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Home › Forums › Short Online Seminars › Two Koreas, Summer 2020 › Session 4 (July 20) - South Korea Today
Juana Evink.
Hilda DixonFor this learning session, we learned that currently in South Korea there is a lot of competitiveness and a strong pursuit of youth appearance. In fact, some of our reading described South Koreans as “obsessed with their appearance.” Undoubtedly, In SK, plastic surgery is seemed favorable and as an investment in ones’ body. In order to acquire the right face and body, South Koreans would voluntarily alter their bodies through the help of aesthetic plastic surgery along with dieting to gain social acceptance. Due to the fact there is societal pressure to look “right,” there is also a sense of insecurity when SK perceive they don’t have the right facial features. Therefore, cosmetic surgery is the right vehicle to get a job, secure a partner or to gain admiration. One of our text says, “that 80% of recruitment executives considered the physical appearance of a candidate important.” Professor, Jennifer Jung-Kim also mentioned that cosmetic surgery is prevalent in South Korea. I went and checked the following website https://www.statista.com/statistics/789337/south-korea-suicide-death-rate/ to understand if these high social expectations could have some negative effect. I found out that SK is the fourth highest country in the world with the highest suicidal percentages according to the World Health Organization. According to this website, “about one-third of the respondents said they had a mental health disorder such as depression, work-related stress or social anxiety. Studying hard to get into a prestigious university is already very hard and lays a lot of pressures on one’s shoulders, and in addition to this, to add the aesthetical physical appearance pressure. My concern is that even the government confabulates with the “right face expectations” by allowing South Koreans to claim tax credit for the cost of cosmetic surgery. In this way, people are going to be more incentivized to invest in plastic surgery.
Hilda DixonIndeed, South Korea has become an international trend. This is why SK is becoming a famous country through its Pop music. In 2012, I noticed South Korean power to the music and video of Park Jae-Sang (PSY) with the song “Gangnam Style, ” which makes refence to an affluent district in Seoul by the Han River. PSY’s video got more than one billion views on YouTube. This was something unthinkable back then. Currently, BTS and Blackpink overpassed these number of viewers. In fact, BTS is being compared with the legendary Beatles because BTS has sold three number one albums in less than a year and in 2018 Time magazine has described BTS as the most influential group. Talk about soft power that even the Hyundai foundation found out that many tourists are now deciding to visit South Korea.
Hilda DixonI think that the fact that there is a lot of pressure regarding the right physical appearance, that there are some women that are rebelling against these high standards of beauty by shaving their heads, and not wearing make-up. In my opinion these groups of people are opening the door to create a dialogue where standards can become more realistic and more importantly, where people can naturally display themselves in a more authentic way without being stigmatized by not conforming to the societal rules. Personally, I do not like that as a society we are over focusing on the exterior and forget about spirituality, compassion, and human character.
Hilda DixonIt is so interesting that in spite of the fact that South Korea is a society that is devoted towards education and that SK women have since centuries ago had a lot of say in whatever happens inside a home or family, only a very small percentage of women are occupying corporate tops job such as CEO. SK women are highly well educated, and still, they make only a small percentage of the work force. If compared with other Asian countries, South Korean women do not engage in research studies as much as women from Philippines or Thailand. In the same token, SK women are encouraged to wear heels at work because it is considered appropriate and necessary. Given these points, I think that in spite of the fact SK is a sophisticated society, it is pretty much a paternalist society.
Jennifer Jung-KimKorea invested early in broadband so it's really ubiquitous, but phone usage is really amazing. Even when we had monthly minute limits, Korea didn't charge for incoming calls, so people used to give out their numbers to people readily. Even years ago, you would have full bars in Korea on a beach or in the mountains.
And because the phones could handle it, Koreans had "webtoons" many years ago and people watch a lot of video content on their phones. They were using their phones to pay for purchases way before ApplePay. Even if you pay cash, you can have your receipt texted to your phone so you have a record of it. Oh, and there are more cel phone lines in Korea than people (because some people have more than one). It's common for elemntary schoolkids to have phones.
Deborah WhetstoneWhat are society and culture like in South Korea today?
South Korea is incredibly advanced, but has done so at such a quick rate that there are still strong ties to more traditional culture. This is seen clearly in the family/clan-oriented businesses. The work ethic itself explains how quickly they've advanced economically - I think most Americans would be surprised to learn (as I was) that South Korea just *reduced* it's work week hours to 52 'maximum'!?!? When I was tutoring South Korean's in English, I was shocked to learn of a strong cultural habit of going out to dinner and drinking after work. After learning of how much time is devoted to work, it made more sense, as there is so little time for other things, seemingly. Also, has discrimination against women been a long-term problem, or is that more due to modern development?
As is the case in America, I am disturbed by the outsize influence pop culture and 'beauty' has on life in South Korea, from the K-pop bands, to the intense skin care regimen. Is that aspect seen as having been learned from the US / West?
Julie Wakefield
Maria CardenasYes, I agree with you. Women make up most of the population of teachers. You start thinking if there would have been changes to the law if the profession had more men. Which is bad? Teachers regardless if we are women or men do the same job and it shouldn't matter if it is mainly women to make laws that protect us. It is very sad that a few weeks ago parents loved us but now some of the same parents want us to go back to work in the school. They are not thinking of the danger they are going to be placing everybody in the school setting not only students and teachers. With cases rising in the United States it is very scary to think that people want us to work in the school. I work in Califonia and our cases are very high but fortunately we aren't going back to school this semester we are going to be distance learning.
Julie Wakefieldhttps://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191010-south-koreas-population-paradox
https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/south-koreas-population-may-have-already-peaked/
https://www.csis.org/analysis/south-koreas-demographic-troubles
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Seoul-announces-new-measures-to-counter-population-decline-48032.html
This is a great website for some demographic data on countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/south-korea-population
Juana EvinkIn the article by Ginson, "South Korea's Elderly Face Unique Challenges from COVID-19," describes that hardships faced by the elderly. He discussed tht South Korea already had a large elderly population living in poverty, and COVID-19 has just made the situation worst. All over the world the elderly are experiencing more harships due to their age as well as the limited opportunities to make a living during this difficult time. Gibson mentions that the government has cut many programms that were intended to help the elderly, and the few opprotunities availabe in the tech world, don't benefit them since most aren't comforatble with modern technology. He recommends that the elderly population's needs be kept in mind as South Korea moves towards recovery.
Juana EvinkHi Jasmine,
I found your response to plastic surgery interesting. I agree it seems that it's more prevalent in the U.S., although it seems that it's increasing in Asian countries. I personally don't care for pastic surgery, but I can imagine why some women feel pressured to do it, My little sister is obsessed with her looks, and it's currently waiting for an appoinmnet for a body sculting procedure. In her case, it's for herself, not for outside pressure. For plastic surgey doctors it's a lucrative bussiness to be in.
Juana EvinkHi Jasmine,
I found your response to plastic surgery interesting. I agree it seems that it's more prevalent in the U.S., although it seems that it's increasing in Asian countries. I personally don't care for pastic surgery, but I can imagine why some women feel pressured to do it, My little sister is obsessed with her looks, and it's currently waiting for an appoinmnet for a body sculting procedure. In her case, it's for herself, not for outside pressure. For plastic surgey doctors it's a lucrative bussiness to be in.
Juana EvinkHi Jasmine,
I found your response to plastic surgery interesting. I agree it seems that it's more prevalent in the U.S., although it seems that it's increasing in Asian countries. I personally don't care for pastic surgery, but I can imagine why some women feel pressured to do it, My little sister is obsessed with her looks, and it's currently waiting for an appoinmnet for a body sculting procedure. In her case, it's for herself, not for outside pressure. For plastic surgey doctors it's a lucrative bussiness to be in.
Juana EvinkHi Julie,
I wnat to say thank you for sharing this amazing resources on south Korea's population. I checked them out, they are really informative and useful. I wish I had seen them before, I could have use one of them to do a websote review. These resources could be cited by high school or college students writing reports on population decline, using South Korea's as a model or case study.