Post-Colonialism and BTS

Courtesy of Nik

By David A. Tizzard

Until tigers learn how to write, every story will glorify the hunter. A mood of false consciousness will prevail, reifying the hunt, glorifying the kill. Now, in Korea, in RM, in its own culture, economy and politics, the tiger has learned to write. It is telling its own stories. Challenging the hunter. Pushing back. Reframing narratives. Reclaiming history. And becoming a bestseller in the process.

History matters

It's very easy to be cynical about K-pop. To see idols as little more than vacuous dancing marionettes: dehumanized and objectified. No longer people, but simply facades. Incapable of thought, originality, or personality. Such attitudes are not just limited to the K-pop industry though. Check any online forum or listen to discussions and you will hear the same repeated foreign observations about Korean people on a whole manner of topics, ranging from education, COVID compliance, social behavior and fashion. The same charges are applied even more fervently against the people of North Korea, of course.

The West is quick to judge people by their individuality. That is often the barometer for success. How much is the person themselves, how far do they express their inner workings, and do they rally against the status quo? This is a long-standing tradition and echoes throughout history, creating modern culture. You have Socrates drinking the hemlock and Jesus dying on the cross; Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and all the other existentialists. To be human is to be the individual. To stand against society. It's an important contribution to world thought and resonates widely. Particularly in the current era, with social media and the self as a brand.

Such figures, however, did not really register much in Korean traditional thought. In fact, until rather recently, the peninsula hadn't heard of many of them. Instead, Koreans were judged on their ability to adopt a role relevant to another person. The concept of ren (benevolence), a cornerstone of East Asian philosophy and Neo-Confucian ethics is composed of two logograms: one representing "person" and the other signifying "two." Thus, goodness is not found in the lone individual but rather when two people exist in harmony. They are distinct, separate, differentiated, but together they create a relationship greater than the sum of their parts. They become an older or younger brother, a father or a son, a wife or a husband. Instead of the persecuted social martyrs of the west, here the figures who resonated through history were those who became an archetype of the scholar, the queen, the soldier, the mother, the father, the prince, and so on.

For millennia these different moral systems and social codes created culture and people ― giving birth to music, literature, and all manner of expressions. Diversity reigned. Differences were stark, uncomfortable, and incompatible. And then, in a flash, the two worlds were brought crashing together in the age of imperialism. The west came to the east and offered trade and diplomacy; sometimes with gifts, other times with gunboats. Life here quickly turned upside down: dynasties imploded, cultures revolutionized, missionaries preached, slaves ensconced, philosophies died, communists rallied, and lands changed hands. Stability gave way to a vortex of unpredictable and unprecedented turbulence.

Arrested development

The West continued its development. Asia had to deal with post colonialism's psychological and physical ruptures. It had to debate the use or rejection of foreign ideas. Its people quickly divided themselves into nationalists, revolutionaries, capitalists, socialists, and all other manner of groups.

And as it struggled through this process in real-time, it was lamented for not being as developed as its counterparts. "Where is your democracy?" would come the cry. Quickly followed by exhortations for modern cities, capitalist practices, human rights, gender equality, McDonalds, and everything else. The West is quick to lament the faults it finds in Asian countries but, at the same time, equally disposed to forget that it went through incredibly similar processes during its own development.

But it's somewhat easier to develop those when you aren't reeling from exploitation and division. While Europe twirled to second-wave feminism, America championed Judith Butler, and television sets projected Modern Family, South Korea was busy dealing with modernization and democratization. It literally had to build its country (now divided in half) again and instill new ideas. It had to develop. And, against all the odds and predictions, it did. It absolutely crushed it. Transforming itself from an economic basket-case and cultural backwater to a leading player on the global stage and source of much that is cool.

International pressures and a very real threat of armed communism to the north meant it had to do all of this quickly. What Europe did gradually over centuries through indigenous practices, Korea did in decades with things it had largely not seen before. And where once it followed, now it leads. In technology, it has surpassed many of the countries it once looked up to. Its political culture and democracy, vibrant. And of course, you don't achieve all of this in such a short period of time without any side effects. The light does not come without the shadow.

That essentially was the argument RM, the leader of BTS, gave to a Spanish newspaper last week. When faced with questions about the negative social aspects of his country, he turned the tables. He asked the reporter what the country was meant to do having been colonized and divided. Should it just rest and remain satisfied with its existence? Could it become democratic and modern without suffering? Of course not. But Korea has a drive. It has a determination. It believes itself both capable and deserving of better things. Success does not come without sacrifice. Pleasure is never free from pain. Light comes with dark. The marvelously eastern paradox of dependent co-arising informs life. The yin-yang shines on the Korean flag.

The tiger learns to write

To focus on negative Korean social issues is to ignore the success and, more importantly, the reason why the country has had to work so hard to create a place for itself in the modern world. It omits the external influences of colonialism and imperialism. Civil war and domestic military oppression and violence also had to be overcome. Focusing on problems is important. A critical view of history helps us learn from mistakes. To not repeat them. And, Korea is doing that. It has plenty of problems today. Problems that have arisen from the compressed modernity it traversed and the success it gained. However, these current problems are not insurmountable. And they shouldn't be seen as such. They should be understood in context and through the illuminating light of history.

The West wants other countries to be adults, in the same manner that it has become. But it often wants them to do this without experiencing the whirlwind and change of puberty that rocked and shaped its own trajectory. The puberty that could, quite feasibly, create very different adults with a whole new set of values, ideas, and personalities.

As the old world struggles, and the new one arises, we need some new stories for the 21st century. It's a good job for many of us that the tiger has learned how to write and is now writing amazing things for us.

Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies and lectures at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He is a social/cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. He is also the host of the Korea Deconstructed podcast, which can be found online. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.