David Tizzard is a professor at Seoul Women’s University, holds a PhD in Korean Studies, and hosts the Korea Deconstructed podcast. He has lived and worked in Seoul for more than two decades. Reach him at datizzard@swu.ac.kr.
Foreigners, Halloween and xenophobia
Courtesy of Neil Cummings
By David A. Tizzard
By David A. Tizzard
About 10 days ago, I began seeing local television news warning viewers that COVID-19 infection numbers would increase during Halloween, claiming that foreigners would be in Itaewon partying and not respecting the nation's social distancing guidelines. The narrative being constructed was unambiguous and early. It was also playing into ready-held stereotypes and beliefs. This situation meant that the narrative was easily disseminated and accepted without too much cognitive dissonance or thought. Moreover, this narrative was of course all being communicated in Korean and largely unobserved by the non-Korean speaking population of the country.
Over the past few days, we have seen the population of residents of foreign nationality become more aware of these reports. There has been outcry at what is seen as unhospitable attitudes toward those of foreign nationality living and working here. Others point to the hypocrisy of relaxing guidelines during the traditional holiday of Chuseok, then tightening them for a western holiday, only to then commence a 'living with COVID-19' system immediately afterward.
Despite regular media offers, I have refrained from speaking about COVID-19 regulations because I am not trained in the field and do not hold any epidemiological qualifications. However, this current situation seems to point to a couple of clear issues in Korean society. The first is the catchall term of “foreigner” (“oegukin,” in Korean). I have explored
before, trying to remain sensitive to historical and cultural Korean developments but also suggesting that while Korea demands the west be more accepting of its own cultural products, it could perhaps reciprocate in some ways too.
Second, is the idea that “only foreigners” celebrate Halloween and “only foreigners” party in Itaewon. If you have been here as long as I have, you will know that these statements used to have some truth to them. But not anymore, and not for quite some time. Korea has changed. Young Korean people's perceptions of Halloween have changed, and Itaewon has definitely changed. The idea of “only foreigners” partying on Halloween in Itaewon is a really outdated view of reality built, I think, on ignorance rather than malevolence.
Despite my best efforts, this article will not help, and the Korean television news will not help. The problem we seem to have is that various sides of this conversation are not listening to each other. It's not a political or cultural polarization in the same way that your auntie has become a redneck conservative and your nephew a critical race theory advocate. Instead what we have is linguistic polarization. It's Korean people talking to other Korean people about foreigners and then, simultaneously, foreigners talking to other foreigners about Korean people.
These conversations obviously give people a voice and help them air their fears and grievances, but they do not promote communication between the two groups. It is that lack of interaction which then produces ignorance of the other, a reliance on stereotypes, and a situation like the one we have seen this week.
Director Bong Joon-ho famously remarked that people need to overcome the one-inch barrier of subtitles. Here, similarly, we need to overcome our own linguistic barriers and begin working toward more communication with other people around us in society. There is no easy solution to the problem, and no easy way to make people suddenly start talking across the linguistic divide.
It's of course very easy to demand that other people make changes and that they should do more to listen to us. But lasting change starts within. It should start with the efforts of residents of foreign nationality to communicate with Korean people in Korea in Korean, if they don't already. Maybe if we do that, next Halloween might be a bit more welcoming.
Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies. 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.
David A. Tizzard