Professor bridges Korea, Zimbabwe with lecture on culture

Chung-Ang University professor Min Byoung-chul, left in the top right screen, speaks during an online lecture on Korean culture to Zimbabwean teenagers, Friday. Courtesy of Min Byoung-chul

Korean scholar and English educator Min Byoung-chul has become a one-day lecturer on Korean culture for teenagers in Zimbabwe, Friday.

At the invitation of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Zimbabwe, Min, an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University and the author of “Land of Squid Game,” delivered a 70-minute interactive online lecture on Korean culture to Zimbabwean youth, explaining Korean customs and everyday expressions.

Participants gathered in a lecture hall set up at the residence of Korean Ambassador to Zimbabwe Park Jae-kyung, where each segment of the talk reportedly prompted lively discussion.

The session followed a simple loop — watching short YouTube videos from Min’s channel, followed by his commentary and a Q&A — but quickly turned into a two-way exchange as students compared Korean customs with their own.

Min spotlighted everyday cultural codes — from the greeting “Have you eaten?” and birthday seaweed soup to missing fourth floors, chopstick taboos and the “ppalli-ppalli” (hurry-hurry) mindset behind Korea’s rapid postwar rise.

What drew the earliest gasp from the room was the Korean expression “Have you eaten?,” born from postwar hardship and used as a greeting that signaled care rather than curiosity about someone's meal. When participants learned that Shona, a main language of Zimbabwe, uses a nearly identical phrase — “Watodya here?” — the mood in the hall shifted.

Min later asked, “The moment we discovered that the Korean greeting ‘Have you eaten?’ shares the same roots as Zimbabwe’s Ubuntu spirit was a powerful reminder that culture is the most powerful language human beings have — one that crosses every border to connect people.”

The story of “miyeok-guk,” or seaweed soup served on birthdays to thank mothers for giving birth, drew the deepest response. “Go home after this lecture and thank the person who gave you life today,” Min told the participants.

A segment on the missing fourth floor signs in Korean buildings led students to share their own beliefs about auspicious and inauspicious numbers, while a discussion on avoiding direct eye contact with elders revealed that Zimbabwean norms mirror Korean ideas of respect.

The Korean ambassador said the event confirmed how “passionate Zimbabwean youth is about Korea.”

“The greatest reward was discovering together that Korean and Zimbabwean cultures are far closer than any of us had imagined. We plan to continue holding K-culture events like this that connect the hearts of young people from both countries,” Park said.