[Korea Encounters] Solemnity vs revelry on Christmas Eve in the 1960s

Shoppers choose Christmas cards piled on a stand in a downtown Seoul department store in this photo printed in The Korea Times on Dec. 10, 1972. Most of the cards contained small calendars. / Korea Times archive

By Matt VanVolkenburg

Under the influence of a growing Christian community and a large U.S. military presence, Christmas in Korea had become a notable holiday by the early 1960s. This was due to Christians promoting the Christmas spirit and helping the poor, growing commercialism in urban retail areas, and the lifting of curfew on Christmas Eve. It was arguably the latter feature that drew a great deal of attention in the early 1960s as the "removal of curfew on Christmas Eve came to mean a release from all restraints" as the evening "turned into a crazy night" full of teen boys and girls spending "the whole night dancing, shouting and drinking together."

Though Park Chung-hee's 1961 coup d'etat had put a damper on revelry and frivolous consumerism for a few years, by the mid-1960s the shopping and partying had returned. In a move away from the austerity of the post-coup era, in 1965 Park himself lit a 25-meter, 2,600-bulb Christmas tree in front of City Hall after giving a speech in which he praised the sacrifices of American soldiers in Korea and promoted his modernization drive: "We are now standing on the threshold of a new era in our history and the prolonged dark night of poverty, turmoil and dependence has given way to bright light of morning."

Whether it was due to the arrival of the prosperity Park heralded, or due to government censorship, the highlighting of charity drives to help the poor became far less prominent in coverage of Christmas in the late 1960s. The focus insted shifted to the growing consumerism and revelry associated with the holiday.

Some Christians thought Christmas was "losing its solemnity and reverence," but for Martha Huntley, a newly arrived U.S. missionary in 1965, a less-busy Christmas season left her family with "time to improvise decorations and wrappings rather than just rushing down to a huge store to purchase something." "Instead of opulence" of the sort found in the U.S., she wrote, there was "simplicity, so much more in keeping with the first Christmas."

In busy Seoul, Keith Crim criticized the noise of Christmas Eve and suggested "the abolition of Christmas as a legal holiday, which could be moved instead to the winter solstice" on Dec. 22, after which everyone could sober up and let believers have a "quiet, dignified and holy day."

Writing the next year, Canadian missionary Frank Schofield wrote, "We are in danger of losing sight of the beautiful Christmas Story and its significance due to increasing commercialism." He added, "The story of the birth of Jesus will always be a favorite with little children." He was perhaps proven correct by a seven-year-old girl in a small rural church who pointed hopefully at the manger and said, "Maybe I'll see a baby God tomorrow morning."

Christmas cakes fill one of Seoul's largest bakeries in this photo published Dec. 22, 1968. / Korea Times file

There was no stopping commercialism, however. Though gift shopping was slow in 1966, sales of decorations and Christmas cards were up, particularly due to cards being sent to Korean soldiers in Vietnam. As Korea benefited economically from its participation in that conflict, consumerism increased. In 1968 it was reported that people were "scurrying here and there, buying gifts, trees, cards, stringing lights, and putting up ornaments," because "this year more than last, and last year more than before, Christmas has come to Korea."

Christmas trees had been quite uncommon in Korea before the late 1960s. In 1968, for example, a U.S. diplomat imported his Christmas tree from the U.S. One reason for this was that the Korean government's reforestation program banned cutting down such trees. In 1970, however, a solution appeared: "the debut of plastic Christmas trees in quantity" which created "striking scenes at local shops."

But how was one to afford all of this? One option that grew in popularity at Christmas was to obtain the necessary cash from one of Seoul's 250 pawn shops. Customers there included "romantic lovers anxious to give Christmas gifts to their sweethearts, small merchants forced to pay their debts before the year turns, and pitiful unemployed husbands eager to please their wives and children during the New Year season."

Worried that the true meaning of Christmas was becoming "lost in the fanfare of gifts and parties," the YMCA and YWCA sponsored candle prayer services, Christmas parties for bus girls and folk dances. Their annual "year-end movement of spending Christmas Eve rightly" was summed up in their catchphrase for 1969: "Let's spend Christmas Eve together with neighbors."

Though a YMCA member said their endeavor had "been quite successful," in 1970 some 100,000 people crowded into the 500 entertainment spots in Mugyo-dong and Myeong-dong on Christmas Eve. Police and even cabinet members on the streets urged people to return home.

Although one politician spoke out, saying, "Let's pray to God that we may overcome materialism and degeneration and revive morality and ethics," such exhortations were less successful than putting the military in the streets. Christmas in 1972, after Park Chung-hee imposed martial law and foisted the draconian Yushin constitution on the country, was understandably a more subdued affair than years past.

Matt VanVolkenburg has a master's degree in Korean studies from the University of Washington. He is the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr.