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Introduction

Though Hyundais and Kias are commonplace on Western streets and Korean technology is found in products from smart phones to the Dreamliner, South Korea remains something of an unknown quantity. Even those with an interest in Asian cultures tend to overlook this nation of fifty million in favor of its more powerful and populous neighbors. To its west, China, a nation that exacted tribute from Korea for centuries, is a reemerging regional hegemon. To its east lies Japan, the former colonizer and cultural powerhouse that has been exciting Western imaginations for decades. And directly to the north looms the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which, thanks to its nuclear weapons program and bizarre, monarchical leadership, utterly overshadows South Korea in the world’s media.

What ideas do exist about South Korea tend to be heavily stereotypical. When this author visits any non-Asian country, one of the first questions people ask is, “Do all Koreans really eat dog?” The idea that no pet Alsatian would be safe wandering the streets of Seoul is surprisingly common. And though South Korean per-capita GDP (by purchasing power parity) has reached US$30,000, many in the West assume that South Koreans are still the poor third-world citizens depicted in the TV sitcom M*A*S*H.

Other misplaced assumptions include: Koreans are socially conservative; Koreans are shy and reserved, and do not know how to have fun; Koreans are excessively proud, and believe their country to be the best in the world; all Koreans want North-South reunification; all Koreans hate (or all Koreans love) the United States; Koreans lack creativity; and Koreans are untrustworthy and difficult to deal with in business. There is also one very important misunderstanding about the state of South Korea itself: many believe that this country has always been a bastion of free markets and democracy, which is not the case.

Existing English-language literature about Korea has done little to dispel these ideas. Western writers tend to focus on the old and the traditional, on the Korean War, or on North Korea. There are very few books that show modern South Korea as it is. This is unfortunate, because South Korea is already an important country in the community of nations and in this modern world—not just economically but also culturally and politically. It is time for us all to learn something more about this unique, vibrant, rising country. This book is intended as a way in—a starting point for those who wish to get to know South Korea.

The book is divided into five parts. The first concerns fundamental influences on human behavior in Korea, such as the Buddhist religion, Confucianism, millennia-old shamanism, capitalism, and Christianity. The second part discusses well-studied cultural codes such as jeong and han but also the less frequently discussed heung (a kind of pure joy) and South Koreans’ obsession with anything new. The third section, Hyun-shil: Cold Reality, covers how Koreans do business and politics, work, date, and obsess over education, particularly the study of English. The fourth concerns Korean films, popular music, cuisine, and nightlife; and finally, the fifth part shows how South Korea is no longer an insular, conservative country but rather one that is opening up to the rest of the world and starting to shake off its Confucian-influenced, sexist past. The book begins with a brief synopsis of Korean history in order to give historical context to the chapters that follow.

Why “The Impossible Country”?

Fifty years ago, South Korea was an impoverished, war-torn country that lurched from brutal dictatorship to chaotic democracy and then dictatorship again. Few expected it to survive as a state, let alone graduate to becoming a prosperous and stable model for developing countries the world over—and one with an impressive list of achievements in popular culture, to boot. Quite simply, South Koreans have written the most unlikely and impressive story of nation building of the last century. For that reason alone, theirs deserves to be called “the impossible country.”

South Korea is home to not one, but two miracles. The first is the often-referenced “miracle on the Han River,” the extraordinary economic growth that led the country out of poverty and on the road to wealth, in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. That South Korea had a GDP of less than US$100 per capita in 1960, precious few natural resources, and only the most basic (and war-ravaged) infrastructure seems scarcely believable looking around Seoul these days. The second miracle is just as precious, though. As recently as 1987, South Korea was a military dictatorship, but today, it has stable, democratic leadership. As other Asian nations like Singapore, and now China, promote a mix of authoritarianism and capitalism, South Korea stands out in the region as an example of a country that values not just wealth but also the rule of law and rights for its citizens.

There is another, more negative, source of inspiration for the subtitle, though. As we shall see, genuine contentment largely eludes the people of South Korea, despite all their material success and stability. This is a country that puts too much pressure on its citizens to conform to impossible standards of education, reputation, physical appearance, and career progress. Worldwide, South Korea is second only to Lithuania in terms of suicides per capita. The problem is getting worse, rather than better: between 1989 and 2009, the rate of suicide quintupled. South Korea therefore is “impossible” in its astonishing economic and political achievements but also in the way that it imposes unattainable targets on its people.

Korean independence fighter Kim Gu stated that, “I do not want our nation to become the richest and most powerful nation in the world. . . . It is sufficient that our wealth is such that it makes our lives abundant.” Instead, he wanted Korea to become “the most beautiful nation in the world,” one that provides happiness for its own people and others. Were he alive today, he would probably be disappointed with some of what he saw. But even he would have to admit that this impossible country has come a long way.