Korean Job Discussion Forums

[catman]

I'm not in SK right now so I'm wondering how the populace seems to be reacting to the latesting happenings with the North?

Have students been talking about it at all?

[pkang0202]

1/10000000000000th of the outrage against US beef a couple years back.

[SpiralStaircase]

[cj1976]

The mild reaction from the general public could be because it was a military vessel that was sunk. Without trying to sound callous to the fellas that died, they do sign up for that kind of risk.
If it was a boatload of grandmothers and kids, then I think people would be much more outraged.

[djsmnc]

[Fox]

[cj1976]

True, some of those guys were young lads serving their mandatory stints. However, the fact it was a military vessel makes it (slightly) less terrible. Anyway, I'm glad that there's no massive public outcry, because when Koreans get emotional they sometimes do silly things.

[jvalmer]

[pkang0202]

It me its only the politicians and the media stirring thigns up.

None of the teachers at my school, nor my sstudents have said a peep about it. Usually there would be some outburst like, "teacher! American beef kill you!" or "Teacher! Myungbak Lee is a bad man!"

So far, nothing. In fact, I recently did an assignment to bring a news article to class. Not a single person brought a Cheonan article.

[djsmnc]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Politically, I think there are actions behind the scenes and that the government is taking the Cheonan sinking seriously. The issue is being well covered by media.

On the street, well, crickets. My students don't talk about it or write about it. No demonstrations, no rallies, no candlelight vigils, and this in a country which has a protest if someone farts in the wrong pitch.

Perhaps Koreans do talk about these things and have a whole world of chat we don't know about on Dave's. Who knows what ajoshis really talk about over beer. But on my campus there's nary a peep. What does it take?

[geldedgoat]

The (lack of) reaction here is really perplexing. I had a short discussion* with my Korean girlfriend about it shortly after the initial attack, and she said South Korea shouldn't do anything about it because it might start a war. I was unable to explain to her that another country attacking a South Korean military vessel in South Korean territory is already an act of war. Maybe if the North Korean torpedo had been strapped with an AIDS-infected NET and some U.S. beef we'd see some outrage.

*I say 'short discussion' because any time I try to explain an opinion I have about South Korea, no matter what it pertains to nor the manner in which it is explained, the discussion ends very quickly and is replaced by purely emotional nationalistic fit. Anyone else have this experience?

[Fox]

[jvalmer]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

I teach in a university program specializing in International Business and Relations. These are students who have about as globalized outlook as you're going to find in Korea, and even there I rarely get the idea that they conceive of themselves as part of a global community. It's still the binary that the world is made up of we Koreans and everyone else, and that globalization is really only the economic concept of marketing Korea outward. I try to crowbar people beyond that mindset, but am realistic about changing things.

And so what the North Koreans do is a family matter, and other countries are, well, not family. Whatever they do, they are we Koreans; and others are foreigners. Yes, young people don't have that sensibility so much, but they are socialized into this way of thinking, and it is deep in the culture. I do not know what can shake it beyond actual bombs falling, and even then this mindset may still remain.