Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Stephen Ireland]

Do u find people from the countryside ruder and more foul mouthed than people who are originally from Seoul?

The reason I say this is because I recently went out drinking with co-workers and one co-worker in particular kept calling me ke seki, shibal seki etc... When i asked why he was so rude the other Korean Co-workers dismissed it by simply saying "I'm sorry about him he's from Jeolla"

So has anyone had similar experiences to this? Or can anyone refute this?

[Chet Wautlands]

I was in Namwon (Jeollabukdo) this weekend. My Korean friend kept commenting on how often the people around her were swearing. She told me that people from Jeolla and Gyeonsang provinces are normally more foul mouthed.

It's probably true for most, but I'm also sure there are many exceptions.

[misher]

gf's parents are both from cheollanamdo and it is one of the reasons why she hates going there to visit relatives. She despises swearing.

[thrylos]

No, you're right. The Cheollanamdo folk are akin to the rednecks of the US. Not all, but that's the prevailing view even within Korea.

My wife's from there, but we live up in Kangwon. She insists that it's because of a history of everyone putting them down and because of their 'strong spirit'.

I beg to disagree. When I was living down there and we were dating, (older) people would spit towards us and call her....,well, not nice things. As soon as I started understanding their comments, she'd have to hold me back from belting those SOB's. Needless to say, I didn't stay there much longer once my Korean became a bit better and I understood all the side comments.

Now, in the 'rural countryside' Kangwondo, every time we say she's from Kwangju, folks here say "sorry". I say "me too".

[bobbyhanlon]

to the OP, was he calling you those things in a joking/friendly way, or did he really mean it?
i'm from manchester and remember being shocked when a brummie mate told me that people there sometimes call eachother 'tw.at' or 'tosser' as a term of endearment.

as for jeolla-do, yeah it has a certain reputation. but then i had quite a few jeolla-do friends in seoul who were great, so i tend to think the whole thing is a bit overdone.

[misher]

Yeah apparently saying you're from Jeollanamdo isn't exactly a good thing. I told my gf once while I was drunk in front of her friends that she has a pure jeolla face and looks like a jeolla princess of the old days. Her friends were almost rolling on the floor with laughter and she was pissed...hahahahah...

Jeolla also has a reputation of being the region of Korea that rails the hardest against any foreign presence. Apprently Jeolla was the "rice bowl" of SK for centuries and was always a primary target of invading hordes like the Japanese or Mongols. So when I hear that your Korean girlfriend will get spit at and called a michin Changnyeon then I'm not too surprised. The contempt for anything foreign still lingers there.

[misher]

[jvalmer]

You guys are all wrong, the 40 generation are just pissed that Jeolla was on the butt end of the development stick in the last 40 years. The last region to see any development. Also many of the leading pro-democracy/anti-government figures in the 70's and 80's came form Jeolla-do. Well that's my take on their reputation.

Anyways I find the swearing is pretty spread evenly among people from all the regions.

[samd]

[Stephen Ireland]

I beg to differ. Afterall, you don't know that those 40 something year olds are from Seoul. They might be from Jeolla.

In fact, come to think of it maybe most of those swearing ajossis you come across are from Jeolla!!

All jocking aside I plan on going with my Korean girlfriend someday for a social experiment.

[thoreau]

Just remember, those from Jeolla are the ones you have fought oppression throughout Korea's history while the pretty boys in Seoul were bowing to their Japanese overlords.

[Jane]

As a poster said earlier, Jeolla has gotten the short end of the stick over the years when it comes to development and investment, and so it's considered the 'ultra country' today.

However, my in-laws live in Jeollanamdo, and I always enjoy going there as I find the people more courteous than in Seoul and that people are more down-to-earth and easy-going (and more pleasant overall).

I always thought Gyeongsangdo people got a bad rap for being more abrasive. I've heard the phrase: 'Never marry a Gyeongsangdo man.' Don't know if it's true though.

[Summer Wine]

My understanding of the Jeollanam-do issue is that traditionally it was a kingdom that was conquered first by the shilla and then overtaken by the chosin. In the 1940's approx 80% were slaves or serfs according to the person I spoke with who farmed land for owners in Seoul.

Thus when the communists entered the region, they supported the whole lets keep what we make for ourselves, plus with the revolt by soldiers in the region during the korean war and thier support for NK.

The region was conquered by the south, the rebels executed and pretty much treated as the enemy by Seoul. Its left quite a bitterness in the mouths of those in the area and up north who view each other with not a lot of love.

Its not because they are rural in mentality as much as they have been left without development until recently almost as a sort of punishment it seems, plus the other historical disputes haven't helped. i guess its kind of like the nationalist scottish and english disputes or the attitude some welsh can hold towards the english.

It seems a similar issue here, it appears to be one of the reasons they speak derogatorily about them.

[Yaya]

[Bloopity Bloop]

So is this sort of analogous to Tokyo and Osaka folks? I guess Osaka isn't the country, though. But the people are more fierce, speak with a "country" dialect (Osaka-ben), and are looked down upon by those in the capital.