Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DRAMA OVERKILL]

The following is an excerpt from this week's TIME magazine in an article titled "Breaking Through":

... Koreans also say their art reflects the country's unique sensibility. For one thing, familial relations are strongly portrayed in its dramas. Yun Suk Ho, directorof four TV serials that have been smashes in Japan, talks of han, a Korean word for a deeply felt sense of oppression: "Korean dramas express sadness particularly well. The writer of Autumn in the Heart would cry when writing his script. the actors, during rehearsals, started crying too." Shin Hyun Taik, a film producer who runs a government funded foundation promoting cultural exports, emphasizes another aspect of han: a grudge mentality, with resentments directed at everyone from U.S. troops to Japanese politicians. "A grudge is part of our national sentiment," he says. "We have a talent for expressing this."


Does it take talent to express a grudge???

If holding grudges is considered part of this county's national sentiment then I feel kind of annoyed at, and sorry for, these people...

[cutebecca]

that article is really inaccurate. han means a lot of things, none of which are the "grudge mentality." han is a term which was created in the 1970s and was applied retroactively to Korean history. it embodies the pain felt in oppressive times and the strength to overcome the pain and succeed despite it.

go see the movie 'sopyonje' for a clearer idea of what it is. it has no firm definition, however, so be prepared for some deep analysis.

[riley]

did anyone else find that article to be a bit of a puff piece? I wasn't impressed by it. Seemed like it was written by the Korean Herald/Times

[Real Reality]

A key element of understanding "minjung" is being able to comprehend the concept of "han," which has been deemed as "untranslatable" by some Koreans but called by others an indispensable key in being able to understand the Korean soul (Cox 1995).

But more exactly, what is "han?" One scholar calls it a "feeling of unresolved resentment against injustices suffered, a sense of helplessness because of the overwhelming odds against one, a feeling of acute pain in one's guts and bowels, making the whole body writhe and squirm, and an obstinate urge to take revenge and to right the wrong -- all these combined (Nam-dong:55-72 quoted in Yoo:221).

Han is very deep rooted in Korean culture and the country's entire way of life has been profoundly shaped by the doctrine/concept (Yoo 1988).

Suh Nam-dong writes:

Koreans have suffered numerous invasions by powerful surrounding nations so that the very existence of the Korean nation has come to be understood as Han. Koreans have continually suffered the tyranny of the rulers so that they think of their existence as Baeksong (individually or collectively, those under the control of a sovereign. This term is nowadays used to mean common people). Also, under Confucianism's strict imposition of laws and customs discriminating against women, the existence of women was Han itself. At a certain point in Korean history, about half of the population were registered as hereditary slaves and were treated as property rather than as people of the nation. They thought of their lives as Han. These four points may be called the fourfold Han of the Korean people. Indeed, as the poet Ko Bun exclaims, "We Koreans were born from the womb of Han and brought up in the womb of Han." (Suh Nam-dong:55-72 quoted in Yoo 1988:222)
Another scholar says that Han is an underlying feeling of the Korean nation. While one aspect of Han manifests as a feeling of basic worthlessness, on the other hand it can also be displayed as a zest for life which comes to weaker beings. The first aspect can sometimes be sublimated to result in a demonstration of great artistic expression and the other aspect can result in a revolution or a rebellion (Yoo 1988).
By Jeremy Reynalds, Shamanistic Influences In Korean Pentecostal Christianity: An Analysis. (Spring 2000)
http://www.rickross.com/reference/yoidoyonggi/yoido3.html
=====================================================================

�� ��
�� �� [����] a grudge; a heartburning; rancor; spite; hatred; [��ź] a lamentation; a regret; grief; deploring ...
õ���� �� a lasting regret ...
���� �Ǵ� �� a grudge; grievances ...
�� ���� regrettable; hate...
http://endic.naver.com/endic.naver?docid=2894240

[lastat06513]

I think Han can go hand-in-hand with Jeong.

Jeong is a term used to express Korean hospitality and friendliness. I find this characteristic of Korea to be very attractive and wonderful.

Han is used to express the pain, sorrow, resentment at the oppression that Koreans feel they suffered throughout history and use it as an excuse to be resentful to anyone who is not "pure blood" to them.

But it can't hold its weight in ddong because there are countless other countries that were also used as a doorway of invasion by history's great powers of that particular time.
But the difference between them and Korea is that they use the periods as a learning experience and a way to integrate those experiences into their own cultures. Korea secretly keeps a grudge for what happened to it, as a child would, which also would keep Korea from truly becoming an international player in the world arena.

[Real Reality]

You can identify the typical Korean with the core being 'Jung'; Gentle Jung, detestable Jung, fine Jung, even if it is something bad we can say that we have gotten jung between us now. That is how much Jung means to Koreans, it is the basis of the nation. Koreans have plenty of Jung. The jung has also a side effect which is always not so good, thus might be a weakness of our jung but Koreans tend to get attached to people in a different sense to western people. Westerners have a tendency to break and cut off relationships when they feel necessary but because of the jung we possess once you are aquainted it is hard not to stick with them through thick and thin. However as times are changing the Jung of the Koreans are changing, because of the nuclear family traditions that have been the norm for the past 10-20 years.
Just a Hakwon
KOREA EDUCATION is an out-sourcing recruiting company of Korea's no. 1 foreign language institution franchise 'PAGODA.'
http://www.korearecruit21.com/english/korea_distinctive.asp

Explaining �� is always difficult. It's, I think, easier to start with ���� [����] "feelings" and then trackback. "Affection" doesn't really cut it, but it's a start. It's that (warm, positive) feeling you get (slowly, we're not talking about at-first-sight love or even just love, it's beyond that) about someone or something. Of course, it's also about love....
http://sungnyemun.org/weblog2/?theDate=20040609

��(��)
���� feeling; ���� emotion;sentiment; ���� love;affection; ���� passion; ���� human nature; ���� sympathy;compassion; ���� heart
��� �� conjugal affection
�׸��� �� longing; yearning
��ӴϿ� ���� �� affection for one's mother
���̵鿡 ���� ��Ӵ��� �� a motherly affection toward children
������ �� a sentiment of pity
���� �ִ� set one's affections on (a person)
���� �����̴� be overcome by one��s affection;be tied of (a person) by affection
���ڿ� ���� ��� become attached to [grow fond of] a girl
���� ���ϴ� become intimate [have an amour] with (a woman)
���� ���� be warmhearted [kind-hearted]
���̹�: �������
http://endic.naver.com/endic.naver?docid=2711420

[Zyzyfer]

[SPINOZA]

BOREDOM OVERKILL if you ask me.

I nearly fell asleep, dribbling into my soju.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[idealjetsam]

Hell, if you want a really good and accessible depiction of "han", watch the West Wing episode entitled..."Han". It has blown the mind of every Korean I have showed it to. (In all truth, because they just cannot fathom how a whitey portrayed it so well...)

[Hollywoodaction]