Korean Job Discussion Forums

[JongnoGuru]

This isn't interesting enough for a poll, or "useful" enough for a Q&A, but what do you think of what an expat friend said last night:

"I don't care what Koreans say about this city or that city being somehow 'special' --
This country has only two places: Seoul or shigol (the countryside)! "

I think everyone thought he was being kinda rude and insensitive... But we all snickered quite a bit nonetheless.

That friend has lived outside of Seoul, and now lives in the capital. The Guru's never lived anywhere but "the belly-button of the universe" (Seoul, naturally) since arriving in the Republic, so I'm not really in a position to judge.

To what degree is that true?

Do Korean cities and regions outside the capital truly have their own unique flavour, character and pace?

Or is it just 37 different variations of mul kimchee... and Seoul is wang kalbi?

[the_beaver]

I'll one up your buddy -- in Korea there's only the an incredibly large city of hicks with their more deeply hickish cousins outside of that city.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[Demophobe]

Ghosts....

[JongnoGuru]

Okay, I really wasn't looking for opinions about the Koreans, but about the character (or characterlessness) of cities & regions outside of Seoul.

But considering I've only had 2 responses, I'm not complaining!

I think I would have received more comments if I'd titled this thread: "I'm the greatest and I live in Seoul -- Everywhere else in Korea is the sticks, and all you bozos who live there ain't nuthin' but a bunch of slack-jawed hicks!!!"

The Guru

[peppermint]

I understand where the OP is coming from - a lot of Koreans, and foreigners too hold that opinion. I used to live in Cheong ju, and one of the expressions I heard students there use often was "countrytique". ie not sophisticated.

[JongnoGuru]

Thanks, Demophobe! (who posted while I was writing my previous comment) That's closer to what I was looking for.

Still, though, I wasn't really aiming to start a board-war between Seoul and everywhere else... Seoul is obviously so different than anywhere other than Seoul that it's not a useful comparison. And even my friend, mentioned in my opening post, wasn't so much making the point that Seoul is great and the countryside sux (or maybe he was), but more specifically that Seoul is unique and the rest of Korea is much of a muchness. At least, that's how I understood his comment.

The Guru

[visviva]

I would definitely disagree with the statement the OP quotes. I've done stints in Seosan (west coast) and Waegwan (near Daegu), before landing my new gig in Anyang (Seoul area). I've also travelled around quite a bit during that time.

Each of the areas I've visited has had a very distinctive atmosphere and heritage. For instance, the rural Gyeongsang provinces (think Andong, Jinju, to some extent Gyeongju) retain an air of Neo-Confucianism which correlates with their historical role as a Neo-Confucian stronghold. Also that area has great food that you can't get anywhere else (a few restaurants in Seoul serve something called jjim-dalk, but it isn't even close). You could say similar things for each of the distinct regions of Korea -- Gangwon, Jeolla, the west and east coasts, of course Jeju, etc.

On the other hand, neighboring towns within a given region are pretty similar. For some reason, every local government makes a huge deal out of various local "specialties," as if people came from all over the world to eat the local variety of cabbage. So I would say it's true that the differences among Korean localities are often overblown -- but nonetheless Korea outside Seoul is a very diverse and interesting place.

If variety and livability were my only concerns, I would never have come to the Sudogwan, where everything is pretty much the same.