Christmas missing in South Korea

A surfer wearing a Santa suit rides a wave in the waters off the southeastern city of Pohang on Christmas Eve, Monday. Yonhap

By Kang Aa-young

The Christmas season is about delightful, illuminating decorations along with Christmas carols everywhere.

In the past years, however, for many there has been something missing during this most delightful season.

On Christmas Eve 2018, in a church located in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, a citizen walked into a cafe located near her church to order a cup of coffee. Church-goers and crowds filled the cafe in late afternoon.

It didn't take long for the citizen to realize Christmas carols, which are usually streaming live on radio on Christmas Eve afternoon, were completely missing in the cafe.

Shop owners were worried about music loyalty.

It is because of worried shop owners, who are wary of rising music service fees.

A number of non-franchise cafes and pub owners have stopped playing Christmas music.

Last August, the government revised laws to advance creators the right to bigger royalties from music sales. Playing songs in public spaces, including pubs and cafes will cost more according to the law. Though the Korea Music Copyright Association (KMCA) said small business owners won't be affected from the revised revenue distribution, new rules coming on music royalty payments triggered "fear" in some store owners already struggling to make ends meet.

"We do not know exactly how the law has been revised. We just stopped playing the music to make sure we won't get in trouble," a middle-aged woman, who works at the church-run cafe Pagus, said during a phone interview with The Korea Times, Monday.

Churches and nonprofits aren't subject to paying the fees but the church-run cafe is. For her, "trouble" refers to situations where the cafe has to pay unexpectedly high usage fees for playing music.

"Christmas just doesn't feel the same in Korea," said Sarah, 31, from England.

"In the U.K., for better or worse, it's basically inescapable. Glitter, tinsel, lights, Santa, nativity displays burst out at you from every cafe, shop, house, shopping center, and street. It's a national event that (almost) everyone participates in."

As the Briton mentioned, Christmas spirit is missing in Seoul, too.

People don't feel like it is Christmas.

Christmas music is not played in the street. Christmas trees are hard to find, with only some iconic places in Seoul have Christmas decorations.

The lack of Christmas in South Korea around this time is unusual, considering about 20 percent of the population of this country is Protestant. Together with Catholics, Christmas is a religious holiday for nearly three out of every 10 Koreans.

"In the West, Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year celebrated by more than just Christians, dominating retail spaces and TV broadcasts," said Alan, 40, a Canadian resident of Seoul.

"Here, it seems less commercial and more religious, and that's not necessarily a bad thing."

Celeste Kriel from South Africa said her country is no different in terms of Christmas spirit even though it is a multicultural country with many different religions.

"It's common to see families shopping together, buying gifts and preparing for the holidays, with Mariah Carey's Christmas album playing in almost all the malls and huge decorated trees and Christmas lights all around. Every year the downtown main road is decorated with huge colorful festive lights and there are Christmas Carol concerts in beautiful outdoor garden venues at night," she said. "In Korea, I don't really feel the Christmas spirit and sense of family as much. It seems more like a couples' holiday, here."

Why do Koreans no longer celebrate Christmas publicly?

Park Gwang-seo, president of Korea Institute for Religious Freedom, says there are several factors contributing to the silent Christmas season in Korea.

"In the past, Christmas was maybe the only occasion people could celebrate near the end of the year. But society has changed a lot and there are many things that interest people all year round," he said.

Park also said celebrating a religious event publicly has also become taboo over the past decades. "We do have freedom of religion. But an increasing number of people try to respect people who practice other religions and for this reason people don't seem to celebrate Christmas publicly."

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