Opinion - The Korea Times

Deep 'han'

By Mark PetersonMy previous article, “End of han,” generated one of the largest responses of any of my articles. “Han” is something everyone knows something about. The responses fell into four categories: 1. the expression of “han” in psychiatry, 2. the origin of “han” was not ancient but rather was in the Japanese period, 3. that “han” is overplayed, exaggerated and even trite as an explanation of Koreanness, and indeed, 4. “han” is dead, or close to a well-deserved death.One of the first to respond was an old friend of mine, Dr. Choe, a psychiatrist. I was surprised at what he had to say ― that there is a serious malady in psychiatry called “hwabyeong” that is the personal internalization of “han” to the point of mental illness. If I understand him correctly, the “angst” and “frustration” and “depression” that afflict all Koreans because of the injustices Korea has suffered in the 20th century are internalized at a personal level. Maybe it's a reinforc

Oct 25, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

End of 'han'

By Mark PetersonOne of the hallmarks of Korean culture has been “han,” the supposedly untranslatable concept encompassing the feeling of resentment, angst, victimization, anger, frustration ― all rolled into one. The term often comes up in describing Korean culture and the essence of the Korean personality. “Han” is often mentioned with its untranslatable partner, “jeong” ― love, affection, rapport, camaraderie, friendship ― all rolled into one. I'm happy to report “jeong” is alive and well, in my opinion. But “han” might be on the way out.The idea had its genesis in my mind when I was watching the blockbuster drama, “Crash Landing on You.” My wife had seen the 16-part series first, and suggested ― scrap that, insisted ― that I watch it. We watched it together. She couldn't resist drawing me out to predict what was going to happen next. The drama had lots of twists and turns that made it interesting, but after all was said and done, she reminded me that Korea dramas always end in tragedy. Somebody dies. And we al

Oct 11, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Congratulations on COVID-19 handling

By Mark PetersonKorea has done a marvelous job in handling the coronavirus. There has been a recent spike, but like previous spikes, they have controlled it well, with just under 400 deaths at this point. My state of Utah, in the United States, has over 400. Korea's population is around 50 million; Utah's is under 3 million ― about 1/16 the size of Korea. If Utah had Korea's record, we would have had 25 deaths. The United States is about six times bigger than Korea. If the United States had Korea's record, rather than losing 200,000 people, at this point, we would have only lost 2,400. The United States' handling of the virus is almost 100 times worse than Korea's.Why has Korea been so good, and the United States so bad?On the Korean side, Korea was better prepared because of its experience with SARS and MERS. They had precautions set up already including detection at the airport and quarantine. Friends of mine who have gone to Korea in recent months have had to quarantine for two weeks to be sure they were safe. A two-week quarantine is better than a 40-day quarantine ― the original

Sep 27, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Jokbo adventure

By Mark PetersonI was recently contacted by a young man, a third-generation Korean American who had some questions about research on his own Korean jokbo ― family genealogy. I was pleased to receive the email and happy to answer his questions. But more importantly, I was thoroughly taken with his ability to figure out how to read a genealogy.His name is Braden Oh, and he was contacting me from his home in Southern California. He is attending a small, elite engineering college in Massachusetts; the school competes with MIT where, in fact, his father and uncle graduated, both in Astronomical Engineering. Braden is an exceptionally bright young man.Many young people in Korea are not able to read their own family jokbo because the document is written in Chinese characters. Years ago, even in the 1960s and 70s when I first went to Korea, most educated people could read Chinese characters. Newspapers were filled with Chinese and it was the medium for communication. Most street signs were in Chinese. But the times have changed and Chinese is no longer taught in the schools and most young Ko

Sep 13, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Japanese influence on Korea

By Mark PetersonJapan's influence on Korea is still visible in some ways. And invisible in other ways. The Japanese colonial occupation of Korea was a failure in all regards, politically, morally, ethically. But the evil results of the occupation remain in many ways.The obvious affects include the diplomatic mistrust of Japan and resentment of Japanese actions during the occupation (1910-45) and after the liberation of Korea as well. Sore points between Korea and Japan flare up every now and then, most often over the “comfort women” ― accepting responsibility and providing compensation ― and contention over the Dokdo islets, Korean territory, and the use of the term the “Sea of Japan” that Korea argues to be the “East Sea.”But there are other issues, some of them centered on historical interpretations. For example, there is more than ample evidence that the royal family of Japan, the Yamato clan, may well have come from the Korean Peninsula. It is clear there was Korean migration from the peninsula to the Japanese islands ― as was there migration f

Aug 30, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Traditional Korean 'seoja' discrimination

By Mark PetersonTwo things have set my mind recently to writing about traditional social class and discrimination between classes. The first was a video I was asked to make for the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles ― it was a video, actually four videos, about Pak Ji-won and his lesser-known disciple, Pak Je-ga. More on that below. The second occurred when I binge-watched “Crash Landing on You” in the last few weeks ― it was the “throw-away fact” (incidental mentioning) that the main female protagonist, Seri, was born “illegitimately.” This brings up the topic traditionally termed “seoja” ― a child born between a “yangban” aristocratic father and a commoner or slave mother. The reason filming videos about Pak Ji-won and Pak Je-ga brings up the subject is that Pak Je-ga was a seoja. He was one of the successful seoja because he lived at a time when the king and the court allowed a limited number of seoja to take and pass exams. For most of the 1390-1910 Joseon Kingdom, a seoja could not take the exams, and therefore could no

Aug 16, 2020By Mark Peterson

Traditional Korean 'seoja' discrimination

Mark Peterson

'Correct' history

By Mark PetersonI usually object to the saying that certain words or phrases are untranslatable. I like to think that if one is clever enough, every word and phrase can be translated well. But I have to admit that some translations simply don't work.Such is the case for the slogan I saw on a Korean government website ― “correct history.” The translation doesn't appear to be a problem, but it really is. And the problem is cultural. Many Koreans have no problem with the term. When I've mentioned it to my Korean friends, there is no negative response, but rather an understanding that, yes, there is “incorrect history” and yes, there is “correct history.” Such is not the case at all for Americans. If you say “We need to have correct history,” to an American, inevitably, you get an uncomfortable response, a response of “should I say what I'm thinking” because an American inevitably thinks, “'correct' according to whom?” Americans want to make that judgment; they want to decide whether it is “correct” or no

Aug 2, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Sijo contest in LA

By Mark PetersonThe Los Angeles Korean Cultural Center (KCCLA) announced the winners of their sijo contest last week. It was an online contest with contestants from all across the United States. This is the first annual sijo contest for Korea's LA cultural center, which means they intend to do it again next year and thereafter. This is welcome news and a positive indicator that sijo is catching on in America.I've reported previously on the Sejong Cultural Society in Chicago that has held a sijo contest online for the last 13 years for high school students, and last year was the second year for the post-high school group. The KCCLA  contest is open to all.The contest had a theme: “anything inspiring to get through COVID19.” The awards were announced in a virtual award ceremony ― a very nice, visually appealing video with an abstract background and with music. Go to Facebook, search for “Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles,” and the award ceremony is easy to find. They start with the bottom up, from third place (five winners) to second place (three winners)

Jul 19, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Charm of K-drama

By Mark PetersonOkay, call me slow. Yes, I know everyone else has been talking about K-drama forever. But I've finally gotten on board. The key to my conversion has been “Crash Landing on You.”My wife had watched “Crash” twice and finally talked me into watching it with her. Sixteen episodes, each one ending with a classic cliff-hanger that leaves you anxious to see the next episode and wondering how in the world they're going to resolve this crisis. But every time they did, and we launched on to the next episode.“Crash” has everything. Suspense. Romance. Humor. Charming characters, rogues, lovable rogues and villains, absolutely unmitigatedly evil villains. And clever, even devious good guys that can out-maneuver the bad guys. And oh, the bad guys. Your skin just crawls when the chief bad guy figures out what is happening and zeroes in on the hero and heroine.The acting was really good. It draws you in, both the good guys and the bad guys. I looked up the record of the actors and was surprised to see many of them had shallow experience. There were

Jul 12, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Improving Korean education

By Mark PetersonI'm really hesitant to give my opinion on the Korean education system, but on the heels of my article last week about the Harvard admission policy, perhaps I can venture to offer my humble opinions in hopes of improving an already excellent educational system.The Korean education system is unquestionably one of the finest in the world. On some scales it is No. 1 or No. 2. What improvements could possibly be necessary? If there are to be improvements, what are the problems, if any? The first thing that jumps out at us is the suicide rate for high school students. A quick look at the Wikipedia page on suicide in South Korea shows that suicide is a serious problem in the country. Prominent people, actors, actresses, even a former president, have taken their own lives. And the suicide rate for the student-age population is high, and there is evidence that the pressure on high school students to perform in a highly competitive school environment is part of the reason.Maybe the Harvard approach is part of the answer?As I outlined last week, the Harvard admission standard in

Jul 5, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Read more

Deep 'han'

End of 'han'

Congratulations on COVID-19 handling

Jokbo adventure

Japanese influence on Korea

Traditional Korean 'seoja' discrimination

'Correct' history

Sijo contest in LA

Charm of K-drama

Improving Korean education

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