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Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson is associate professor of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.

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Mark Peterson

Korean names and the slave question

By Mark PetersonI am going to return to a familiar story for me, the remarkable story of Korean family names. I am returning to this issue because I still get questions and comments based on popular misinformation and mistaken ideas that still circulate in Korea.The mistaken ideas: (1) that traditionally, only yangban aristocrats had surnames ― and that commoners and slaves didn't acquire surnames until the 20th century; (2) that the high frequency of the names Kim, Yi and Bak are because of all the slaves who took names and merely copied the most common surnames ― Kim, Yi and Bak, and (3) that slaves numbered between 90 percent or at least 50 percent of the population.Let's take these three items in reverse order. The estimates of slaves at 90 percent is ridiculous and even 50 percent is a great exaggeration. At the outset of the Joseon Kingdom slave-holdings may have been as high as 40 percent, but that number declined gradually over time, especially when Korea reached the period of increased commercial activity of the 18th and 19th centuries. At the point in the early 20th century

Feb 2, 2022By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

The Year of the Tiger

By Mark PetersonGoodbye, Ox. Hello, Tiger. Sounds formidable, no? If the Year of the Ox was bad, and it was, what will the Year of the Tiger bring? On the one hand, who wants to see a tiger come in? But maybe the tiger is a good symbol ― to scare all our other demons away?In Korea's traditional sexagenary cycle for recording years, 2022 will be the year, “imin.” It's a homophone for “immigration;” does that mean it will be a good year for immigrants? In Korea? In Europe? In America?Looking at “imin” years in the past, every 60 years, 1962, 1902, 1842, 1782, etc., it was a remarkably quiet year, falling between major events. There was a minor purge of officials in 1722, but other than that, nothing pops up ― a quiet year. So, the tiger comes in and keeps bad things from happening, it would appear. This character bodes well for 2022 after all.Maybe the quietude of this particular year of the cycle reinforces my “song-and-dance” of late: that Korea has more periods of peace and tranquility than it does of war and chaos. There have been, of

Jan 2, 2022By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

What has happened to Korean family?

By Mark PetersonI had a chance to reflect on what it was that drew me to Korean studies when I was interviewed for an EBS (Educational Broadcasting Service) program about four years ago. The interviewer, Jeong Gwan-yong, asked me how I came to study Korea. I told him there were two factors primarily, at the outset: the Korean emphasis on the family and the striving for excellence in education. But now it appears the “love of family” is out the window in many homes.A recent Pew Survey has revealed a shocking new picture of the Korean family. Of the 17 wealthy nations surveyed about “values”, 15 of the 17 ranked family as their first concern. Korea's was “material wealth.” Family was #3. And with reports of falling birthrates, falling marriage rates, rising divorce rates, the question is, what has happened to the Korean family?Korea is still concerned with education, but unfortunately, that is often at the sacrifice of the family. The best example of the worst of this kind of practice is sending children off to study in boarding schools or sometimes

Dec 5, 2021By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

Phenomenon of learning Korean

By Mark PetersonKorean language programs are booming all over the world. The K-pop craze, the music, the movies, the dramatic series, are all fueling an interest in learning the Korean language.At my university, for example, for the first 25 years I was there, we would often have to beg the department chair to allow us to teach a section of 101 even though there were only ten or twelve students enrolled. The minimum requirement was 20. But we'd beg and the chair would usually be understanding and let us carry the course with less than the necessary number of registered students.Now, the same university, in the last ten years or so, growing each year, has five or six sections of 101 with 20 students in each section! Exclamation point.The Korean wave in all its manifestations has fueled the rise. Some students love the music, some the movies, and some the dramas. And some like anything and everything Korean.When I started studying Korean, there were no language textbooks. None. Teachers would put together “mimeo” pages that they would prepare themselves. And no one wanted t

Nov 7, 2021By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

Adoption and 'real' families

By Mark PetersonRecently I have discovered a case of Korean adoptees in America finding each other through DNA testing. We hear of such cases ― often twins are not adopted by the same family and then they find each other years later. But the case I am referring to has four siblings finding each other. Four. This has to be one of the most astounding cases in the history, short as it is, of DNA science.There were four children from the same mother, each with a different sperm-donor (I won't use the word “father” ― that's a desecration of a sacred term). There were three daughters and one son ― a daughter born in 1977, a daughter born in 1982, a son born in 1988, and another daughter born in 1990.I have a personal connection to this story. The daughter born in 1990 is my daughter; we adopted her while we were living in Korea at that time.All of them purchased a DNA test to look into their health history. An adopted child doesn't have a genetic mother and father who can tell them about parents or grandparents who had cancer or heart disease or Alzheimer's or other diseases kn

Oct 10, 2021By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

The Chinese comeback

By Mark PetersonThe news recently that a Chinese-made movie has been blocked from being shown in Korean theaters tells us a lot about what is going on in Asia currently. China seems to be doing everything wrong, and the glorification of the Chinese role in the Korean War, a war that didn't go well for China at all, seems an obtuse move at best. For example, the Chinese were defeated soundly in Gapyeong twice ― in April and again in May of 1951. The first battle of Gapyeong was fought between the British Commonwealth nations of Canada, Australia and New Zealand and the Chinese. The second battle of Gapyeong was between the Utah National Guard and the Chinese. The outcome of both battles was an overwhelming, lopsided defeat for the Chinese.The current Chinese story on film is in sharp contrast with a film I am personally working on. I've come to look into the story of the second battle of Gapyeong, also called the “Miracle Battle of Gapyeong.” In my film, a documentary, not a feature film with a healthy degree of both fantasy and propaganda, we are factually telling how a U

Sep 12, 2021By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

Education miracle of Korea

By Mark PetersonI've been impressed with how much on-going education and training there is in Korea. When I'm physically in Korea, I sometimes get asked to lecture to various government and private groups. I've lectured to alumni groups of various kinds, to breakfast clubs, lunchtime clubs, “kinship associations” and various adult education groups. If I were in Korea full-time, and if there weren't a lockdown for the COVID-19 virus, I think I could make a living off lecturing to these ad hoc groups. There are a lot of them. Many, many more than you might find in America.This last week I was asked to make a presentation from my home in Utah, via Zoom, to the Provincial Government Leaders Training Institute located outside of Jeonju, far from Seoul. Through the miracle of modern technology I was able to talk to provincial government officials in their homes ― ordinarily, they would meet at the training institute, but during the COVID times we were all at home.The lecture was in English, and the focus of the training was “Global Leadership.” I was impressed! Prov

Aug 15, 2021By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

Return to Korean-style Confucianism

By Mark PetersonThis week, through the upside of all this downside known as the COVID-19 pandemic, I will be giving a lecture to an audience based in Brisbane, Australia, at the University of Queensland. The topic: "Two Types of Korean Confucian Cultural Legacy and Its Implication to Contemporary Korean Culture and Society.”I'm looking forward to my Tuesday evening, Australia's Wednesday noontime lecture, because there will be discussants who will respond to my presentation. I hope they like it, but I fear they may not for one of them is the president of the World Foundation for Confucian Culture, based in Andong, Korea, Kwon Du-hyun. It looks for all intents and purposes like he is going to be a pretty conservative critic of what I may say. Maybe not. But if you've read my work on “Two Confucianisms” or seen my YouTube video on the subject, you know I am advocating that Korea discard its “recent” Confucianism ― meaning that of the last three centuries, and return to an original, I argue, “Korean-style” Confucianism.My research has shown me,

Jul 18, 2021By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

Template for reunification

By Mark PetersonFrom time to time I'm asked to make a presentation. At times the inviting group chooses a topic; sometimes they allow me to choose. Recently I was asked to give a presentation via Zoom ― given the pandemic, Zoom has become more useful than ever. But this time the experience gave me pause, and gave me a surprise. The inviters asked me to speak about reunification ― that gave me pause because I hear talks about unification and it always seems like a waste of time to me, because we cannot really know the future! And it surprised me because the presentation was to be made to a scattered group of overseas Koreans, we like to say “gyopo,” all across North and South America.I was pleasantly surprised to find my audience across the United States, and groups in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. I marveled at our modern age of technology where we as a group can speak to each other all across the Americas, and across the world!And I was pleased with what I came up with regarding unification. Whereas I have felt frustration and futil

Jun 20, 2021By Mark Peterson
Mark Peterson

'Miracle at Gapyeong'

By Mark PetersonA friend of mine, Cho Byounggap, called and asked me to write a Korea Times article and prepare a “Frog Outside the Well” YouTube video on the “Miracle at Gapyeong”. I had heard of it but didn't know the details. I have now researched the history of the famous battle in the Korean War and am ready to write about it and prepare the YouTube video.The reason it's called a “miracle” is that in the battle between American and Chinese soldiers, 350 Chinese were killed, 830 Chinese were captured, but on the American side not one soldier died. There were some wounded, but there were no fatalities. We use the word “miracle” loosely sometimes, but this was truly a miracle. The Chinese soldiers said, “We shot them, but they did not fall.”The American soldiers were members of an artillery unit that was part of a Utah National Guard battalion that had been activated for the Korean War. Originally, they were to be sent to Germany to replace a regular army artillery battalion in Germany that would go to Korea. But the soldi

May 23, 2021By Mark Peterson
'Miracle at Gapyeong'
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