Responding to 'Hell Joseon'

By Benson Kamary

About three years ago, I defended my thesis on a comparative study of my country, Kenya, and Korea in the context of new media technology as a culture-shaping agent. As a way of subduing nervousness, I told the dissertation panel that the names Kenya and Korea begin with the letter “K”and comprise of five alphabetical letters. They chuckled. Apparently both countries have about the same GDP size, except that this fact was only true approximately 60 years ago! But that is a story for another day.

Let’s talk about “hell.” Several media outlets recently carried stories about “Hell Joseon,” a newly coined term referring to how tough life in Korea is. A survey reportedly showed that eight out of 10 Koreans wish to emigrate. A young schoolgirl in a video interview trending on Facebook proclaimed that she would rather live in “any country beside Korea.” On her retort I muttered “Chinja” (really)? But let’s excuse her knowledge of global affairs. You see, many people around the globe continue to have more appetite than food or overwhelmed by sleep but no place to lay their heads on. If you asked me, there is a lot of struggling out there.

But let’s be fair. Korean young people’s concerns about rigid systems and related social pressures are genuine, yet not hellish ― in my opinion. I have read about Korea in the 50s and 60s. I also have heard from people who ate one meal in three days after the Korean War. Globally, and this is unfortunate, conflicts, poverty, corruption and lack of economic opportunities continue to drive millions of people to devastation. Yes, young Koreans deserve to be listened to, nurtured and empowered to respond to the actualities of the so called “Joseon Hell” open mindedly.

From an educator’s point of view, having studied in Korea and now teaching here, I can easily echo what is already in the public domain: Korea’s education is riskily competitive. As I argued in this newspaper before, a worldview which outlines education’s purpose as for making money and living happily thereafter is not only misplaced but also fallacious. Such a view is tantamount to commodifying education instead of training learners to respond to the needs of the society in which they live.

As I concluded my thesis back then, I cited a number of ways in which Korea’s development could be a model for my motherland. Nevertheless, I cautioned that “if Kenya is to emulate Korea, she should be careful enough to study the social impact from some of the aspects of Korea’s rapid development including stressful working culture and competitive education system.

A few days ago, an article on this newspaper asserted that Korea's stressful life is a killer and “Koreans remain among the unhappiest people in advanced economies with many of them suffering from depression, although in appearance cutting-edge technology, flashy buildings and wide streets dominate their environment.”

In my opinion, Korea needs to have a conversation with itself. As I see it, such a conversation is a responsibility of all the stakeholders ― parents, students, teachers, private sector and the government.

On campus I relish our Mentoring Program, a platform where a few students meet with a professor for guidance, questions, discussion and yes, to talk about real life struggles. With my students, we talk, we laugh, we shout, we eat, and sometime go silent reflecting on what society has made education to be, and our role in it. If our education does not lead us into a reflective conversation about our bliss and struggles in the society, I wonder what will.

Benson Kamary is a professor at Tongmyong University and the Chairman of Kenya Community in Korea (KCK). He can be reached at bkamary@yahoo.com.