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Korean Expert: Understanding Korea Through Proverbs #02

From: https://seoulcomplex.com/posts/2017/08/511/language-korean-expert-understanding-korea-through-proverbs-02/

It has been said that to understand a people, you must know their proverbs. There’s a lot of merit to this argument, especially since proverbs tend represent a common set of values, beliefs and ideals for a culture.

Each week, I’ll teach you brings you two Korean proverbs that you can use in everyday life (and sound like a complete boss). This is for all you wanting to know more about the language than the “Annyeong” and “Saranghae”, wanting to get deeper into the psyche of the typical Korean.

      남의 떡이 커 보인다 Phonetic: “Namui ddeogi keo boinda”

Literal: “Someone else’s rice cake always looks bigger.” Meaning: “You always think someone else is better off than you.”

PSY actually paraphrased this proverb in the lyrics of ‘Right Now‘, the title track of his fifth album ‘PSY FIVE‘. I think the proverb is in many cultures. The most common English version of this is “The grass is always greener on the other side.”

However, “the grass is greener” is only one application of this proverb. It is generally used when one person covets the possessions or situation of another person. It’s noting that our perspectives are skewed to devalue the things that we already have, even if they are the same as, or maybe even better, than the things we don’t yet already have. It is supposed to help us learn to understand the value of what we already have.

    가랑비에 옷 젖는 줄 모른다 Phonetic: “Garangbiae ot jeotneun jul moreunda”

Literal: “You don’t notice your clothes getting soaked by drizzle.” Meaning: “It’s difficult to recognise change or danger when it happens or creeps up gradually.”

We should always be aware of our surroundings and situation. Many things in life happen gradually and quietly, but those things can be very significant. Always be alert for the warning signs in case they come, and try to think ahead if you sense that something may be a problem.

The little things add up: what might not seem like an issue now, may become something that is far too big for you to deal with.

[shitonionsays]

Anonymous asked: How do you recommend improving analysis of an economical situation? :O

From: https://seoulcomplex.com/posts/2017/08/503/anonymous-asked-how-do-you-recommend-improving-analysis-of-an-economical-situation-o/

Anonymous asked:

How do you recommend improving analysis of an economical situation? :O

  Look at all possible variables that are currently known, and list them.

Look at all possible variables that are unknown, and list them.

Identify unknown variables you can estimate or infer values of, using other information.

Apply models you currently know.

Identify unknown variables you cannot estimate or infer values of, and theorise on unknown variables you have not been able to identify.

Theorise on the effects they may have, thus showing the limitations of your analysis.

Identify the assumptions you have made in the analysis, thus showing the limitations of your analysis.

Test your model by looking at past case studies, and test its predictive capabilities with real life.

Identify where your model/system fails and try to improve it.

[shitonionsays]

한(恨): Korea’s Undying Vengeance (Part I)

From: https://seoulcomplex.com/posts/2017/08/476/%ED%95%9C%E6%81%A8-koreas-undying-vengeance-part-i/

Understand Han, and you’re finally on your way to understanding the Korean people.

  I had a look on wikipedia for reference and found an interesting quote from a theologian, stating that Han is “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.”

There are some words in the Korean language that does not have a direct translation to any other language. The closest translation is 恨 (hèn) in traditional Chinese. This character was the result of  an approximation that old scholars used, since Korea had yet to develop its own writing system.

As far as I understand, 恨 in China has come to mean something closer to hatred, animosity, or resentment in modern times; the contemporary definition differs enough from the spirit of Korean “Han” to be considered misleading.

  What exactly is Han?

Han is difficult thing to explain but it is one of the major concepts that, when understood, would explain so much of what makes Korean people so “Korean” to outsiders.

Han is a culture that is taught not directly as a lessson to Korean children but is absorbed as part of the culture.

  It is accepted that everyone sus a Han on behalf of the nation and the people, but also harbour personal Han from life experience.

Ever since I was a child, I can remember my mum always telling me that South Korea was a small nation and that we had to fight and scrap for anything that we will get; for someone who moved to a predominantly white country at a young age, both the overt and the passive racism that I experienced probably tempered and also complicated my personal Han in many ways.

This sense of shared injustice probably has fed into another cultural aspect of Koreans, the Jeong that we feel for our homeland and for people who share our ancestry. It’s the basis why Koreans seem to typically “stick to our own kind” when studying or living abroad.

It’s a type of bond that makes people empty out their own personal wealth to pay for national debt when the government goes bankrupt… even in the late 1990s.  That’s a subject I will cover in the future.

  Why so dramatic?

There are many nations, many peoples, many cultures that suffer inhuman, barbaric and chronic injustices, so why do Koreans make it the centre of their psyche?

  Sure, we were treated worse than animals while we were occupied and colonized by Japan, solely based on our nation of origin. We had our family names and national treasures stolen from us. We had our fair share of invasions and enslavement… but many other nations have had similar if not worse experiences.

  I think what sets the Koreans apart is how hierarchy formed the backbone of and still continues to shape of society. Meritocracy is still dependent on the bending of the knee to a superior, bowing to one’s seniors no matter what the circumstances; it is a system that disallows certain types of social leapfrogging in almost any form.

The feelings of Han is rooted in a frustrated, unfulfilled state and so naturally it is more wholly fulfilled with the injustice committed by a superior agent, one who is beyond the reach of the wronged, than with the injustices committed by an equal or lesser. With this hierarchy system so ingrained into Korean society and tacitly accepted as the eternal status quo, you can begin to see that any social institution and every person within them are under the influence of Han.

The Korean psyche begins with a deep-seated sense of grief and grievance that we have been somehow served injustices or live under the constant injustices of a powerful agent.

If that injustice somehow takes on a human form, like in the recent presidential scandal involving Choi Soonshil’s exploitation of businesses and institutions, Koreans have no problem marching out and protesting for weeks on end.

We are talking about allegedly 30% of the national population coming out to protest peacefully in the middle of the capital city, without a single arrest or criminal activity among the demonstrators.

Han is part of what feeds the Korean people their feeling of entitlement to justice and to be outraged by a physical manifestation of society’s injustices.

  Han, the collective spirit

I’ve seen people attribute so many of the stereotypical Korean actions to Han. Even if you spend a day with a group of Koreans, there is begging for forgiveness, lamentation of injustices and outbursts of frustration.

Seeing this as simply loud complaining or negativity will only frustrate a foreigner because attributing those actions to the familiar will result in Koreans still being somehow unpredictable.

  Korea will forgive people for great wrongs or demand retribution for the smallest of slights based on the shared conscious Han. They will groan and swear under their breath while completing and moving on to another task while at work. It is almost unnatural for someone doing serious work to be seen to be happy at work, since work is supposed to be a cross that one bears.

This shared conscious cultural process is why Koreans will understand emotional outbursts from other Koreans, while foreigners and tourists may find emotional outbursts among Koreans of all social backgrounds completely unpredictable, or too dramatic to be justified.

Even the exchange students and native English language teachers are likely to find such expressions difficult to relate with because Han very much depends on the Han of the moment, factors that are unseen below the surface that can be sensed more quickly and accurately by someone who shares that consciousness of Han.

  Trigger warning

Korea is a tiny region that suffered as a vassal, a battleground, slave provider, colony and whatever else to nations and kingdoms more powerful itself, many times over. We were a poor nation with a life expectancy of 23 in 1908 (that’s not a typo), ignored by the League of Nations as Japan finally destroyed our status as an independent country, was torn apart in a civil war driven by the world’s two superpowers…

  If I told you now that national Han shared similarities with grudges in that Han was additive and cumulated over time, you can imagine that the accumulated Han for the Korean people is incredibly intense and reasons numerous.

The slightest trigger could spark a self-feeding cycle of a feeling of injustice that can make a Korean display an intense outburst of emotions. For many, the safety release valve that tempers some of this is to share a drink with another person to talk freely about each others’ own Han.

You may have seen “going out to drink together for the first time” being referenced on variety shows and drama, but a reference this social custom is not just for mutual social enjoyment but a symbolic reference to the forming of a bond.

As someone who has lived in both Korea and the UK as an adult, I can tell you that this is much less “I want to have a beer with that guy” and more “I would like us to trust each other”.

This sharing of emotions is so intense that one evening and six bottles of soju are often enough to convince two people that they will henceforth be inseparable brothers (or sisters).

  My first compliment at work by a senior was when I finally snapped over the phone at a colleague from a different department, admittedly won the argument and slammed the phone down and swore in Korean.

Odd but I have incorporated that mindsets into other parts of my life and it has definitely brought people much closer to me.

Korean people don’t want to be around other people who are perfectly at peace all the time. They are conscious of their own human emotional imbalances and find someone who has Han to be more relatable. Yes, a positive person, a Dalai Lama is lauded and praised as a breath of fresh air, but Han never seems to go away.

I’ve come to learn that for some, hearing others lamenting about the present is somehow reassuring. Perhaps they want to know that they aren’t the only ones suffering injustices in life, finding a brother or sister in the suffering.

    [Stay tuned for Part II, where we will be covering what Han has meant for modern society, and why I think it will be an ironic roadblock preventing Korea from becoming the great nation it aspires to be]

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iara asked: Do you think it would be hard for them to pull a “Shinhwa” (or Beast)?

From: https://seoulcomplex.com/iara-asked-do-you-think-it-would-be-hard-for-them-to-pull-a-shinhwa-or-beast/

iara asked:

Hi. Do you think it would be hard for them to pull a “Shinhwa” (or Beast)? Even if I don’t think it’s possible now as most of them have already resigned. Just curiosity. Thanks!

  It would certainly be nice but it seems unlikely since some of them signed new extensions to their contracts back in January. Barring some crazily lenient clauses that allow the contracts to be voided without much trouble, it’s going to be difficult for them to get out of these contracts of exclusivity.

  I know people talk about “renewals” but that’s not correct. Even me casually calling them “extension contracts” is only half the story since these contracts are more about giving exclusive rights to an agency to manage (or take a cut) of your activities as a celebrity. With that in mind, you can kind of tell what SM’s wants out of these contracts, and you can probably tell that it’s unlikely that SM are not about to let go easily of the ones that have signed on again.

  Despite how they have been behaving in the past few weeks, SM can still potentially offer a lot to idols. You can keep calling the company names but there’s a reason they’re still growing as a company, why kids and their trainers want them to be accepted into the SM Academy, and why big celebrities signed on to join the SM Entertainment group. With so many idols wanting to branch out into acting and general entertainment, favour with SM can provide job opportunities with SM C&C-funded productions that a rookie actor from an average acting agency could never realistically hope to land.

  There was talk of SM being open to making a completely new kind of deal with SNSD to make sure that while SNSD members would have freedoms, SNSD as a group could still be active (and SM could still take a cut of any generated income). In light of recent events, I think maybe SM was just feigning interest to try and buy time so that they could do all the things that they did during the 10th Year Anniversary Comeback promotions.

[shitonionsays]

United We SONE – 8/16

From: https://seoulcomplex.com/united-we-sone-816/

For those of you who have been here for a while, you probably know me. Some of you may disagree with my how I conduct myself, but you know where my heart really is. You also know, whenever things are serious, whether you can or cannot believe what I write.

For those of you who are new, hello and welcome. Try to keep up with the rest of the pack because this patch of fandom is going to be a bumpy ride.

I’ve done a quick scan on twitter before writing this and I think most people have gotten the gist of my preliminary tweets, whether directly or via SONE hivemind. That’s encouraging since you’ll know where this post is headed.

  I’m cobbling this together as quickly as I can because I genuinely wasn’t prepared for how quickly SM would start the mediaplay. In hindsight, that was stupid and I should have been prepared so I want to apologize for that and will try to keep on top of things again – real life work commitments have been making investing time into fandom a hard task. The funniest part is I was just DM’ing a friend in Singapore about the “one week promo” situation at the time… so really caught with my trousers down.

I'm booting up my computer now. Funny thing is I was just DM'ing someone about this just before the mediaplay article broke. pic.twitter.com/SQRLBKWxay

— Changhwan Yoo

(@oniontaker) August 16, 2017

I will apologize in advance because the following text is not exhaustive account and summarizes/streamlines things. Details of deals that each member has or is negotiating won’t be talked about here: it’s a distraction. Please understand the position that I am in, like people used to understand back in the old days of fandom.

  Bringing you up to speed

SM’s contracts and negotiations were under wraps for the most part until I posted about how it worked, and luckily as it’s become common knowledge it makes my job easier.

SM usually start their idols off on a 5 year contract.

Idols are then usually offered 3 year extension deals with wholly different terms from their first contract (read: a lot better for them).

Idols are made to negotiate individually.

In SNSD’s case, like with almost all idols, their parents get involved with the negotiation (because Korean system of seniority and hierarchy makes negotiation between the agency and young adults very difficult).

Terms are loosely “renegotiated” at the beginning of every year of their employment, using the original contract as a framework.

Actual renewal negotiations are also done during the beginning of the year that it expires (so for SNSD, 2014 and 2017).

January is a pretty tense month for every idol under SM.

  Where the the timeline begins

Take yourself back to 2014. I think I was the first person to break the news at the time. SM usually likes to wrap up everything by the end of January but things went a few days over the deadline as SM were still finalizing terms with Jessica.

Here's to at least few more years of soshi. Glad everyome came to an agreement

— Changhwan Yoo

(@oniontaker) February 4, 2014

SNSD were doing great in January 2014. “I Got a Boy” had gotten them more critical praise and attention, they’d won all the awards, they were sweeping through with album sales, merchandise… More importantly they’d proven that they could divide themselves up to find successes in multiple fields.

I can’t go into any details on the terms but understand that SM gave them a very nice and cushy deal. Things went south towards the end of the year when things played out the way it did. I will still maintain to this day that no matter how many OT8 or Golden Stars will accuse someone or another, the fuller picture that I’ve been privileged enough to see has been that neither SNSD nor Jessica can be blamed for what happened in that time. I didn’t want to touch on it but I have to because it’s a relevant event on the timeline. Since I do, I need to stress that point as much as I can before moving on.

In the remaining contract period, SM got distracted with huge plans involving China and groups that were going to debut. Talk to anyone who claims to be an insider in SM and they will tell you that they are woefully understaffed and their leadership easily distracted by grand plans and ideas. It’s SM’s fault for not making full use of SNSD but try telling them that.

  The events of this year

Fastforward to the end of 2016 and January, yes the all important month of January, of 2017: SM want to average out what they had wanted from the previous three years with what they will be getting in 2017 to 2020. They want SNSD members to take the lowest possible deal.

SM are fielding several plays at once right now.

Carrot and stick the girls: Show the girls how much SM can give SNSD, and then snatch it away abruptly. You’ve probably seen enough gangster movie stereotypes to know a “play ball and things will stay nice.” when you see it in real life. I’m telling you as someone who’s been watching this play out for years from different companies… this is the entertainment industry version of it.

Carrot and stick the fans: Show the fans how much SNSD they could get, and then snatch it away abruptly. They want us to be worked up into a fever pitch and then beg for more, ignorantly, because we don’t know what’s going on under the surface. I’m telling you that begging SNSD members to “PLEASE STAY UNNIEEEE” is playing right into their hands.

Divide and conquer: they want to divide fandoms into pressuring individual members into doing what SM wants, since the public will be somewhat indifferent and fans will be the tastemakers in the community campaigning and complaining about the situation. I’m going to go deeper into this below.

I think they’ve already released to the media that some members have re-signed contracts and while that is “technically true”, “technically true” is dangerously misleading. Contracts are individually different and each member wants different solo activities (whether it’s acting, singing, variety shows) so all of the terms are different. The situation is intensely complicated and SM are taking advantage of that and trying to make sure that their misleading, simple narrative “some members signed but some members won’t”.

  When in doubt, SONEs, where do we look? We look to the girls.

During this comeback, when have the girls ever looked like they were singling anyone out? They don’t blame any of themselves for the choices they have made or the stance that they stand. You can feel how much they respect each other’s positions. You can feel how much trust the intentions of every other member in the group.

The picture of a divided group that SM wants to paint is a lie.

SM want there to be confusion and in-fighting, because we all know how in-fighting ends: we flock to our main biases and start pointing fingers at individual fandoms of other members to blame.

This cannot be allowed to happen because that is clearly not going to help the girls in any way.

They know each other better than anyone, and we trusted them before. Trust the girls again now, in trusting the other members.

  As much detail as I can share about “right now”

Do us all favor and keep hyping up Soshi They need you this month. Really. pic.twitter.com/8tCnv0Dbw7

— Changhwan Yoo

(@oniontaker) January 8, 2017

The member(s) who are still fighting SM at the negotiation table have refused to give in, even when SM issued an ultimatum to decide by January 31st (or else). To be quite honest, things didn’t look good in December when preliminary talks were coming out of SM to draw up the new extension contracts. It became rapidly clear as January started that things were not going to be easy.

I mean it’s crazy that they’ve been able to hold against SM for EIGHT MONTHS without giving in; our girls are strong women but I also don’t think you could do that without being able to believe in the support of the girls who had already re-signed. The crazier thing is that winning in small incrememtns right up until the comeback too; they were successful in negotiating SM to make changes to make the unfair contract fairer but quite frankly, it still is unfair.

It’s only now that SM are dangling a lot of different group projects in their face, hoping they’ll cave in for short-term things when the remainder of the three years .

  Going forward

There is no grand conspiracy from the K-Pop industry to dismantle SNSD. K-Pop is a business and if you’ll excuse the pun, you’re seeing the business end of it courtesy of SM Entertainment. This is brinksmanship at best and feels more like an inside job.

SM doesn’t always do this but when they do, things can get ugly.

This whole promo cycle. Being edited out of shows. Being excluded arbitrarily after those amazing teasers and a full week of epic promo. Drawing huge numbers to TV shows and album sales outpacing manufacturing speed.

  As fans, I don’t think we should, however passively, rush the girls, or pressure them into making decisions. SM is trying to use SONEs as a weapon against SNSD and we cannot allow this.

Trust in SNSD to make the right moves and continue to love and support them without picking sides.

[shitonionsays]

Culture 101 – Skimming Through Filial Piety

From: https://seoulcomplex.com/culture-101/

I’m starting our journey into learning about Korean culture here, because filial piety echoes both in spirit and in structure across many of the cultural aspects of Korea. If you understand this concept fully, then you’re going to find the rest of this additive journey much easier.

  Filial piety is something that a lot of people who grew up in Asian cultures will recognise in some form or another.

It has formed the basis of Korean culture for millennia. As with all traditions, its importance has diminished somewhat in recent times. The core principles have, however, persevered and remain a key cornerstone of life in modern South Korea. While one may be free to argue its importance, denying its significance here is to deny being Korean.

There are many practical duties and responsibilities tied to the relationship between parent and child, especially the sons, as well as to one’s generations of deceased ancestors. In general, it’s an entirely unequal relationship where the parents are to expect strict obedience from their children. Scholars and philosophers would always tell the people that a son who was rebellious was a criminal, not of the law of the land but of the laws of the balance of the universe.

Although it’s not observed in many families any more, one spoke politely to one’s parents (this is almost a sublanguage on its own). You would also be expected to yield to whatever your parents wanted for your future (Asians all relate amirite?). You would also take three years out of your life, dress like a beggar and live as a hermit in a hut beside your parents’ graves when they pass away (WAIT WHAT?). Meanwhile, Korean traditional culture maintains that our ancestors watch over us, and guide us from danger and to success.

If it sounds like I’m dropping a lot of

  Why do we observe it?

You might wonder why among Korean kids in the West, there aren’t more rebellious teenagers, who go against the wishes of their parents once they taste the sweet nectar of self-determination. Why do they respect, fear and love parents who expect them to exist and serve in such an oppressive culture?

It’s hard to say. Maybe it’s because what we knew from the first years of our lives, maybe it’s because somehow our parents are better at guilting us into doing things. I’m sure psychologists and anthropologists will have a lot to say about it but I think it would be easiest to point you towards something a little more recent than Confucius as an embodiment of what is at work.

  Look back to the period of the 1953~1996. These are two important landmarks in Korean history, one was the signing of the armistice that ended the fighting (but not the war) between the Republic of Korea (South) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North), and the other was the “IMF Crisis” (this is an amazing story all on its own that I’ll talk about in future).

It was a period of great political unrest, widespread abuse of human rights and rapid economic growth. I can’t even begin to describe how rapid, so some numbers might help. In the span of 35 years, Korea grew 6700% while America grew 790% in comparison.

When old people talk about “back in their day”, you might roll your eyes but when old people don’t want to talk about “back in their day”, I think it’s worth paying attention. Right up until my eldest uncle’s generation (not my father’s), there was an understanding that parents and older siblings would break their backs for the sake of the youngest children in the family. Whether that was working as glorified export slaves in coal mines in Germany where the Korean government took part of your wages, being paid to fight with outdated equipment in Vietnam during their war, losing limbs and lives in factories with horrific health-and-safety violations… I’ve heard that post-war generation being described as the “silent generation”.

The vast majority didn’t talk about their hardships or complain; they simply strove to build a better country for the future generations. I asked my uncle a few years back, what it was like working in a warzone. His answer didn’t answer my question but it did shine a light on something else. “One month out there paid for a semester of your father’s education.”

We were born learning that our parents, our elders, would make great sacrifices to enable things that were impossible. They toiled out there so that we could study and live a life better than theirs, so even from the point of view of an outsider, you can see why they may feel so invested in their children’s lives, and why they demand excellence.

  Culturally it goes deeper.

Some of you may know that tattoos are frowned upon in Asia. Many of those people know that tattoos are associated with organised crime, like to the Yakuza. That assessment is also correct in Korea but it’s not the full picture.

My grandparents once explained to me that in the past, a person’s body was not their own; a person’s body was a gift from their parents (you’re probably beginning to see parallels of religion within this culture, that one’s body is a gift from and a temple to God). Intentionally harming or marking one’s body is to insult, to hurt one’s parents and so the act of tattooing was considered an act of filial disobedience. This isn’t just “rebelling against the system” but metaphorically spitting on the face of those who gave you life with unconditional love.

This tattoo is a mindset that’s been somewhat lost with modern times (honestly, Korea has changed so much since the early 2000s, it’s insane). However, remind yourself constantly that you’re looking at a culture that sets filial piety in such high regard, in such a manner.

  Applications to wider culture.

This topic so big that it’s almost impossible to handle head-on. I’m probably going to be talking about immediate, practical and applicable aspects of it in Korean culture. If you want general information, I think wikipedia has a long article on Confucius and Neo-Confucians on the theory/philosophy of filial piety. I said earlier that if you understand Korean filial piety, you will find the rest of Korean culture easier to grasp and that still stands. There are echoes of this mindset in Korean culture, and the expectation to lead and follow commands are hammered home.

I talked earlier about the reciprocal responsibilities that each person has in the relationship of parent and child.  I also mentioned the “live as a hermit for three years when your parents die” thing, which is actually a thing, which I will also expand on later. Some of these things, you may know in different bits and pieces, but I am going to attempt to guide you through them on this site in the coming weeks and months.