Can you thoroughly give me an insight regarding Korean culture?

Question

Hi. I'm sociology majors and I'm about to start my very first study on society!!! Well, here it is being the title question. I'm about to write this as some sort of a *long* report so I would gladly appreciate it if you can be as specific as possible while still considering general situations. Also, foreigners with experience regarding Koreans will be greatly appreciated.

NOTE:
Being a sociology enthusiast, I can sense that this can be quite an involuntary battle ground between people who love Korean culture and to those who hates it. Please. While I would take all sharing as professionally and as objective as possible, it would be an admirable courtesy if you would be careful enough on choosing words to describe any (especially the bad ones) aspect on their culture.
Don't forget: Respect begets respect.

And to our dear Koreans, you are most welcome to give an insight.

Some guide questions:
1. Does their culture appear "friendly" on every non-korean national regardless of any country of their origin?
2. How do they view foreigners, especially USA and other fellow Asian countries (Japan, China, and most of the south east asian countries)
3. The most dominant feedback have been the word "arrogant" as a defining attribute on Koreans. Explain why you agree or disagree with this label.

Answer 1

From my personal experience (I'm Korean)



1. Koreans are generally good people, but only towards other Koreans. I'm sorry to say, but Koreans have a very strong sense of nationalism, so certain races are looked down upon severely within Korean society. I'm sort of embarassed at how narrow-minded my fellow Koreans can be at times (I live in the U.S. but i visit Korea every year). Koreans in general treat each other with great respect, it's an aspect of Korean culture. You generally don't call an elder by the actual name, they hold a certain title. In professional cases, such as business or politics, you never address someone by their actual name, it would most likely be their surname followed by their rank or position or job title, such as Manager (for business) or Doctor or whatever title they hold.



2. I answered most of that in the first answer but Americans are not looked down upon for the most part I would say. Koreans and Americans generally share decent sentiments towards each other. Japanese and Chinese and Korean do not get along! If you're a Korean raised in Korea, you will hold some grudge against the Japanese when you become older. It is a silent grudge though, Koreans will not openly mistreat people, but the underlying hatred can be felt. (This has to do with the history between the two countries-lot of wars etc. etc.) Filipinos are looked down upon also, as well as Indians (like from the Indian subcontinent). No idea why, they just are.



3. I would agree and disagree. Arrogant as for the whole nationalistic aspect, but you can't really call them "arrogant" for this because Americans have their views toward certain races as well. I feel severely looked down upon in my own high school for being a general "Asian," not even Korean. That is actually very upsetting, being generalized into one category and not being recognized separately from other races. But for the most part, Koreans I would say are not arrogant, it is just a horrible stereotype. There are seriously some ridiculous stereotypes I hear about us, for example: Since when have Korean men abused their wives to the extent that all Korean men are now looked upon as some savage beast. That's just absurd!!! And the thing about 99% of the people in Korea getting plastic surgery, that's absurd also! Just because you see about 20 celebrities from Korea getting plastic surgery, you generalize all Koreans do it. American celebrities do it also, they just don't admit it. I know I'm going off on a tangent, but I just had to get that out there



Overall, I would say Koreans are good-hearted people, it's just that they're sense of nationalism might be a little too strong than normal, but you have to remember that Korea is and has been, after all, a nation of a single race for a few milleniums now. It would be natural, in my opinion, for a strong sense of nationalism and patriotism to arise from this. It is also, in my opinion, that Koreans are sometimes uncomfortable or even frightened, taken aback, by some races. On the other hand, America is still a young nation, that began with a variety of races and cultures, aka. the "melting pot" as some historians call it, so Americans are more "comfortable" to a variety of races.

Answer 2

Insights on the guides questions:



1. When anyone of any country of origin thinks about Korean culture in general, it would most like appear as "friendly". This is because respect is a very important part of Korean culture, for example, there are certain names Koreans call elders and certain gestures they do towards elders also.



2. I believe Koreans are very curious and interested in foreigners, that is what mostly is said about them. As for general relations with foreign countries, most feel that the US is a great country. That is why many people from Korea study abroad in the US for college, high school, and some families even migrate to the US just so their children can be educated there and learn english, they also feel knowing the english language is very important. Politically or economicaly speaking, Korean is probably in some good terms with other Asian countries for doing marketing, business partnerships seem pretty good. But simply Korean people view other people, is probably the same way they see foreigner all over the world, they might have some interest and view them as interesting or they could judge on appearance. But i think Koreans view all foreigners as interesting.



3. I partially disagree and agree with Korean attribute as being "arrogant". I mean, if you look at it, Korea is a very small country yet it has one of the best economies in the world, the latest technology, and the number one producer of different kinds of electronics. Who wouldn't be a bit arrogant if you seem to surpass expectations being small yet powerful? I disagree because the issue of education should be considered. Koreans value good education and a successful, well educated life. Many struggle to succeed and become a the best and successful in school, college, and in their careers. Preservation doesn't sound arrogant at all.







Your study of society sounds very interesting! Good luck on your report!

Answer 3

Well, being a Korean, I infer it would be very hard to be objective, but anyway I'll try my best..



Guide Q1: Does their culture appear "friendly" on every non-korean national regardless of any country of their origin?



A: NO, it is not. Koreans usually don't appreciate foreigners, even from the time of our ancestors. Our culture was developed in a way that doesn't mix other country's culture with ours. So our culture will not look friendly for every non-korean nationals, since our culture only cares "Koreans" exclusively...



Guide Q2:How do they view foreigners, especially USA and other fellow Asian countries (Japan, China, and most of the south east asian countries)?



A: It depends on the country of their origin, and further the location of their country (e.g. Africa, America, South Asia, etc.) Korean culture has a kind of racial discrimination, which sees Americans and Europeans as superior people than the Koreans (generally), and sees fellow East Asian countries as our level, and lastly we see the rest, especially South East Asian countries as inferior than Koreans. They think Americans and Europeans as superior race. It can easily be shown by their attitude toward Americans and Europeans, where almost every young people would like to be friends with them. But some just treat them as same as the Koreans. Countries like Japan, China is closely studied by Koreans, in their history. They think Japan, China, Taiwan and similar countries are at the same level with Koreans. You can easily see that comparing how they treat Japanese, Chinese,with Americans, and Europeans. They are less friendly toward Japanese and Chinese. Sometimes, they hate these people due to some historical facts. Lastly, South east Asian countries like Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia are considered inferior than Koreans. It can be seen in labor distribution, where people from SEA countries all work in factories, and only few South East Asians works in an office.

They are indifferent with SEA people, and they are mostly unfriendly toward SEA people.



Guide Q3: The most dominant feedback have been the word "arrogant" as a defining attribute on Koreans. Explain why you agree or disagree with this label.



A: In some aspect, the answer is YES. In some aspect, the answer is NO. As I explained above, Koreans' culture doesn't appreciate much about the culture of other countries. This is very comparative to Japanese culture where they accept the foreign knowledge and culture. It can be seen in Korean history, like 1592 Japanese invasion, and the principles in late 1800's. In 1592 Japanese invasion, known as (Im Jin Wae Ran) in vernacular language, Japanese uses the new weapon that time, which is a gun. Koreans that time had only few guns, and this couldn't be used widely in military. Another example, is the primary principles in late 1800's. A powerful governor of that time, (Heung Son Dae Won Gun 1820-1898) contributed much for the principle of refusing foreign cultures and knowledge in the name of protecting pure Korean race and culture. This was a kind of successful campaign, and for few decades foreign knowledge has never been transmitted to Koreans. These facts might be the reason why Koreans seem arrogant, because they don't appreciate much of foreign culture (from ancestors) and they don't really care about it.



In the other hand, Koreans are friendly toward foreigners as they get to know each other. Even though the situation varies when the "foreigners" mentioned above is from SEA countries, Koreans usually finds almost every foreigner good if the foreigners themselves are kind to them.



The general look on Koreans is "arrogant", "unhappy" and some other negative words. People at first sight looks very unkind, but they are usually friendly when foreigners contact with these people. The very example can be shown among Koreans at foreign countries.





I do hope this would be a good source to your report.

Answer 4

it would be great if you go to google and make also a good research on internet , could help a lot