Opinion - The Korea Times

Using Western-style names

By Mark PetersonNow I've seen everything! Korean Bigtech company Kakao has decided to implement a policy of using first names in office communications ― but not their real first names. They have all been directed to take on Western-style first names.If you haven't seen the news report, you might have to read my first paragraph again. Yes, it actually says a Korean company is adopting a first name policy, and the first names are not Korean first names, but adopted Western-style first names.I am not sure what underlies this policy, but it appears to be the old desire to break down traditional hierarchies and rigidities in Korea's office structure ― in the search for horizontality. We have seen previous attempts to break down structures such as the power of seniority, wherein the senior employees have ultimate say in decision-making even if a younger employee has better ideas. We've seen the adoption of “team” terminology and the use of the English word “team” in Korean. The leader of the team is the “team-jang.” And this includes the abandonment of t

Sep 12, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

'Barbie' and Korean patriarchy

By Mark PetersonOne of my editors at the Korea Times suggested I examine the recent summer hit, Barbie, and perhaps contrast it with Korean patriarchy.That was certainly an interesting idea, a challenge and a gauntlet, thrown down at my feet. So, I took the bait, and went to see the movie.First off, what about the movie? In short, I'd give it two stars ― not the five it has gotten at the international box office. The more intriguing question is why did the movie bomb in Korea? It has been a megahit everywhere in the world, but a major flop in Korea. Why? Is it indeed, a problem with “patriarchy?” And has Korean patriarchy militated against the movie?To examine the question, let's review the movie briefly. The opening scene was just awful. Whereas there were some funny scenes in the movie, thus two stars, but the opening scene should go down in the annals of cinematography as an example of failed humor, and bad taste. The opening scene depicted young girls from the beginning of time playing with dolls, baby dolls, in mimicry of motherhood, for little girls to look forward

Aug 27, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

'Phony' history

By Mark PetersonOnce again, Korea is caught up in a battle over history ― not an argument with China or Japan ― we've seen those arguments ― but a battle between Korea's own historians.Well, technically it's between the establishment historians (what the non-establishment historians call the “pulpit” historians) and the non-establishment historians (what are also called pseudo-historians). The non-establishment historians like to call themselves the “jaeya” historians using the term that was used in the olden days for people out-of-power, non-office holders, or literally “in the fields.” What is the dispute that has raised its ugly head? It is the publication of the “Jeolla Thousand-year History” project. The project began in 2018, marking a thousand years since the term Jeolla was first used to designate the province of the southwest part of Korea. For the last five years, about 213 scholars from the area have written 13,559 pages in 34 volumes ― a massive effort covering multiple disciplines within what can broadly be called history.T

Aug 21, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

What's left of Korean culture?

By Mark PetersonWith the loss of so-called “Korean age” that I've written about lately, I've started thinking about what else we've lost, and what we still have. Are some of these remaining cultural items on their way out, too? Are they still worth keeping? Or should some of them be next to throw out the window?To answer this question, I think of the set of cultural items tied up in a bundle that Koreans call “bu-gye sahoe” ― “patrilineal society.” Some refer to this bundle as “the patriarchy,” but sociologists look at these issues as part of what's called a patrilineal society. The first item in the bundle is inheritance. In a patrilineal society, inheritance is handed down through the male lines from father to eldest son. In a patrilineal society, males dominate in many other areas.Korea, from the late 17th century onward, developed into a completely perfected patrilineal organization with almost all social action dominated by the males ― for example, marriage was held at the groom's village, with brides coming from other villages and

Aug 8, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

More on Korea's dual age system demise

By Mark PetersonI've been thinking more about the “Korean age,” “international age” issue. “Mannai” means “international age” in Korean. Another way to look at the two is to say “solar age” and “lunar age” or, more properly, one's age by the solar calendar and one's age by the lunar calendar. But I've been looking into the issue a little more, and I've found a couple of insights I'd like to share.I've been looking at what sorts of things are considered “whole” numbers, and what is considered fractional. In other words, things are numbered starting with the whole number “one,” and things are numbered starting with zero.I thought at one point that “Korean age” was based on a Chinese numeric system that did not have a zero. And that might be true, although at some point Chinese mathematics was influenced by Arabic numerals and the number zero made its appearance. But now I think it is more than that.I started by looking at Korean age as functioning like that of the reign years of

Jul 17, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Good riddance to Korean age

By Mark PetersonAs a “cultural columnist,” I suppose I need to respond to the news of June 28, the date when Korea abandoned “Korean age” and adopted, officially, the age system used in the rest of the world ― “man-u-ro.”The story has even appeared on American television news. It's international news.I just learned that President Yoon Suk Yeol campaigned on a promise to make the international standard the standard in Korea. No more dual-age reckoning.So, congratulations to all my Korean friends. In one fell swoop, you've all become one or two years younger.Many people are confused about how the system works, and why it's a one-year difference at times and a two-year difference at other times. That part is quite clear, actually ― it's a two-year difference until your birthday, and then a one-year difference after that. But that is all by the board now.Laws do not change culture, at least not immediately. How long will we still hear the response to the age question with the old Korean answer, or with the two options answer? I suppose the simple answe

Jul 4, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

What I want to tell Confucian leadership of Korea

By Mark PetersonConfucianism in Korea is in sharp decline. I would like to speak to the Confucian Association leaders at some point, and when I do, I would like to point out several ways to save Confucianism from an ultimate demise ― which it seems to be racing toward.I have been surprised to see the number of negative comments about Confucianism that show up in the comments to my YouTube videos. I had not realized how negatively many people in Korea view Confucianism. But there is hope on the horizon, the way I see it.First of all, Confucianism is one of the five great “religions” in the world. Now, as soon as I say that, there are those who shout out that Confucianism is not a religion. Okay, that's an oft-heard argument, but I think Confucianists make a mistake to insist it is not a religion. Let's play a word game: let's not say “religion”, but let's say “belief system” ― we'll change the label on the box. What goes in the box labeled “belief system”? In Communist states, they say only Communism fits in the box ― and “religion

Jun 11, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

The lost opportunity of Korean language teaching

By Mark PetersonOn my recent trip to Korea, I had the privilege of sitting down with an old friend and “hubae,” Ross King, Ph.D. in linguistics from Harvard and professor at the University of British Columbia. We talked about the dismal standing of Korean Language Education (KLE) in North America.On the one hand, KLE in universities and high schools across the United States and Canada is booming, but on the other hand, we are light years behind our competitors, Japanese and Chinese language education.So, on the one hand, we've made great progress, but on the other hand, it's like we're proud to be running in the Boston Marathon with the big boys and we think we're doing great on the long stretch into Framingham ― doing great ― but then we find out Japanese and Chinese education are already in downtown Boston. They are at kilometer 38, and we are at kilometer 10. If that!Without more investments now, we ― and especially Korea ― are way behind and missing precious opportunities to create lifelong learners of Korean.Another way to gauge the situation is to look at two statis

May 7, 2023By Mark Peterson

The lost opportunity of Korean language teaching

Mark Peterson

Lessons from Jeong Mong-ju

By Mark PetersonOn my recent trip to Korea, I visited, for the first time, the grave of Jeong Mong-ju, the famous Goryeo official who chose to die rather than support the upstart Joseon Kingdom in 1392. It's always good to visit the site of important events like the homes or graves of important historical figures. I learned a lot from the visit.I learned several things about him from the visit to the gravesite. I even made a video about the visit for my Frog Outside the Well YouTube channel, as well. The first striking thing I found was that the tombstone there was very old-looking, and different from the ones from the Joseon Kingdom. The inscription praised Jeong Mong-ju as the “Defender of Goryeo” and said it was erected by ― to my surprise ― King Taejong, the man who, as Yi Bang-won, the crown prince, killed Jeong. I'm not sure whether he was personally involved in the actual killing, but it was under his direction that the assassination took place.I thought it remarkable that he who ordered the execution was the one who erected the memorial stone praising Jeong. Was t

Apr 3, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

The Korean family of the future

By Mark PetersonThe Korean family is changing. That might be the understatement of the decade. Given that fact, then what is it going to change into? It's hard to predict things like this, but there are some signs we can use for our divination.The impending formative issue is the low birth rate. Government leaders have proposed cash payments and loans to encourage people to have more children. I wrote last month about my observation that easier home buying might help ― and my article brought me several responses. Some agreed with me that home financing and home buying in Korea are more difficult than they should be. But others argued that deep attitudinal changes are necessary. Therein lies the rub. Deep attitudinal changes are hard to change.Nevertheless, let's look at the changes that have taken place and see if there might be any hope for the future. The most dramatic social or familial change I've seen has been, first, universal birth control and the attitude shift from the desire to have many children to the norm of having only two. Second has been the shift away from the &ldquo

Feb 28, 2023By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Read more

Using Western-style names

'Barbie' and Korean patriarchy

'Phony' history

What's left of Korean culture?

More on Korea's dual age system demise

Good riddance to Korean age

What I want to tell Confucian leadership of Korea

The lost opportunity of Korean language teaching

Lessons from Jeong Mong-ju

The Korean family of the future

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