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Blast from the Past
It’s in the Blood From Ethnic Nationalism to Personality Predictor Bloodlines are of utmost importance to Koreans. It is not uncommon for family registers to trace the family line back half a millennium, and Koreans tend to pride themselves on having a “pure,” homogeneous lineage. Stephen Redeker explored the topic of Korean bloodlines in a Gwangju News article originally published in September 2012. In a tangentially related article, Redeker offered his take on Koreans’ fascination with blood type being an indicator of a person’s personality traits (Gwangju News; May 2012.) With Korea’s longstanding infatuation with fortune-telling of myriad types, including the oriental zodiac, it is easy to imagine how blood-type personality profiling would be enthusiastically espoused. Both articles are compiled here for your reading pleasure. — Ed.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
October 2020
blast from the past
“Pure Bloodlines”
Most people love their country. You hear many reasons why people think their country is the best in the world. Maybe it is the delicious and healthy food. It could be the beautiful landscape or architecture of the buildings. Perhaps it is the friendliness of the people. Koreans possess such beliefs about their country as well. There is a strong nationalistic feeling in Korea. One of these particular beliefs is about their heritage and ethnic identity. Some Koreans think that as a nation and as a race of people, they are a “pure-blooded” population, and that Korea has descended from a unified group of ancestors with no racial mixing. Studies have revealed that the earliest settlers on the Korean Peninsula may have arrived some 500,000 years ago. Much more recently, migrations have come from the Siberian plains, then Mongolia, and later from the Manchurian area of eastern China. (One will recall that the common birthmark on Korean babies’ backside is called a mongol-cheom [몽골점, Mongolian mark].) DNAsample studies also show strong similarities in physical traits between southern Koreans and the Japanese. To truly understand this Korean myth, you need to recall history spanning the past century. In the very early 20th century, the “pure bloodline” belief came about when historian Shin Chae-ho wrote about the Korean minjok (민족, people, ethnic group), which he described as a warrior group who fought off invaders to preserve the Korean ethnic identity hundreds of years prior. He declared that since the minjok movement had been in decline, it was necessary to reinvigorate the cause, especially due to Japanese colonization and assimilation at that time. This belief was a strong way for the Korean people to resist Japanese rule and unite the people during a time of serious national crisis. As time continued, the “pure bloodline” myth remained a steadfast ideology. Despite the fact that the beliefs in a pure race declined after the World War II defeat of
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Germany and Japan, Korea (both North and South) continued teaching this ideology of racial purity. It was used as a political tool by former presidents Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee as a means to make the citizens more obedient and support an anti-Communist agenda. North Korean propaganda declared Koreans as “the cleanest race.” The common bloodline belief continues on today and helps shape political and foreign relations. It also provides Koreans motivation for national pride and further fuels hope for a reunified Korea. Times are changing and Koreans are forced to re-assess their beliefs in a single-blood population of people. Korea is increasingly becoming more multicultural, with many foreign workers calling Korea their home and an increase in international marriages. Multiculturalism was highly publicized in Korea by Hines Ward, the American football player and Super Bowl MVP. Ward’s father is African American and his mother is South Korean. After traveling to Korea, he preached acceptance of mixedraced children and donated one million USD to found the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation for assisting mixed-race children in Korea. But not all Koreans have accepted an international and multicultural presence in Korea. Many migrant workers and other immigrants still face discrimination and prejudice. Xenophobic concerns arise from many Koreans when foreigners (including United Nations committee members) attempt to refute these claims about a pure race. Some Koreans believe a challenge to this ethnic nationalism may dilute the strong national pride of the people and weaken the desire for Korean reunification. All things considered, believing in single, pure-blooded ethnicity was an integral ideology during the past century, given the many challenges that Koreans faced. Maintaining a sense of nationalistic pride was essential during times of invasion by other forces (the Mongols, the Manchus, the Japanese), which threatened the well-being and culture of Korea. Now in the modern era, Korea must deal with
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