Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ThreeDogNight]

Han. What is it and what does it mean? Last night I was reading a book that said Koreans are struggling with this concept of 'Han', which is suppressed emotion, or psychological trauma, due to The Korean War, which manifests itself in various sorts of fashion. Sometimes rage. Sometimes nationalism, and sometimes emotional and political upheavals.

Anyone else out there here about this 'Han' besides just the Han River?

[whatthefunk]

Its from Chinese...it means big. At least thats what ive been told. Never heard of any other meaning.

[rapier]

that would explain a lot.. What is needed is more openness about history and what happened,.. but I suppose the healing process will never be complete until the 2 Korea's reunite.

[ThreeDogNight]

I delved into it a little further. This concept of 'Han' represents, or depicts, all of Korean society and the national fervor now taking place. It's almost as if Koreans are 'out for revenge,' or are releasing that pent up emotion, which we now daily experience.

The separation of families during the Korean War is a case in point. The re-union of families has catapulted the Korean consiousness into another dimension. But. . .

I've often wondered why Koreans felt so emotional over things like Japan, The Korean War, North Korea, but seldom spoke of these things publicly, and when brought up, often disregarded them. Years have taught them to repress such feelings with a sense of hopelessness, which perhaps is characterized by the drunkeness, the survival mode of thinking, and other facets of Korean society we see as the negative side, but which explains this behaviour well.

[yodanole]

"Han" also means first. Consider the implications of this for the Korean world view.

[Bulsajo]

What is the sound of one Han clapping?

[gibbythecat]

why do they shout all the time?

is it because the sound of one han clapping is silence?[as far as the world is concerned]


hiseoul welcome to the dynamic diverse friendly exciting up to the minute hub of the world

[BTM]

Sadness, of a special collective sort which is also expressed by an individual, which falls somewhere between grief and melancholy.

Or so I've read.

[HardyandTiny]

The concept of Han
It went dead in the 90's along with the "museum without walls', "we have four seasons", "ginseng makes you strong", "korea very conservative", "korea invented metal typeface", "north koreans have horns"....

To believe ANYTHING, and to be frightened by and resist people who do not believe ANYTHING, that is HAN.

oh I almost forgot....
I envy you!

[YellowFella]

Goodness! I think one should be mindful of much more history than that since the Korean War when considering Han.

As a people, the Koreans have been invaded by foreign powers, so I've herad, more than seven hundred times in their history. Seven hundred!!! That is a lot. When huge portions of the population have directly experienced bloodshed, loss, and grief, there is a collective grief. Sadness. This is what Han is, from my understanding.

But if you haven't read up on the Japanese Occupation then you won't understand at all the latest scars the Korean people bear in their collective consciousness. People think horrors about Hitler and Germany, but the Japanese treatment of Koreans was just as chilling, inhumane, absolutely beep brutal.

There is a memorial/museum set up about this. I forgot its name but I really recommend it, as I would recommend the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles. The Japanese didn't have concentration camps and they were very meticulous in destroying evidence of their experiments and torture methods, but the fact of their atrocities are undeniable. Koreans don't make this kind of beep up for rivalry's sake.

I shudder to think someone could even treat animals the way Japanese treated Koreans.

Edited twice by Harpeau -foul language. 7/11/03 noon PST.

[Hank Scorpio]