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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:24 am Post subject: Most Koreans Would Be Reborn Elsewhere |
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Most Koreans Would Choose Rebirth Elsewhere: Poll
Most respondents in a recent poll by the image and video portal site Digital Inside said they would hate to be reborn as Koreans. Asked, "If you were born again, would you want to be born as a Korean?" 67.8 percent or 5,681 of 8,406 visitors to the site said they would rather be reborn as a citizen of another modernized nation. Only 24.4 percent or 2,042 said that they would want to be reborn as a Korean, while the rest were unsure.
Respondents gave a variety of explanations for their choice. The education system and mandatory military service were top among them, as was the need for political, economic and social reforms. Countries that were most popular for reincarnation were Switzerland, Denmark, Japan, Canada, Germany and the U.K.
Chosun Ilbo (September 1, 2006)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200609/200609010024.html |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:26 am Post subject: |
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| How the HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL did JAPAN get to be No. 3??????? |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| Hah, eloquently put, Mr. Guru. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:33 am Post subject: |
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heh... those results sent me into wild convulsions of disbelief!
either that or my "L" key is sticky. And my "?" key. |
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Guri Guy
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Bamboo Island
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:41 am Post subject: |
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| Maybe Koreans are secretly jealous of the Japanese??? |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:45 am Post subject: |
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| Guri Guy wrote: |
| Maybe Koreans are secretly jealous of the Japanese??? |
That's not news, GG. What is news -- and encouraging, in a way -- is that so many of them are willing to admit (or at least indicate) it in a survey. |
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Guri Guy
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Bamboo Island
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:27 am Post subject: |
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Heh heh. I was thinking the very same thing. I think Koreans in general have an inferiority complex (they shouldn't though)and this survey kind of shows that.
I wonder how many Canadians would wish to be reborn as another nationality? |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:08 am Post subject: |
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How strange.
Something we have no control over is where we are born, and who our parents and siblings are.
I guess everybody would like beauty, wealth and brains. |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:10 am Post subject: |
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| Guri Guy wrote: |
I wonder how many Canadians would wish to be reborn as another nationality? |
I was gonna choose somewhere in Europe, maybe Ireland or Italy, or maybe Australia first, but then figured Newfoundland would be OK. I was a bit too young to realize I would be Canadian though. UGH. We all make mistakes when we're young. |
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Caledonian Craig
Joined: 13 Jan 2006
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:41 am Post subject: |
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A bit random, no?
LoL! They really love that place. I suppose because it's a polar opposite to their own country. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:31 am Post subject: |
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| Caledonian Craig wrote: |
A bit random, no?
LoL! They really love that place. I suppose because it's a polar opposite to their own country. |
I've seen results of a poll that used to be (and maybe still is) conducted every year in Korea: "Which country do you admire most?" These were actually tables of results going back to I think the early 1980s, so you could see how attitudes changed over several decades. It's obviously not the same as this hypothetical "reincarnation" question -- I think the Koreans of an earlier time would have found that question bizarre, if not a little offensive -- but there does seem to be some overlap in the answers.
Among the countries most admired by Koreans in the 1980s and into the 1990s, you'd frequently see Switzerland, the US, the UK, France, Germany and... prepare yourself now... Israel. Seemed an odd choice, so I asked some people about that. They said they (Koreans) admired Israel because they saw in it a reflection of themselves. Both were plucky young countries in bad regional neighbourhoods, both were established in 1948, both had what you might call "legitimacy problems" (Israel with the Arab World, the ROK with the Communist bloc) and of course both were not just close allies of the US, but also had a very pro-American general populace. Then, not now in Korea's case.
I wish I had the tables now instead of having to go by memory. I think but cannot say for sure that Japan may have made the Top 10, as well.
From the early and certainly by the mid-1990s, perceptions had changed fairly dramatically. The US and Israel slid further down (or even right off) the list of most admired nations, while the loosening of travel restrictions and increased study abroad meant that Koreans were becoming aware of places like Scandinavia and Canada.
Besides seeing "Japanese" as the third most desirable nationality to be reborn as (there's gotta be a smoother way to say that), I was also surprised to see such a high number (over two-thirds) of all respondents hoping they won't... um... come back as Koreans. If that question were put to Koreans in the 1980s -- despite being a great deal poorer, despite the Chun regime and the absence of genuine democratic institutions or freedoms, despite the closed economy, despite the travel restrictions -- I would really like to think that figure would be significantly lower. Those Koreans were the "children" of Park Chung-hee, and for all his mistakes and his repressiveness, Park did not raise a nation of crybaby, self-loathing, Swiss or Danish wannabes. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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What I would like to know is.......
Are these results published in KOREAN, in the KOREAN newspaper as well?
I often wonder if they just do these little polls just for foreigners. |
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Talbain
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Location: Cedar Park, TX
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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I always tend to scoff at statistics such as these. There's just too many factors to consider when you're asking a person a question like that. I see this as the opinion of 8,000 or so Koreans, not the nation as a whole.
Were the test much larger, the people chosen at random, and the test conducted multiple times, I might give it more credence. Of course, this test suffers from participation bias, so it fails as an accurate statistical test anyways.
But it won't be, and most people will believe that the 8,000 speak for the nation.
As for people wanting to be born in another nation, I think just about anyone who hasn't traveled a lot would probably like to be born in another nation, or think that they'd have a better life elsewhere. Yet having traveled some during my young life, I can say that life for everyone everywhere varies. Some have it worse, some have it better, but there's no hard and fast rule for what qualifies a good or bad place to live, much less a place to be reincarnated to. So, before anyone answered a question about reincarnation, I think the first question that should be asked is: "What would you want from a place in which you were going to live?"
This is more of a hypothetical, but if you were asked: "Where would you want to be reincarnated?" Out of the blue, I'd bet you'd simply be pretty confused and likely give an answer without giving it much thought (which is likely why 1/4 simply said they didn't know). |
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doggyji
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Location: Toronto - Hamilton - Vineland - St. Catherines
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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Do you want to be born as a South Korean? I'm asking you. Just that they are Korean now doesn't mean they ought to choose to be reborn as Koreans. Why not try something else?  I think it's great that I'm Korean and all but if I could choose my nationality in the first place, I doubt I'd select Korea among many other options in the whole world. Korea can be a headaching place for some. The general uptight competitiveness of society, the long-lasting cease-fire state, the problems with neighbours and politics, etc. Of course, nationality solely doesn't say much about the personal situation you will be put in. But in general, don't we like wealthier nations with refined social security systems and peaceful atmosphere? Of course, I would much like to be born into a 0.1% top rich family in a decent developing country than to be be born dirt poor in a wealthy advanced country. 
| tzechuk wrote: |
What I would like to know is.......
Are these results published in KOREAN, in the KOREAN newspaper as well?
I often wonder if they just do these little polls just for foreigners. |
I couldn't find anything about these polls on any Korean portal sites such as Naver and Daum. |
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Talbain
Joined: 28 Aug 2006
Location: Cedar Park, TX
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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| doggyji wrote: |
| Do you want to be born as a South Korean? I'm asking you. Just that they are Korean now doesn't mean they ought to choose to be reborn as Koreans. Why not try something else? I think it's great that I'm Korean and all but if I could choose my nationality in the first place, I doubt I'd select Korea among many other options in the whole world. Korea can be a headaching place for some. The general uptight competitiveness of society, the long-lasting cease-fire state, the problems with neighbours and politics, etc. Of course, nationality solely doesn't say much about the personal situation you will be put in. But in general, don't we like wealthier nations with refined social security systems and peaceful atmosphere? Of course, I would much like to be born into a 0.1% top rich family in a decent developing country than to be be born dirt poor in a wealthy advanced country. |
It's not asking if you want to be reborn rich or poor, as the answer to that for most- though not all- people is obvious, it's asking where you want to be reborn. As for the rest of the problems you mentioned, they exist everywhere. There is no such thing as a generally peaceful state, except the one you've created in your mind. Every country has problems with something, there is no country where life is simply a free ride, and there are certainly no countries where no one is poor.
America, while being one of the richest countries in the world, also has one of the highest crime rates and work weeks that are continuing to become longer and longer, its social security system is falling apart. Italy has problems amongst itself due to its recent unification, and there's a huge amount of social and cultural problems that need to be dealt with. England has recently become paranoid of the possibility of terrorism in their own back yard. Japan has extremely high living costs, particularly on property. There is no free lunch. |
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