he sees hundreds of law-breaking. And no one, including the police, gives a shit unless the violation is particularly egregious. Oh noes, the social fabric of America, undone every time someone does 56 in a 55!
(And for fuck's sake, not everyone who breaks the law is a criminal. You are a criminal only if you break the criminal law. Being undocumented in America is a civil offense. If you can't make this most basic distinction in the law, you really should not be talking about the law at all.)
(And for fuck's sake, not everyone who breaks the law is a criminal. You are a criminal only if you break the criminal law. Being undocumented in America is a civil offense. If you can't make this most basic distinction in the law, you really should not be talking about the law at all.)
People have this stupid idea that the law is this sacrosanct edifice and even the smallest offense cannot be tolerated when it suits their purpose, only to go on and commit all kinds of small violations of the law whenever convenient for them. The Korean used to prosecute misdemeanors, and you will be shocked to know what ordinary things in life comes with significant prison time. (Example: it is a misdemeanor to use gas-powered leaf blower in Santa Monica County. Violations are punishable up to six months in prison.) If we unflinchingly and mercilessly enforced all the laws on the book, our lives will be a living hell. That's not what being a nation of laws is about.
Enforcement of the law has to be flexible enough to comport with the reality. The reality is that illegal immigrants come to America to work and find a better life. They generally cause no harm, except to those who somehow lose out in the job market to them -- and that is the kind of harm we want to encourage in a capitalistic society. Again, we don't want to be a society of hand-outs.
-EDIT 6/23/2011- One commenter said:
-EDIT 6/23/2011- One commenter said:
The Korean would recommend reading the actual language of the law very carefully and cite the actual language. 8 U.S.C. 1325 says:Under 8 USC 1325, illegal immigration is punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months for the initial offense. ... "It is a federal crime to illegally enter this country and such offense may be subject to Imprisonment." This is not a crime similar to receiving a fine for speeding.
Did you notice what 8 U.S.C. 1325 actually punishes? The law criminalizes illegal entry, not being undocumented. Then you might ask: "How can an immigrant be illegal without committing illegal entry?" -- and reveal to the world once again that you don't know a whole lot about illegal immigration. Nearly half of illegal immigrants in America committed no illegal entry. How? They overstayed their visa, which was legitimate at the time of entry. So, for example, you can have a valid tourist visa to enter the country. Six months later, the visa expires, and you don't leave. You, at this point, are an illegal immigrant, but you did not violate 8 U.S.C. 1325. Therefore, you are not a criminal.Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
And again, remember the main point here -- the point is that enforcement of the law (criminal law or otherwise) must comport with the reality. If you want the Korean to give an example of a criminal law (not speed limit) that is constantly broken by ordinary American citizens, he can give dozens of them. Here's a good one -- eating anything on Washington D.C. subway is a crime. John Roberts, now the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and then a judge of the D.C. Circuit Court, ruled that a 12-year-old girl who ate one French fry on the subway nonetheless committed a crime. The little girl was handcuffed, taken to the police station, searched and interrogated for hours before she was released to her mother. Is this really the kind of society you want to live in?
People who scream "It's a crime! It's a crime!" are completely missing the point. At the end of the day, "criminal" and "civil" laws are legal terms of art. A tax evasion can be prosecuted either on a criminal or civil basis. The form of the prosecution does not change the wrongfulness of the tax evasion. Same goes with illegal immigration -- calling it a crime or a civil offense changes nothing. What matters is the inherent wrongfulness, and there is nothing wrong with wanting a better life and working to get it.
"Illegal immigrants steal from America in the form of welfare, education and healthcare."
Here is a newsflash for dumbasses who keep making this argument: illegal immigrants pay taxes just like everyone else, as long as they have a job and/or own property. In fact, they pay more taxes on a net basis than American citizens in the same situation because they cannot receive Social Security or Unemployment benefits like citizens do. Illegal immigrants are not stealing your tax dollars -- you are stealing from theirs.
"Vargas should have found a way to make his status legal."
Here is a newsflash for dumbasses who keep making this argument: illegal immigrants pay taxes just like everyone else, as long as they have a job and/or own property. In fact, they pay more taxes on a net basis than American citizens in the same situation because they cannot receive Social Security or Unemployment benefits like citizens do. Illegal immigrants are not stealing your tax dollars -- you are stealing from theirs.
"Vargas should have found a way to make his status legal."
How? If you ever were found to have been in America while being undocumented, you cannot enter America again for ten years. In fact, even if Vargas was straight, he could not have even married into a citizenship. He would have been deported and would be banned from entering America for ten years, regardless of having a citizen spouse. That is the kind of system we have in America now -- no matter how awesome you turn out to be while growing up in the American society, we cast them away.
"Philippines is not that bad. Vargas should go back and wait in line like everyone else."
The punishment is not living in the Philippines. The punishment is being taken away from everything you ever knew -- your friends, your property you gathered in America, your American identity that you fostered during your life in America. Again, you are taken away from all that for over ten years, because it is only after ten years you can even begin to apply for a visa, which may as well take another five years. One of the most fundamental principles of the Constitution is that the punishment should fit the crime. You do not get your hand cut off for stealing like in the medieval times, and you should not get your life taken away for looking for a better life and beating out other people in a legitimate competition.
"I waited my turn as a legal immigrant. Why couldn't Vargas?"
Because, at age 12, Vargas should have confronted his mother at the airport and refused to get on the plane? Look, good for you if you waited in line. The Korean Family immigrated legally also, and the process for us was hardly pain-free. The Korean Father was duped by a fraudulent immigration lawyer and lost a huge chunk of money, and our status was in real jeopardy for a few years before it was resolved. But our difficulty was not any worse than the difficulty suffered by Vargas, or any other illegal immigrant. Immigration opponents have this stupid idea that life as an illegal immigrant in America is like having a free-flowing spigot of money in your kitchen. Puh-leeze. Vargas more than paid his price -- he had to live in the shadows all this time, and he made something out of himself despite all the obstacles. And now you want to have America wait for more than a decade to have back its Pulitzer-winning journalist? What sense does that make?
For all the controversy about America's immigration laws, not one person comes out to say the current system is just fine and everything is hunky-dory. For such laws, the American tradition always has been civil disobedience, all the way from Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King Jr. This current immigration system is unjust, arbitrary and un-American. It punishes and rewards people for the accident of their birth. It is not a huge merit to follow such a law, and not a huge sin to disregard it.
"I can't just move to Korea when I feel like and become a Korean citizen. Why can illegal immigrants to the same with America?"
Good news: you can! To obtain Korean citizenship, you only need to legally live in Korea for five years, for the most part. And to live legally in Korea for five years, all you need is a job or a spouse who is a Korean citizen. (Remember, Korea is one of the richest countries in Asia -- there are plenty of people who want to come to Korea for better lives also.) More importantly, Korea does not have the ridiculous 10-year ban for being undocumented, and also has periodic amnesty and programs to assist illegal immigrants to leave Korea without paying a fine.
The Korean previously gave his preferred immigration plan here. Short version -- eliminate entitlement; make EVERYONE in America earn his/her citizenship, not just immigrants. The Korean knows that is a wishful pipe dream. But there are sensible plans, which should not be terribly controversial, that can be readily implemented. One of them is the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented college graduates who were brought to America in their childhood to gain citizenship. If you seriously believe that illegal immigration cannot be tolerated because of the social cost imposed upon America, fine. But there is no conceivable reason why America to cast off America-raised youths who managed to make it to college. People like Jose Vargas deserve to live in America, which is more than the Korean can say for a lot of American citizens.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
"I waited my turn as a legal immigrant. Why couldn't Vargas?"
Because, at age 12, Vargas should have confronted his mother at the airport and refused to get on the plane? Look, good for you if you waited in line. The Korean Family immigrated legally also, and the process for us was hardly pain-free. The Korean Father was duped by a fraudulent immigration lawyer and lost a huge chunk of money, and our status was in real jeopardy for a few years before it was resolved. But our difficulty was not any worse than the difficulty suffered by Vargas, or any other illegal immigrant. Immigration opponents have this stupid idea that life as an illegal immigrant in America is like having a free-flowing spigot of money in your kitchen. Puh-leeze. Vargas more than paid his price -- he had to live in the shadows all this time, and he made something out of himself despite all the obstacles. And now you want to have America wait for more than a decade to have back its Pulitzer-winning journalist? What sense does that make?
For all the controversy about America's immigration laws, not one person comes out to say the current system is just fine and everything is hunky-dory. For such laws, the American tradition always has been civil disobedience, all the way from Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King Jr. This current immigration system is unjust, arbitrary and un-American. It punishes and rewards people for the accident of their birth. It is not a huge merit to follow such a law, and not a huge sin to disregard it.
"I can't just move to Korea when I feel like and become a Korean citizen. Why can illegal immigrants to the same with America?"
Good news: you can! To obtain Korean citizenship, you only need to legally live in Korea for five years, for the most part. And to live legally in Korea for five years, all you need is a job or a spouse who is a Korean citizen. (Remember, Korea is one of the richest countries in Asia -- there are plenty of people who want to come to Korea for better lives also.) More importantly, Korea does not have the ridiculous 10-year ban for being undocumented, and also has periodic amnesty and programs to assist illegal immigrants to leave Korea without paying a fine.
* * *
The Korean previously gave his preferred immigration plan here. Short version -- eliminate entitlement; make EVERYONE in America earn his/her citizenship, not just immigrants. The Korean knows that is a wishful pipe dream. But there are sensible plans, which should not be terribly controversial, that can be readily implemented. One of them is the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented college graduates who were brought to America in their childhood to gain citizenship. If you seriously believe that illegal immigration cannot be tolerated because of the social cost imposed upon America, fine. But there is no conceivable reason why America to cast off America-raised youths who managed to make it to college. People like Jose Vargas deserve to live in America, which is more than the Korean can say for a lot of American citizens.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Ask a Korean! News: Korea is a Shining Example of Corruption-Busting. Wait, What?
Well, that's what the New York Times said, at least with respect to soccer:
Interestingly, there recently was a massive audit of Korean bureaucracy, which uncovered tons of cases of ridiculous, outright corruption on the part of Korean bureaucracy involving money, gifts, alcohol, golf and prostitution from the affected corporations -- you know, the usual. It's nice to see at least some part of Korea being applauded for being tough on corruption.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Korea Shows Soccer How to Get Tough [New York times]“Zero tolerance” is the in phrase among sports officials these days.Sepp Blatter of FIFA and Jacques Rogge of the International Olympic Committee speak about it. South Korea practices it.This past weekend, 10 Korean professional soccer players were banned for life from playing the game. The men, including one former national team player, Kim Dong-hyun, have yet to face criminal prosecution. But the Korea Football Association has banned them anyway.“We made the decision determined that this would be the first and last match-fixing scandal in the league,” said Kwak Young-cheol, the head of the K-League disciplinary committee.“Players must keep in mind that they will be kicked out of the sport permanently if they get caught committing wrongdoing.” The 10, and four other men accused of collaborating to fix the outcome of matches for betting purposes, could, if convicted in court, face seven years in jail.The association, it seems, has concluded their guilt, though Kwak conceded that the life bans would be reviewed if they were cleared in criminal proceedings.This, remember, is the Republic of Korea — not North Korea.The K.F.A., the parent body to the 28-year-old K-League, has been built up through its past president, Chung Mong-joon, a leading lawmaker in the National Assembly in Seoul.Chung was recently deposed as a vice president of FIFA, in part because his straight talk sat uncomfortably with some of the corrupt practices now being unraveled at the top of the world governing body of soccer.
Interestingly, there recently was a massive audit of Korean bureaucracy, which uncovered tons of cases of ridiculous, outright corruption on the part of Korean bureaucracy involving money, gifts, alcohol, golf and prostitution from the affected corporations -- you know, the usual. It's nice to see at least some part of Korea being applauded for being tough on corruption.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
How do you make yourself attractive to Korean men?
Dear Korean,
What can I do to make myself more attractive to Koreans? I am currently learning how to speak Korean and I plan on abandoning English for the most part and making Korean my primary language when I have a good enough grasp of it. I have blonde hair and grey eyes; would it be better to dye my hair black? I heard Koreans are very racist and prefer snow white skin, is this true? Obviously this would make tanning of any kind unforgivable. I have seen some celebrity groups such as BIGBANG say they like caucasian women as much as korean but I know they do not speak for Korea as a whole. I am completely IN LOVE with this country and I want to do all I can to make myself into a good korean citzen, I do not want to seem ugly... I simply want to assimilate into South Korean society.
Sasuke Uchiha
Ugh. The Korean answered this type of question in a previous post, which is still the No. 1 post in all of AAK! history in terms of readership, but crap like this just does not stop flooding the Korean's inbox. Boys, let no one say that Asian men cannot get girls -- this blog is being carried by the ladies who are desperate for them. I mean, thinking about dyeing the hair black? Really?
So this time, the Korean went out and got help. Here is a perspective from a white American woman about dating a Korean man in Korea. Special to AAK!, the Korean presents the special guest blogger, I'm No Picasso -- after the jump.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Well, I'm not The Korean. I'm not even a Korean, which I'll get back to in a minute, but I do feel somewhat equipped to answer this question, which was passed on to me by TK, because I am a foreign woman living, working and dating among Koreans. A white foreign woman with reddish hair and green/blue eyes, depending on the weather, to be more specific.
To me, there are two very different, very separate questions being asked here, which are kind of misrepresenting themselves as one: how can I be attractive (not ugly) to Koreans (specifically, I guess, Korean men, like Big Bang) and how can I be a good Korean citizen who is assimilated within Korean society. The two are heavily unrelated, although they may cross paths occasionally (with the -- in my opinion -- right people).
The first thing we need to clear up is this: If you are not Korean, you will never be Korean. No amount of hair dye or language ability will ever change the fact that you are fundamentally, physically, culturally and ethnically not Korean. And as it should be. Any attempt to deny that only lends itself to a habit of misunderstanding and disrespecting not only Korean culture, but also your home culture and the things that make you who you are. Trying to make yourself Korean by changing your hair color and your language undermines all of the truly intrinsically beautiful things that make Korea what it is.
There is a big difference between assimilating into a society and being a product of that society. A difference that you may recognize cognitively, but will not fully realize in practice until you get here and start to learn about how different you really are, and how difficult it can be to adjust to a different culture, which can mean changing very basic, core understandings of how the "world" works, what is "right" and "wrong", and what any number of things mean.
It can be a discouraging notion to face down -- during my first year or two in Korea, as I started to realize that Korea is a place where I want to stay for a long time and, therefore, naturally, want to be an integral part of, the fact that "Koreans" would never consider me "Korean" no matter what I did was something I found to be incredibly discouraging. But, after I began to settle into my new identity as a minority and a foreigner, I started to realize that the idea isn't a completely wrong one. And it doesn't make me any less valuable to my Korean coworkers, friends, or boyfriend. It's just who I am -- I am an American. And no matter how hard I work to understand Korean culture, or speak Korean, or become Korean in my habits, big parts of me will always be American.
Does that mean that I should just give up? For a minute or two, on my worst days, I thought that maybe it did. But as I've continued to try my hardest to adjust and adapt, I've realized that it's the complete opposite. And here's where we'll get to the real answer to this question: I will never be Korean, but what will make me most "attractive" to the right Koreans, and what will make me a "good Korean citizen" is my Americanness, plus my respect and understanding for how Korea is different from me, and my attempts to adjust to Korea as much as I can. Nobody expects me to be perfect -- far from it. But it's about the places where I do my best not even to set aside my Americanness when it conflicts too strongly with Koreanness, but to approach those differences with an open mind and an understanding that different is not better or worse -- it's just different.
And here's another important part of what will make you attractive to Koreans: not ever assuming that you completely understand Korean culture, have "become" Korean, or that you know what being a "Korean" definitively means. That means not accepting and repeating things like, "Koreans are very racist." Ever. It means closing your mind like a steel trap to the easy ways out, and the one-sentence answers about who and what Koreans and Korea are. You'll learn more about how important that is when you get here and become a foreigner, and start to hear every day about who and what foreigners are. Even something as innocuous as someone telling you that, "Foreigners eat a lot of bread," will be enough to start drawing your lines between yourself and some Koreans. Because even the simplest, most non-offensive, "Foreigners are...." statements will take on a dire implication about how that person is going to be able to accept you, as someone who is different from them. And when you do the same thing, you will give Koreans the same sinking gut feeling. And they will draw their lines with you, in return.
Now, as a kind of summary to all of the rest, and in an attempt to answer the second part of the question....
I really know nothing of Big Bang's preferences in regards to women -- I would imagine they would be quite different, given that they are all individuals, and further still would be the divide between what Big Bang prefer in a woman and what the world's entire population of Korean men prefer in women. To cover all of the bases of all of the things all of the men I have dated in Korea prefer in women would take a little more than a novel, being that being Korean was pretty much all they had in common, but I can tell you what my boyfriend (who is Korean) likes about me (a woman).
He likes my red hair and my small face (Western). He likes my individualistic tendencies and my habit of running off at the mouth when I disagree with someone, regardless of where they fall in the hierarchy (... Western?). He dislikes my ultimate respect for and trust in the hierarchy (.....Korean?). He likes and dislikes my constant lectures about his lack of filial piety. He dislikes my annoyance with his lack of 눈치. He likes my 눈치. He likes my hideous mistakes when I'm speaking Korean. He likes the fact that I try my best to speak Korean.
As the list goes on, it gets more and more difficult to put a category in parentheses after the fact. That's because whether an aspect is considered "Western" or "Korean" has little bearing on whether or not he likes it. Or whether or not it is what I am or am not, compared to him. In some ways, I am more "Korean". In some ways, he is more "Western". Because we are both just ourselves.
And at the end of the day, what my boyfriend is attracted to is me. And if he were American, I imagine it would be much the same. He doesn't like me because I'm a foreigner, and he doesn't like me because I've "become Korean". He doesn't like me because I am different from him, or because I am the same as him. He just likes me. And all of the mixed up parts that make me what I am, similar to him in some ways (whether those ways be Korean or Western), and different from him in some ways (whether those ways be Korean or Western).
What he does like about me, which does relate to my foreignness and his Koreanness, is the fact that I've really invested myself in understanding Korea. He finds it a little silly that I continue to keep this blog, for example, for nearly three years now, and likes to tease me about it from time to time. But he always ends these little barbs with a serious face and a comment about how I've broken his stereotypes about foreigners. About how they want to remain separate from Koreans, or how their classic one year foray into becoming Korean cultural anthropologists usually ends in more misunderstandings than the other way around.
The most important thing you can do if you want to be accepted into Korean society is realize that you have a long, hard road ahead of you. And that you aren't going to get there overnight. And if you think that you can, then you are probably making more than a few huge mistakes. There are a lot of emotional ups and downs that come along with trying to fit in with a new culture, but you're never going to get anywhere if you give up and try to simplify things, in order to make it feel easier. To really do something the right way, you have to slow down and accept that you are in for a hell of a lot of work, and that you are going to make constant mistakes, and you may not (probably won't) ever be perfect.
The good news is, if it were as simple as buying a bottle of hair dye and avoiding the sun, it would hardly be the adventure into understanding yourself and others that it is. The reason why it's exciting and interesting and challenging and educational and very nearly almost even spiritual at times, is the same reason that it can be so difficult.
But maybe I've just misunderstood the entire premise of the question. If what you really meant was, how can I pick up the greatest number of Korean men in the easiest manner possible, then my one piece of advice would be this: ditch the black, entirely. I've always heard it said that gentlemen prefer blondes.
What can I do to make myself more attractive to Koreans? I am currently learning how to speak Korean and I plan on abandoning English for the most part and making Korean my primary language when I have a good enough grasp of it. I have blonde hair and grey eyes; would it be better to dye my hair black? I heard Koreans are very racist and prefer snow white skin, is this true? Obviously this would make tanning of any kind unforgivable. I have seen some celebrity groups such as BIGBANG say they like caucasian women as much as korean but I know they do not speak for Korea as a whole. I am completely IN LOVE with this country and I want to do all I can to make myself into a good korean citzen, I do not want to seem ugly... I simply want to assimilate into South Korean society.
Sasuke Uchiha
Ugh. The Korean answered this type of question in a previous post, which is still the No. 1 post in all of AAK! history in terms of readership, but crap like this just does not stop flooding the Korean's inbox. Boys, let no one say that Asian men cannot get girls -- this blog is being carried by the ladies who are desperate for them. I mean, thinking about dyeing the hair black? Really?
So this time, the Korean went out and got help. Here is a perspective from a white American woman about dating a Korean man in Korea. Special to AAK!, the Korean presents the special guest blogger, I'm No Picasso -- after the jump.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
* * *
To me, there are two very different, very separate questions being asked here, which are kind of misrepresenting themselves as one: how can I be attractive (not ugly) to Koreans (specifically, I guess, Korean men, like Big Bang) and how can I be a good Korean citizen who is assimilated within Korean society. The two are heavily unrelated, although they may cross paths occasionally (with the -- in my opinion -- right people).
The first thing we need to clear up is this: If you are not Korean, you will never be Korean. No amount of hair dye or language ability will ever change the fact that you are fundamentally, physically, culturally and ethnically not Korean. And as it should be. Any attempt to deny that only lends itself to a habit of misunderstanding and disrespecting not only Korean culture, but also your home culture and the things that make you who you are. Trying to make yourself Korean by changing your hair color and your language undermines all of the truly intrinsically beautiful things that make Korea what it is.
There is a big difference between assimilating into a society and being a product of that society. A difference that you may recognize cognitively, but will not fully realize in practice until you get here and start to learn about how different you really are, and how difficult it can be to adjust to a different culture, which can mean changing very basic, core understandings of how the "world" works, what is "right" and "wrong", and what any number of things mean.
It can be a discouraging notion to face down -- during my first year or two in Korea, as I started to realize that Korea is a place where I want to stay for a long time and, therefore, naturally, want to be an integral part of, the fact that "Koreans" would never consider me "Korean" no matter what I did was something I found to be incredibly discouraging. But, after I began to settle into my new identity as a minority and a foreigner, I started to realize that the idea isn't a completely wrong one. And it doesn't make me any less valuable to my Korean coworkers, friends, or boyfriend. It's just who I am -- I am an American. And no matter how hard I work to understand Korean culture, or speak Korean, or become Korean in my habits, big parts of me will always be American.
Does that mean that I should just give up? For a minute or two, on my worst days, I thought that maybe it did. But as I've continued to try my hardest to adjust and adapt, I've realized that it's the complete opposite. And here's where we'll get to the real answer to this question: I will never be Korean, but what will make me most "attractive" to the right Koreans, and what will make me a "good Korean citizen" is my Americanness, plus my respect and understanding for how Korea is different from me, and my attempts to adjust to Korea as much as I can. Nobody expects me to be perfect -- far from it. But it's about the places where I do my best not even to set aside my Americanness when it conflicts too strongly with Koreanness, but to approach those differences with an open mind and an understanding that different is not better or worse -- it's just different.
And here's another important part of what will make you attractive to Koreans: not ever assuming that you completely understand Korean culture, have "become" Korean, or that you know what being a "Korean" definitively means. That means not accepting and repeating things like, "Koreans are very racist." Ever. It means closing your mind like a steel trap to the easy ways out, and the one-sentence answers about who and what Koreans and Korea are. You'll learn more about how important that is when you get here and become a foreigner, and start to hear every day about who and what foreigners are. Even something as innocuous as someone telling you that, "Foreigners eat a lot of bread," will be enough to start drawing your lines between yourself and some Koreans. Because even the simplest, most non-offensive, "Foreigners are...." statements will take on a dire implication about how that person is going to be able to accept you, as someone who is different from them. And when you do the same thing, you will give Koreans the same sinking gut feeling. And they will draw their lines with you, in return.
Now, as a kind of summary to all of the rest, and in an attempt to answer the second part of the question....
I really know nothing of Big Bang's preferences in regards to women -- I would imagine they would be quite different, given that they are all individuals, and further still would be the divide between what Big Bang prefer in a woman and what the world's entire population of Korean men prefer in women. To cover all of the bases of all of the things all of the men I have dated in Korea prefer in women would take a little more than a novel, being that being Korean was pretty much all they had in common, but I can tell you what my boyfriend (who is Korean) likes about me (a woman).
He likes my red hair and my small face (Western). He likes my individualistic tendencies and my habit of running off at the mouth when I disagree with someone, regardless of where they fall in the hierarchy (... Western?). He dislikes my ultimate respect for and trust in the hierarchy (.....Korean?). He likes and dislikes my constant lectures about his lack of filial piety. He dislikes my annoyance with his lack of 눈치. He likes my 눈치. He likes my hideous mistakes when I'm speaking Korean. He likes the fact that I try my best to speak Korean.
As the list goes on, it gets more and more difficult to put a category in parentheses after the fact. That's because whether an aspect is considered "Western" or "Korean" has little bearing on whether or not he likes it. Or whether or not it is what I am or am not, compared to him. In some ways, I am more "Korean". In some ways, he is more "Western". Because we are both just ourselves.
And at the end of the day, what my boyfriend is attracted to is me. And if he were American, I imagine it would be much the same. He doesn't like me because I'm a foreigner, and he doesn't like me because I've "become Korean". He doesn't like me because I am different from him, or because I am the same as him. He just likes me. And all of the mixed up parts that make me what I am, similar to him in some ways (whether those ways be Korean or Western), and different from him in some ways (whether those ways be Korean or Western).
What he does like about me, which does relate to my foreignness and his Koreanness, is the fact that I've really invested myself in understanding Korea. He finds it a little silly that I continue to keep this blog, for example, for nearly three years now, and likes to tease me about it from time to time. But he always ends these little barbs with a serious face and a comment about how I've broken his stereotypes about foreigners. About how they want to remain separate from Koreans, or how their classic one year foray into becoming Korean cultural anthropologists usually ends in more misunderstandings than the other way around.
The most important thing you can do if you want to be accepted into Korean society is realize that you have a long, hard road ahead of you. And that you aren't going to get there overnight. And if you think that you can, then you are probably making more than a few huge mistakes. There are a lot of emotional ups and downs that come along with trying to fit in with a new culture, but you're never going to get anywhere if you give up and try to simplify things, in order to make it feel easier. To really do something the right way, you have to slow down and accept that you are in for a hell of a lot of work, and that you are going to make constant mistakes, and you may not (probably won't) ever be perfect.
The good news is, if it were as simple as buying a bottle of hair dye and avoiding the sun, it would hardly be the adventure into understanding yourself and others that it is. The reason why it's exciting and interesting and challenging and educational and very nearly almost even spiritual at times, is the same reason that it can be so difficult.
But maybe I've just misunderstood the entire premise of the question. If what you really meant was, how can I pick up the greatest number of Korean men in the easiest manner possible, then my one piece of advice would be this: ditch the black, entirely. I've always heard it said that gentlemen prefer blondes.
* * *
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Live Chat -- Tonight at 10 p.m. EST
It's been a while, and tonight seems pretty open. Let's chat tonight! Visit the blog at 10 p.m. EST tonight. See you then.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
The Korean began moonlighting at Marmot's Hole, writing primarily about Korean politics. If you are interested about Korean politics, you can start from here.
Korean Father's Day Gift?
Dear Korean,
What do you get your Korean dad for Father’s Day? My Korean dad never lets me know what he needs or wants.
Elisa
The Korean is convinced that Korean men -- particularly in late 50s or above -- are the hardest people in the world to buy gifts for. In fact, it is somewhat sad when you consider why. Older Korean men, generally speaking, have worked in poverty all their lives. They did not have the money to develop a finer taste on anything, nor did they have the time to cultivate a meaningful hobby. Korea's traditional gift-giving culture be damned -- the very idea of gift-giving can be antithetical to these men, particularly when the gift is being given to them.
Taking after the Korean Father, who epitomizes Korean men in their late 50s, the Korean Family is totally devoid of sentimentality when it comes to gift giving. Prior to every gift-giving occasion, we ask each other what they want. Then we go out and get it. There is no thoughtful process, true, but there is no possibility of error either. It usually works nicely except when it comes to the Korean Father, who would rather not have anything. So, for Father's Day, the routine is for the Korean (and the Korean Brother) to ask the Korean Mother about what the Korean Father needs. (Needs, not wants. He never wants anything.) It usually ends up being some type of clothing, except this year the Korean Father was actually interested in iPad. This was the first time in 20 years when the Korean recalls the Korean Father wanting something for himself.
But there is something that Korean fathers do want -- their children's love and respect. No matter what you end up buying, do not let the material thing to be the substitute for your expression of love and respect. Make sure the gift is accompanied by a heartfelt card that you wrote. Korean fathers may not show their reaction outwardly, but they will surely smile in the inside.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
What do you get your Korean dad for Father’s Day? My Korean dad never lets me know what he needs or wants.
Elisa
The Korean is convinced that Korean men -- particularly in late 50s or above -- are the hardest people in the world to buy gifts for. In fact, it is somewhat sad when you consider why. Older Korean men, generally speaking, have worked in poverty all their lives. They did not have the money to develop a finer taste on anything, nor did they have the time to cultivate a meaningful hobby. Korea's traditional gift-giving culture be damned -- the very idea of gift-giving can be antithetical to these men, particularly when the gift is being given to them.
Taking after the Korean Father, who epitomizes Korean men in their late 50s, the Korean Family is totally devoid of sentimentality when it comes to gift giving. Prior to every gift-giving occasion, we ask each other what they want. Then we go out and get it. There is no thoughtful process, true, but there is no possibility of error either. It usually works nicely except when it comes to the Korean Father, who would rather not have anything. So, for Father's Day, the routine is for the Korean (and the Korean Brother) to ask the Korean Mother about what the Korean Father needs. (Needs, not wants. He never wants anything.) It usually ends up being some type of clothing, except this year the Korean Father was actually interested in iPad. This was the first time in 20 years when the Korean recalls the Korean Father wanting something for himself.
But there is something that Korean fathers do want -- their children's love and respect. No matter what you end up buying, do not let the material thing to be the substitute for your expression of love and respect. Make sure the gift is accompanied by a heartfelt card that you wrote. Korean fathers may not show their reaction outwardly, but they will surely smile in the inside.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Tremendous piece about Ichiro and Asian Americans by Jay Caspian Kang. A sample:
The highlighted language, by the way, is part of the reason why the Korean embraced the Lakers and the Dodgers so wholeheartedly. As a 16-year-old immigrant to America, he found that no matter what you looked like, no matter what your accent was like, Americans liked talking with you, a total stranger, as long as you were talking about their home teams. The Korean was not even in the same continent as Kirk Gibson when Gibson hit the home run in the Game 1 of 1988 World Series, but he can tell the story as if he saw it. It's part of what it takes to live in America.
Immigrant Misappropriations: The Importance of Ichiro [Grantland.com]I believed I was witnessing the collapse of stereotypes about Asians. My letters back to the East Coast, which during the winter had alternated between a weird austerity and cloying anger, focused now on the importance of sports in a society: How a meritocracy like baseball offered anyone a chance to showcase the talents of a people....When a group of Japanese students sitting in front of me passed around a red sign on which some indistinguishable Japanese slogan had been written, obscuring my view of the field, I could do nothing but sit back and mutter astonished, bitter words into the back of my hand. It finally occurred to me that I had been ignoring the elephantine irony of this happy scene: I was born in Korea to Korean parents, meaning the only history I share with Ichiro is that on several occasions over the past thousand years, his people have brutally occupied my home country. Rooting for a Japanese baseball player because he fit in the same constructed minority category was like if an Irish ex-pat began rooting for Manchester United because the good people of China couldn't distinguish between his accent and Wayne Rooney's. And in most ways, it was a lot worse than that. ... I could watch Ichiro stretching in the on-deck circle and conjure the image of Jackie Robinson sliding home in 1947, but that association never brought hope, but rather a wariness that both told me that the association was wrong and that the only reason why I was cheering for Ichiro was because someone, something else had lumped us together....Roth languishes in the redemptive possibilities that a shared interest in baseball might offer people who are separated along other lines. Similarly, my own stake in baseball comes from the fact that I am the foreign-born child of Korean immigrants, and that sometimes finding acceptance in this country is as simple as shouting out in a crowded bar that you know who started each game of the 1986 World Series because you, like the rest of the people there, watched every game on TV and talked about it the next day at school.
The highlighted language, by the way, is part of the reason why the Korean embraced the Lakers and the Dodgers so wholeheartedly. As a 16-year-old immigrant to America, he found that no matter what you looked like, no matter what your accent was like, Americans liked talking with you, a total stranger, as long as you were talking about their home teams. The Korean was not even in the same continent as Kirk Gibson when Gibson hit the home run in the Game 1 of 1988 World Series, but he can tell the story as if he saw it. It's part of what it takes to live in America.
Diane Farr, who wrote a nice column for the New York Times regarding interracial dating (involving stories about her Korean American husband) gave a good interview about her new book, Kissing Outside the Lines. A quick sample:
Actress Diane Farr writes amazing book on interracial romance, Kissing Outside the Lines [tampabay.com]What’s so funny is in this exact moment of time, Asians are having like a moment in the sun, between the Tiger Mom and the cover of New York Magazine, and they’re being portrayed as either Nazi-like parents who have no sense of humor or meek, short, sheltered cattle. It seems everything about being biracial in America is about black and white. Sometimes I even feel funny to say I’m in a biracial marriage because people are like, ‘Oh, he’s Asian?’ The subtext is, ‘Who cares?’ You didn’t marry a black person. No one’s paying any attention to you. So for the first moment that we’re paying attention to Asians, we’re putting them down....I think so much of the time when parents are saying, no, I don’t want you to marry outside of your race, they’re worried about either the death of their own culture or what’s gonna happen to their kid because it’s out of their realm of knowledge. And if we can keep it in that idea that it’s from fear, it’s not from hate … yes, of course, it’s ignorance, but that people are acting from love or fear, it’s just one or the other.
Confucianism and Korea - Part VI: The Korean on Confucianism in Modern Korea
[Series Index]
Finally, here we are -- the last part of this series. This post will be about how Korea can capitalize its Confucian heritage better, or improve upon the Confucian heritage. Put differently, this post will identify areas of Korean society that can use more Confucianism, as well as the same that can use less Confucianism.
More Confucianism?
The Korean found some of the reactions to the last part of this series rather interesting. Some commenters said essentially that Confucianism has its share of problems, and pointed to the social ills suffered by China, Japan and Korea. The Korean would readily agree that a Confucian society will have their share of problems -- which is the whole point of having this part of the series. Undoubtedly, there are social ills in Korea that will be solved with having less Confucianism.
But as the Korean warned over and over again throughout this series, Confucianism is not the only mode of thought that guides Korean society. In fact, the Korean would say Confucius is not even the philosopher whose ideas guide modern Korea the most. Any guesses about who that philosopher might be? Buddha and Dharma, based on Korea's long Buddhist tradition? Lao Tzu and Zhang Tzu, the pillars of Taoism?
Would you have guessed... Thomas Hobbes? In his book Leviathan, the 17th century British philosopher described the state of nature: bellum omnium contra omnes, "the war of all against all." In such state of nature, life of a person is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Hobbes might as well have been speaking of the way Korea found itself as it began its venture as a modern nation in the 1940s, devastated by Japanese imperialism, World War II and Korean War. Just how ugly Korea was post-World War II is described in harrowing detail by a recent book, "Birth of the Modern Man." The book, which chronicles the history of Korea's public medicine, recounts the disastrous state of Korea's public health. Within one year of the liberation, 2.3 million Koreans from overseas (mostly from Japan and China) returned to Korea. During Korean War, 500,000 people escaped North Korea to come to the South. Cholera epidemic covered the country. Seoul, in particular, was a crowded sea of bodies, alive and dead. In 1950, there were 800,000 refugees in South Korea without a home. Out of the 440,000 infants born in 1948, 180,000 died before their first birthday. During Korean War, American medics reported that a surgery for a Korean soldier shot in the stomach usually entailed catching hundreds of parasites that were crawling out of the dying host.
(More after the jump)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
In the face of these Hobbesian conditions, Korea dragged itself to where it is now by, in significant parts, allowing the war of all against all to happen. The winners of that war -- the Lee Byeong-Cheol (founder of Samsung) and Chung Joo-Young (founder of Hyundai) of the world -- have built the empires that few in the world, and even fewer in the shithole that was Korea, could dare to envision in their wildest imagination. The losers barely carried on with their lives with no one else to alleviate their misery, or simply died off.
Understanding the mindset created in this process -- of brutal competition and (literal) survival over the next person in every aspect of life -- is the more important to understanding Korea than understanding any other Eastern philosophy, including Confucianism. This survivalist philosophy -- crude and uncivilized, yet pragmatic and efficient -- pervades Korean mindset more than any other philosophy. Like a black hole, this survivalist philosophy (or is it an anti-philosophy?) pulls in everything around it and twists its surroundings in accordance with its pull.
A lot of Korea observers don't get this idea. So often, they end up blaming Confucianism as the cause of Korea's social ill based on the mistaken belief that Confucianism is the main driver of Koreans' mentality. But Confucianism does not deserve their criticism, because the social ills are not the reflections of Confucianism. Instead, borrowing from this excellent post in Asadal Thought, it is only a refraction of Confucianism, distorted by uncivilized philosophy of brute survival in which Korea had to engage by necessity. (By the way, make sure to read that terrific post by Seamus, describing the interplay between Confucianism and Korean education.)
For these types social ills of Korea, more Confucianism is the answer, not less. Here are a couple of examples in which Korea can be helped by engaging in more orthodox Confucianism.
Abuse of Hierarchical Position
Confucianism is commonly described as emphasizing hierarchy. That is a fair description in a sense because in almost every Confucian relation, there is a clear order of who comes first, and who comes second -- parents over children, ruler over subjects, husband over wife, older over younger. But the Korean so far has avoided the term "hierarchical," and instead opted for the term "relational." That choice was made because the Korean believed the term "hierarchical" missed an important element in Confucian relations -- that each person in a relationship, whether superior or inferior, has a certain duty corresponding to his/her status in the relationship. In, the highest ideal of Confucianism, is a natural result when everyone acts on his duty.
Often, this element is ignored in contemporary Korea. Instead, what ends up happening is a naked power play in the guise of Confucianism. Political leaders demand respect while not having done much to inspire such respect from the people. Bosses demand deference without doing much to inspire the deference from their employees. Older Koreans yell at younger Koreans rather than persuade. Facing this dynamic, instead of naturally obeying their superiors, Koreans often do so with bitten lips and gritted teeth.
More Confucianism will help this situation. Under the more orthodox view of Confucianism, such leaders and bosses will soon lose the heaven's mandate to lead, because they have not fulfilled their own duties. Once the heaven's mandate is lost, they no longer deserve to be in that position. In fact, this is the core message that enabled the Joseon Dynasty, which replaced Goryeo Dynasty that was supposed to have lost the heaven's mandate. Likewise, orthodox Confucianism envisions a dynamic relationship within a hierarchy. Hierarchy is necessary; there is no group that can properly function without a leader who can take decisive actions. Focusing on the duties of the leaders of the hierarchy, as Confucianism calls for, will make the various hierarchies in Korea run smoother.
Excessive Educational Pressure
The Korean will not get into too much detail on this part, since there will be a huge education in Korea series in the future. But for our purpose here, it would suffice to say that education in Korea is a nuclear arms race. When the Korean recently read this article from the New York Times about how American parents with private school students spending up to $35,000 for private tutors, he scoffed. In terms of proportion of their family budget, Korean parents spends twice as much as American parents despite the fact that primary schooling (i.e. actual elementary, middle and high schools) in Korea rarely involve private schools. (And even if they do, private K-12 schools in Korea usually cost no more than $2,000 a year.) Korean families spend more money of children's education than everything else except groceries -- more than eating out, more than vacations, more than rent.
Normally, this would be a good thing. Undoubtedly, a highly education population and the economic system that rewarded highly educated people have been major factors in Korea's success. But Korea's survivalist philosophy is pushing Korean children to their breaking point. There are only 24 hours a day, and only so much stress a mind can take. Korean children -- both youths and adolescents -- are deeply unhappy, even compared to other Asian countries like Japan or China. The stress is literally driving a lot of students to suicide, and the rate of increase is startling -- from 2009 to 2010, there was a 47% increase in K-12 students who committed suicide.
Observers often attribute this to Confucianism's emphasis on education, but in fact this is a stark departure from Confucianism. As discussed previously, Confucian education is about character building. It is supposed to be about building a moral self, not about the rewards that follow intense education. Confucian education looks inward, but the current Korean education system is fixated outward toward better colleges and high-paying jobs. A reminder of proper Confucian education would serve as a great antidote for the current nuclear arms race of education in Korea.
Less Confucianism
On the other hand, there is no question that certain aspects of Confucianism do not fit the dynamics of modern society. Confucianism simply never had the chance to evolve organically along with modernity, as other Western philosophies have. It would do Korea no good to hang on to Confucianism in these areas. In such areas, Confucianism must be radically re-interpreted, or discarded altogether. Below are a couple of examples.
Ability to deal with strangers
Korea's driving situation is notorious: it is disorderly, erratic and fatal. Korea's rate of traffic fatality is over twice of the OECD average, coming in third-to-last among the 29 member countries. The streets of Korea often approach a state of total lawlessness, with cars jumping onto and driving on pedestrian sidewalks and motorcycles whizzing by between lanes.
Korea also has a bad track record of discrimination. As the Korean chronicled a number of times on this blog, xenophobia and racism are rampant in Korea. Even among Koreans, there is still lingering discrimination against homosexuals, disabled, children born out of wedlock, people from certain regions, etc.
What do these two social ills have to do with each other? They are both examples of how Confucianism never evolved to fit the modern life. Remember that Confucian worldview is relational, based on the five specific relations -- parent-child, ruler-subject, husband-wife, old-young, friend-friend. But what about people who do not fit in one of those relations? If you are a serious Confucian, what are you supposed to do when you encounter a total stranger who does not fit the existing set of relationships?
Bad driving and discriminations are two examples that show Confucianism's failure to deal with strangers. (There are certainly many more examples.) When a Korean person meets another person, they spent the first few minutes asking each other how old they are, what they do, where they are from, etc. in order to figure out their relational positions. But you can't do that when you are driving a car. Behind the wheel, all the markers that matter to a Confucian are hidden. Because of that, the survivalist tendency takes over again, which leads to crazy and selfish driving. Similarly, discrimination against other people ultimately originates from failure to relate. When a person does not fit a set of existing social relationship, that person matters less than other persons who do fit. This is true everywhere, but particularly truer in a society that takes a relational understanding of humans.
A crucial characteristic of an industrial and capitalistic society is the ability for people to move around and constantly deal with strangers. Without this characteristic, modern society is not possible. But Confucianism is not very good at teaching people how to deal with strangers, although it may be excellent with teaching people how to deal with your parents, for example. Since Korea would prefer to have modernity than Confucianism, Confucianism must yield on this aspect.
A radical reinterpretation of Confucianism could possibly overcome this limitation. One way is to potentially extend the family-like treatment to total strangers. In fact, this has already happened to a certain extent. The original meanings of ajeossi and ajumma -- terms referring to any middle-aged man or woman, respectively -- are "uncle" and "aunt." If Confucianism is to evolve into a modern philosophy, this type of expansion needs to be dramatically increased. For example, the friend-friend relationship of the five morals -- "between friends, there must be trust" -- can potentially be expanded to cover relationship among strangers, similar to the way in which the Bible's "Love thy neighbor" requirement has been expanded to cover everyone in the world.
Gender Equality
Korea is not a place in which men and women are equal. The same can be said about almost all countries in the world, but the disparity of status based on gender in Korea is much more significant relative to other comparable countries. In a recent survey by the Economist, Korea ranked 104th (!) in the world in gender-based discrimination at workplace. Korean women are arguably more objectified by their male counterpart than any other women in the world, leading to shockingly high rate of plastic surgery and unhealthy diets that leave some women disturbingly thin.
Confucianism is hardly the only reason for this -- in fact, the survivalist philosophy probably has a greater role, as Korean men are trying to hang onto their dominant position and Korean women are doing whatever it takes to survive in a male-dominated society. But it is undeniable that Confucianism contributes to this. The Confucian manners -- ones listed in great detail in sohak (小學, Book of Small Learning), for example -- unfailingly consign women to a crabbed, inferior and unequal role relative to men's. And importantly, more (orthodox) Confucianism cannot solve this problem.
Fortunately there are multiple ways out of this, and Korea is well on its way to taking those roads. Among those who have a preference, parents who wish to have a daughter out number those who wish to have a son by 50%. The proportion of husbands participating in running the house is steadily increasing, easily surpassing the majority and moving toward supermajority. In 1998, only 13.3% of the people who passed the bar were women; in 2010, the same number was 41.5%. Gender equality in Korea still has a long, long way to go, but Korea did come this far because enough Koreans take the idea of gender equality seriously.
Also, there is room within Confucianism context to achieve greater equality between men and women. Confucianism reserves a special, elevated role for mothers. One of the most popular Confucian morality story involves the mother of Mencius, who moved to three different residences for the sake of young Mencius' education. Similarly, one of the most revered women in traditional Korean history, Shin Saimdang (whom you can see on the new KRW 50,000 bill,) is also renowned for (among other things) her motherly achievement of raising her son, Yi Yi, to be one of the greatest Confucian scholar in Korean history. (Yi Yi is also on the KRW 5,000 bill, to complete a mother-son pair on Korean money.)
The special emphasis placed on the parent-child relationship also has been summoned in the call for gender equality. "What if she was your daughter?" has a strong resonance anywhere, but particularly in Korea where family relationship is paramount over everything else. The rallying cry has been very effective so far in, for example, dramatically increasing punishment for sexual assault against a minor.
Finally, here we are -- the last part of this series. This post will be about how Korea can capitalize its Confucian heritage better, or improve upon the Confucian heritage. Put differently, this post will identify areas of Korean society that can use more Confucianism, as well as the same that can use less Confucianism.
More Confucianism?
The Korean found some of the reactions to the last part of this series rather interesting. Some commenters said essentially that Confucianism has its share of problems, and pointed to the social ills suffered by China, Japan and Korea. The Korean would readily agree that a Confucian society will have their share of problems -- which is the whole point of having this part of the series. Undoubtedly, there are social ills in Korea that will be solved with having less Confucianism.
But as the Korean warned over and over again throughout this series, Confucianism is not the only mode of thought that guides Korean society. In fact, the Korean would say Confucius is not even the philosopher whose ideas guide modern Korea the most. Any guesses about who that philosopher might be? Buddha and Dharma, based on Korea's long Buddhist tradition? Lao Tzu and Zhang Tzu, the pillars of Taoism?
Would you have guessed... Thomas Hobbes? In his book Leviathan, the 17th century British philosopher described the state of nature: bellum omnium contra omnes, "the war of all against all." In such state of nature, life of a person is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Thomas Hobbes and Leviathan
(Source)
Hobbes might as well have been speaking of the way Korea found itself as it began its venture as a modern nation in the 1940s, devastated by Japanese imperialism, World War II and Korean War. Just how ugly Korea was post-World War II is described in harrowing detail by a recent book, "Birth of the Modern Man." The book, which chronicles the history of Korea's public medicine, recounts the disastrous state of Korea's public health. Within one year of the liberation, 2.3 million Koreans from overseas (mostly from Japan and China) returned to Korea. During Korean War, 500,000 people escaped North Korea to come to the South. Cholera epidemic covered the country. Seoul, in particular, was a crowded sea of bodies, alive and dead. In 1950, there were 800,000 refugees in South Korea without a home. Out of the 440,000 infants born in 1948, 180,000 died before their first birthday. During Korean War, American medics reported that a surgery for a Korean soldier shot in the stomach usually entailed catching hundreds of parasites that were crawling out of the dying host.
(More after the jump)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
In the face of these Hobbesian conditions, Korea dragged itself to where it is now by, in significant parts, allowing the war of all against all to happen. The winners of that war -- the Lee Byeong-Cheol (founder of Samsung) and Chung Joo-Young (founder of Hyundai) of the world -- have built the empires that few in the world, and even fewer in the shithole that was Korea, could dare to envision in their wildest imagination. The losers barely carried on with their lives with no one else to alleviate their misery, or simply died off.
Understanding the mindset created in this process -- of brutal competition and (literal) survival over the next person in every aspect of life -- is the more important to understanding Korea than understanding any other Eastern philosophy, including Confucianism. This survivalist philosophy -- crude and uncivilized, yet pragmatic and efficient -- pervades Korean mindset more than any other philosophy. Like a black hole, this survivalist philosophy (or is it an anti-philosophy?) pulls in everything around it and twists its surroundings in accordance with its pull.
A lot of Korea observers don't get this idea. So often, they end up blaming Confucianism as the cause of Korea's social ill based on the mistaken belief that Confucianism is the main driver of Koreans' mentality. But Confucianism does not deserve their criticism, because the social ills are not the reflections of Confucianism. Instead, borrowing from this excellent post in Asadal Thought, it is only a refraction of Confucianism, distorted by uncivilized philosophy of brute survival in which Korea had to engage by necessity. (By the way, make sure to read that terrific post by Seamus, describing the interplay between Confucianism and Korean education.)
For these types social ills of Korea, more Confucianism is the answer, not less. Here are a couple of examples in which Korea can be helped by engaging in more orthodox Confucianism.
Abuse of Hierarchical Position
Confucianism is commonly described as emphasizing hierarchy. That is a fair description in a sense because in almost every Confucian relation, there is a clear order of who comes first, and who comes second -- parents over children, ruler over subjects, husband over wife, older over younger. But the Korean so far has avoided the term "hierarchical," and instead opted for the term "relational." That choice was made because the Korean believed the term "hierarchical" missed an important element in Confucian relations -- that each person in a relationship, whether superior or inferior, has a certain duty corresponding to his/her status in the relationship. In, the highest ideal of Confucianism, is a natural result when everyone acts on his duty.
More Confucianism will help this situation. Under the more orthodox view of Confucianism, such leaders and bosses will soon lose the heaven's mandate to lead, because they have not fulfilled their own duties. Once the heaven's mandate is lost, they no longer deserve to be in that position. In fact, this is the core message that enabled the Joseon Dynasty, which replaced Goryeo Dynasty that was supposed to have lost the heaven's mandate. Likewise, orthodox Confucianism envisions a dynamic relationship within a hierarchy. Hierarchy is necessary; there is no group that can properly function without a leader who can take decisive actions. Focusing on the duties of the leaders of the hierarchy, as Confucianism calls for, will make the various hierarchies in Korea run smoother.
Excessive Educational Pressure
The Korean will not get into too much detail on this part, since there will be a huge education in Korea series in the future. But for our purpose here, it would suffice to say that education in Korea is a nuclear arms race. When the Korean recently read this article from the New York Times about how American parents with private school students spending up to $35,000 for private tutors, he scoffed. In terms of proportion of their family budget, Korean parents spends twice as much as American parents despite the fact that primary schooling (i.e. actual elementary, middle and high schools) in Korea rarely involve private schools. (And even if they do, private K-12 schools in Korea usually cost no more than $2,000 a year.) Korean families spend more money of children's education than everything else except groceries -- more than eating out, more than vacations, more than rent.
Normally, this would be a good thing. Undoubtedly, a highly education population and the economic system that rewarded highly educated people have been major factors in Korea's success. But Korea's survivalist philosophy is pushing Korean children to their breaking point. There are only 24 hours a day, and only so much stress a mind can take. Korean children -- both youths and adolescents -- are deeply unhappy, even compared to other Asian countries like Japan or China. The stress is literally driving a lot of students to suicide, and the rate of increase is startling -- from 2009 to 2010, there was a 47% increase in K-12 students who committed suicide.
Observers often attribute this to Confucianism's emphasis on education, but in fact this is a stark departure from Confucianism. As discussed previously, Confucian education is about character building. It is supposed to be about building a moral self, not about the rewards that follow intense education. Confucian education looks inward, but the current Korean education system is fixated outward toward better colleges and high-paying jobs. A reminder of proper Confucian education would serve as a great antidote for the current nuclear arms race of education in Korea.
Less Confucianism
On the other hand, there is no question that certain aspects of Confucianism do not fit the dynamics of modern society. Confucianism simply never had the chance to evolve organically along with modernity, as other Western philosophies have. It would do Korea no good to hang on to Confucianism in these areas. In such areas, Confucianism must be radically re-interpreted, or discarded altogether. Below are a couple of examples.
Ability to deal with strangers
Korea's driving situation is notorious: it is disorderly, erratic and fatal. Korea's rate of traffic fatality is over twice of the OECD average, coming in third-to-last among the 29 member countries. The streets of Korea often approach a state of total lawlessness, with cars jumping onto and driving on pedestrian sidewalks and motorcycles whizzing by between lanes.
Korea also has a bad track record of discrimination. As the Korean chronicled a number of times on this blog, xenophobia and racism are rampant in Korea. Even among Koreans, there is still lingering discrimination against homosexuals, disabled, children born out of wedlock, people from certain regions, etc.
What do these two social ills have to do with each other? They are both examples of how Confucianism never evolved to fit the modern life. Remember that Confucian worldview is relational, based on the five specific relations -- parent-child, ruler-subject, husband-wife, old-young, friend-friend. But what about people who do not fit in one of those relations? If you are a serious Confucian, what are you supposed to do when you encounter a total stranger who does not fit the existing set of relationships?
Bad driving and discriminations are two examples that show Confucianism's failure to deal with strangers. (There are certainly many more examples.) When a Korean person meets another person, they spent the first few minutes asking each other how old they are, what they do, where they are from, etc. in order to figure out their relational positions. But you can't do that when you are driving a car. Behind the wheel, all the markers that matter to a Confucian are hidden. Because of that, the survivalist tendency takes over again, which leads to crazy and selfish driving. Similarly, discrimination against other people ultimately originates from failure to relate. When a person does not fit a set of existing social relationship, that person matters less than other persons who do fit. This is true everywhere, but particularly truer in a society that takes a relational understanding of humans.
A crucial characteristic of an industrial and capitalistic society is the ability for people to move around and constantly deal with strangers. Without this characteristic, modern society is not possible. But Confucianism is not very good at teaching people how to deal with strangers, although it may be excellent with teaching people how to deal with your parents, for example. Since Korea would prefer to have modernity than Confucianism, Confucianism must yield on this aspect.
A radical reinterpretation of Confucianism could possibly overcome this limitation. One way is to potentially extend the family-like treatment to total strangers. In fact, this has already happened to a certain extent. The original meanings of ajeossi and ajumma -- terms referring to any middle-aged man or woman, respectively -- are "uncle" and "aunt." If Confucianism is to evolve into a modern philosophy, this type of expansion needs to be dramatically increased. For example, the friend-friend relationship of the five morals -- "between friends, there must be trust" -- can potentially be expanded to cover relationship among strangers, similar to the way in which the Bible's "Love thy neighbor" requirement has been expanded to cover everyone in the world.
Gender Equality
Korea is not a place in which men and women are equal. The same can be said about almost all countries in the world, but the disparity of status based on gender in Korea is much more significant relative to other comparable countries. In a recent survey by the Economist, Korea ranked 104th (!) in the world in gender-based discrimination at workplace. Korean women are arguably more objectified by their male counterpart than any other women in the world, leading to shockingly high rate of plastic surgery and unhealthy diets that leave some women disturbingly thin.
This is Seo-Ah from Korean girl group, Brave Girls.
Focus on her arms in particular -- that is just sick.
Incredibly, this picture is from a tabloid article praising her figure.
(source)
Confucianism is hardly the only reason for this -- in fact, the survivalist philosophy probably has a greater role, as Korean men are trying to hang onto their dominant position and Korean women are doing whatever it takes to survive in a male-dominated society. But it is undeniable that Confucianism contributes to this. The Confucian manners -- ones listed in great detail in sohak (小學, Book of Small Learning), for example -- unfailingly consign women to a crabbed, inferior and unequal role relative to men's. And importantly, more (orthodox) Confucianism cannot solve this problem.
Fortunately there are multiple ways out of this, and Korea is well on its way to taking those roads. Among those who have a preference, parents who wish to have a daughter out number those who wish to have a son by 50%. The proportion of husbands participating in running the house is steadily increasing, easily surpassing the majority and moving toward supermajority. In 1998, only 13.3% of the people who passed the bar were women; in 2010, the same number was 41.5%. Gender equality in Korea still has a long, long way to go, but Korea did come this far because enough Koreans take the idea of gender equality seriously.
Also, there is room within Confucianism context to achieve greater equality between men and women. Confucianism reserves a special, elevated role for mothers. One of the most popular Confucian morality story involves the mother of Mencius, who moved to three different residences for the sake of young Mencius' education. Similarly, one of the most revered women in traditional Korean history, Shin Saimdang (whom you can see on the new KRW 50,000 bill,) is also renowned for (among other things) her motherly achievement of raising her son, Yi Yi, to be one of the greatest Confucian scholar in Korean history. (Yi Yi is also on the KRW 5,000 bill, to complete a mother-son pair on Korean money.)
The special emphasis placed on the parent-child relationship also has been summoned in the call for gender equality. "What if she was your daughter?" has a strong resonance anywhere, but particularly in Korea where family relationship is paramount over everything else. The rallying cry has been very effective so far in, for example, dramatically increasing punishment for sexual assault against a minor.
* * *
This is the end of Korea and Confucianism series. This was the most difficult series so far in the history of AAK! because of the breadth and depth of the subject involved. It basically took 10 months to write -- four months to buy books and brush up on the knowledge of Confucianism, and six months to complete six parts. Even with that, the best the Korean could do was to skim the surface. The Korean hopes you found it helpful, and welcomes any comments or additions.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Drunk Last Night, Drunk the Night Before, Gonna Get Drunk Tonight Like I've Never Been Drunk Before
[TK: The title of the post is from a song. The Korean will be very impressed if you knew the song. Don't Google!]
Dear Korean,
Why do Koreans turn their faces away when drinking in front of elderly ?
Anna
Dear Korean,
During a night of drinking with my boss and his colleagues, some of my elders (I'm 31, they're 40-45) told me that i don't have to turn my head away when drinking because i'm in the company of friends. does this mean that next time i go out with them i don't need to do that? i'm confused about this custom and how it works.
Ryan
Dear Questioners,
If you have had any contact with Korean culture, the Korean hardly needs to remind you that Korea has, among other things, a strong drinking culture. And visitors also find that with the strong drinking culture comes a set of rituals about drinking.
Here are the basic rules of Korean drinking.
Rule 1 - Drink, but don't be a hero
At a place to drink, you are supposed to drink. You can refuse to drink by giving excuses like being sick, etc. (Roboseyo has a good list of clever ways to avoid drinking.) But preferably, you will drink. This, however, does not mean you have to be the best drinker of the crowd. Unless you like drinking that much and can handle it physically, there is no honor in being the best drinker. Don't be a hero -- pace yourself. Sip instead of knocking back. Or do what the Korean does -- don't drink at all, until the occasion calls for it. During the course of the night, there inevitably will be times where you will have to drink the contents of your glass, like when someone attempts to fill your glass (discussed below). Drink then.
For the uninitiated, Korean-style drinking can get out of hand really fast unless you remember this rule -- don't be a hero. Other people might encourage you to drink at first, but they will stop caring as the night goes on and they themselves get more drunk. If you have a particularly bad instigator in your party, get the instigator drunk first so that he won't notice that you are pacing yourself.
Rule 2 - No one pours him/herself
The implications of this rule are simple. Never pour yourself, and never let anyone's glass go empty. Going back to Rule 1, one of the surest way of pacing yourself is -- not drinking at all, until someone attempts to pour your glass. The Korean likes to drink exactly half of his soju glass, and simply sit on it until someone attempts to pour his glass. As noted in Roboseyo's post, being proactive about pouring others usually helps you pace yourself.
Rule 3 - The elder rules
There are just a few rules to remember about drinking with older people. When pouring, use two hands to pour. When receiving liquor, also hold your glass with two hands. When actually drinking the alcohol in front of an older person, turn your face away such that you don't show your neck going back. These are just polite things to do.
Rule 4 - Forget all the rules
Often, visitors to Korea get paralyzed by all these supposed rules, because they somehow have this vision of Korea where all the rules must be followed with mechanical precision, or they will be stoned to death in the streets. Relax! Always remember the Foreigner Rule -- Koreans do not expect foreigners to follow Korean custom. If you do not want to keep all these things in mind, don't.
Even forgetting the Foreigner Rule, remember that all the rules described above are dynamic and change depending on the circumstance -- particularly when the night is old and everyone is drunk. Similar to what Ryan described above, Koreans will let some of the rules go if they do not feel like following them. Go with the flow, and enjoy the night.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Dear Korean,
Why do Koreans turn their faces away when drinking in front of elderly ?
Anna
Dear Korean,
During a night of drinking with my boss and his colleagues, some of my elders (I'm 31, they're 40-45) told me that i don't have to turn my head away when drinking because i'm in the company of friends. does this mean that next time i go out with them i don't need to do that? i'm confused about this custom and how it works.
Ryan
Dear Questioners,
If you have had any contact with Korean culture, the Korean hardly needs to remind you that Korea has, among other things, a strong drinking culture. And visitors also find that with the strong drinking culture comes a set of rituals about drinking.
Any remote excuse is sufficient to post
the Korean's favorite stock picture for AAK!
Here are the basic rules of Korean drinking.
Rule 1 - Drink, but don't be a hero
At a place to drink, you are supposed to drink. You can refuse to drink by giving excuses like being sick, etc. (Roboseyo has a good list of clever ways to avoid drinking.) But preferably, you will drink. This, however, does not mean you have to be the best drinker of the crowd. Unless you like drinking that much and can handle it physically, there is no honor in being the best drinker. Don't be a hero -- pace yourself. Sip instead of knocking back. Or do what the Korean does -- don't drink at all, until the occasion calls for it. During the course of the night, there inevitably will be times where you will have to drink the contents of your glass, like when someone attempts to fill your glass (discussed below). Drink then.
For the uninitiated, Korean-style drinking can get out of hand really fast unless you remember this rule -- don't be a hero. Other people might encourage you to drink at first, but they will stop caring as the night goes on and they themselves get more drunk. If you have a particularly bad instigator in your party, get the instigator drunk first so that he won't notice that you are pacing yourself.
Rule 2 - No one pours him/herself
The implications of this rule are simple. Never pour yourself, and never let anyone's glass go empty. Going back to Rule 1, one of the surest way of pacing yourself is -- not drinking at all, until someone attempts to pour your glass. The Korean likes to drink exactly half of his soju glass, and simply sit on it until someone attempts to pour his glass. As noted in Roboseyo's post, being proactive about pouring others usually helps you pace yourself.
Rule 3 - The elder rules
There are just a few rules to remember about drinking with older people. When pouring, use two hands to pour. When receiving liquor, also hold your glass with two hands. When actually drinking the alcohol in front of an older person, turn your face away such that you don't show your neck going back. These are just polite things to do.
Rule 4 - Forget all the rules
Often, visitors to Korea get paralyzed by all these supposed rules, because they somehow have this vision of Korea where all the rules must be followed with mechanical precision, or they will be stoned to death in the streets. Relax! Always remember the Foreigner Rule -- Koreans do not expect foreigners to follow Korean custom. If you do not want to keep all these things in mind, don't.
Even forgetting the Foreigner Rule, remember that all the rules described above are dynamic and change depending on the circumstance -- particularly when the night is old and everyone is drunk. Similar to what Ryan described above, Koreans will let some of the rules go if they do not feel like following them. Go with the flow, and enjoy the night.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Well, this is something.
Approximately 1,000 French fans of K-pop conducted a flashmob demonstration in front of the Louvre, demanding that the visiting SM Town stars to extend their visit as the planned concert sold out in 15 minutes. Reports of this demonstration, and the popularity of K-pop in Europe, took up an entire Culture section page in Le Monde.
The Korean had thought that K-pop was reaching a saturation point, but he is glad to be wrong.
Approximately 1,000 French fans of K-pop conducted a flashmob demonstration in front of the Louvre, demanding that the visiting SM Town stars to extend their visit as the planned concert sold out in 15 minutes. Reports of this demonstration, and the popularity of K-pop in Europe, took up an entire Culture section page in Le Monde.
The Korean had thought that K-pop was reaching a saturation point, but he is glad to be wrong.
Interesting article about dog meat consumption in China and, like Korea, how people are starting to lose their minds when it comes to dogs.
The Korean's post on dog meat consumption in Korea and what the Korean thinks of it is here. Short version: all arguments against eating dogs are eventually reducible to either pure personal preference or bald cultural superiority. Neither is a good enough reason to dictate people's preference about what to eat.
The Korean's post on dog meat consumption in Korea and what the Korean thinks of it is here. Short version: all arguments against eating dogs are eventually reducible to either pure personal preference or bald cultural superiority. Neither is a good enough reason to dictate people's preference about what to eat.
Ask a Korean! News: Mr. Joo Seong-Ha on Kim Family Portrait Target Practice
[Index]
First of all, some background -- recently, North Korea threw a hissy fit over the fact that some platoons of South Korean army reserved used the pictures of Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un as target practice. Mr. Joo Seong-Ha gives a nice insight to the reaction. Below is the translation.
But the problem was -- how can this incident be reported? You can't write: "This man said Dear Leader was great in bed." In North Korea, the writer of that sentence would lose his neck for blasphemy. The report writing itself was like putting a bell on the cat. In the end, no one could write the report, and the businessman returned to South Korea safely.
But still, Rodong Shimmun reported in its June 5 editorial: "We can no longer bear the mutinous band's ploy against the Republic, which has progressed to the mentions of 'ideological unification' and has reached to the point of disrespecting our supreme dignity." Chosun Central Broadcasting and Pyongyang Broadcasting also reported the angry reaction of the North Koreans in Pyongyang Textile Factory, Mamyeong Cooperative Farm in Anak-gun, Hwanghaenam-do and a leather factory in Sariwon, Hwanghaebuk-do.
The television stations also showed the criticisms by various North Korean public personalities in the press, education and labor union, such as the chief of the cabinet, dean of the Kim Il-Sung University Law School, manager of Pyongyang Botonggang District Quality Control Center, chair of the Central Committee of Agricultural and Labor Alliance, etc. They said things like "we will wipe Lee Myoung-Bak's thugs from the face of the earth by turning each of us into bullets and shells, exploding our accumulated vengefulness and endured indignation," or "the mutinous band must realize that there is no place on Earth where they can hide from the merciless strike by the People's Army."
Of course, the content of their speech is meaningless -- the speakers do not stand before the camera until they have been carefully casted and painstakingly practice down to their angry facial expression. They are just reading the script. But if their mock anger is based on the knowledge that Kim Jong-Il's picture was being used as a target practice, it would be a welcome news to me. As I said earlier, it is significant if North Korean people are given the room to imagine turning the portraits in their houses to a target practice.
The more North Korea talks, the more it loses. They might try to make their people hate Lee Myoung-Bak administration, but they will end up tarnishing the image of Kim Jong-Il. North Korean regime knows this, but why do they bother talking about "supreme dignity"? As someone who was born in and studied in North Korea, this made no sense.
I had a chance to speak on the phone with someone in North Korea, the same day the Rodong Shinmun editorial appeared. Before I even asked, he breathlessly spoke over the phone: "The border patrol is really stepped up because you guys are shooting at the flag of the Republic. The Security Bureau is on high alert and there is more cell signal detectors."
My jaw dropped. The regime must be telling the people that the "supreme dignity" means the North Korean flag. I should have known.
김정일을 김정일이라 말도 못하고 [Joo Seong-Ha's North Korea Real Talk]
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
First of all, some background -- recently, North Korea threw a hissy fit over the fact that some platoons of South Korean army reserved used the pictures of Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un as target practice. Mr. Joo Seong-Ha gives a nice insight to the reaction. Below is the translation.
* * *
Honestly, I was a bit surprised by North Korea's reaction over the fact that certain army reserve troops used the pictures of Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un and target practice. Of course, such action would never be acceptable to North Korea -- it would be like the reaction by a religious cult that got a wind of the news that the face of the cult leader is being used as a target practice by believers of other religions. But the problem is the methodology of how to report the incident.
In a society like North Korea, something like "the South Korean traitors have used Dear Leader's portrait as a target practice" just cannot be said. I wrote this previously on the blog, but there was an incident during the 1990s, in which a South Korean entrepreneur was visiting North Korea. While having dinner and drinks with North Koreans, he said the equivalent of: "Men of Jeonju Kim clan can screw like a horse." Kim Il-Sung belongs to the Jeonju Kim clan -- in other words, the South Korean essentially said Kim Jong-Il is an animal in bed. In North Korea, you cannot let this type of story pass when there are other people listening also. That is the straight course to being a reactionary. A report was made, and the National Security Bureau arrested this businessman.
(More after the jump)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
(More after the jump)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
But the problem was -- how can this incident be reported? You can't write: "This man said Dear Leader was great in bed." In North Korea, the writer of that sentence would lose his neck for blasphemy. The report writing itself was like putting a bell on the cat. In the end, no one could write the report, and the businessman returned to South Korea safely.
This is the kind of society North Korea is. While having an argument, one might point and yell. But the other person could shut him up by placing his hand to uphold the shirt breast which bears the Kim Il-Sung badge and retort, "Where do you think you are point your finger to?!" What I find strange is that a society like that would dare speak of Kim Jong-Il's face being a target.
Of course, the official statement does not refer to Kim Jong-Il's picture. This is the excerpt from the statement of the spokesman of the People's Army Central Command, released on June 3:
Of course, the official statement does not refer to Kim Jong-Il's picture. This is the excerpt from the statement of the spokesman of the People's Army Central Command, released on June 3:
"The world will clearly see the vengeful response by our 10 million soldiers to protect the supreme dignity of our nation and people, and the fate of the traitor Lee Myoung-Bak and the puppet war-mongers who dare to provoke the heaven's wrath."
That's right -- North Korea is using the euphemism, "supreme dignity." That is an expression rarely used in North Korea.
Another strange thing is that Rodong Shinmun [TK: North Korea's official newspaper] is reporting the angry reaction of North Korean people. Reporting this on Rodong Shimmun serves no propagandizing purpose. No matter how much North Korean regime hates Lee Myoung-Bak, it cannot dare say "South Korea is using Dear Leader's portrait as a target practice." In that case, every North Korean would look at the portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il in their house and imagine them being used as targets. This is not acceptable for North Korea.
But still, Rodong Shimmun reported in its June 5 editorial: "We can no longer bear the mutinous band's ploy against the Republic, which has progressed to the mentions of 'ideological unification' and has reached to the point of disrespecting our supreme dignity." Chosun Central Broadcasting and Pyongyang Broadcasting also reported the angry reaction of the North Koreans in Pyongyang Textile Factory, Mamyeong Cooperative Farm in Anak-gun, Hwanghaenam-do and a leather factory in Sariwon, Hwanghaebuk-do. The television stations also showed the criticisms by various North Korean public personalities in the press, education and labor union, such as the chief of the cabinet, dean of the Kim Il-Sung University Law School, manager of Pyongyang Botonggang District Quality Control Center, chair of the Central Committee of Agricultural and Labor Alliance, etc. They said things like "we will wipe Lee Myoung-Bak's thugs from the face of the earth by turning each of us into bullets and shells, exploding our accumulated vengefulness and endured indignation," or "the mutinous band must realize that there is no place on Earth where they can hide from the merciless strike by the People's Army."
Of course, the content of their speech is meaningless -- the speakers do not stand before the camera until they have been carefully casted and painstakingly practice down to their angry facial expression. They are just reading the script. But if their mock anger is based on the knowledge that Kim Jong-Il's picture was being used as a target practice, it would be a welcome news to me. As I said earlier, it is significant if North Korean people are given the room to imagine turning the portraits in their houses to a target practice.
The more North Korea talks, the more it loses. They might try to make their people hate Lee Myoung-Bak administration, but they will end up tarnishing the image of Kim Jong-Il. North Korean regime knows this, but why do they bother talking about "supreme dignity"? As someone who was born in and studied in North Korea, this made no sense.
I had a chance to speak on the phone with someone in North Korea, the same day the Rodong Shinmun editorial appeared. Before I even asked, he breathlessly spoke over the phone: "The border patrol is really stepped up because you guys are shooting at the flag of the Republic. The Security Bureau is on high alert and there is more cell signal detectors."
My jaw dropped. The regime must be telling the people that the "supreme dignity" means the North Korean flag. I should have known.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Great article by Prof. Peter Beck of Keio University of the benefit of the potential Korea-Japan alliance, and what Japan needs to do to make it happen:
Parts of the article sounds awfully like the Korean's idea of a potential Godfather offer that Japan can make to instantly improve its relations with Korea. The Korean can't help but think he might be in the wrong gig.
A Korea-Japan alliance? [East Asia Forum]While Tokyo continues to claim Dok-do, the average Japanese just doesn’t care. Most Japanese would not be able to find the island on a map. Indeed, I could not find a single public sign in Tokyo or any other of the seven major cities I have visited concerning ‘Takeshima’. ...I told my Japanese audiences that if Tokyo renounced its hopeless claim, there would be a flood of Korean goodwill. Yet, many Japanese believe this would undermine Tokyo’s claim to the Northern Territories (even though Moscow shows no intention of even discussing what it calls the Kurile Islands). Keio University’s Soeya Yoshihide argues that the real issue is Japan’s domestic politics: the right-wingers must be placated. Japanese are crazy about Korean food, dramas and Girls’ Generation, not Dok-do! Given Korea’s military control of Dok-do, Tokyo’s claim should be ignored.
Parts of the article sounds awfully like the Korean's idea of a potential Godfather offer that Japan can make to instantly improve its relations with Korea. The Korean can't help but think he might be in the wrong gig.
The Korean's Summer Barbecue Recipe
The Korean strives to be a reasonable, even-keeled person, but he cannot help himself in one particular area: Korean food. When it comes to Korean food, the Korean will be more unreasonable than a tiger sports dad attending a peewee football game. He will be totally biased, irrational and obnoxious. He will utterly disregard the reasonable preference of everyone else. He will lose his shit and wantonly issue death threats to anyone who gives a bad recipe.
The most recent recipient of the Korean's rage is Mark Bittman, who presented this "Korean" recipe to the New York Times. Now, the Korean actually likes Mark Bittman's work, as Mr. Bittman presents great insights on food and food culture. Mr. Bittman also gave a clear disclaimer: "I will not (and cannot) claim that every element of this menu is legitimately Korean." And please, read the paragraph above just one more time -- the Korean is not a rational person when it comes to Korean food. He is a crazy raving lunatic. You don't have to listen to him.
Having said all that...
GO DIE IN A FIRE, MARK BITTMAN. Boston lettuce leaves for ssam? Why not eat sandpaper instead? And gochujang for ssam too? What are you, 10 years old? And who told you that there is such Korean food as "grilled scallion salad" and "Korean potato salad"? Where did you get your recipe from, David Chang?
And the greatest, most unforgivable sin of all -- soy sauce in kimchi. What the fuck. WHAT. THE. FUCK. The Korean nearly had a heart attack just reading that. Thanks asshole, soon all the trendy restaurants will serve soy sauce cabbage and call it kimchi (but pronouncing it "keem-shee".) Go to hell and die.
And the idiots who commented on the article about how gochujang (chili bean paste) is never made with beans, fuck you too. Gochujang is made with beans. Have you even seen a meju, dipshit? That's the fermented block of ground beans, from which doenjang, gochujang and ganjang are made. It also looks like your face -- ugly. Shut the fuck up if you don't know what you're talking about.
Ok. Alright. Even amid this irrationality, the Korean still has enough sense to think: if you don't like something, don't just criticize -- offer an improved suggestion. So here are the Korean's suggested recipe for a real deal, backyard Korean barbecue.
The recipes, after the jump.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Here is the Korean's suggested Korean barbecue spread -- meat, a side dish, a nice chilled soup to wash it down, and a summery dessert.
L.A. Galbi [L.A. 갈비]
Ingredients
Beef short ribs, cut horizontally
Soy sauce
Sugar
Minced garlic
Sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds
Grated onion
Scallions
Kiwi
Cooking
- Soak the short ribs in cold water for at least 30 minutes, up to 1.5 hour. This lets out the blood from the beef and allows for a better marinade. Keep changing water until no more blood comes out, then drain.
- Make the marinade. Pour a few cups of soy sauce in the bowl. Taste, and remember that baseline. Add sugar until the marinade becomes significantly sweet. (Usually achieved at around 1/4 part of sugar for every one part of soy sauce.) Add minced garlic, about half to 2/3 of the amount of sugar. Add grated onion, in approximately the same amount as the minced garlic. Add some measure of sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds and cut scallion, adjusting to taste. (Note: This marinade will take some trial and error, but each ingredient may be adjusted depending on personal taste. Just remember that the actual meat will be much less salty/sweet/etc. than the marinade.)
- Add grated kiwi to the marinade -- no more than 1/2 kiwi per pound of beef. Kiwi makes the beef soft, but too much kiwi ruins the texture.
- In a large bowl, put a layer of ribs. Use a spoon to apply the marinade, and add another layer of meat on top. Apply the marinade again, repeat. Marinade in the refrigerator between two to 24 hours.
- Grill, preferably on charcoal. Grill well-done, with slight char on the outside. Start with the meat on the bottom of the marinade bowl, as the liquid marinade sinks to the bottom.
- Note: the meat actually does not have to be the ribs, but that is the meat of choice for Korean Americans. The marinade works equally well with brisket or chicken, for example. In fact, as the name suggests, L.A. galbi is a distinctively Korean American dish, as Korean Americans popularized the use of short ribs instead of whole ribs as Koreans in Korea do.
Scallion Salad [파무침/파절이]
Ingredients
Scallion and/or Korean leek
Sesame leaves
Garlic cloves, cut thinly.
Long hot green peppers, thinly cut diagonally
Ssamjang [쌈장] - buy it from a Korean market
L.A. Galbi
Scallion salad
Cooking/Eating
This is actually not a separate dish, but a manner of eating meat. Grab either a red leaf lettuce leaf or sesame leaf (or both layered together, as the Korean likes to do,) and place on top the meat, scallion salad, garlic cloves, cut peppers and ssamjang. The cut garlic gloves may be cooked on the grill also, if you prefer cooked garlic over raw ones. Make a small bowl with aluminum foil, place the cut garlic gloves and put it on top of the grill. Make a small wrap with the leaf. Eat.
Chilled Cucumber Soup [오이냉국]
Ingredients
The most recent recipient of the Korean's rage is Mark Bittman, who presented this "Korean" recipe to the New York Times. Now, the Korean actually likes Mark Bittman's work, as Mr. Bittman presents great insights on food and food culture. Mr. Bittman also gave a clear disclaimer: "I will not (and cannot) claim that every element of this menu is legitimately Korean." And please, read the paragraph above just one more time -- the Korean is not a rational person when it comes to Korean food. He is a crazy raving lunatic. You don't have to listen to him.
Having said all that...
GO DIE IN A FIRE, MARK BITTMAN. Boston lettuce leaves for ssam? Why not eat sandpaper instead? And gochujang for ssam too? What are you, 10 years old? And who told you that there is such Korean food as "grilled scallion salad" and "Korean potato salad"? Where did you get your recipe from, David Chang?
And the greatest, most unforgivable sin of all -- soy sauce in kimchi. What the fuck. WHAT. THE. FUCK. The Korean nearly had a heart attack just reading that. Thanks asshole, soon all the trendy restaurants will serve soy sauce cabbage and call it kimchi (but pronouncing it "keem-shee".) Go to hell and die.
And the idiots who commented on the article about how gochujang (chili bean paste) is never made with beans, fuck you too. Gochujang is made with beans. Have you even seen a meju, dipshit? That's the fermented block of ground beans, from which doenjang, gochujang and ganjang are made. It also looks like your face -- ugly. Shut the fuck up if you don't know what you're talking about.
::::HYPERVENTILATING::::
Ok. Alright. Even amid this irrationality, the Korean still has enough sense to think: if you don't like something, don't just criticize -- offer an improved suggestion. So here are the Korean's suggested recipe for a real deal, backyard Korean barbecue.
The recipes, after the jump.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Here is the Korean's suggested Korean barbecue spread -- meat, a side dish, a nice chilled soup to wash it down, and a summery dessert.
L.A. Galbi [L.A. 갈비]
Ingredients
Beef short ribs, cut horizontally
Soy sauce
Sugar
Minced garlic
Sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds
Grated onion
Scallions
Kiwi
Cooking
- Soak the short ribs in cold water for at least 30 minutes, up to 1.5 hour. This lets out the blood from the beef and allows for a better marinade. Keep changing water until no more blood comes out, then drain.
- Make the marinade. Pour a few cups of soy sauce in the bowl. Taste, and remember that baseline. Add sugar until the marinade becomes significantly sweet. (Usually achieved at around 1/4 part of sugar for every one part of soy sauce.) Add minced garlic, about half to 2/3 of the amount of sugar. Add grated onion, in approximately the same amount as the minced garlic. Add some measure of sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds and cut scallion, adjusting to taste. (Note: This marinade will take some trial and error, but each ingredient may be adjusted depending on personal taste. Just remember that the actual meat will be much less salty/sweet/etc. than the marinade.)
- Add grated kiwi to the marinade -- no more than 1/2 kiwi per pound of beef. Kiwi makes the beef soft, but too much kiwi ruins the texture.
- In a large bowl, put a layer of ribs. Use a spoon to apply the marinade, and add another layer of meat on top. Apply the marinade again, repeat. Marinade in the refrigerator between two to 24 hours.
- Grill, preferably on charcoal. Grill well-done, with slight char on the outside. Start with the meat on the bottom of the marinade bowl, as the liquid marinade sinks to the bottom.
- Note: the meat actually does not have to be the ribs, but that is the meat of choice for Korean Americans. The marinade works equally well with brisket or chicken, for example. In fact, as the name suggests, L.A. galbi is a distinctively Korean American dish, as Korean Americans popularized the use of short ribs instead of whole ribs as Koreans in Korea do.
Scallion Salad [파무침/파절이]
Ingredients
Scallion and/or Korean leek
Soy sauce
Sugar
Sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds
Vinegar
Hot pepper powder (gochugaru)
Cooking
- Julienne the scallion and/or leek thinly and around two inches in length.
- Make the dressing. Two parts soy sauce, three parts vinegar, one part gochugaru, quarter part sugar. (Use a spoon to measure.) Just a splash of sesame oil and some toasted sesame seeds.
- Toss with the cut scallion/leek, serve with galbi.
Vegetable Wrap [쌈]
Ingredients
Red leaf lettuceSesame leaves
Garlic cloves, cut thinly.
Long hot green peppers, thinly cut diagonally
Ssamjang [쌈장] - buy it from a Korean market
L.A. Galbi
Scallion salad
Cooking/Eating
This is actually not a separate dish, but a manner of eating meat. Grab either a red leaf lettuce leaf or sesame leaf (or both layered together, as the Korean likes to do,) and place on top the meat, scallion salad, garlic cloves, cut peppers and ssamjang. The cut garlic gloves may be cooked on the grill also, if you prefer cooked garlic over raw ones. Make a small bowl with aluminum foil, place the cut garlic gloves and put it on top of the grill. Make a small wrap with the leaf. Eat.
Chilled Cucumber Soup [오이냉국]
Ingredients
Cucumber
Red pepper
Toasted sesame seeds
Sugar
Salt
Vinegar
Gochugaru
Soy sauce
Minced garlic
Cooking
- Chill cucumber in the refrigerator. Once chilled, julienne it thinly and around two inches in length. Place in a clear bowl.
- Using a spoon, add one part soy sauce, one-half part minced garlic, one-third part sugar. Toss with cucumber.
- Mix cold water with: one part sugar, five parts vinegar, half part salt. Adjust to taste. Go for tangy and slightly sweet.
- Pour the cold water mixture over cucumber.
- Float a dash of gochugaru and toasted sesame seeds. Thinly cut red pepper diagonally and add.
- Add ice and serve.
Chilled Watermelon Punch [수박화채]
Ingredients
Watermelon
Sugar
Salt
Cooking
- Cut a chilled watermelon in half.
- Using an ice cream scoop, hollow the half watermelon by making round balls of watermelon flesh. Save the watermelon balls in a separate dish.
- Use the knife to take out the remaining watermelon flesh until the half watermelon becomes a hollow bowl. Cut the bottom tip such that the shell can be used as a dish.
- Pour out the watermelon juice in a separate container.
- Puree or grate the leftover watermelon flesh and mix with the watermelon juice.
- Boil equal parts of water and sugar in a pot to make slightly viscous syrup. Chill the syrup.
- Add the watermelon balls in the hollow watermelon shell. Pour watermelon juice/puree mixture. Add the chilled syrup, adjusting to taste. Add a pinch of salt.
- Add ice to the mixture and serve.
- Note: a punch bowl works just as well as a half shell watermelon.
Enjoy, and let the Korean know how they turned out.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Wesley Yang Replies -- The Korean's Short Reply, and Some Observations
Wesley Yang wrote a reply to my post about his New York Magazine article. Here is the link. I have a brief response, and some observations.
First, the response:
Asian Americans are unfairly stereotyped. That, I agree wholeheartedly. But what sets me apart from Yang is (as he correctly noted in his reply) that Yang dares to find a causal link "between those stereotypes and the reality of the way Asians behave," in an attempt to have a "balanced view."
I will present such "balanced view" in a different area to give some perspective as to why I find it so objectionable:
To be perfectly clear: I do not believe at all that "Asian values" lead to timidity, passivity and all the other characteristics with which we are stereotyped. It is not true, for all the reasons I stated previously. But I do recognize that there is a reasonable doubt as to my position. It is not a bad idea to examine whether there indeed is a causal link between "Asian values" and the stereotypes held against Asian Americans. After all, I would certainly want my daughter to dress conservatively, drink moderately and avoid unsafe neighborhoods.
But if one wanted to discuss the relationship between (1) a social ill, and (2) the behavior of the victims of that social ill, one should make it blindingly clear that the fault wholly lies with the fuckers who cause the social ill. Rapists are not supposed to rape, regardless of the victim's behavior. Mainstream America is not supposed to stereotype, regardless of what some Asian Americans do. If indeed Wesley Yang's NY Mag article was dealing with unfair stereotypes that Asian Americans face as Yang claims in his reply, the article should have started with this moral message and interspersed the message throughout the story -- instead of slipping it in the middle of the reply to a lesser-known blogger made on his personal blog.
In my favorite part of his reply, Yang wrote:
Some observations, after the jump.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Now, several observations.
Observation 1
The short version of my take on Yang's article is this: "Yang's article is about himself, not a larger social message. But the article will be inevitably taken as a social commentary. To the extent it will be, I disagree with that social commentary." By setting up my post that way, I actually gave Yang exactly what he craved from America -- being treated like an individual who tells his own story.
Yang's reply clarifies his intention -- he actually wanted to make a social commentary through his life story. That makes him a kind of an anti-Amy Chua. Amy Chua wanted to tell her own story, and that was all. But because of her minority status, she is being held as the stereotypically obsessive and abusive Asian mother. Now she needs to go around the world and defend the book that she never wrote. In contrast, Wesley Yang did not just write his own story. He wants his life story to be an archetype -- stereotype -- applicable to other Asian Americans.
Both Amy Chua and Wesley Yang faced the charges that they were feeding the stereotypes. But only one of them deserves that criticism.
Observation 2
On a lighter note: isn't the over-representation of Asian Americans in pick-up classes a victory for Asian values? The attendees of those classes correctly identified a challenge in their lives, and they are doing something about it despite potential for massive humiliation. Men, ask yourselves -- would you go to one of these classes if you were going through a dry spell in your dating life? I wouldn't. I would rather die alone. To me, Asian Playboy is not a creep at all -- he's a hero.
Observation 3
Different opinions are often the product of different assessment of reality. And the key difference between those who felt more in line with me (let's call them "Team TK" for short) and those who felt more in line with Wesley Yang ("Team WY" for short) is over just what "Asian value" is. It is the different assessment of the reality of "Asian value" that leads to the different opinions for Team TK and Team WY.
I have met many Asian Americans in my life in different areas of America. I have also met many more through this blog. And I find that Team TK and Team WY have certain recognizable membership profiles. Team TK is more likely to be 1.5 generation, bilingual, have regular exposure to (both traditional and modern popular) culture from Asia and grew up in the West Coast. Team WY is more likely to be second generation, monolingual, have little exposure to Asian culture and grew up in the East Coast, Midwest or the South. (I probably shouldn't have to say that this is a huge over-generalization, but out of abundance of caution I will.) This difference in experience leads to a different perception of Asian values. Team TK sees Asian value as complex and multidimensional; Team WY sees Asian value as flat and unidimensional.
For example, Wesley Yang speaks in his reply of deference to authority, a commonly given example of Asian value. But the rarely discussed flip side of that Asian value is how the lower-ranked person in a hierarchy can still get the boss to do what she wants while maintaining the appearance of the deference to authority. Yang sets up risk-taking and brashness as opposite of Asian values, but I see plenty of risk-taking in the immigrants' decision to come to America, and plenty of brashness in the Korean shopkeepers in Los Angeles swap meets. Even Yang recognizes in his reply: "Something that all people who think Asians are nerds and weaklings that they can pick on with impunity sometimes discover to their detriment is that Korean men, in particular, are angry, violent people who will fight and fight dirty." Our willingness to fuck up who dares to cross us is just as Asian as our willingness to listen to our parents and teachers.
The main fault line that divides the members of Team TK and Team WY (and their respective archetypes, The Korean and Wesley Yang) is the depth of engagement in Asian values. When one grows up in areas with relatively few other Asian Americans and speaks little Asian language, one's image of Asian values is thin and monochromatic. The stereotypes about Asian values seem more convincing, because the superficiality of such stereotypes corresponds well with the superficiality of one's knowledge of Asian values. On the other hand, when one grows up in areas with huge numbers of diverse Asian Americans and constantly interacts with Asia in some for or another, one's image of Asian values becomes dense and robust. The stereotypes about Asian values seem laughable, because the superficiality of such stereotypes obviously fails to correspond with the depths of one's understanding about Asian values.
I don't doubt that the feelings of marginalization and alienation felt by Team WY are genuine. It is not as if Team TK does not go through those feelings. But when it comes to worldview, which one is truer -- one that is based on more knowledge, or less?
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
First, the response:
Asian Americans are unfairly stereotyped. That, I agree wholeheartedly. But what sets me apart from Yang is (as he correctly noted in his reply) that Yang dares to find a causal link "between those stereotypes and the reality of the way Asians behave," in an attempt to have a "balanced view."
I will present such "balanced view" in a different area to give some perspective as to why I find it so objectionable:
There is a dynamic relationship between rapes and the behaviors in which the rape victims engaged prior to being raped. We should acknowledge that relationship. Police records show ample objective indications of how rape victims behaved prior to being raped. They show that the rape victims seen by their rapists as unchaste, sexually promiscuous and inviting random sexual encounters. These rapists, I'm sure, were governed partly by their stereotypes about women who dress suggestively, drink profusely and dance provocatively. They were also, I'm sure, observing things that were really happening in the actual behavior of their victims.Is this "balanced," or odious?
To be perfectly clear: I do not believe at all that "Asian values" lead to timidity, passivity and all the other characteristics with which we are stereotyped. It is not true, for all the reasons I stated previously. But I do recognize that there is a reasonable doubt as to my position. It is not a bad idea to examine whether there indeed is a causal link between "Asian values" and the stereotypes held against Asian Americans. After all, I would certainly want my daughter to dress conservatively, drink moderately and avoid unsafe neighborhoods.
But if one wanted to discuss the relationship between (1) a social ill, and (2) the behavior of the victims of that social ill, one should make it blindingly clear that the fault wholly lies with the fuckers who cause the social ill. Rapists are not supposed to rape, regardless of the victim's behavior. Mainstream America is not supposed to stereotype, regardless of what some Asian Americans do. If indeed Wesley Yang's NY Mag article was dealing with unfair stereotypes that Asian Americans face as Yang claims in his reply, the article should have started with this moral message and interspersed the message throughout the story -- instead of slipping it in the middle of the reply to a lesser-known blogger made on his personal blog.
In my favorite part of his reply, Yang wrote:
I see where you are coming from, Wesley. Why didn't you write that in New York Magazine?But you know what? During all that time, I was nevertheless always a strong, healthy, well-educated, well-spoken, variously talented man in the prime of my adulthood, and dudes like that, if they are white, even if they are total losers, or assholes, or drunks, or drug-addicts, or on a half-dozen psychotropic drugs, always have some girl wiling to bed them in this city where I live in and everyone knows it.
Some observations, after the jump.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Now, several observations.
Observation 1
The short version of my take on Yang's article is this: "Yang's article is about himself, not a larger social message. But the article will be inevitably taken as a social commentary. To the extent it will be, I disagree with that social commentary." By setting up my post that way, I actually gave Yang exactly what he craved from America -- being treated like an individual who tells his own story.
Yang's reply clarifies his intention -- he actually wanted to make a social commentary through his life story. That makes him a kind of an anti-Amy Chua. Amy Chua wanted to tell her own story, and that was all. But because of her minority status, she is being held as the stereotypically obsessive and abusive Asian mother. Now she needs to go around the world and defend the book that she never wrote. In contrast, Wesley Yang did not just write his own story. He wants his life story to be an archetype -- stereotype -- applicable to other Asian Americans.
Both Amy Chua and Wesley Yang faced the charges that they were feeding the stereotypes. But only one of them deserves that criticism.
Observation 2
On a lighter note: isn't the over-representation of Asian Americans in pick-up classes a victory for Asian values? The attendees of those classes correctly identified a challenge in their lives, and they are doing something about it despite potential for massive humiliation. Men, ask yourselves -- would you go to one of these classes if you were going through a dry spell in your dating life? I wouldn't. I would rather die alone. To me, Asian Playboy is not a creep at all -- he's a hero.
Observation 3
Different opinions are often the product of different assessment of reality. And the key difference between those who felt more in line with me (let's call them "Team TK" for short) and those who felt more in line with Wesley Yang ("Team WY" for short) is over just what "Asian value" is. It is the different assessment of the reality of "Asian value" that leads to the different opinions for Team TK and Team WY.
I have met many Asian Americans in my life in different areas of America. I have also met many more through this blog. And I find that Team TK and Team WY have certain recognizable membership profiles. Team TK is more likely to be 1.5 generation, bilingual, have regular exposure to (both traditional and modern popular) culture from Asia and grew up in the West Coast. Team WY is more likely to be second generation, monolingual, have little exposure to Asian culture and grew up in the East Coast, Midwest or the South. (I probably shouldn't have to say that this is a huge over-generalization, but out of abundance of caution I will.) This difference in experience leads to a different perception of Asian values. Team TK sees Asian value as complex and multidimensional; Team WY sees Asian value as flat and unidimensional.
For example, Wesley Yang speaks in his reply of deference to authority, a commonly given example of Asian value. But the rarely discussed flip side of that Asian value is how the lower-ranked person in a hierarchy can still get the boss to do what she wants while maintaining the appearance of the deference to authority. Yang sets up risk-taking and brashness as opposite of Asian values, but I see plenty of risk-taking in the immigrants' decision to come to America, and plenty of brashness in the Korean shopkeepers in Los Angeles swap meets. Even Yang recognizes in his reply: "Something that all people who think Asians are nerds and weaklings that they can pick on with impunity sometimes discover to their detriment is that Korean men, in particular, are angry, violent people who will fight and fight dirty." Our willingness to fuck up who dares to cross us is just as Asian as our willingness to listen to our parents and teachers.
The main fault line that divides the members of Team TK and Team WY (and their respective archetypes, The Korean and Wesley Yang) is the depth of engagement in Asian values. When one grows up in areas with relatively few other Asian Americans and speaks little Asian language, one's image of Asian values is thin and monochromatic. The stereotypes about Asian values seem more convincing, because the superficiality of such stereotypes corresponds well with the superficiality of one's knowledge of Asian values. On the other hand, when one grows up in areas with huge numbers of diverse Asian Americans and constantly interacts with Asia in some for or another, one's image of Asian values becomes dense and robust. The stereotypes about Asian values seem laughable, because the superficiality of such stereotypes obviously fails to correspond with the depths of one's understanding about Asian values.
I don't doubt that the feelings of marginalization and alienation felt by Team WY are genuine. It is not as if Team TK does not go through those feelings. But when it comes to worldview, which one is truer -- one that is based on more knowledge, or less?
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Very nice New York Times article about interracial dating featuring a Korean American man, his parents, and Diane Farr, the star of Numb3rs on CBS. A sample:
Bringing Home the Wrong Race [New York Times]Once seated, I began to dissect my burrito, looking to expel anything that might singe my half-Irish, half-Italian and wholly American palate. While running my fork through the black beans, I asked my Korean-American suitor, “Do you intend to leave me for an Asian girl someday?”Seung paused for just a moment too long.As my smile began to wane, he finally replied, “I’m supposed to marry a Korean girl.”My mind raced: What? Do you have another girlfriend? And was that her friend outside?Seung added, “My parents have been clear about this my entire life.”...I told him that as a 35-year-old woman who had already made my way in the world, I didn’t need his parents to accept me. They lived far away, we were not financially dependent on them, and I could be respectful to them no matter what, because I respected the man they’d made.Seung then smiled and said, “That’s good to know because I have a plan.”He explained that, weeks before, he had begun a campaign to make his parents like, accept or at least not hate me, and to not disown him. This campaign included systematic leaks of information to his parents by family members who were sympathetic to his affection for someone outside of their race.“Terrific strategy, honey,” I said, trying to hide how unsettled I felt.
What is Korean Food?
The Korean is very serious and totally irrational about Korean food. He does not want any of the so-called "globalization" of Korean food that Korean government is pushing nowadays, because it will inevitably lead to vile bastardization of the food. (Like bibimbap with guacamole, for example.)
The objection to this view is consistent, and actually makes a lot of sense. It goes: "What can be defined as 'Korean food'? Kimchi is such a big deal in Korean food, but the current form of kimchi did not happen in Korea until the 16th century. What about kalguksu, which did not exist in Korea until the Americans brought in flour after World War II? Is that Korean food? If there can be no meaningful cutoff point as to what counts as Korean food, how can you say anything about 'bastardization'?"
To address this point, it is important to figure out the answer to the first question: Just what counts as "Korean food"? The Korean's favorite Korean food blog is 악식가의 미식일기, and Mr. Hwang Gyo-Ik who writes the blog has the best answer that the Korean has seen so far. It is a bit long, but Mr. Hwang's insight is hugely valuable if you consider yourself a food person. Below is the translation.
Any Korean would welcome the government's effort to enhance the national image by inviting the world to enjoy our food culture. As for myself who had been making a living around Korea's food culture for 20 years, I am feeling thankful that the government is actively promoting policies in an area that was considered lower compared to other culture.
But there is a need to account for the definition and scope of just what is the Korean food that the government plans to globalize, and clarify the objects for globalization. This is because after having attended a number of events related to Korean food's globalization, I am experiencing a great deal of confusion -- the kind of confusion that is caused when shinseonro, the symbol of Joseon Dynasty's royal cuisine, and tteokbokki, the people's food developed in the 1960s, were placed side by side.
(More after the jump.)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Is all food consumed by Koreans Korean food?
Korea Advanced Food Research Institute and Yonsei University, which had been commissioned by the government to issue a research report titled "Visions and strategies of Korean food's globalization and Korean food's marketing model," define "Korean food" as following:
"The food that: (1) is created by utilizing the food ingredients that had been traditionally used in Korea and similar ingredients, (2) is created by cooking with Korea's own methods or similar methods; (3) has Korean people's historical and cultural characteristics, and; (4) is invented, developed and inherited in accordance with Korean people's living environment."
This may be an excellent scholarly definition. But the problem is that if one applied this definition to each dish that today's Korean people eat, there is no food that is not Korean food. "Food ingredient" means the meat and plants that can be obtained in nature that do not cause death or illness after consuming. In other words, "the food ingredients that had been traditionally used in Korea and similar ingredients" might as well mean "all food ingredients." If one points out that caviar is not a Korean food ingredient, for example, we could retort that Koreans have traditionally used similar ingredients, i.e. fish roe.
The same goes for "created by cooking with Korea's own methods or similar methods." Cooking methods include cutting, pickling, boiling, blanching, roasting, steaming, reducing, simmering, fermenting, etc. Looking at the world's food cultures, these cooking methods are globally similar. It would be fair to say that for thousands of years since humans discovered the use of tools and fire, people of the world have been cooking in approximately similar manners.
The last requirements, "has Korean people's historical and cultural characteristics" and "is invented, developed and inherited in accordance with Korean people's living environment," show that Korean food has a spiritual/cultural component to it. In fact, this spiritual/cultural element may play the most important role in defining Korean food. An example of the historical/cultural characteristic could be the "clash of flavors" exemplified by the mixture of rice and several side dishes or a wrap involving meat and vegetables. It could be the "manners" in which the meal begins only after the elders pick up their spoon; it could also be "table culture" in which a group of people sit around and enjoy the food together. But the limit of this approach is that Korean people's historical/cultural characteristics are varied, dualistic and often clashing in a confusing manner.
Then, just what is Korean food? Is Korean food something that can feature the whole world's ingredient, the whole world's cooking methods, and at once the genteel table setting of a Joseon Dynasty nobleman and a rowdy festival of roasted pork grilled on the table? In fact, this confusion is not confined to myself. For the last year, I had been asking everyone who is involved in Korea's food culture -- "What is Korean food?" A hundred people gave a hundred different answers. Actually, a hundred people gave forty different answers -- about 60 percent of the people thought out loud for a bit, then could not settle on an answer. Among the answers, the most common was "fermented food." Other answers included: "food with rice and side dishes"; "food with rituals"; "food with merriment"; "instantly cooked food" (addressing table top barbecue); "healthy food", etc.
What do you think Korean food is? We all eat Korean food three times a day, but defining the idea is tremendously difficult. Three times a day -- this is actually the precise reason why the defining the scope of Korean food is so difficult. The spectrum of Korean food is just that broad. It is an undefinable chaos.
This confusion arises from treating Korean food as some type of cooked dish. The researchers for traditional Korean food usually consider Joseon Dynasty's dishes as Korean food; they re-create the dishes and study the variation and improvement of such dishes. So they give a show of shinseonro [TK: hot pot], gujeolpan [TK: special plate setting with various vegetables], domijjim [TK: steamed red snapper] and tell the people, "This is Korean food." But they are the kinds of food that are rarely eaten by Koreans, either at home or at a restaurant. All Koreans do with such dishes is to look at (not eat!) them at an event like "traditional food exhibition," and think to themselves, "So this is what traditional Korean food looks like."
Such confusion is the same for foreign tourists. I often hear from foreign visitors that they discovered there were very few places where they could try the dishes featured in Daejanggeum [TK: Korean drama about the royal cook during the Joseon Dynasty] only after actually visiting Korea. On the other hand, doubt may arise as to the common Korean food of today that did not exist in the Joseon era, such as samgyeopsal [TK: roasted pork belly], gimbap [TK: rice/seaweed roll], gamjatang [TK: spicy pork and potato soup], budaejjigae [TK: spicy stew with kimchi and spam].
The only unchanging axiom is: "Everything changes." Food is not an exception. As new ingredients get introduced, as cooking tools change, as lifestyles change, as appetites change, as the climate changes, food changes also. It is incorrect to think that today's French cuisine, or Japanese sushi, or Thai rice noodles were the same form and flavor hundred, two hundred, three hundred years ago. It is silly to think that Korean food of the 21st century must be the same as Joseon's food.
So let us revert to the first question: what is Korean food? In fact, humans -- Korean or not -- are generally satisfied as long as the food is tasty, nutritious and not dangerous. In other words, there is no reason why the food consumed by Korean people has to be "Korean" food, nor is there any reason for foreigners to eat such food while telling themselves, "This is Korean food." If Italian olive oil is healthier than Korean pea oil, Koreans will choose the olive oil. If American dry-aged steak is tastier than Korean bulgogi, Koreans will cook the steak even if they are given Korean beef. The choice, cooking and consumption of food ingredients is more often determined by human instincts rather than Korean people's national identity.
How to secure the identity of Korean food
Then why bother with defining Korean food and set the scope? Why not eat and enjoy any ingredient, any cooking method, with any historical/cultural characteristic, as long as the food is delicious, nutritious and not dangerous?
Usually to define and set a scope for something is in order to utilize that something for a purpose. That is, it is to utilize Korean food beyond the purposes of eating and enjoying; it is about creating a cultural product to export. It is a type of branding strategy -- establish the dishes that have a Korean identity, have such dished to be consumed by non-Koreans, and in the process lead them to understand and like Korea such that they will further consume Korean products, not simply Korean food.
Therefore, the first order of business to globalize Korean food is to establish the dishes that hold Korean identity. But we already noted that this is a confusing process, and that the confusion arises from the mistaken idea that food does not change. Then just what is the dish that holds Korean identity?
For globalization of Korean food, we often examine other cuisines that we consider globalized, such as French, Italian or Japanese. We usually encounter these "globalized" food in a restaurant. In a space in which we could feel the national image of each country, we eat their food and ponder about how to present Korean food. So we think about the restaurant's interior, the presentation style of the food and the flavor. Of course, this level of thought is necessary. But this method of research clouds us from the core question. The rightful beginning of this inquiry should be figuring out the identity of each country's food -- why is French cuisine French? Why is Italian food Italian? Why is Japanese food Japanese? Answering these questions would naturally bring the answer to the question about Korean food's identity.
Then let us try to reason how the identity of such cuisines are established. Take French food, for example. Where does the French food's identity -- recognized to be French food by not only the French people but also everyone in the world -- originate? Cooking methods? Presentation style? Eating methods? Restaurant interior? These are but the supplementary factors that aid the identity establishment. The most important core that forms the identity is the food ingredient of France which constitutes the food. We call something French food because the food is made with the wheat that grew in France, the cow that fed on the wheat, the cheese and butter made with the cow's milk, the olive oil and wine made by olives and grapes grown in Southern France, various herbs commonly grown in France, etc. Even if a France-produced ingredient is not used, we would at least require the ingredients that taste similar to French ingredients -- the "French-style ingredients" -- in order to consider something French cuisine. To explain how French cuisine tastes, a French chef would begin with the foodstuff produced out of France. The same applies to Italian food, Japanese food, etc.
This is how Korean food identity issue should be resolved as well. In other words, the core of the identity that makes a food a Korean food is the food ingredient that is only available in Korea or tastes the best when produced in Korea.
But I cannot shake the feeling that our efforts to globalize Korean food is quite far removed the identity of Korean food. We consider a chef who used to cook Western food in a foreign hotel chain could globalize Korean food, and we try to re-create Joseon's food and publicize the recipe to foreigners. We even consider a fried chicken franchise to be a pioneer of the globalization of Korean food. All these things are the runs into dead ends while searching for the identity of Korean food.
Collecting the information about and the value of Korea's food ingredient comes first
As a food columnist, I have been covering Korea's farming and fishing products, the local cuisine, restaurant food, etc. It has been many more than a few times when I felt disappointed -- nay, despaired -- that the people in the food business are totally ignorant about the farming and fishing products of Korea. The young chefs study abroad the learn about the Western ingredients and cooking methods, but not even Korean restaurant chefs care much about what foodstuff our land produces, how different they are depending on the locale, how different they taste depending on the season.
It is a huge mistake to think that they can simply go to the market and pick out something fresh and delicious. The foodstuff readily available at markets frequented by most chefs carry less than one-tenth of the food ingredients available in Korea, because the ingredients that do not attract mass consumption do not reach the markets of the cities. Among the plants that grow in Korea, more than 1,000 types are edible. Their flavor and nutritional values frequently exceeds the herbs used in Western cuisine. How many of them are we using in Korean food?
In this kind of environment, in some cases a foreign country would figure out the value of Korea's food ingredients before Koreans do, and sweep away the best kinds or transplant them and make their own. The best, in-season stocks of ark clam [피조개], pike eel [갯장어], razor clam [키조개], hiziki [톳] produced from the South Sea are exported entirely to Japan, because Korea does not actively use them as ingredients. The Japanese long have known the value of the chopi tree fruit, which Koreans barely use as spices for freshwater eel soup [추어탕] -- they have imported the fruits, processed them and sold them to the world, as well as taking the saplings to grow the trees in a larger scale. [TK: 초피 is already starting to be known in English as "Japanese pepper tree," although no chopi ever grew in Japan before they were transplanted.]
As Korean food is becoming more popular in Japan, Japan's food businesspeople are sweeping the production centers of Korea's food ingredients. I have advised such a Japanese company. To give an example, the company already had detailed knowledge of the characteristics of red pepper grown in different regions, the difference in aroma and flavor depending on the crushing method and the granular size, and even the way to make fake sun-dried peppers [태양초] and how to tell them apart. I have heard reports that a Japanese supermarket company is in the process of creating a website with the complete set of information about every Korean food ingredient, which does not yet exist in Korea.
The value of Korea's foodstuff clearly reveals itself when compared against other similar foodstuff produced in different countries. For example, the whole world loves crabs. If we could understand the precise flavor of Korean blue crab [꽃게] and how it compares to other crabs, its value could be greater than Hong Kong's mud crab which is being marketed to gastronomes worldwide. Korean blue crab has a unique sweet flavor and strong aroma that sets it apart from mud crab, king crab, snow crab, etc. -- it can very well be a world-class crab. Same with Korean beef [한우], which develops great umami after aging without the need for excessive marbling unlike the Japanese wagyu. With improvements in butchering, aging and cooking methods, it can also be world-class. Same with the red pepper that beautifully combines sweetness and spiciness; wild herbs like wild garlic shoots [산마늘] that complements the meat with its aromatic and tangy flavor; Korean citron [유자] with a unique blend of sweetness and intense sourness; sand lance fish sauce [까나리 액젓] with deeper savoriness than Southeast Asian fish sauces; the "single-day" sun-dried salt [당일 천일염] of the Shinan region that could rival the Guerande salt. There are countless "the food ingredients that are only available in Korea or taste the best when produced in Korea."
The information about such food ingredients do exist in the files of the central government, local government, producers' association, university, research institutes, etc. But they are not systematically organized in a way that can be utilized by the food industry. Even if an aspiring chef wanted to buy the chopi fruit and utilize it in Korean food, there is no place that gives the information about the characteristics of the fruit, difference between chopi and the similar fruit from sancho tree, the seasons for chopi fruit depending on the region and the difference in quality depending on the season, processing methods and the difference in flavor based such methods, sample cuisines, keeping methods, the producers' contact information, pricing and location, etc. The chef would surf the Internet countless hours, make a number of phone calls, and then give up.
To emphasize once more: food changes. Korean food eaten by Korean people today is very different from the food of Joseon a century ago. The major crops grown in Korean Peninsula changed, and so did the fish caught in her coasts. The heating and cooking devices in the kitchen changed, and so did the plates and dishes that present the food. More than anything else, our life style changed as we progressed from agricultural society to an industrial one, and our appetite changed as we were introduced to foreign cuisine. Looking at our food from Joseon's perspective only causes confusion in finding our tradition and identity. Joseon had Joseon cuisine; in the 21st century Korea, there is Korean cuisine. In order to find the identity amid the changing Korean cuisine, we have no choice but to focus on "the food ingredients that are only available in Korea or taste the best when produced in Korea." Everything else, such as style development or standardization of recipes, must come after figuring out the value of Korea's foodstuff, and making that information available.
뜻하지 않은 한식 세계화 논란 [악식가의 미식일기]
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
The objection to this view is consistent, and actually makes a lot of sense. It goes: "What can be defined as 'Korean food'? Kimchi is such a big deal in Korean food, but the current form of kimchi did not happen in Korea until the 16th century. What about kalguksu, which did not exist in Korea until the Americans brought in flour after World War II? Is that Korean food? If there can be no meaningful cutoff point as to what counts as Korean food, how can you say anything about 'bastardization'?"
To address this point, it is important to figure out the answer to the first question: Just what counts as "Korean food"? The Korean's favorite Korean food blog is 악식가의 미식일기, and Mr. Hwang Gyo-Ik who writes the blog has the best answer that the Korean has seen so far. It is a bit long, but Mr. Hwang's insight is hugely valuable if you consider yourself a food person. Below is the translation.
* * *
To Globalize Korean Food
Globalization of Korean food is the topic du jour in the restaurant business. The government is also actively developing policies for the globalization of Korean food. The first lady reportedly is taking an advisory role to this project. The government also established the "tteokbokki lab" to "improve" tteokbokki, which apparently is the prime candidate for globalization among Korean food. Surely it is expecting that Korean food would play a role in improving the value of Korea's national brand.
Any Korean would welcome the government's effort to enhance the national image by inviting the world to enjoy our food culture. As for myself who had been making a living around Korea's food culture for 20 years, I am feeling thankful that the government is actively promoting policies in an area that was considered lower compared to other culture.
But there is a need to account for the definition and scope of just what is the Korean food that the government plans to globalize, and clarify the objects for globalization. This is because after having attended a number of events related to Korean food's globalization, I am experiencing a great deal of confusion -- the kind of confusion that is caused when shinseonro, the symbol of Joseon Dynasty's royal cuisine, and tteokbokki, the people's food developed in the 1960s, were placed side by side.
Shinseonro. The Korean has never once eaten this.
(The OP does not have any pictures; all pictures are the Korean's additions.)
(Source)
(More after the jump.)
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Is all food consumed by Koreans Korean food?
Korea Advanced Food Research Institute and Yonsei University, which had been commissioned by the government to issue a research report titled "Visions and strategies of Korean food's globalization and Korean food's marketing model," define "Korean food" as following:
"The food that: (1) is created by utilizing the food ingredients that had been traditionally used in Korea and similar ingredients, (2) is created by cooking with Korea's own methods or similar methods; (3) has Korean people's historical and cultural characteristics, and; (4) is invented, developed and inherited in accordance with Korean people's living environment."
This may be an excellent scholarly definition. But the problem is that if one applied this definition to each dish that today's Korean people eat, there is no food that is not Korean food. "Food ingredient" means the meat and plants that can be obtained in nature that do not cause death or illness after consuming. In other words, "the food ingredients that had been traditionally used in Korea and similar ingredients" might as well mean "all food ingredients." If one points out that caviar is not a Korean food ingredient, for example, we could retort that Koreans have traditionally used similar ingredients, i.e. fish roe.
The same goes for "created by cooking with Korea's own methods or similar methods." Cooking methods include cutting, pickling, boiling, blanching, roasting, steaming, reducing, simmering, fermenting, etc. Looking at the world's food cultures, these cooking methods are globally similar. It would be fair to say that for thousands of years since humans discovered the use of tools and fire, people of the world have been cooking in approximately similar manners.
The last requirements, "has Korean people's historical and cultural characteristics" and "is invented, developed and inherited in accordance with Korean people's living environment," show that Korean food has a spiritual/cultural component to it. In fact, this spiritual/cultural element may play the most important role in defining Korean food. An example of the historical/cultural characteristic could be the "clash of flavors" exemplified by the mixture of rice and several side dishes or a wrap involving meat and vegetables. It could be the "manners" in which the meal begins only after the elders pick up their spoon; it could also be "table culture" in which a group of people sit around and enjoy the food together. But the limit of this approach is that Korean people's historical/cultural characteristics are varied, dualistic and often clashing in a confusing manner.
Then, just what is Korean food? Is Korean food something that can feature the whole world's ingredient, the whole world's cooking methods, and at once the genteel table setting of a Joseon Dynasty nobleman and a rowdy festival of roasted pork grilled on the table? In fact, this confusion is not confined to myself. For the last year, I had been asking everyone who is involved in Korea's food culture -- "What is Korean food?" A hundred people gave a hundred different answers. Actually, a hundred people gave forty different answers -- about 60 percent of the people thought out loud for a bit, then could not settle on an answer. Among the answers, the most common was "fermented food." Other answers included: "food with rice and side dishes"; "food with rituals"; "food with merriment"; "instantly cooked food" (addressing table top barbecue); "healthy food", etc.
What do you think Korean food is? We all eat Korean food three times a day, but defining the idea is tremendously difficult. Three times a day -- this is actually the precise reason why the defining the scope of Korean food is so difficult. The spectrum of Korean food is just that broad. It is an undefinable chaos.
This confusion arises from treating Korean food as some type of cooked dish. The researchers for traditional Korean food usually consider Joseon Dynasty's dishes as Korean food; they re-create the dishes and study the variation and improvement of such dishes. So they give a show of shinseonro [TK: hot pot], gujeolpan [TK: special plate setting with various vegetables], domijjim [TK: steamed red snapper] and tell the people, "This is Korean food." But they are the kinds of food that are rarely eaten by Koreans, either at home or at a restaurant. All Koreans do with such dishes is to look at (not eat!) them at an event like "traditional food exhibition," and think to themselves, "So this is what traditional Korean food looks like."
Gujeolpan. Never tried this either.
(Source)
Such confusion is the same for foreign tourists. I often hear from foreign visitors that they discovered there were very few places where they could try the dishes featured in Daejanggeum [TK: Korean drama about the royal cook during the Joseon Dynasty] only after actually visiting Korea. On the other hand, doubt may arise as to the common Korean food of today that did not exist in the Joseon era, such as samgyeopsal [TK: roasted pork belly], gimbap [TK: rice/seaweed roll], gamjatang [TK: spicy pork and potato soup], budaejjigae [TK: spicy stew with kimchi and spam].
The only unchanging axiom is: "Everything changes." Food is not an exception. As new ingredients get introduced, as cooking tools change, as lifestyles change, as appetites change, as the climate changes, food changes also. It is incorrect to think that today's French cuisine, or Japanese sushi, or Thai rice noodles were the same form and flavor hundred, two hundred, three hundred years ago. It is silly to think that Korean food of the 21st century must be the same as Joseon's food.
So let us revert to the first question: what is Korean food? In fact, humans -- Korean or not -- are generally satisfied as long as the food is tasty, nutritious and not dangerous. In other words, there is no reason why the food consumed by Korean people has to be "Korean" food, nor is there any reason for foreigners to eat such food while telling themselves, "This is Korean food." If Italian olive oil is healthier than Korean pea oil, Koreans will choose the olive oil. If American dry-aged steak is tastier than Korean bulgogi, Koreans will cook the steak even if they are given Korean beef. The choice, cooking and consumption of food ingredients is more often determined by human instincts rather than Korean people's national identity.
How to secure the identity of Korean food
Then why bother with defining Korean food and set the scope? Why not eat and enjoy any ingredient, any cooking method, with any historical/cultural characteristic, as long as the food is delicious, nutritious and not dangerous?
Usually to define and set a scope for something is in order to utilize that something for a purpose. That is, it is to utilize Korean food beyond the purposes of eating and enjoying; it is about creating a cultural product to export. It is a type of branding strategy -- establish the dishes that have a Korean identity, have such dished to be consumed by non-Koreans, and in the process lead them to understand and like Korea such that they will further consume Korean products, not simply Korean food.
Therefore, the first order of business to globalize Korean food is to establish the dishes that hold Korean identity. But we already noted that this is a confusing process, and that the confusion arises from the mistaken idea that food does not change. Then just what is the dish that holds Korean identity?
For globalization of Korean food, we often examine other cuisines that we consider globalized, such as French, Italian or Japanese. We usually encounter these "globalized" food in a restaurant. In a space in which we could feel the national image of each country, we eat their food and ponder about how to present Korean food. So we think about the restaurant's interior, the presentation style of the food and the flavor. Of course, this level of thought is necessary. But this method of research clouds us from the core question. The rightful beginning of this inquiry should be figuring out the identity of each country's food -- why is French cuisine French? Why is Italian food Italian? Why is Japanese food Japanese? Answering these questions would naturally bring the answer to the question about Korean food's identity.
Then let us try to reason how the identity of such cuisines are established. Take French food, for example. Where does the French food's identity -- recognized to be French food by not only the French people but also everyone in the world -- originate? Cooking methods? Presentation style? Eating methods? Restaurant interior? These are but the supplementary factors that aid the identity establishment. The most important core that forms the identity is the food ingredient of France which constitutes the food. We call something French food because the food is made with the wheat that grew in France, the cow that fed on the wheat, the cheese and butter made with the cow's milk, the olive oil and wine made by olives and grapes grown in Southern France, various herbs commonly grown in France, etc. Even if a France-produced ingredient is not used, we would at least require the ingredients that taste similar to French ingredients -- the "French-style ingredients" -- in order to consider something French cuisine. To explain how French cuisine tastes, a French chef would begin with the foodstuff produced out of France. The same applies to Italian food, Japanese food, etc.
This is how Korean food identity issue should be resolved as well. In other words, the core of the identity that makes a food a Korean food is the food ingredient that is only available in Korea or tastes the best when produced in Korea.
But I cannot shake the feeling that our efforts to globalize Korean food is quite far removed the identity of Korean food. We consider a chef who used to cook Western food in a foreign hotel chain could globalize Korean food, and we try to re-create Joseon's food and publicize the recipe to foreigners. We even consider a fried chicken franchise to be a pioneer of the globalization of Korean food. All these things are the runs into dead ends while searching for the identity of Korean food.
Collecting the information about and the value of Korea's food ingredient comes first
As a food columnist, I have been covering Korea's farming and fishing products, the local cuisine, restaurant food, etc. It has been many more than a few times when I felt disappointed -- nay, despaired -- that the people in the food business are totally ignorant about the farming and fishing products of Korea. The young chefs study abroad the learn about the Western ingredients and cooking methods, but not even Korean restaurant chefs care much about what foodstuff our land produces, how different they are depending on the locale, how different they taste depending on the season.
It is a huge mistake to think that they can simply go to the market and pick out something fresh and delicious. The foodstuff readily available at markets frequented by most chefs carry less than one-tenth of the food ingredients available in Korea, because the ingredients that do not attract mass consumption do not reach the markets of the cities. Among the plants that grow in Korea, more than 1,000 types are edible. Their flavor and nutritional values frequently exceeds the herbs used in Western cuisine. How many of them are we using in Korean food?
In this kind of environment, in some cases a foreign country would figure out the value of Korea's food ingredients before Koreans do, and sweep away the best kinds or transplant them and make their own. The best, in-season stocks of ark clam [피조개], pike eel [갯장어], razor clam [키조개], hiziki [톳] produced from the South Sea are exported entirely to Japan, because Korea does not actively use them as ingredients. The Japanese long have known the value of the chopi tree fruit, which Koreans barely use as spices for freshwater eel soup [추어탕] -- they have imported the fruits, processed them and sold them to the world, as well as taking the saplings to grow the trees in a larger scale. [TK: 초피 is already starting to be known in English as "Japanese pepper tree," although no chopi ever grew in Japan before they were transplanted.]
Razor clam [키조개] from Boryeong [보령]
(Source)
As Korean food is becoming more popular in Japan, Japan's food businesspeople are sweeping the production centers of Korea's food ingredients. I have advised such a Japanese company. To give an example, the company already had detailed knowledge of the characteristics of red pepper grown in different regions, the difference in aroma and flavor depending on the crushing method and the granular size, and even the way to make fake sun-dried peppers [태양초] and how to tell them apart. I have heard reports that a Japanese supermarket company is in the process of creating a website with the complete set of information about every Korean food ingredient, which does not yet exist in Korea.
The value of Korea's foodstuff clearly reveals itself when compared against other similar foodstuff produced in different countries. For example, the whole world loves crabs. If we could understand the precise flavor of Korean blue crab [꽃게] and how it compares to other crabs, its value could be greater than Hong Kong's mud crab which is being marketed to gastronomes worldwide. Korean blue crab has a unique sweet flavor and strong aroma that sets it apart from mud crab, king crab, snow crab, etc. -- it can very well be a world-class crab. Same with Korean beef [한우], which develops great umami after aging without the need for excessive marbling unlike the Japanese wagyu. With improvements in butchering, aging and cooking methods, it can also be world-class. Same with the red pepper that beautifully combines sweetness and spiciness; wild herbs like wild garlic shoots [산마늘] that complements the meat with its aromatic and tangy flavor; Korean citron [유자] with a unique blend of sweetness and intense sourness; sand lance fish sauce [까나리 액젓] with deeper savoriness than Southeast Asian fish sauces; the "single-day" sun-dried salt [당일 천일염] of the Shinan region that could rival the Guerande salt. There are countless "the food ingredients that are only available in Korea or taste the best when produced in Korea."
The information about such food ingredients do exist in the files of the central government, local government, producers' association, university, research institutes, etc. But they are not systematically organized in a way that can be utilized by the food industry. Even if an aspiring chef wanted to buy the chopi fruit and utilize it in Korean food, there is no place that gives the information about the characteristics of the fruit, difference between chopi and the similar fruit from sancho tree, the seasons for chopi fruit depending on the region and the difference in quality depending on the season, processing methods and the difference in flavor based such methods, sample cuisines, keeping methods, the producers' contact information, pricing and location, etc. The chef would surf the Internet countless hours, make a number of phone calls, and then give up.
To emphasize once more: food changes. Korean food eaten by Korean people today is very different from the food of Joseon a century ago. The major crops grown in Korean Peninsula changed, and so did the fish caught in her coasts. The heating and cooking devices in the kitchen changed, and so did the plates and dishes that present the food. More than anything else, our life style changed as we progressed from agricultural society to an industrial one, and our appetite changed as we were introduced to foreign cuisine. Looking at our food from Joseon's perspective only causes confusion in finding our tradition and identity. Joseon had Joseon cuisine; in the 21st century Korea, there is Korean cuisine. In order to find the identity amid the changing Korean cuisine, we have no choice but to focus on "the food ingredients that are only available in Korea or taste the best when produced in Korea." Everything else, such as style development or standardization of recipes, must come after figuring out the value of Korea's foodstuff, and making that information available.
뜻하지 않은 한식 세계화 논란 [악식가의 미식일기]
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
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