View
233
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
Flunkyism South Korea 1
온고지신 (溫故知新, “Ohn Gho Ji Shin”) : South Korea’s Flunkyism
English 205
Sanghun Bruce Ham
Dec 7 2013
[Comparasion…]
Gangnam…
Flunkyism South Korea 2
Abstract
After World War II, the Korean Peninsula was divided into South and North Korea based upon
the agreement of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. As the U.S. military occupied in the Southern
part of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea adapted the U.S. form of political system, democracy,
and capitalism. In terms of economy, South Korea has achieved a great success for three to four
decades after the Korean War with significant national wide political events: two military
regime, IMF, and revolution. However, on the dark side, South Korean society faces several
social issues—high suicide rate, dishonorable title: cosmetic surgery country—from paradigm
shifting. South Korea, Confucianism system based, has been changing rapidly last six decades
with capitalism and democracy. Confucianism helps to understand the problems occurring in
South Korea such as high suicide rate. Also, the globalism and the dominance of Western culture
explain the cosmetic surgery boom in South Korea.
Author Bio
Sanghun Bruce Ham is native South Korean born June 1st, 1987 in Seoul, South Korea. Ham
grew up in Seoul until 2006. He joined R.O.K (Republic of Korea) Marines corps from July,
2006 to July, 2008 at the age of 18 to complete military service as a South Korean. In April,
2009, Ham left Seoul for Gold Coast, Australia to experience Western culture in the Oceania
continent. He came back to Seoul in January, 2010 and left for Seattle, WA, USA to pursue a
college level degree. He committed to Seattle Central Community College from January, 2011 to
June, 2012. In October 2013, He is currently pursuing Association in Business (Accounting) and
expecting to graduate in December 2013.
Flunkyism South Korea 3
Old Seoul, South Korea, did not look like contemporary Seoul packed by skyscrapers in
the picture on the front page. The old South Koreans did not look like the South Korean woman
on the front page. “옛 것을 익히고 새로운 것을 배운다.” This phrase is the definition of
온고지신 (溫故知新“Ohn Gho Ji Shin”) meaning “Review the old things and learn new things.”
It’s one of Confucius’1 old sayings. What Confucius originally meant, in the first place, was if
one can learn or find out something new out of old ideas or things, that one can become a teacher
of somebody else. Fundamentally, 온고지신 meant to say the problem that are currently
occurring can be solved by old ideas or when one wants to learn something new, it’s better to
know old things well.
In addition, 온고지신 also has a message to modern Korea not to adapt new (foreign)
cultures thoughtlessly because of the mistaken idea that the Western culture is always better,
which is called Flunkyism2. The Western countries have been leading the cultural trend of the
world, reflected in many different ways. South Korea, for example, is not free from the Western
cultural influence. South Korea society shows some social issues from having been led by the
Western cultures, especially by the U.S., and with the old South Korea culture.
Because of the 5,000 year-long history of South Korea and the importance of its location,
the Korean peninsula has been a target of neighbor countries around Korea: China, Russia, and
Japan; some influence from neighbor countries were unavoidable. To understand the influence of
the U.S. on recent South Korea’s atmosphere, having knowledge of the modern history of South
Korea around the Korean War is necessary.
1Confucius & Confucianism: An ancient Chinese way of thought that has spread through much of East Asia, is often described as a religion.
Perhaps a more accurate definition of Confucianism is that it is a detailed code of interpersonal behavior. In cultures where it is embraced,
Confucianism is a practical political and social doctrine.(Asia-Pacific)
2According to Collins dictionary, Flunkyism is defined “1. the state of being a flunkey or servant 2. a behaviour or trait characteristic of a
flunkey.” (Flunkyism)
Flunkyism South Korea 4
“When whales fight, the shrimp’s back is broken”: The Beginning of Division in the
Korean Peninsula
In 1945, a temporarily designated borderline by the U.S. and the Soviet Union was not
expected to be permanent in the Korean Peninsula. However, the Korean Peninsula has been the
symbol of World War II and the Cold War3. The designated borderline, in 1945, has been
standing there for almost last seven decades. In August, 1945, The U.S. and The Soviet Union
agreed to demilitarize remaining Japanese troops in The Korean Peninsula, and The Korea
Peninsula was “temporarily” decided to be divided into two different Koreas at the 38th
parallel
with the Soviet Union in the North and the U.S. in the South (Mark P, 2012).
제 2차 세계대전이 끝나기 직전인 1945년 8월 10~11일 밤 미국은 비밀리에 북위
38도선을 경계로 한반도를 미・소 양국 점령 지역으로 분할하는 안을 만들었다.
미국은 즉시 이 한반도 분할 안을 소련에 제시했고, 소련은 이를 받아들였다. 그
결과, 한반도는 미・소 양국의 점령 지역으로 나누어지게 되었다 (Kim, 2003).
Translated by the author, around August 10th
-11th
, 1945, right before the World War 2
ended, the U.S. secretly planned and suggested to Soviet Union that The U.S. and the
Soviet Union divide Korea peninsula into South and North Korea based on 38th
parallel
and occupy, and the Soviet Union accepted this. As a result, Korea peninsula divided into
two different areas that two different countries occupy (Kim, 2003).
Originally, the division of The Korean Peninsula was not the proposal of the U.S. The
Korean Peninsula was a geographically significant place for the U.S. because the entire part of
the Korean Peninsula would have taken by the Soviet Union and became a danger for Japan, and
the U.S. evaluated Korea as a country that is not available to manage itself (Mark P, 2012).
3A state of political hostility and military tension between two countries or power blocs, involving propaganda, subversion, threats, economic
sanctions, and other measures short of open warfare, esp. that between the American and Soviet blocs after World War II. (The Cold War)
Flunkyism South Korea 5
The Korean Peninsula was thought to be a neutral
country that would fulfill the best peace in Asia, and
Korea trusteeship was supported by the Franklin D.
Roosevelt administration, by 1943, to be conserved to
avoid probable issue s among countries around Korea.
However, Britain disagreed and the U.S. stated “at the
proper moment after the downfall of Japan, [Korea] shall
become a free and independent country” (Mark P, 2012).
In June 25th
, 1950, before dawn breaks, the Korean
War broke out with North Korea’s sudden attack and the
war “lasted” for three years. Officially, the Korean
Peninsula is still ideologically, socially, and
culturally in the middle of the war (Boose, 1998).
When the war was eventually “over”, the
“temporary” designated borderline with the endless
length of fence, as the image [A solider…] shows,
has been standing out there over six decades, just
like the unremoved line at the 38th
parallel on the
map as the image on the right shows. (Boose, 1998)
Moreover, in the image [Map shows…], the
armistice line shows the current borderline between
South and North Korea. The reason the north part of
the peninsula is filled with red because red color
represents the communism as the flags of
communist countries like China and the Soviet Union are filled with red while blue color
represents democracy.
A soldier…
[Map shows…]
Flunkyism South Korea 6
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step”: Transplanting the
U.S. Style of Democracy
According to Im’s journal “The US role in Korean democracy and security since cold
war era" (Im, 2006), published by political science department, Oxford University, in the
Southern part of independent Korea, the U.S. form of democracy settled down and became the
borderline of the U.S. as South Korea experienced capitalist market economy, education, and the
U.S. style of politics. The goal of the U.S. for South Korea was to be anti-Communist during the
Cold War. In 1948, as the United States occupied South Korea, all adult South Koreans had
universal suffrage to set Constitutional Assembly. The universal suffrage to South Koreans
seemed daunting because of the total lack of South Koreans’ democracy experience throughout
history including Japanese colonial time and Chosun Dynasty. Because of premature democracy,
coordinated parties stole the opportunities from lower class by spreading out the problems of
sudden enfranchisement and land redistribution in South Korea. Meanwhile, the United States
had two paradoxical purposes in South Korea. The first one is to promote communist nations and
the Third World nations, the United Sates tried to develop South Korea as ‘a showcase for
democracy.’ The other purpose was to limit the power of South Korean democracy. The United
States hoped South Korea to maintain in the mid-range of democracy (Im, 2006).
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step”: Transplanting the
U.S. Style of Capitalism
South Korea, in the early 1960, rapidly became known as a powerful and effective
economic country with isolating the domestic market from the world competition and exploiting
the world market to make profits out of manufacturing exports. Government’s regulating for
businesses and promoting made South Korea seem to be a classic “late-developer” in terms of
development. The Korean government decided to be interdependent with businesses, which
government vigorously supports the survived companies in each industry to stimulate industrial
development rather than either government or businesses dominating the other. Those companies
Flunkyism South Korea 7
compensate government for enormous funding for the political leadership. The South Korean
economy had been popular for its strong economy which grew much more strongly for two to
three decades after the Korean War (Lee & Han, 2006).
In the cartoon on the right side, Dave Granlund, the editorial cartoonist, published in
daily newspapers since 1977,
shows the sarcastic situation
with North Korean’s leader,
Kim Jong-un, and Dennis
Rodman, who is a former
NBA player and a figure of
freedom with his colorful
hair back in 1990s. Kim
Jung-un in the cartoon has a
plan to attack the U.S., who
is supposedly the biggest
enemy for North Korea, with nuclear weapons except for California because Kim’s friend,
Dennis Rodman lives in California. Such sarcastic cartoon came out after Dennis Rodman's
second trip to North Korea. A basketball event was held in North Korea by Rodman with
Rodman’s basketball crew, and Rodman watched the basketball event with Kim Jung-un.
Rodman also toured North Korea around with Kim. According to ABC news, Rodman was the
first U.S. citizen that has met Kim Jong-un in person which and Rodman repeated sentences like
“Kim Jung-un was awesome and amazing. North Koreans were honest, and Kim Jung-un is my
friend.” in an interview.(ABC News, 2013) even though North Korea had been threatening the
U.S. national security with nuclear weapons. Behind this situation, Rodman’s trip to North Korea
was possible because of Kim’s love for basketball. Kim is known for a huge basketball fan since
his school years abroad. However, if North Korea and Kim truly have considered the U.S. as
[North Korea’s…]
Flunkyism South Korea 8
enemy as North Korea’s been promoting to normal North Koreans, Kim’s invitation for Rodman,
whose fashion and appearance could bring a cultural revolution in North Korea, is a paradoxical
idea based on their political strategies. In addition, the fact that Kim’s school years abroad must
have affected his life style and ideas about Capitalism and democracy as his fat body figure in
the cartoon reveals while North Koreans are suffering from starvation and his invitation for
Dennis Rodman, could bring a cultural sensation into North Korea.
With the fact that democracy and Capitalism in South Korea were the influence of the
U.S. on South Korea after the Korean War, Confucianism was the most widely known ideology
in The Korean Peninsula and still affects South Koreans daily lives.
Korea and Confucianism
According to the journal “Korea and
Confucianism” (Connor), Confucianism is
the fundamental philosophy of Korea.
Koreans advocated Confucianism so
actively and strictly that even Chinese
considered Koreans believed Confucianism
more than Chinese themselves did. By the
root of Chinese examination system, which
made the high government office, A solid
class structure and society was built out of
Confucianism. Yangban class—the upper
class who studied to learn for classic Confucianism and government system—was ten percent of
the total population (Connor).
The fundamental Confucian principles were the base of the Koryo4 (936-1392) and the
4
Koryŏ dynasty, in Korean history, dynasty that ruled the Korean peninsula as the Koryŏ kingdom from 935 to 1392 CE. During this period the
country began to form its own cultural tradition distinct from the rest of East Asia. It is from the name Koryŏ that the Western name Korea is
derived.(Encyclopaedia)
[Portrait…]
Flunkyism South Korea 9
Choson5 (1392-1910). Concepts of loyalty, filial duty, respect for age and status and veneration
for learning were combined in the system. Ruler and subjects were connected by loyalty.
Hierarchical, strict and unequal relationships were there. To maintain ruler’s power, the idea that
the ruler and his officials have to be honest based on Confucianism. Otherwise, the broken
relationship between the ruler and his officials could justify people to revolt. Economic
development was influenced by Confucianism as well. Confucianism limited the development of
commerce, self-serving and conflicts in society and maintains the stable agriculture. Besides
trades between China and Japan, it was really narrow to interact with other countries in terms of
trade (Connor).
Consequently, over 200 shrines and academies are located in across South Korea.
Confucianism is a fundamental concept in people in spite of the fact that the portion of
Buddhists, Christians, or Shamanists is huge now days. Over 2500 years ago, what Confucius
taught over 2,500 years ago was still the standard of the social relationships in home, workplace,
school, and government. A number of Koreans expect their leaders to be moral and make
decisions based on morality. Otherwise, those leaders lose their legacy as recent Korean history
shows; “The young are to respect their elders, children their parents, wives their husbands,
daughters-in-law their mothers-in-law, students their teachers, employees their employers and
friends their friends. Tradition dictates that each family member must be diligent in fulfilling his
or her role. Children learn before the age of ten that their lives are not their own, but belong to
their family. Decisions are familial, not personal.” One’s choice of spouse was also affected by
Confucianism. Parents give their children a piece of advice who they should marry. People name
their babies based on Confucian system to distinguish their family members and relatives. Even
though the ways of life in the modern Korea has been changed, marriage, ancestor worship, and
funerals—family rituals—are still celebrated in some level of Confucianism (Connor).
On the other hand, for the last 50 years, the growth of South Korea’s GDP (PPP) per
capita was over 18,460%. One of the poorest countries in the world 50 years ago, and now
became one of the richest countries as 15th
ranker in terms of GPD, $832,512 million (Park). So
5
Chosŏn dynasty, also called Yi dynasty, the last and longest-lived imperial dynasty (1392–1910) of Korea. Founded by Gen. Yi Sŏng-gye, who
established the capital at Hanyang (present-day Seoul), the kingdom was named Chosŏn for the state of the same name that had dominated the
Korean peninsula in ancient times. The regime is also frequently referred to as the Yi dynasty, for its ruling family. General Yi established close
relationships with the neighboring Ming dynasty (1368–1644) of China, which considered Korea a client state, and Chinese cultural influences
were very strong during this period. Chosŏn’s administration was modeled after the Chinese ... (100 of 505 words) (Encyclopaedia)
Flunkyism South Korea 10
then, how is this unbelievable progress South Koreans made in economy and development? Park
thinks the key of Koreans success was Confucianism.
Confucianism can reveal not only the great development and economy growth as a
country, but also Confucianism has to stimulate individuals to fulfill their best work to be
successful from competition. According to Collins, R, the central idea of capitalism makes
people to desire to be rich through hard working. The ignorance of individuals wealthy in
Confucianism harms Confucianism based countries to be successful by Weber’s logic. (Park)
In spite of Collin’s argument, Park still believes that Confucianism in South Korea was a
significant role to boost up Korea’s economy with capitalism, which rooted in Western countries
because some traits of Confucianism are shown in South Korean society. South Koreans
investment for human resource was tremendously higher than other countries. Korea ranked the
second highest in the world in terms of the percentage of college admission from high school
graduates in 1990 (Park).
However, with such an enormous and quick success in economy and development called
“the miracle on Han river,” Several social issues begun to appear in South Korea.
South Korea is the Best: in Suicide
Suicide is the one of
worst social problems that
South Korea has. Among the
31 rich countries in the
Organization for Economic
Cooperation and
Development, the Suicide
rate of South Korea was the
highest—22 deaths per
100,000 people. According
to OECD footnote, when
most other developed
countries’ rate slowed down, the suicide rate in South Korea was drastically increasing with
tripling from 1990 to 2006 (Yoon, 2010).
[Suicide rates by Gender from OECD]
Flunkyism South Korea 11
Furthermore, the graph on the right side shows the suicide by gender for each country.
Surprisingly, both male and female’s rate of suicide is the highest among the OECD countries.
Which shows suicide in South Korea is not a problem of a certain gender but a problem of a
country as one.
In addition, in the graph [Change…], the suicide rate in 2010 has jumped 280.7 percent
from year 1990. This rate is extremely high comparing to other OECD countries in the chart.
When most of
OECD countries’
suicide rates
decreased from
1990, only 6
countries
including South
Korea have
increased in
suicide rate. This
suicide rate indicates some drastic changes to South Koreans appeared for last 20 years.
Moreover, according to Yoon, Korean Spanish freelance journalist based in Beijing,
China, the OECD report pointed out that the increasing suicide rate is “weakening social
integration and erosion of the traditional family support base for the elderly.” The rapid change
of economy over long time is also another cause of the high rate. This perspective is advocated
by Lee Min-Soo, professor of psychiatry at Korea University College of Medicine. According to
Lee, “Social changes that the country’s fast economic development brought and a culture that did
not adapt to them” is the cause of the high suicide rate (Yoon, 2010).
[Change in suicide rates from OECD]
Flunkyism South Korea 12
For example, Confucian-family values and local traditions were the atmosphere—
grandparents, parents, and kids lived in the same house—of South Korean society. The economy
status of South Korea was as low as the poorest nations in Asia or Africa as Gross Domestic
product per capita reveals. South Korea became one of the richest countries in the world as they
succeed in shifting their political system and freedom of business with high-tech
industrialization. However, the desire to be richer with “economic miracle” ruined traditional
social structures and led people to live with smaller families, rising house prices, hoping to have
the end of lifelong employment, but with fierce competition for the best jobs and caused
alcoholism. The divorce rate hit tripled from 1989 and 2009, according to the government.
Households became to be consisted of less than three people instead of with their grandparents
and parents like back in days. Dr. Lee say “It is the price we pay for such unsustainable fast
economic development” (Yoon, 2010).
The suicide problem has also been linked with the Korean concept of "Han," a kind of
stoicism also tied to feelings of anger and impotence that arise when facing a situation
that can't be changed. Han, deeply embedded in Korean society, has been linked to
depression. "When a situation is bad and they can't show their cool selves, Koreans tend
to get frustrated, give up and take drastic choices," says Hwang Sang-min, a professor of
psychology at Yonsei University (Yoon, 2010).
Kang Do-Hyun, who teaches Psychiatry at Seoul National University Hospital, said that
South Koreans might become known as prove to mental disease because of these characteristics
of culture. Committing suicide is the number one reason for 20s and 30s die and the fourth
reason overall Koreans, based on South Korea’s Ministry of Health (Yoon, 2010).
Furthermore, South Korea spends almost the least amount of money on health care
system among OECD countries—according to OECD, Turkey and Mexico are the only two
countries to allocate less than South Korea. There is no doubt the ranking in the number of
Flunkyism South Korea 13
psychiatrists per capita in South Korea is almost at the bottom among OECD countries because
of low support for mental-health treatment (Yoon, 2010).
Flunkyism in the Ordinary Life 1: Meaningless Signs
The image shows a bunch of signs on
a street in Seoul, South Korea. 퓨전 플러스,
드림존, and 로얄 경주 are Korean letters that
are on some of the signs in the image. Those
Korean letters are not just random Korean
words. Those Korean words in the signs are
actually English words written in the Korean
writing system called “Hangul6”. “Translated”
by the author, 퓨전 플러스 means Fusion
Plus—fortunately, additional information on
the sign gives a clue that “Fusion Plus” is a
restaurant, 드림존 is Dream Zone, the
author, who is a native South Korean, doesn’t
even have a clue that what kind of business
this place is, and finally, 로얄 경주 means
Royal Race which is a screen horse racing place. English words on the signs sometimes are
“Konglish7” which is failure of those business owners trying to use English words, and a number
of Korean business owners name their businesses after English or Konglish words which
sometimes even has any meaning or no clue what kind of businesses they are.
6 Hangeul is a phonemic writing system, and it consists of letters for consonants and vowels. Unlike general phonemic writing systems such as the Roman Alphabet, it was uniquely designed to combine consonant letters and vowel letters into syllabic units. Because of this, we can say that
it has something in common with syllabic writing systems. (The National…) 7 English words that Korean people use in a manner that is not correct English. Usually this is by combining two words or modifying words incorrectly.(urbandictionary.com)
[A Street…]
Flunkyism South Korea 14
If those English named Korean businesses meant to attract non-Korean tourists in Korea,
writing English words in English would make more sense and be much more effective and
appealing to non-Korean tourists than the current way that English words in Hangul or Konglish
are enchased on the sign. Some the U.S. related businesses or restaurants like pizza or burger
places make sense to name their businesses after English words and use English words on their
signs to emphasize their specialties or features.
At this pointed, the question would be why some of Korean businesses are willing to put
Konglish or English words in Hangul which provides inefficient information on their signs even
though those kind of signs are not effective to attract either South Korean customers and non-
Korean tourists. As far as the author, born and raised in South Korea, understands the South
Korean culture properly, One’s using English words and being able to speak English in South
Korea make that person sounds and looks “smart and fancy” most of time. This English-prefer
tendency presents one side of South Korean’s Flunkyism and, furthermore, the U.S. power of the
cultural imperialism8.
Flunkyism in the Ordinary Life 2: Plastic Surgery
In addition to the Flunkyism in language, Kim and Fu say in the journal “International
Women in South Korea's Sex Industry: A New Commodity Frontier” in Asian Survey, published
by University of California Press, even though South Korea hasn’t been colonized by any
Western countries, because of the U.S influence—economy, politics, and military—on South
Korea, the standard of values has been Westernized. Furthermore, Western women are the ideal
appearance that South Korean women would like to be. (Kim & Fu, 2008)
Moreover, Whang Sang-min, a psychologist at Yonsei University, says even though any
kind of physical changes on given body breaches the traditional Confucius rules, the
8the fact of the culture of a large and powerful country, organization, etc. having a great influence on another less powerful country, etc:(Cambridge)
Flunkyism South Korea 15
contemporary South Koreans abuse plastic surgery to appeal to others. (Coppage, J, 2013)
Besides, one makeup artist, who was waiting for a plastic, says that eye job is not even
accepted as a plastic surgery because eye job is widely spread in South Korea. “One of every five
women in Seoul Between the ages of 19 and 49 said they had undergone plastic surgery, based
on a market survey. According to Choi Set-byol, a sociologist at Ewha Woman’s University,
plastic surgeons say young women are their primary patients. Young South Korean women want
to take plastic surgeries in order to get ready for the marriage or job hunting. Those young South
Korean women suppose that they have to be good looking to survive. (Coppage, J, 2013)
The Author’s Perspective
Although South Korea undoubtedly made an enormous achievement in economy with
“The miracle on Han river,” some drastic changes and problems came out with its society. I
personally believe problems currently occurring are from the changing of economic system,
capitalism, but maybe partly true not totally.
Based on Confucianism, in old South Korean education, teachers were allowed to hit
their students, firstly because parents let them. And students believed it was okay and just
because they were teachers!: Confucius said. “Teacher is as high as sky(god),” an old Korean
saying. Author’s parents even asked author’s teachers to corporally punish me more if the author
do something wrong. Teachers scolded students badly when students didn’t do homework or
when the test results were not good enough. Sometimes teachers abused that power, but the
abuse power as teacher seemed okay until a decade ago. But now, with developing technology,
students take out their cellphones and take pictures when their teachers scold or gave punishment
to their classmates, and they even send those pictures to broadcasting companies. Then, those
became serious social issues. Media reported a matter of human rights or cultural norms. But
then why is the situation so much different now? There’s no respect for the elders and teachers
anymore.
Flunkyism South Korea 16
When those baby boomers eventually became parents of only one or two kids because of
the government encouragement, their kids were so much important than anything else, and they
didn’t want their kids to experience the same situation as they had. Because those baby boomers
are the people who went through “the miracle on Han River,” hard workers under horrible
working conditions, and South Korea is still known for having relatively poor working
conditions. Parents’ “love” for their kids drove them to manipulate their kids to become higher
social status people. The author believes those parents believe the ultimate happiness is not being
hungry from their experience. As long as their kids have get stable jobs and make enough money
and marry at right time with right people, there is no problem. the author can't see value of
happiness for them. Parents were too busy working just to survive from the competition, and
busy parents’ kids are forced to study to get higher grade. Students under high school commute
to school at 8am and finish at 3pm and go to “hakwons”, private institutions, until 9-10pm. Kids
have to go to all kinds of hakwons like English, piano, violin, Taekwondo, math, science, soccer,
so on. High schoolers stay at school from 8am to 10-11pm. Then, majority of students enrolled
in colleges and didn’t want to get jobs at low income and working places like factories because
they are “educated.”
Also, the Westernized standard of beauty is considered an important factor to get a job
and find a “good” spouse. Eventually, plastic surgery has become a “must to do” thing to South
Koreans.
This is why Korea has the highest rate of suicide in the world. What is one’s life about?
Some people know the way they live is not right but they have to live in that way to live in
Korea. Otherwise, they can’t get any “normal job.” The author is lucky for now being away from
that situation even though the author went through all those listed experiences.
In short, ever since South Korea adapted capitalism and democracy seven decades ago,
the real Korean values have been slowly disappearing but money with cultural anomie. The
Flunkyism South Korea 17
author is not saying Capitalism and democracy are bad, but Capitalism and democracy have to be
fixed somehow in South Korea and now is the time to act to fulfill the real meaning of
온고지신. It is time to review the old faults South Korea made for the last seven years and learn
from that and use what South Korea learn for the future.
The South
Korean flag on the left
with the U.S. stars and
a stripe figuratively
shows the depth of the
relationship between
South Korea and the
U.S. or the influence
of the U.S. on South
Korea. The meaning of
this mixed flag can be interpreted as the strong relationship between South Korea and the U.S or
South Korean’s Flunkyism, depending on how South Koreans assess the U.S. culture and adapt
properly with Confucianism.
[Mixed flag of South Korea and The U.S.]
Flunkyism South Korea 18
References
ABC News. (2013, March 3). Dennis Rodman 'This Week' Interview: NBA Basketball Star
Discusses Kim Jong Un, North Korea Visit [Youtube]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GixKLkai6uA
[A bunch of flower on a desk]. (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/bullied-students-last-sms-if-you-dare-come-to-
my-funeral.html
Asia-Pacific Connections. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2013, from http://www.asia-pacific-
connections.com/confucianism.html
[A street in Seoul]. (2010). Retrieved from http://blogsabo.ahnlab.com/528
Boose, D, Jr. (1998). The Korean War revisited. Parameters, 28(1), 144-149. doi:198014427
Brianmoon85. (2009). [image]. Gangnam (South of the River, Midtown Seoul). Retrieved from
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=784014&page=17
Cambridge University. (2013). Cambridge Dictionaries Online Retrieved
from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/business-english/cultural-
imperialism?q=cultural+imperialism
Change in suicide rates from OECD. (2013). [Graph] in the Blog Spring tree. Retrieved from
http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=unknown8888&logNo=110164047994
[Comparison of a Korean actress before and after cosmetic surgery]. (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.asianbite.com/post/Korean-Actress-Lee-Da-hae-Admits-to-Plastic-Surgery-
news-4634
Connor, M. (n.d.). Korea and Confucianism. Retrieved from
http://www.socialstudies.com/pdf/Korea_and_Confucianism.pdf
Coppage, J. (2013, August 29). Plastic Surgery in South Korea Keeps People Grinning.
Retrieved from http://www.theamericanconservative.com/plastic-surgery-in-south-korea-
keeps-people-grinning/
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2013, from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/653164/Choson-dynasty
Granlund, D. (2013). [Cartoon]. North Korea targets US. Retrieved from
http://www.davegranlund.com/cartoons/2013/04/05/north-korea-targets-us/
Im, H. (2006). The US role in Korean democracy and security since cold war era. International
Relations of the Asia Pacific, 6(2), 157. Retrieve from Political science department,
Oxford University. doi:232935271
Flunkyism South Korea 19
Kim, J. (2003). Facing changes in relationship between South Korea and The U.S. In Anti the
U.S. Retrieved from
http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1394360&cid=472&categoryId=472
Kim, J., & Fu, M. (2008). International Women in South Korea's Sex Industry: A New
Commodity Frontier. Asian Survey, 48(3), 492-513. doi:224247756
Lee, S., & Han, T. (2006). The demise of "Korea, Inc.": paradigm shift in Korea's developmental
state. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 36(3), 305-324. doi:194230136
Map shows division of Korea at 1953 armistice that remains in effect today. [Image]. Retrieved
from http://www.japanfocus.org/-anthony-difilippo/3304#sthash.LOeW3R1U.dpuf
Mark P, B. (2012). The U.S. and the 1945 division of Korea: mismanaging the ‘big decisions’.
International Journal on World Peace, 29(4), 37-59. doi:194230136
[Mixed flag of South Korea and The U.S.]. (2011). Retrieved from
http://chambersjourneytoforever.blogspot.com/2011/01/happy-korean-american-day.html
Park, J. (n.d.). Confucianism in Korea’s Economic Revolution. Retrieved from Department of
history, University of Emory Web site:
http://history.emory.edu/home/assets/documents/endeavors/volume3/JoshPark.pdf
[Portrait of Confucius] on a blog. (2013). Retrieved from http://historical-
nonfiction.tumblr.com/post/39925123727/many-of-you-probably-know-that-confucius-
is-the
Silkroad. (2011). [image]. A Soldier at the Frontier Line. Retrieved from
http://blog.daum.net/silktime/16882979
Suicide rates by Gender from OECD. (2013). [Graph] in the Blog Spring tree. Retrieved from
http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=unknown8888&logNo=110164047994
The Cold War (2013). Collins dictionary Retrieved
from http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cold-war
The National Institute of the Korean Language. (2008). Want to Know About Hangeul?. Web.
Retrieved from http://www.korean.go.kr/eng_hangeul/setting/002.html
Urbandictionary.com (n.d.). Retrieved Dec 6, 2013
from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Konglish
Yoon, L. (2010, July 22). South Korea’s suicide problem. Wall Street Journal (Online).
Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704684604575382213752379230
Recommended