Gesellschaft kor
http://search.japantimes.co.jp
April 1, 2009
SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Worldwide recession exposes cracks in South Korean society
By TAKASHI KITAZUME
The continuing decline of the middle class and increase in the ranks of the poor threaten to
exacerbate South Korea's demographic woes, Kim Dong Seop, an editorial writer for the Chonsun Ilbo
daily, told the March 13 symposium.
Compared with the large-scale unemployment caused by the 1997 currency crisis, South Korean
people appear to be relatively calm in response to the current global shock, Kim said. Still, the decline
of the middle class that began in the previous crisis is continuing, with the share of middle-income
earners as defined by the government in the entire population falling from 68.5 percent in 1996 to 58
percent in 2007, he pointed out.
And the recession triggered by the current crisis has pushed many middle-class people into the ranks
of the poor, including those in their 40s and 50s who have lost jobs, as well as small and medium-size
business owners left out of social security benefits, he added.
Big companies also responded to the crisis by cutting back on new recruits, with only about 100,000 of
the 560,000 fresh university graduates this year estimated to have secured employment, Kim noted,
warning that social discontent could intensify among these jobless youths.
Such impacts of the recession could further worsen South Korea's falling birthrate, which is even lower
than in Japan at 1.19 as of last year, Kim said. A government estimate shows that the figure could fall
even lower to nearly 1 this year, if annual GDP growth falls below 1 percent, he added.
During an economic crisis, an increasing number of people refrain from marrying if they cannot find
jobs and couples don't have children because they cannot bear the financial cost of child-rearing, or
choose to get a divorce as they cannot sustain their households, Kim said.
And such impacts could linger for two to three years — or even longer, he said. After the 1997 crisis,
South Korea's divorce rate continued to increase for six years, he added.
Oh Byung Sang
With the falling birthrate, the population is aging rapidly — maybe even more so than in Japan, he
said. A United Nations estimate shows the median age for all South Koreans in 2050 will be 57.6
years, compared with 54.9 in Japan, he noted.
The South Korean government has established an emergency, 24-hour hot line to help the new ranks
of the poor, and has introduced a program to offer financial support for up to six months to those not
covered by unemployment insurance benefits, including self-employed people who went bankrupt or
nonregular workers who lost their jobs, Kim said.
To alleviate the problem of jobless university graduates, public institutions and some companies are
utilizing internship programs as a stopgap measure to provide work opportunities for those youths who
cannot find a full-time job, Kim said. About 20,000 people are currently taking part in such programs,
with some companies freezing wage increases or cutting executive pay to cover the cost of using the
interns, he added.
Kim noted that the current crisis may add momentum to calls for increasing public welfare spending in
South Korea, which today accounts for only about 7 percent of GDP — much lower than the 15
percent in the United States and about 20 percent in European countries.
There are also calls for the government to beef up public education, because expenses on cram
schools and other extracurricular lessons for children are a huge burden on typical South Korean
households, he added.
Meanwhile, Oh Byung Sang, an editorial writer for the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, told the symposium
that he sees signs of long-term changes in South Korea's political landscape.
In the last session of the South Korean Parliament, President Lee Myung Bak faced strong resistance
from not just the opposition but the ruling Grand National Party to his legislative agenda — an
indication that the political power that used to be concentrated in the hands of the president has now
shifted toward parliament, Oh said.
Oh further noted that former GNP chief Park Geun Hye, who exerted leadership behind the scenes in
resolving the deadlock in parliament, has emerged as a strong candidate to be South Korea's next
president. The role she played as a mediator to deal with the recent political confusion confirmed her
growing clout within the GNP and no other politicians rival her strong leadership, he said.
And if Park — daughter of late President Park Chung Hee — is to become president, South Korean
politics, which have swayed widely between left and right with changes in the administration in recent
decades, could stabilize somewhere close to the center, Oh noted.
Park is conservative on defense and foreign policy matters but takes more liberal positions on
economic, social, women and welfare issues, he pointed out.
Oh said the current political trends may add momentum to calls for partial revision of South Korea's
Constitution — possibly as an issue in the next presidential race.
Park is opposed to the introduction of a Cabinet system and says the president's term should be
shortened to four years, with the possibility of re-election to a second term, compared with the current
five-year term without re-election, Oh said, adding that such an amendment would contribute to giving
more power to parliament and increasing political stability.
Oh also said that with North Korea continuing to take belligerent positions toward the rest of the world,
reunification is not likely to be an issue that will have a direct impact on South Korean politics for the
foreseeable future.
http://world.kbs.co.kr
Top Ten News of 2009
Gov’t Seeks to Address Low Birthrate
Despite the government’s various policies to encourage childbirth, the nation continued to post a low
birth rate in 2009.
Though the government established a basic plan on promoting childbirth in 2006 and has been
implementing additional policies ever since, the nation’s birth rate has continued to remain static or, in
some months, lower than in previous years.
According to a report issued by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea on November 18th, the
average fertile South Korean woman gives birth to one-point-two children during her reproductive
years. The figure is far lower than the world average of two-point-five children and has placed South
Korea at the bottom of the list of the some 180 countries surveyed.
The report also forecast that South Korea will see its population decrease from more than 48 million
this year to some 44 million by 2050.
If the prediction is correct, the nation will have the world’s 41st largest population, a plunge from its
current rank of 26th.
Such figures have sparked concerns that the nation’s low birth rate would reduce the nation’s potential
growth, as the economically active population would shrink considerably. Some observers claim that
the current birth rate has reached a level that could threaten national security.
In response, the government opened a meeting on November 25th to discuss how best to counter low
birth rates. It is also drawing up various measures to encourage childbirth.
http://world.kbs.co.kr
Top Ten News of 2009
No. of Foreign Residents in S.Korea Tops 1 Mln
South Korea is increasingly becoming more multicultural, as the number of foreigners that settle in the
nation is growing by the day.
The number of multicultural families is rising fast, mainly in the provinces, with Korean men in farming
villages looking abroad to find wives. The number of foreigners who visit South Korea for business,
study, or employment is also on the rise.
The government found in a survey that some one-point-one million foreigners were residing in the
nation as of May. That’s around two-point-two percent of the nation’s total population.
The number of foreigners that visited the nation also jumped this year to surpass seven million for the
first time on November 23rd.
The figure, up 14 percent from the same period last year, is regarded to be a significant achievement
reached by the tourism industries, as it was posted amid the global financial crisis and the outbreak of
H1N1 influenza.
The Korea Tourism Organization has unveiled plans to attract ten million foreign travelers to the nation
on an annual basis by 2012.
http://www.netzeitung.de
26.09.2003
Koreanische Ritual-Caterer boomen im Netz
Seit jeher verbringen koreanische Frauen einen Großteil ihres Lebens in der Küche. Doch seit Kurzem
bestellen mehr und mehr Koreanerinnen traditionelle Festspeisen bei Online-Caterern.
Traditionsgemäß ist das Kochen und Vorbereiten der rituellen Familienessen in Korea allein Sache
der Frau. Mehrmals im Jahr trifft sich eine koreanische Familie, um in dem Haus des ältesten Sohnes
traditionelle Feste und die Todestage ihrer Ahnen mit einer Essenszeremonie zu begehen. Da das in
Kombination mit Haushalt, Arbeit und Kindern die Frauen kurzfristig in zeitliche Engpässe führen kann,
nutzen gestresste Koreanerinnen immer häufiger einen sogenannten rituellen Caterer im Internet. Seit
1998 verbreitet sich ihr Angebot im Internet stetig, ihr Angebot reicht von fertig vorbereiteten
Speisetafeln inklusive Geschirr und Kerzen bis hin zu Schlafplätzen für die Gäste und einen
Zeremoniendienst, der im Tempel den Ahnen eine Essensgabe darreicht, falls der Kunde selbst nicht
anwesend sein kann.
Hilfe zahlt sich aus
Bei der Ritual-Köchen im Web kann die gestresste Hausfrau die erhebliche Belastung auslagern, den
hohen Ansprüchen ihrer Verwandten gerecht zu werden. Ein Service der sich offenbar auszahlt, denn
die Umsatzzahlen der Caterer verdoppeln sich jedes Jahr. Im Netz zeigt jedes Unternehmen Fotos
von den verschiedenen von ihnen vorbereiteten Menüs. Zunächst hatten viele Frauen große Zweifel,
ob ein im Web bestelltes Menü die Ahnen beleidigen würde und fürchteten den Zorn der
Verwandtschaft, wenn sich herausstellte, dass das Menü nicht selbstgekocht ist. Schließlich handelt
es sich um ein Ritual, bei dem es nicht allein um die Nahrungsaufnahme geht, sondern auch darum,
selbst den verstorbenen Ahnen durch gutes Essen eine Ehre zu erweisen.
Wenig Ehr, mehr Zeit
Trotzdem waren die Frauen, zumeist berufstätige Mütter, geschiedene Frauen oder Witwen von der
Qualität des Services angenehm überrascht und die Kosten übersteigen die eines selbstvorbereiteten
Menüs nicht wesentlich. Während ein selbstgemachtes traditionelles Menü für 10 Personen die
Familie umgerechnet 110 Euro kostet, die Arbeitsstunden der Frau in der Küche nicht mitgerechnet,
ist man bei einer gecaterten Malzeit mit 150 Euro dabei.
http://www.latimes.com
A shelter for South Korea's foreign brides
A former motel is now a home for women from developing countries who were kicked out or abused by
their husbands. Many weren't allowed to learn Korean, and face hardships in their adopted land.
By Ju-min Park, January 14, 2010
Cao Thi Nguyen and her baby were marooned in a strange land without family or options. The young
woman, who moved here from Vietnam two years ago to marry a South Korean man, had been kicked
out of her home after a fight with her husband's family. Unable to speak Korean, the slight 29-year-old
wandered the streets of Seoul for months until she found a refuge designed to help the growing
number of foreign brides in the country -- nearly half of whom report suffering domestic abuse.
Myeongrak Village, a motel-turned-shelter with a capacity for 14 residents, serves women exclusively,
providing food and medical costs and a chance at self-reliance.
In South Korea, which in recent years has imported more than 100,000 foreign brides from such
nations as China, Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines, many newcomers struggle to adapt to their
adopted homeland and its close-knit culture. Some are abandoned by their new families.
"Many of those living here were forced out without any preparation by their irresponsible families," said
Park Jee-hee, a social worker at Myeongrak Village.
Nguyen is typical of residents at the shelter.
"My husband and his family did not allow me to learn Korean because then I could go out and hang
out with friends," said Nguyen, who is seeking a divorce.
At Myeongrak Village, residents have their own rooms and share a common kitchen on each floor. But
more important, they enjoy the support of their peers, who share their grief, emotional scars and hope.
Jung Mi-ryong, a 15-year-old Chinese girl who lives at the shelter with her mother, said life was hard
with her new family.
"My Korean stepfather was paranoid about everything my mother did," she said. Her mother is now
divorced.
The nonprofit center, which opened six months ago, is run by the South Korean Buddhist group
Cheontae Order, which says the need for such services is clear.
In South Korea, men now outnumber women, who often postpone marriage to pursue careers. The
trend is most pronounced in less prosperous rural towns that have seen women leave for big cities.
The women have been replaced as marriage partners by brides from developing countries.
Many inter-cultural couples tie the knot within two or three days. The quick matches sometimes end in
tears -- and worse.
According to a report from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, nearly half of the foreign
brides in South Korea say they have experienced domestic violence.
Activists say they face a language disability that worsens conflicts with their Korean husbands and
families. Traditional views in many conservative families also lead to breakups.
"I heard my mother-in-law saying that my child was born from a rented belly, which is mine," said a 32year-old woman surnamed Kim who declined to give her full name. "It was a shock."
Despite their problems here, many divorced foreign brides say they want to stay in South Korea to
seek their fortunes. Some are studying Korean and plan to become citizens.
But women living in Myeongrak Village say their experiences at the shelter are crucial to their success.
The three-story shelter feels more like a college dormitory where residents cook together and make
friends.
"Now it is tough financially, but not emotionally," Kim said. "I feel safe."
Nguyen recently failed to show up for a job interview: She said she panicked at seeing
incomprehensible Korean-language signs at a subway station.
Nguyen, holding her 19-month-old son in her arms, knows the clock is ticking. Because of a growing
need for space, shelter residents are required to move out after one year. Nguyen has lived there
since the shelter's opening.
She is determined to become independent. She wants to enroll her son in day school and land a job.
For now, though, she's safe and satisfied.
"I'm happy to be away from my husband," she said. "I'm with my son. And I have new friends."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Instead-Man Service A Growing Industry In South Korea
First Posted: 08- 3-09
By Jiyeon Lee,
SEOUL -- Inching toward his mid-30s and with an ill father, Mr. Kim had a problem. He had no
girlfriend and no intention of getting married, but his parents insisted he find someone and settle down.
As his father's condition became worse, so did the pressure from his parents about marriage, until one
day Mr. Kim found himself letting a little lie pop out: He told his parents he was seeing someone.
But the harmless lie, which was supposed to give Kim temporary freedom, suddenly turned against
him. He somehow ended up promising his parents he would visit them with his fiancee. "I tried to find
someone to help me out. It had happened so suddenly, and the date was already set," Kim said. So as
most South Koreans do when in need, he turned to the internet, and it did not fail him.
Kim, who declined to give his full name for fear of his parents finding out, found a company that
offered to do anything for him. With the help of that company, Kim will soon head down to the
countryside with a "nice woman" in her early or mid-30s posing as his potential bride.
Companies like the one Kim stumbled across represent one of the hottest trends in the Korean service
sector these days: the instead-man service. Companies with a pool of instead-men and women offer
to do odd jobs that range anywhere from food delivery to killing cockroaches. Customers pay a fee
that starts at about $4 and can reach into the hundreds depending on the service.
The business emerged in one of Seoul's more affluent districts with companies that focused mainly on
delivering food for women in their 20s and 30s who couldn't bother to leave their apartments.
But as more people acquired larger disposable incomes, and with the shift from a community-oriented
society to an individualistic one, more people are choosing to pay for help instead of asking others for
favors. Instead-man companies now provide almost unlimited services and customers span all ages
and genders.
"People are saying these days, 'I want to take care of the important things in life, and give myself rest
when I have free time,'" said Yoon Ju-yeol, the head of Anyman, one of the top ranking instead-man
companies and provider of Kim's paid fiancee. Yoon explains that South Koreans are now at a stage
where they treasure themselves much more than they did in the past and see paying for their own
convenience as a self-investment.
Anyman, which used to be a delivery service, officially reopened as an instead-man company in May
and has seen a near tenfold growth in cases over three months. In July alone, the company received
more than 3,250 calls from customers who usually turn into regulars. The growth is an indicator that
yet another odd service catering to the needs of South Koreans, who generally like being waited on
and served, is just about to bloom.
Already there were plenty of motorcycles delivering all sorts of items usually guaranteed to arrive at
their destination in less than an hour. And there are more than enough "substitute drivers" offering
drunk car owners rides back home in their own vehicles 24 hours a day. But Yoon thinks these
services are not enough to tend to the needs of the so-called "can't-botherists," who, of course, are
those suffering from "can't-botherism" (both are popular words in Korea). Hence, the arrival of the
instead-man.
"This is a market that the consumers have created, and there are almost no limits to what products
can be marketed and those who can supply it," Yoon said.
He has at least 200 professional instead-men and numerous part-timers on stand-by all across the
country, allowing his company to cover a vast area and still operate efficiently. Anyman, the name
indicating that its instead-men will do anything, has seen an unimaginable variety of service requests
from its clients.
Asking for food delivery from a distant place that sometimes entails double the price of the food itself
as a service fee is nothing unusual. Some customers in the countryside have even asked that
cosmetics or purchases of famous food from Seoul be packed onto express buses and trains for
pickup.
University students have asked instead-men to sit in their classes for them and even elementary
school students have called in to have art supplies delivered to their school gates.
Instead-men say that some of the requests can be quite touching as well. Gruff husbands call in to
have porridge and medicine sent over to their sick wives, and one woman even asked if an older
instead-man could accompany her elderly father on a fishing trip for two days.
But the work is, of course, not always pleasant. "I was once asked to fish out a dead decomposing cat
from between two brick walls, and I politely declined," said professional instead-man Cho Sanghee.Cho rushed out in mid-conversation to the nearest cosmetics store, after getting a call asking that
four packs of false eyelashes be delivered to a beauty salon. "I guess you could say I've bought
almost every single item a woman would at a drug store," Cho said, before speeding off on his
motorcycle.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Brawl Breaks Out In South Korean Parliament
JAE-SOON CHANG, 07/22/2009
SEOUL, South Korea — Hundreds of competing lawmakers screamed and wrestled in South Korea's
parliament Wednesday as a rivalry over contentious media reform bills descended into a brawl that
sent at least one to a hospital.
Lawmakers from the ruling Grand National Party occupied the speaker's podium in a bid to quickly
pass the bills aimed at easing restrictions on ownership of television networks. Opposition parties
responded by stacking up furniture to block ruling party members from entering the main hall of the
National Assembly.
The parliament plunged into chaos, as lawmakers scuffled and shouted abuse at each other. Women
lawmakers from the rival parties joined in the melee, grabbing each other by the neck and trying to
bring opponents to the floor.
YTN television network reported some were injured. One woman lawmaker was seen lying on a blue
mattress with nurses checking her blood pressure. The lawmaker was later taken to a hospital, YTN
said.
The scenes were not unusual to South Korea's confrontational and melodramatic politics, where rival
parties sometimes resort to violence to get their way. Last year, opposition lawmakers used
sledgehammers to pound their way into a parliamentary committee room to block the ruling party from
introducing a bill to ratify a free trade pact with the United States.
The opposition strongly opposes the proposed media reforms that would ease restrictions on large
businesses and newspapers owning stakes in major broadcasting stations. They claim the move is a
ploy by the government of President Lee Myung-bak to get more sympathetic media coverage by
allowing large conservative newspapers to get into the broadcasting business.
Despite the opposition lawmakers' attempt to blockade the National Assembly, ruling party legislators
managed to get into the hall and rammed through the bills amid angry shouts from their opponents.
Some opposition lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to jump on to the speaker's podium. They were
dragged away by ruling party lawmakers.
As the vice parliamentary speaker announced the passage of one bill, parliamentary security guards
rushed to cover him for fears that opposition lawmakers might hurl something, which has happened in
the past. The deputy speaker is affiliated with the ruling party.
The main opposition Democratic Party said the voting had procedural problems and it will seek a court
injunction to invalidate the move.
"The National Assembly, the hall of the people's will, was brutally trampled and infringed upon today,"
the party said in a statement.
The ruling Grand National Party rejected the claim and accused the opposition of using violence and
of being insincere during negotiations to find a compromise on the bills.
"This kind of tragedy should never be repeated again," it said in a statement.
The Grand National Party controls the 294-member unicameral National Assembly with 169 seats.
The main opposition Democratic Party has 84 seats.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
Opening Their Wallets, Emptying Their Savings
Economists Worry as South Koreans Shift From Thrift to Extravagance
In South Korea, shopping "is a kind of competition," said Sabina Vaughan, who travels to Seoul every
summer and sees how her cousins spend. (By Jean Chung -- Bloomberg News)
A consumer shops for high-end computer gear in Seoul. "It is not recognized as a virtue to save, not
anymore," investment adviser Lee Sun-uk said. (By Ahn Young-joon -- Associated Press)
By Blaine Harden, July 30, 2009
SEOUL -- In pursuit of middle-class prosperity, South Koreans have looted their household savings
like no other people on Earth.
They have collectively binged on private schools and fancy cars, language camps and new
apartments, foreign travel and designer shoes.
Americans, the longtime avatars of consumerism gone mad, will save next year at double the rate of
South Koreans, according to a report this month from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), a group that supports sustainable economic growth in developed countries.
When it comes to buying high-priced, brand-name stuff as if there were no tomorrow, Sabina Vaughan
concludes that Americans are relative wimps. "Koreans spend more, way more," said Vaughan, 35,
who travels to Seoul every summer with her Korean-born mother and spies on her cousins as they
shop. "It is a kind of competition for them. It doesn't matter what their income is."
Her conclusion is supported by a mountain of data and a chorus of concerned economists. The
household savings rate in South Korea will have plummeted from a world-beating 25.2 percent in 1988
to a projected world low of 3.2 percent in 2010, according to the OECD. Government policies have
encouraged borrowing, while Korea's aggressive culture has supercharged spending on signifiers of
success, whether they be Ivy League degrees or Louis Vuitton handbags.
"It is not recognized as a virtue to save, not anymore," said Lee Sun-uk, an investment adviser for an
office of Samsung Securities that is located in a wealthy neighborhood of Seoul. "To maintain a certain
status, people are willing to spend, even if their incomes have declined."
In the past decade, average savings per household have plunged from about $3,300 to $525. On a
percentage basis, it is the steepest savings decline in the developed world. Meanwhile, household
debt as a percentage of individual disposable income has risen to 140 percent, higher than in the
United States (136 percent), according to the Bank of Korea.
The consequences of South Korea's collapsed savings rate are beginning to register in the country's
slowing rate of growth, economists said. For nearly 40 years, growth galloped along at between 6 and
8 percent, as banks were flush with household savings that fueled business investment and research.
But growth slowed to about 4.5 percent after 2000, when the savings rate dipped below 10 percent.
"The low savings rate is sapping our capacity to grow, and it is going to get worse," said Park Deogbae, a research fellow who specializes in household finance at the Hyundai Research Institute. "It will
lead to credit delinquency. It will cause greater income disparity. It means less resources for our aging
population."
As South Korea changed from a war-battered farming society to Asia's fourth-largest economy, its
savings rate was almost certain to decline. Economists consider a fall in savings and a rise in
consumer spending to be part of the normal development process, as government-backed social
services increase, property values rise, and stock markets grow.
But the fall-off-a-cliff character of what has happened with household savings in South Korea strikes
many experts as abnormal and worrisome. It is one of several trends suggesting that South Korea, as
it wrestles with post-industrial affluence, is a society under extraordinary stress.
South Koreans work more, sleep less and kill themselves at a higher rate than citizens of any other
developed country, according to the OECD. They rank first in time spent online and second to last in
spending on recreation, and the per capita birthrate scrapes the bottom of world rankings. By 2050,
South Korea will be the most aged society in the world, narrowly edging out Japan, according to the
OECD.
At the same time, South Korea ranks first in per capita spending on private education, which includes
home tutors, cram sessions and English-language courses at home and abroad.
An obsessive pursuit of educational achievement, it seems, is one of the driving forces behind the low
savings rate. About 80 percent of all students from elementary age to high school attend after-school
cram courses. About 6 percent of the country's gross domestic product is spent on education, more
than double the percentage of spending in the United States, Japan or Britain.
"Education is a fixed expenditure for Korean parents, even when household income shrinks," said Oh
Moon-suk, executive director at LG Economic Research Institute. "Parents often overspend. It even
appears to be leading to a slowdown in the birthrate."
As she plans her family's monthly spending, Lim Ji-young says she makes sure that at least a third of
the money is reserved for the education of her 5-year-old son, Roah. Besides day-care fees, he
requires money for books, alphabet tutoring and sports training. "We want to give our son the
opportunity not to be left behind in this society," said Lim, 34, an office administrator in Seoul. "We
want to provide him with what other people are providing. To avoid condescension from other people,
you want to have the best."
Competitive spending -- on tutors, apartments, imported whiskey and designer handbags -- is a
significant factor in the decline of saving in South Korean, according to Park at Hyundai Research.
"Koreans are so much concerned about saving face," Park said. "This is encouraging overspending
and it is sometimes irrational."
There are other reasons for the fall in savings that are eminently rational -- and sponsored by the
government. When the economy nearly collapsed a decade ago during the Asian financial crisis, the
government made low-cost loans available for the purchase of apartments. Borrowing exploded, as
did housing values, while savings began to evaporate.
"Young households without proper discipline borrowed heavily from banks and on credit cards," said
Lee Doo-won, a professor of economics at Yonsei University in Seoul. "They ended up with a huge
amount of debt, and the debt trap is still there."
Stagnant incomes and job losses in the current recession have further reduced capacity for savings
and have slowed debt repayment.
As important, the spending patterns of aging parents, many of whom have been tapped for loans by
children in pursuit of real estate, mean that cash is steadily disappearing from savings accounts.
"Old people do not save," Lee said. "This is a long-term structural phenomenon. It will not change with
the business cycle."
http://world.kbs.co.kr
Gov’t Seeks to Address Low Birthrate
Despite the government’s various policies to encourage childbirth, the nation continued to post a low
birth rate in 2009.
Though the government established a basic plan on promoting childbirth in 2006 and has been
implementing additional policies ever since, the nation’s birth rate has continued to remain static or, in
some months, lower than in previous years.
According to a report issued by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea on November 18th, the
average fertile South Korean woman gives birth to one-point-two children during her reproductive
years. The figure is far lower than the world average of two-point-five children and has placed South
Korea at the bottom of the list of the some 180 countries surveyed.
The report also forecast that South Korea will see its population decrease from more than 48 million
this year to some 44 million by 2050.
If the prediction is correct, the nation will have the world’s 41st largest population, a plunge from its
current rank of 26th.
Such figures have sparked concerns that the nation’s low birth rate would reduce the nation’s potential
growth, as the economically active population would shrink considerably. Some observers claim that
the current birth rate has reached a level that could threaten national security.
In response, the government opened a meeting on November 25th to discuss how best to counter low
birth rates. It is also drawing up various measures to encourage childbirth.
http://world.kbs.co.kr
No. of Foreign Residents in S.Korea Tops 1 Mln
South Korea is increasingly becoming more multicultural, as the number of foreigners that settle in the
nation is growing by the day.
The number of multicultural families is rising fast, mainly in the provinces, with Korean men in farming
villages looking abroad to find wives. The number of foreigners who visit South Korea for business,
study, or employment is also on the rise.
The government found in a survey that some one-point-one million foreigners were residing in the
nation as of May. That’s around two-point-two percent of the nation’s total population.
The number of foreigners that visited the nation also jumped this year to surpass seven million for the
first time on November 23rd.
The figure, up 14 percent from the same period last year, is regarded to be a significant achievement
reached by the tourism industries, as it was posted amid the global financial crisis and the outbreak of
H1N1 influenza.
The Korea Tourism Organization has unveiled plans to attract ten million foreign travelers to the nation
on an annual basis by 2012.
http://www.nzz.ch
18. Dezember 2009
Abschied von der homogenen Nation
Die Einwanderung stellt Südkorea vor ungekannte Probleme
Eingeheiratete Vietnamesinnen erhalten Hilfe, um in Korea kulturell Anschluss zu finden. (Bild: Jo
Yong-Hak / Reuters) Eingeheiratete Vietnamesinnen erhalten Hilfe, um in Korea kulturell Anschluss zu
finden.
Der Aufstieg Koreas zu einer führenden Wirtschaftsnation zeitigt Folgen, an die man zunächst nicht
gedacht hatte – nämlich eine wachsende Zahl der Migranten, die in Korea ihr Auskommen und Glück
suchen. Eine ungewohnte Situation für ein Land, das einst selbst arm war.
Hoo Nam Seelmann
Lange waren es die Koreaner, die auswanderten, um sich durch harte Arbeit in der Fremde den
Traum von einem besseren Leben zu erfüllen. So existiert heute eine recht ansehnliche koreanische
Diaspora weltweit. Nun ist Südkorea selber ein Ziel der Migration geworden, und die fremden
Gesichter der Immigranten kann man auf den Strassen nicht mehr übersehen. Man hört immer
häufiger von Konflikten zwischen Koreanern und Ausländern, ebenso von Geschichten über
Diskriminierungen der Letzteren. Erst allmählich kommen die Debatten über die Politik für und den
Umgang mit den Ausländern in Gang. Im Mai 2009 lebten nach offizieller Zählung 1 106 884
Ausländer in Korea, die 2,2 Prozent der Gesamtbevölkerung ausmachen. Nicht eingeschlossen sind
die illegalen Ausländer, deren Zahl man auf 300 000 schätzt. Wenn auch diese Zahlen im Vergleich
zu vielen europäischen Staaten bescheiden ausfallen, sind die Herausforderungen, vor denen
Südkorea nun steht, enorm, weil es über wenig Erfahrungen auf diesem Feld verfügt.
Eine neue Lage
Vom kulturellen Selbstverständnis her fühlen sich die Koreaner als ethnisch homogen, eine
Einstellung, die weit in die Geschichte zurückreicht. Vom Konfuzianismus geprägt, beachtet ein
Koreaner heute noch, von welcher Ahnenlinie jemand stammt. Denn Ahnenkult ist der wichtigste Kult
in Korea; er achtet auf die Blutlinie und bringt den eigenen Ahnen eine gottähnliche Huldigung
entgegen. Diese Vorstellung der Homogenität, die als Grundlage der nationalen Einheit und Identität
diente, war bis jetzt nie einer ernsthaften Belastung ausgesetzt. Mit dem verstärkten Zustrom von
Migranten ist nun eine neue Lage entstanden. Heute spricht man in Korea überall von einer
«multikulturellen Gesellschaft», einem Konzept, das inzwischen in Europa auf viel Skepsis stösst. Die
Politik der Multikulturalität sei gescheitert, man wolle keine Parallelgesellschaften, heisst es überall in
Europa. Die Koreaner scheinen von diesen europäischen Debatten noch unberührt zu sein, denn
Korea kennt die von der Migration herrührenden massiven gesellschaftlichen Konflikte noch nicht.
Eingedenk der eigenen Migrationsgeschichte geben sich die Koreaner noch offen gegenüber der
Einwanderung.
Betrachtet man statistische Daten, fallen einige Besonderheiten der südkoreanischen Situation auf.
Mehr als 90 Prozent aller Immigranten stammen aus Asien, angeführt von den ethnischen Koreanern,
die als Minderheit in China leben, dann folgen Chinesen, Vietnamesen, Filipinos und Thailändern.
49,1 Prozent aller Ausländer kamen nach Korea als Arbeiter, die in arbeitsintensiven Industriezweigen
jene Tätigkeiten verrichten, die die Koreaner meiden. Ein typisches Phänomen, das durch ein
beträchtliches Lohn- und Wohlstandsgefälle zwischen verschiedenen Ländern verursacht wird.
Dahinter rangieren die Geschäftsleute (19,1 Prozent), und ihnen folgen mit 16,2 Prozent als
drittstärkste Gruppe diejenigen Ausländer, die zur Eheschliessung nach Korea kommen. Hier
dominiert die Kombination: Koreanische Männer heiraten Ausländerinnen. Solche Frauen mit ihren
binationalen Ehen rücken nun in den Mittelpunkt des politischen und gesellschaftlichen Interesses.
Denn diese Entwicklung wird auf die koreanische Gesellschaft einen nachhaltigen Einfluss ausüben
und am Mythos der Homogenität nachdrücklich rütteln. Hier liegt auch ein Konfliktpotenzial, das nur
eine umsichtige Politik entschärfen kann.
Schon seit langem finden vor allem Bauern und Fischer in Korea immer schwerer eine Koreanerin als
Ehepartnerin. Diese Berufe haben ein schlechtes Image, und das niedrige Einkommen der Männer
lässt sie wenig attraktiv erscheinen. Die massive Verstädterung in den letzten Jahrzehnten hat vor
allem junge Frauen in die städtischen Ballungszentren getrieben. Wie überall versuchen Frauen auch
in Korea nach oben zu heiraten, ein Umstand, der viele koreanische Männer partnerlos zurücklässt. In
diese Lücke sprangen findige Heiratsvermittlungsinstitute, die seit 2000 Frauen aus China, Vietnam,
von den Philippinen, aus Thailand und der Mongolei nach Korea vermittelten. 2008 betrug die Zahl
bereits 144 385. Diese Frauen kommen nicht so sehr der Liebe wegen nach Korea, sondern wegen
der Aussicht auf ein besseres Leben. Mittlerweile machen 11 Prozent aller Eheschliessungen Heiraten
mit einem ausländischen Ehepartner aus. Es gibt aber Gegenden in Korea, in denen diese Rate bis
auf 40 Prozent steigt. Um Missbräuche zu unterbinden, wurde im Dezember 2007 ein Gesetz
verabschiedet, das die Vermittlungsinstitute strikter kontrolliert und die beteiligten Personen, die
ausländischen Frauen wie die koreanischen Männer, vor betrügerischen Machenschaften schützt.
Die binationalen Ehen und ihre Familien stehen nun im Mittelpunkt des politischen und
gesellschaftlichen Engagements, weil hier Kinder heranwachsen, die als Koreaner die Zukunft des
Landes mitgestalten werden. Um diesen Familien zu helfen, wurde im Dezember 2007 ein weiteres
Gesetz verabschiedet, das die Unterstützung der «multikulturellen Familien» regelt. Mehr als 120
«multikulturelle Center» sind landesweit geplant, und bereits viele davon sind eingerichtet, um
kostenlos Orientierungs- und Sprachkurse anzubieten. Professionelle Helfer beraten auch die
koreanischen Familienmitglieder, um Konflikte wegen der Sprachbarriere und kultureller Differenzen
zu entschärfen.
Integrationsarbeit auf Augenhöhe
Broschüren in verschiedenen Sprachen über das Leben in Korea werden verteilt. Es gibt überall auch
Beratungsstellen, die Frauen juristisch beistehen oder Übersetzungsdienste anbieten, um
Anfangsschwierigkeiten zu überwinden. Vielfältige private Hilfsinitiativen von Buddhisten, Christen und
Bürgergruppen konzentrieren ihr Angebot ebenso auf diese Familien. Dem Konzept liegt die Idee der
Gegenseitigkeit zugrunde, d. h., man muss den neuen Mitbürgern das Verständnis der koreanischen
Kultur abverlangen, zugleich sollen aber die Koreaner auch die Besonderheit der Kulturen jener
Länder, aus denen die Migranten kommen, kennen- und respektieren lernen. Daher werden die
Hilfspersonen speziell geschult, und viele Broschüren über die verschiedenen Herkunftsländer liegen
überall bereit. Bis jetzt zumindest läuft die Integration ohne schwerwiegende Konflikte ab.
Trotz umfassenden Bemühungen müssen Ausländer insgesamt noch gegen viele Vorurteile
ankämpfen, die teilweise rassistisch motiviert sind. Die Koreaner haben, obwohl sie selber lange Opfer
der westlichen Rassenideologien waren, diese übernommen und wenden sie an anderen an.
Westeuropäer und Nordamerikaner werden besser behandelt als Menschen aus ärmeren asiatischen
Ländern, wenn auch die meisten der Arbeit wegen nach Korea kommen. Wie überall sind Ausländer
auch in Korea nicht gleich, sondern je ärmer jemand ist, desto mehr Ausländer ist er.
http://times.hankooki.com
Supreme Court Rules Against Male-Centered Clan System
By Kim Tong-hyung, 07-21-2005
Reversing earlier decisions by lower courts, the Supreme Court Thursday ruled that married women
have equal rights with men in sharing the wealth of their paternal families.
The ruling, which states that women should rightfully remain a member of her father’s family after
marriage, could affect the outcome of similar lawsuits around the country and encourage more legal
actions.
„Recognizing only male adults as members of a family clan and excluding female adults from it has
little logic in today’s society based on a legal structure that promotes gender equality,“ the court said.
„Whether they are male or female, they should have equal rights and responsibilities in maintaining
traditional customs such as maintaining burial grounds and carrying out ritual services,“ it said.
The top court referred the case back to the Seoul High Court.
Most civic groups welcomed the court decision as progress in promoting gender equality.
The Korea Women’s Association (KWAU) released a statement that called the ruling a milestone in
improving women’s rights.
„The ruling is an extension of recent progress towards gender equality, such as the abolition of the
family registration law. We hope that this will be the start of the practical application of written laws into
everyday life,“ said Chung Hyun-back, who co-heads the civic group.
A Confucian-oriented family clan, or „chongjung“, includes all male adult family members with the
same last name from the same origin. Only males have traditionally been recognized as members of a
chongjung.
Korean law doesn’t clarify the concept or legal boundaries of a chongjung, handling the subject as part
of customary law. Tuesday’s ruling reflects the increasing argument that change is inevitable in
Korea’s traditionally male-centered family systems, finding better accordance with contemporary
societal values.
In March, the National Assembly voted to abolish the „hoju,“ or the male-dominant family registration
system, allowing parents to register their children under the mother’s family name starting in 2008.
Under the Confucian tradition, only the man’s family name is passed on to his offspring.
The main plaintiffs of the Supreme Court case were five married women from the Lee family
originating from Yongin, Kyonggi Province, who began their legal battle against their „chongjung,“ or
family clan in 2000.
They claimed that they were discriminated against in the distribution of family wealth.
Two female members of the Shim family originating from Chongsong, Kyonggi Province, also took
their case to court to protest the male-centered family clan system.
According to the plaintiffs, the Lee family distributed 35 billion won ($ 33.8 million) to its family
members after selling some of its land to a local developer in 1999.
Each male adult received 150 million won, while each male aged under 20 received between 16.5
million won and 55 million won. Unmarried female adults received 33 million won each, while each
daughter-in-law married to a male member of the family was given 30 million.
However, the married female adults, traditionally considered outsiders upon marriage, originally
received nothing and were latter offered 22 million won each only after they protested.
Both the Suwon District Court, in March 2001, and the Seoul High Court, in December 2001, ruled in
favor of the defendants, citing the tradition which allows only males to remain part of their family tree
after marriage. The defendants, the male family members, dismissed the claims of unfair treatment.
Lee Seung-kwan, a director at Sungkyunkwan, the nation’s Confucian headquarters, denounced the
top court’s decision, claiming that it will stir confusion.
„The chongjung has a special place in Korean tradition, as its members are responsible for carrying
out rituals for their ancestors. Traditionally, women were required to honor the chongjung of their
husband after marriage,“ he said.
Although the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, it also stressed that the decision could not
be retroactive to past incidents and will only affect future cases, intending to reduce confusion and
guarding against a possible flood of similar lawsuits.
This means that married women, including the Lee family plaintiffs, will not be able to claim a larger
share of family wealth than has already been distributed, but could ask for equal shares in future
distributions.
http://www.asianewsnet.net/
Getting married, at an ever rising price
By Lee Joo-hee, The Korea Herald, 2004-05-19
A bride in an exquisite creamy white gown walks down the aisle toward the groom in a smart tuxedo
and wearing a wide grin. A string quartet adds ambience and guests admire the couple as the
marriage ceremony unfolds. What the guests don't know is that in the past three months, the couple
fought almost every day and broke up at least five times. Many days ended with the bride-to-be crying
and her prospective husband annoyed or angry.
It was not because they didn't love each other, the 26-year-old newlywed said. It was the stress and
the heavy expenses they faced as they prepared for their wedding in March. „Suddenly, it was no
longer about the two of us, and most of the things that we had agreed on meant nothing as soon as
our parents entered the picture,“ said the bride, who asked to go by the alias Kim Ji-na. The rows were
mainly over choosing and buying gifts for future in-laws, with her husband's parents discreetly asking
for more in return for getting them a house and Kim facing up to the traditional obligation to buy highend presents.
The couple's tumultuous experiences are commonplace in Korea, where a large portion of „honsu,“ or
marriage expenses, is spent on extravagant gifts exchanged between the families of the bride and
groom.
„Wedding culture in Korea represents a lot of things: children's excessive dependence on parents;
excessive interference by parents; a disproportionate emphasis on economic factors in marriages; and
a feeling of unfairness that occurs as the groom's family gets a higher say in preparations,“ said Kim
Young-ran, a researcher at the Korean Women's Development Institute. Although weddings in general
have become less extravagant in recent years because of tighter economic conditions, with couples
opting to spend more wisely and efficiently, extravagant honsu is still rampant, particularly among
higher income groups, she said. Also, in a society where children usually live with parents until they
get married, the economic burden on the entire household becomes extremely high, Kim said. „It is
thus becoming more common for couples with fewer financial advantages to postpone marriage, which
delays them starting a family,“ she added.
When Koreans marry, the man usually buys or rents an apartment or house while the woman must fill
the house with necessary furniture and electronic equipment. It becomes trickier – and expensive –
with presents. The bride is obliged to buy gifts ranging from a 2 million won mink coat to paying out
several millions of won in cash for the groom's immediate family members. The groom is also hit hard.
In addition to finding an apartment or house, his family is obliged to send a „ham,“ a box of presents
for the bride that traditionally includes diamond and pearl jewelry sets, a designer bag and wallet and
clothes to wear during the honeymoon.
The Korea Consumer Protection Board conducted a survey last year involving 418 couples who wed
in the past two years and found the average marriage expenses were 90.9 million won ($ 70,000) per
couple. About 70% of the money went to buying or renting an apartment or house, and 20% on gifts
for family members. Most middle-class families end up spending far above the average.
Kim Ji-na, whose father is a retired banker, said her family spent approximately 100 million won for her
wedding, as well as the household goods, gifts and the actual ceremony. For gifts, Kim bought a 2
million won mink and spent another 2 million won for a designer bag, jewelry and „hanbok“ (Korean
traditional costume) for her mother-in-law. Additionally, she spent 2 million won on suits for the groom,
brother-in-law and father-in-law, 500,000 won on a bag for her sister-in-law and 5 million won in cash
for 12 other relatives-in-law. Kim's husband, whose father is a retired businessman, spent about 150
million won to rent an apartment in central Seoul and some 7 million on gifts for Kim and the wedding
ceremony. Kim said both she and her husband generally followed their parents' wishes but
nonetheless felt several of the gifts were unnecessary.
Many agree with Kim that some of the spending on marriages is excessive, the Consumer Protection
Board survey said. Of the newlyweds questioned, 98% said the current wedding culture must be
amended, while only 2% said it was a „laudable custom.“ Altogether 38.7% of those who viewed the
honsu culture as too spendthrift blamed long-standing Korean fears that maintaining one's reputation
demanded „doing as much as others do.“ About 30% cited flamboyance and 17% said it was a
material-oriented social trend. Nearly 96% said they felt the gift exchange culture should change since
it often not only involves gifts but also cash.
„Giving presents to the in-laws as a mean of paying respect for the new family counters today's
modernization of family formation that centers on the couple more than families,“ the report said. In the
past, most marriages were a consolidation of two families to carry on a family name. Parents thus
played a huge part in marriages with the bride usually moving in to live with her in-laws. Gifts were
exchanged to represent gratitude and as a greeting. The meaning of honsu is highly distorted
nowadays and the value of gifts is used as measure of a family's social status and wealth, the report
added.
A 29-year-old bride-to-be, who wished to be identified only by her family name, Kim, said: „The level of
extravagance relies on how much the groom puts into preparing a home. The more money put into
buying or renting a house, the more gifts the bride must provide.“ Kim, who plans to marry next month,
said she and her fiance decided to simply exchange rings and get a mortgage together to lease an
apartment.
But any couple who follows the example of Kim and her fiance needs the sympathetic understanding
of both their families, as well as a strong dependency on each other. „Most of the couples that get
married in their late 20s and early 30s are usually not capable of buying a house for themselves. So,
they either choose to delay marriage or depend on their parents,“ researcher Kim Young-ran said. In
the survey of newlyweds, nearly 62% said they relied for most of their marriage expenses on their
parents, while over 54% said they spent more than they expected. Another 40% said they had
arguments with their partners over how much to spend on their wedding.
In a thesis „Problems and alternatives for honsu culture,“ Prof. Kim Jung-ok of Catholic University of
Daegu pinpointed five main areas for change: Bride and groom must try to bear an equal amount of
the expenses; parents must shift their beliefs and accept the independence of children following their
marriage; the newlywed couple must learn to be independent; more social support, such as loan and
mortgage benefits, should be available to newlyweds. Honsu culture could be maintained if gift
exchanges remain true to their original intent, as a token of welcome and appreciation, Prof. Kim
wrote.
„A healthy marriage is so much more important than having a jaw-dropping wedding and presents,“
said Kim Ji-na. „I did not realize it at the time as I was caught up in the moment, but now I know I could
have used all the money spent on expensive bags and presents so much more efficiently in our daily
lives. „I would do it over again, differently, if I could, but of course with the same man,“ she said, with a
grin.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200406/kt2004062015445554060.htm
The Abuse Of Cultural Norms
Scott Fallis, Korea Times, 06-20-2004
According to the time honored Confucian custom here in Korea, age plays an important factor in
determining one’s status in relation to another. For this reason, you hardly ever find employees in
Korean companies who have bosses younger than themselves. The age factor helps determine the
role and place of individuals in family, business, friendship, even dating. Living and working in Korea I
can accept this cultural peculiarity but what strikes me as downright strange is when Westerners adopt
this for themselves.
Such is the case at one of my jobs where the oldest foreign male employee has essentially usurped
the role of „leader“ or „director“ despite the equal status of the four non-Koreans working there. He
feels that he has the right to be in charge because he is the most senior amongst us and even treats
younger Korean personnel as subordinates although this happens not to be the case at all. He is so
driven, judgmental and opinionated you would think he were the boss or something. To me, it is almost
comical to watch him „take charge“ since none of the other expatriates working for the company
recognize him as such or follow his authority but at times the situation can get downright annoying,
uncomfortable and stressful. The only reason I haven’t told him off yet is to maintain the peaceful
company atmosphere and I have no intentions of starting up some new rivalry with another co-worker.
The Koreanization of expatriates is to some extent inevitable the longer we stay in the Land of the
Morning Calm. In most cases this includes appreciation of Korean cuisine, developing language skills,
taking in a traditional performance, making friends with locals, late night drinking rituals, and reflexively
bowing a little when greeting a business contact and bowing even deeper when meeting a superior.
Mannerisms and ideological principles are also greatly affected. I always take my shoes off when
entering the apartment nowadays and my wife complains I am too stubborn and demanding like a
Korean man.
I don’t think I was this way many years ago but simply changed with my environment and the people
around me, mostly Korean businessmen. But, one thing I never would stoop to doing is playing the
age card. I have never treated anyone differently because they were younger or older than me,
instead I took into account their character, friendliness, intelligence and sincerity, and their level of
achievement in their professional career, in evaluating how much respect or „honors“ to bestow on
another individual. To kowtow to another overseas guest who has the same job, level and salary as
me is ridiculous and unnatural. I simply will refuse to play this game any longer and if it leads to
conflict, so be it. It is a shame when expatriates use Korean culture to suit their needs by embracing
those aspects that work to their advantage while rejecting those they either don’t agree with or are
somewhat disadvantageous to them.
For example, this same co-worker refused to disclose his exact age to the rest of us at first with the
excuse that telling us could be used against him. So he uses his obvious age seniority to lord over us
and try to issue orders to others but isn’t candid enough to tell us his age because he is afraid it might
affect his position in the company. He told us that in Korea if a Korean male weren’t employed at a
company by the age of thirty, he would never be able to get a job. While I doubt the accuracy of this
statement, I do understand the hardship older workers have landing a job, perhaps much harder than
newly minted college graduates but under such dire economic times, every age segment is finding
gaining employment a seemingly unreachable illusion.
This co-worker, and I am sure we have all had dealing with others just like him, routinely manipulates
and exploits the time-honored Korean system of business and personal relations to suit his selfish,
self-centered agenda. It is a sham when foreigners pick and choose the things (customs and habits)
they like about Korea like an ajumma (Korean married woman reaching middle age) sifting through
fruits and vegetables at the local market, only picking the ones seen as most appealing and agreeable
while rejecting the rest. They think their quasi-brand of culture is the real thing but it is nothing but a
smokescreen. When they return to their homeland and tell others about Korea, do you think they know
what they are talking about or truly understand the slightest bit about Korea life, society and culture?
Would they make good representatives and give an accurate picture of what Korea is about? The
answer is absolutely not. One cannot sea the blue sky through red tinted sunglasses and one cannot
tell accurate stories or pass insightful information about a foreign country such as Korea with one eye
shut and one ear closed during their stay.
http://www.nuku.de/korea/
Eine koreanische Hochzeitsfeier
Gestern Nachmittag durfte ich an einer koreanischen Hochzeitsfeier teilnehmen. Ich selbst kannte das
Brautpaar nicht, aber eine Freundin von mir ist mit der Schwester der Braut befreundet. So kam es,
dass sie mir vor einigen Tagen beim Abendessen anbot: "Komm doch mit, ein kostenloses Essen!".
So weit, so gut.
Die Hochzeit fand in einem Hotel statt. Kurz vor 17.00 Uhr sind wir eingetroffen, und es ging auch
gleich los: Einzug von Braut und Braeutigam in westlicher Kleidung, dazu etwas Popmusik,
Ansprache, Ja-Wort. Kein Kuss, kein Ring. Dafuer aber ueberall Kameras, damit das anwesende
Publikum jeden Schritt des Paares auf den beiden Grossleinwaenden auch verfolgen kann. Ich hatte
allerdings den Eindruck, dass viele der Anwesenden wirklich nur an dem Essen interessiert waren.
Besonders toll war dies aber auch nicht: Es gab eine Art Mischung aus koreanischen Beilagen
(Kimchi, Reis, Nudeln) und westlichem Dinner (Hacksteak, Karotten). Nach dem Essen, also ca. 1,5
Stunden spaeter, sind viele bereits gegangen. Das Brautpaar hat sich schliesslich fuer die traditionelle
koreanische Zeremonie umgezogen.
Koreanische Hochzeit - Traditioneller Teil
Bei dieser haben kaum Gaeste zugeschaut, ich fand sie aber wesentlich schoener als den kitschigen
"westlichen" (amerikanischen?) Teil der Feier. Nach insgesamt nur 2 Stunden waren aber auch wir
bereits wieder auf dem Heimweg.
Mein Fazit: Traditionelle koreanische Hochzeitskleidung ist wirklich schoen, feiern sollte man aber
lieber in Deutschland
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=5acd70e559544e803c744c721f237961
Korean 'Pretty Boy' Trend is Too Much
Korea Times, Park Moo-jong, Nov 11, 2003
As Flora is the goddess of flowers in the Roman mythology, flowers represent beauty and symbolize
the feminine beauty of women. But the flower is no longer a symbol reserved only for women – at least
in Korea.
An expression in vogue these days is „flower Adonis,“ which describes boys in their late teens and
early twenties who are „beautiful“ as flowers, with some of them more feminine that some women,
enough to make them jealous.
The term may have originated with World Cup football star Ahn Jung-hwan now in his late twenties
who is often compared to David Beckham of England. Such pretty boys include actors Kim Rae-won
and Won Bin and singer Kang Ta, to name a few.
The flower Adonis men, most of whom are idols for teenagers, are contributing to the trend of men
investing more and more time and effort to look better.
The sales of men’s cosmetics, excluding shampoo, conditioner and hair styling products, are growing
rapidly, making the industry an attractive one. The cosmetics industry, traditionally believed to target
women, has a new target segment now: men. No longer do cosmetics represent a „women only“
market. Many players are coming up with skincare products for men.
For instance, a „color lotion“ with the brand name Man Holding a Flower, which hit the market last
year, surprised even the product’s maker with $ 4 million in sales for the first six months. Its success
was partly owed to the soccer star that modeled for its TV advertisement. This unique cultural
phenomenon was even discussed internationally as the Los Angeles Times reported about it in a
feature story from Seoul last month.
The U.S. paper attributed the phenomenon to an ultra-competitive society, especially when it comes to
jobs, quoting people in the industry. It said market research indicates the best customers are middleaged businessmen who are trying to compete for jobs and promotions.
Many men remember with some humor their young days of curiosity when they sneaked into the room
of their mother or sister to try out their cosmetics. Now, they have grown up to be adults and face an
era where men wear makeup openly.
As early retirement has increasingly become a major trend in this prolonged recession, more and more
people are become concerned about looking younger to be more competitive to survive the rat race.
Dying one’s hair is the first step. These days, plastic surgeons are busy removing moles, dark spots
and wrinkles for their male clients. Botox is one popular treatment. It is well known that the nation’s
most famous man had Botox injections to smooth out wrinkles in the forehead.
Men-only skincare shops are flourishing, with an increasing number of males using special cosmetics
other than aftershave and lotions turning the market into a very lucrative one with 210 billion won ($
175 million) in sales in the first 10 months of the year.
Professional matchmakers agree that many of their male clients could increase their chances after a
makeover in hairstyle and general appearance. The ability to make money used to count most, but
these days looks are worth more, they say.
Korean women who spend more time at hair salons than the rest of the world are also influencing their
husbands or boyfriends to pay more attention to taking care of their faces.
In short, there can be no problem with the desire of men as well as women to look better. But there is
something wrong about men having to try to look more pretty to survive in today’s economically and
socially competitive world.
The more gender lines blur, the more people will scramble to find their identity.
In particular, men are understandably shaken by a world where being a man has no longer any clear
definition with the role of women rapidly expanding and volatility in society creating stress.
As proved by the girlish pretty boys’ monopoly of major entertainment and programs on TV, traditional
men who rely on their strong natural appeal risk being endangered in these superficial times.
An Internet survey showed that it would not be that strange for middle-aged men in their 40s and 50s
to wear colorful makeup after five to 10 years.
Even 17% of the male respondents said they are willing to use lipstick for men if such products
become available. One day, men may start going to the bathroom in pairs to touch up their foundation.
It’s funny to imagine a man running low on makeup in the near future. Will he suspect his sister or best
friend?
Maintaining a good image is a fine thing and the effort must be rewarded. Yet, the truth is: Too much is
as bad as too little.
http://www.manager-magazin.de
25. September 2006
Kontaktpflege in Korea: "Da wird nicht getrunken, da wird gesoffen"
Von Alexia Angelopoulou
Kaum ein Topmanager, der nicht Erfahrung im Ausland gesammelt hat, und kaum ein Topmanager,
der danach nicht von seltsamen Begebenheiten, kuriosen Verhandlungen und grandiosen
Missverständnissen berichten könnte. Mitglieder der manager-lounge haben sich deshalb auf die Spur
des Geschäftslebens in Korea gemacht.
Stuttgart – "Die Menschen stolpern nicht über Berge, sondern über Maulwurfshügel", hat der
chinesische Philosoph Konfuzius gesagt, dessen Lehren Asien bis heute prägen. Wie recht er damit
hat, weiß jeder, der einmal mit einem ausländischen Geschäftspartner verhandelt hat und dabei in
erster Linie über kleine Benimm- und Verständnisfehler gestolpert ist. Vor allem die asiatische Kultur
macht es Europäern nicht immer leicht. Umso wichtiger, einen Aufenthalt in China, Japan oder eben
auch Korea gut zu planen.
"Rund 90 Prozent aller Manager bereiten sich nicht richtig vor", ist die Erfahrung von In-Ho Johann
Kim, Head of Strategy & Legal Affairs der nanoCrypt AG in Stuttgart. Der Koreaner ist in Deutschland
aufgewachsen und weiß, wie es um die potenziellen Fettnäpfchen, die kulturellen Unterschiede und
die gängigen Schwierigkeiten zwischen Deutschen und Koreanern steht.
In den 20 Managern, die am manager-lounge-Treffen teilnehmen, hat er kenntnisreiche Zuhörer
gefunden. Fast jeder von ihnen war bereits geschäftlich in Asien unterwegs, manchmal sogar für
Jahre dort stationiert. Kein Wunder, dass in der Diskussionsrunde die Wellen hochschlagen und die
schönsten Geschichten ans Licht kommen.
"Wundern Sie sich nicht, wenn Ihr koreanischer Geschäftspartner in der Sauna plötzlich anfängt,
Ihnen den Rücken zu schrubben", sagt In-Ho Johann Kim und erntet dafür ausgelassenes Gelächter.
In die Sauna zu gehen gehört bei koreanischen Geschäftsleuten zur dritten Stufe der Verhandlungen.
Diese Stufe wird jedoch nur erreicht, wenn man grundsätzlich sympathisch ist.
Ob dem so ist, wird zunächst beim Essen herausgefunden – und natürlich beim obligatorischen
Alkoholgenuss. "Da wird nicht getrunken, da wird gesoffen", sagt Kim, und wieder nicken die meisten
in der Runde zustimmend. "Ist das aber nicht ein Gesichtsverlust, wo es doch in Asien so wichtig ist,
das Gesicht zu wahren?", will ein Manager wissen. "Wir zeigen auf diese Weise mehr von unserem
inneren Charakter, deshalb wird Trinken als vertrauensfördernd angesehen", erklärt Kim. "Und
abgesehen davon ist es recht günstig, Asiaten betrunken zu machen", fügt er schmunzelnd hinzu.
Der perfekte Sprachsalat
Viele große und kleine Dinge sind es, die den Weg ebnen können. "Achten Sie darauf, frische Socken
anzuziehen, vielleicht nicht gerade welche mit Micky Maus drauf", sagt Kim und versichert: "Das ist
kein fiktives Beispiel." Bei Verhandlungen sitzt man gut und gerne zwei Stunden im Schneidersitz und
sollte deshalb auf die Fußbekleidung achten.
„Überhaupt, die Zeit! "Planen Sie mindestens drei Mal so viel Zeit für Verhandlungen ein, wie Sie
normalerweise ansetzen würden." Wichtig ist dabei, die gefassten Beschlüsse mehrfach zu
wiederholen um sicherzugehen, dass von derselben Sache geredet wird – vor allem, wenn die
Geschäftssprache wie in den meisten Fällen Englisch ist. "Da kommt der Deutsche mit seinem
Denglisch und der Koreaner mit seinem Konglisch, wie wir sagen, und schon ist der Sprachsalat
perfekt."
Neben der Sprache gilt es, Verständnis für koreanische Denkmuster zu entwickeln. In dem stark
konfuzianisch geprägten Land ist es wichtig, den anderen einordnen zu können. Deshalb fragen
koreanische Geschäftsleute den ausländischen Partner auf eine Weise aus, die uns zudringlich
erscheinen mag. "Wer bist Du, was hast Du studiert, bist Du verheiratet, hast Du viele Kinder und auf
welche Schule gehen sie?" – "Das kann penetrant wirken", gesteht In-Ho Johann Kim, "aber diese
Fragen werden auf jeden Fall kommen."
Dennoch plädiert er dafür, bei der Vorbereitung nicht zwei Stunden lang die Visitenkartenübergabe zu
üben. Nützlicher ist es, den Kontakt zu deutschen Managern zu suchen, die bereits vor Ort sind. In der
manager-lounge beispielsweise hat sich eine Gruppe von Managern gebildet, die derzeit in Asien
arbeiten und online den "Austausch über asienrelevante Themen" betreiben.
Schließlich ist es wichtig, bei gleichzeitigem Verständnis die eigenen Belange durchzusetzen. Dass
die Manager sich verbiegen, will In-Ho Johann Kim nicht. "Bleiben Sie so, wie Sie sind – Sie müssen
lediglich für die Unterschiede sensibilisiert sein", rät er. Um es mit Konfuzius zu sagen: "Wohin du
auch gehst, geh mit deinem ganzen Herzen."