South Korea’s Culture is Dazzling on a Global Stage, but Dangerous on Home Ground

By: Caroline Kim

When you think about South Korea, you probably think about K-pop, Samsung, Hyundai, or maybe KIA. BTS, K-Pop superstars, recently made Billboard history again by landing at both No. 1 and No.2 on the Hot 100, which comes as no surprise as the “South Korean music market experienced a 17.9% increase in revenue growth” in 2018. South Korea is also the world’s number one producer in mobile phones, displays, semiconductors and the world’s fifth largest producer of passenger cars in the world. Although impressive feats on their own, they are perhaps even more impressive considering how Korea overcame a cruel annexation by Japan in 1945, which was followed shortly by a land dispute between the Soviet Union and United States over the northern and southern regions of the Korean peninsula, which triggered a full-scale invasion of South Korea, which started the Korean War. The aftermath resulted in South Korea being born into ruin and poverty with a GDP per capita well below $150 by the end of the 1950s.

The deplorable conditions that constituted South Korea pushed politicians to pursue an agenda centered on pure-blooded nationalism to make people obedient and easy to govern to advance economic development plans. The government took advantage of the country’s painful history and collectivist nature, encouraging Koreans through official poster campaigns to beat Japan, a rhetoric constructed to push citizens to work twelve-hour days, even on Saturdays. The resultant mentality amongst citizens benefited the economy, as it provided impetus for the country to unite and to evoke the sense that working-class citizens were working to save the country, instead of working for personal gain.

Although we think about nationalism and globalization as two separate entities, nationalism was regarded as the stepping stone leading to globalization in South Korea. President Kim in 1993 is quoted to have said: “Only when we maintain our national identity and uphold our intrinsic national spirit will we be able to successfully globalize.”

This ideology holds true in the case of Korean culture where government agencies invest in and acknowledge the importance of the preservation of cultural assets, which help establish the Korean identity, yet also invest in globalizing entertainment sources like K-pop and movies. BTS has broken multiple Billboard records this year, and ‘Parasite’, a South Korean film, became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2020.

Although South Korea seems like it has struck just the right balance between nationalism and globalization, having grown to the fourth largest economy in Asia and projected to rank 9th in global gross domestic product rankings this year, it has perhaps forgotten to take care of its most valuable asset: its people. South Korea’s demographics promise little hope for economic greatness in the country’s future as it has one of the fastest ageing populations in the world, alongside the lowest fertility rate in the world.

The nationalistic agenda to advance the country’s economy developed a dangerous culture centered around success.

The pursuit to make a name for South Korea after its painful history snowballed into a fiercely competitive playground where South Koreans compete against each other from kindergarten to high school, culminating in a college-entrance exam that decides the university they will attend, which dictates their social class. They then enter a wildly competitive job market that inhibits them from dating, marrying, and raising families. This culture to succeed, finesse, and dazzle is unbearable for most. South Korea has the highest suicide rate amongst OECD countries. Reasons cited for such high rates include stress about job prospects and college examinations. In fact, the leading cause of death among youth is suicide, where 53 percent of South Korean youth who confessed to having sucidal thoughts in 2010 cited inadequate academic performance as the main reason for such thoughts. Despite South Korea’s efforts to maintain culture and tradition within the country to fend off Western globalization, is it enough to combat the work culture created by defensive nationalism that threatens the prosperity and longevity of its citizens? I would say no - for as long as South Korea’s culture continues to push youth and adults to strive for unachievable perfection in academia and work, their mortality rates among young adults will continue to rise, fertility rates continue to drop, and eventually run out of working-class citizens committed to nationalistic ideals to continue its economic success.