Having worked and lived in Korea for 12 years now, I have observed many traditions and ethics ― mostly good, some less good.
I’ve seen some Korean bus drivers literally greet every person who enters or disembarks his bus.
It is extremely courteous, and one can only imagine how much such a person has invested on the “bank of good ethics” at the end of his life.
I was wondering, though, whether he could keep it up.
Some express-bus drivers courteously stand at the exit of the bus to greet all the passengers, who in turn greet the driver and express their gratitude for the safe journey.
Korean folks just love to share food with others, any time, anywhere ― who wouldn’t love such a culture?
What about the drinking of soju and beer in the society in this nation of Korea?
In many countries in the world, drinking alcohol, especially by women, is frowned upon ― not so, in Dae Han Min Guk!
After I changed my life for the better in 1978, I was working on a fishing boat, and we were out for monthly trips at sea. There were drinking sessions twice every day on the boat.
I made it clear that since I am a religious man, I will not join any of these sessions.
Of course I had to make it up in other ways, to serve the other seaman in creative ways; otherwise they would have taken it out on me, being the odd one out.
Christians were challenged for ages for refusing to work on Sunday.
Now young Korean workers have the same challenges with regard to working six days a week or resisting from joining the casual drinking culture.
Many young workers in Korea lack the courage to explain to colleagues at their companies that they will not participate in drinking sessions after work, as they need to join their families. This harms family ethics.
Of course it is good for the working-together spirit to go out with colleagues once in a while.
Some Koreans say that it is part of their culture, but it was part of every country’s culture in history.
It is remarkable that it is completely acceptable even for women to drink alcohol, while there is some reservation sometimes in many Western nations about this.
One reason might be that at one time of another in Western nations, Christianity was completely accepted on a national level, so that many people still have an uneasy feeling about it.
For the acceptance of a new set of ethics, exceptional openness of spirit and mind is a condition though, and a certain new rebirth that puts us on a new level, so to speak.
Therefore, we can see in history that, for instance, after the appearance of Buddhism and Christianity in Korea, many new ethics were introduced.
Some ethics may evolve. For instance, when one is young it may be appropriate to have some level of shyness.
But as confidence, skills, knowledge etc. grow and we get older, shyness, ideally, needs to develop into confidence with humbleness and generosity.
On a family level, since many wives are working and helping to increase the family income, it is only reasonable that husbands help their wives with the housework. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Many people worry about the ethics in society, but they do not see any way to change the situation, so they think, “Why bother?” It becomes then easy then to ignore the “gathering of clouds” and hope the problems will magically take care of themselves. However, they usually don’t.
A place to behold beautiful ethics is a Korean temple in the mountains, early in the morning. One reason for the good Korean ethics is that, contrary to rulers in other parts of the world, who often were fighters or generals, kings in the land of the morning calm were often scholars, studying and reading.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Koreans are just reading ― on the contrary, they can fight bravely, too.
By Frans Baatenburg de Jong
Frans Baatenburg de Jong is a missionary in Seoul. ― Ed.
