[Kim Seong-kon] An inscrutable nation in East Asia

Koreans tend to be conscious of what others think of them, rather than what they think of themselves. Strangely, however they do not seem to care about what foreigners think of Korea. Embarrassingly, many foreigners I met lately call South Korea a weird country. 

Due to the nature of my job, I frequently meet with foreigners who either reside in Korea or are here on a visit. To my Korean friends who tell me that I spend too much time with foreigners, I humorously answer that it is an occupational hazard. The truth is that it is an occupational bliss for me because outsiders’ views are almost always penetrating and illuminating. Besides, I learn a lot from their insights and candid assessments of Korean culture and society.

Recently, Korea has been boiling over with the issue of the deployment of THADD in a local county. Many foreigners found it weird that Koreans are divided sharply at a time when their national security is at stake. In the eyes of foreigners, it obviously looks bizarre that while few South Koreans protest against the missile launches or nuclear tests of North Korea, many of them vehemently object to the deployment of THADD that is meant to protect them by detecting and destroying North Korean nuclear missiles launched at the South.

What would other countries do under similar circumstances? For example, what would the Americans do if Canada and Mexico were hostile to them? The answer can be found in what the Kennedy administration did when Russian fleets sailed for Cuba with nuclear missiles. Although their nation was so close to war with the Soviet Union at that time, the Americans did not oppose their government’s emergency measures. The U.S. government did not waste time to call for a referendum, either.

Foreigners also do not understand that in Korea you can get away with committing violence. Assaulting someone with eggs or other objects can be treated as a crime in other countries and thus the perpetrators can be arrested and punished. In Korea, however, politicians and law enforcement officers should be ready to be assaulted or beaten when demonstrators get upset. Since the assailants are hiding in the crowd, they usually do not get caught. To make matters worse, Koreans do not think of assaulting public figures or police officers as a big deal.

Foreigners told me that they are also embarrassed at the incredible awkwardness of the Koreans when arguing or negotiating with foreign countries. Indeed, we have a famous maxim, “Koreans turn into phantoms with supernatural powers when fighting against themselves, but they turn into fools when fighting with foreign countries,” which means, “When fighting with fellow Koreans, Koreans are so good, but when fighting with foreigners, they are so clumsy.”

In the past, Koreans were not good at playing international politics or reading global trends. As a result, they were unprepared when foreign troops invaded. The Japanese invasion in 1592 is a good example, and the Chinese invasion in 1636 is another. When Japan prepared to invade Korea in the late sixteenth century, the King’s envoy Hwang Yun-gil alerted King Seonjo that a Japanese invasion was imminent. However, another envoy Kim Seong-il, who belonged to Hwang’s rival faction, denounced Hwang’s report, even though he knew that Hwang was right. King Seonjo believed the latter and was not prepared for the impending war. The ruthless factional fighting and the King’s ignorance of the international situation resulted in the Korean Peninsula suffering the repercussions of the Japanese invasion for six long years.           

That is not all. The Goryo Dynasty perished in the fourteenth century because of the conflict between the pro-Mongolian and the pro-M’ing Dynasty faction. During the Joseon Dynasty, Korean politicians foolishly welcomed the Chinese invasion because they were unable to read the world map. Oblivious to the approaching fall of the M’ing Dynasty, they refused to recognize the newly established Ch’ing Dynasty. The Korean people’s factional fighting and ignorance of the changing world culminated in the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, which lasted for thirty-five years.

Unfortunately, the tradition still seems to persist, as we now witness the clashes between pro-American and pro-Chinese people regarding the deployment of THADD. In other countries, people unite in times of crisis, especially when national security is at stake. In South Korea, however, we are still divided and are prone to fight each other at critical junctures. People vehemently reject THADD, yelling, “Not in my back yard!” But what if North Korea launched nuclear missiles at the South and we were unable to detect or shoot them down in the air? Then, we would be annihilated hopelessly.

Listening to the foreigners I met, I was embarrassed and worried. We should be united and raise our voice in unison not just to survive, but also to thrive in these difficult times.

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. -- Ed.