ed Promoting happiness is elusive national goal
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By Lee Chang-sup
Happiness is a buzzword in Korea these days. President Park Geun-hye promised to devote herself to helping Koreans lead a happy life. In her inauguration speech Monday, she declared the people’s happiness as her administration’s core national agenda.
Happiness was the key word she used 20 times during her 30-minute inauguration speech. However, happiness is quite abstract. No one can make others happy. It’s up to each person to lead a happier life. Improving the emotional state of Koreans is not a job a national leader can do alone.
Many people acknowledge that Koreans are more emotional and quick-tempered than non-Koreans.
An index released by the OECD shows Korea ranks 32nd in overall happiness out of 34 member countries last year. Another index from the New Economics Foundation shows Korea as the world’s 68th happiest place out of 143 countries surveyed last year.
Medical doctor and psychiatrist Lee Si-hyung says Koreans’ emotional problems are connected to what he calls “hwabyeong,” which is an anger-induced illness. The octogenarian had “hwabyeong” added to the world’s psychiatrists’ dictionary. It is a mental illness specific to Koreans.
If people suppress anger, it will have a corrosive effect on their bodies and can lead to death, according to Lee. “Hwabyeong” has several physical and mental signs including fatigue, panic, sighs, heaviness in the chest, sleeplessness, hot or cold flashes, blurred vision, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsiveness, anorexia, paranoia, fearfulness, absent-mindedness, irritability, short temper and explosive behavior. When “hwabyeong” gets serious, Koreans call it “ul-hwa-byeong,” which literally means depression anger illness.
“Hwabyeong” is more pronounced among poor and menopausal women. In a traditional Confucian-oriented society, women suppressed misfortune and unhappiness to maintain harmony within the family. They dealt with many problems including spousal infidelity and conflict with in-laws quietly.
These days, “hwabyeong” affects more than the female population. Many students are unconsciously suffering from unresolved anger, as they study day and night to get into prestigious universities. Many of them cannot sleep between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., which is when doctors say growth hormones are most active.
Stress doesn’t stop with women and students. At companies, employees must compete with their peers. Many irregular workers, accounting for 24.8 percent of the workforce in Korea in 2010, are victims of “hwabyeong” due to job insecurity and lack of pay.
Similarly, employees at small firms get angry for the same reason as irregular workers. Employees at large firms fall victim to stiff competition as they work long hours to get ahead.
Anger and depression can even haunt retired workers who don’t have an adequate pension to live on.
When people attempt to compare themselves to others, it can fuel anger. Suppressed anger can turn into hate and despair, known in Korean as “han” or lingering woes.
Dr. Lee, who runs a meditation center in a remote village in Gangwon Province, advises people to make changes in their lives in his recent book titled “Let’s Live Differently.” He compares the overwhelming feeling of depression and anger to hiking a mountain. He says Koreans only think about the work associated with climbing the mountain, not descending from the mountain.
He believes Koreans are victims of the competitive and goal-oriented culture that has become part of Korea’s capitalistic society.
While every Korean needs to make changes, Dr. Lee also says changes are needed in the media. He says the media should refrain from using such words as “polarization” and “generational clashes” as they are seeds for social tension.
He advocates creating a happier corporate culture, one that increases serotonin in our bodies. Serotonin is a hormone that’s responsible for making people feel happy.
According to Lee, frequent ideological clashes between liberals and conservatives can block serotonin levels. Income levels can also have a similar effect. Many Koreans say they would feel happier if their income was around $40,000.
Lee advocates a “slow, small and simple” life to encourage happiness. At his mediation center, visitors aren’t allowed to carry mobile phones or watch television and must go to sleep early.
However, Koreans are not the only victims of anger. Anger affects everybody. In a book titled “EMOTIONS: Freedom from Anger, Jealousy & Fear,” the author Osho said, “The psychology of anger is that you wanted something, and somebody prevents you from getting it. Somebody came as a block or an obstacle. Your whole energy was going to get something, and somebody blocked the energy. You could not get what you wanted. Now this frustrated energy becomes anger against the person who has destroyed the possibility of fulfilling your desire.” He says your anger is true because it belongs to you.
President Park is the first national leader to stake her administration’s success on promoting people’s happiness. She faces a Herculean task of creating more jobs and expanding growth and welfare. However, these material efforts will not be enough to make Koreans happy. Park wants to promote the emotional well being of Koreans, but expecting the President to make people happy is quite foolish. Koreans must look to themselves to promote their own happiness before any progress can be made.
Lee Chang-sup is the executive managing director of The Korea Times. Contact him at editorial@ktimes.co.kr.