Japanese aren't loved in Korea
An article in the NYT yesterday reminded me of a story:
My first day in Korea in 2005, I was riding the subway, watching an old wrinkled Korean lady bouncing a really cute baby on her knee. The kid’s eyes were locked on mine as he garbled and cooed and his grandma smiled shyly at me in my amusement. Then the subway stopped and a young couple, a businessman and an old man came into the car. I kept making stupid faces at the child when I started hearing a loud Korean voice over the normal din of a midday train ride. At first I ignored it but then it became louder and more vicious sounding. I finally looked to see the old man sitting down and he was litterally spitting as he cursed foreign slurs directly at me. I was shocked and looked back at him. He stood up, assisted by a cane, and kept yelling at me. I moved back slightly, a little frightened when the grandma with the child said something to him in a stern voice and he sat back down. He kept muttering curses at me though until finally the young woman said something to him. She said it politely but with an edge and he finally shut up. She then turned to me and apologized. Her boyfriend did the same. I got off at the next stop. His eyes followed me out the door, as did the chubby cheeked Korean child.
Multiple generations live together in Korea
I didn’t know what that was about until later, it was explained to me that Koreans, especially the older generation, are pretty racist. It comes from living on an island. It comes from conservative education that tries to instill a strong sense of nationalistic and ethnic pride. It comes from Japanese invasions and drawn out wars. It comes from being stuck between some very distinct societies. It’s kind of normal there. That’s one of the reasons why it is a really big deal for me to be marrying Rory.
Long after I left Korea and travelled the rest of Asia, I looked back at my time and the people I met in Seoul. There was a serious shift happening and my generation in that country were torn between two very distinct cultures; that belonging to the old and traditional, conservative values of their parents and their own free-spirited, confused and artistically hungry sense of selves.
This is a great photo from flickr photographer 2five1
That train ride now reminds me very much of an elevator ride I took with my dad and great grandmother in her building when I was young and she was alive. A stubborn, Irish mother of 14 in rural Quebec, Great Grandma D’Arcy was a live, fallen power cable, full of spark and energy, often seen dancing a jig with a grin on her face. However, when two large black guys entered the car, her smile distorted as she began dropping N-bombs and cursing the most foul obscenities I think I’ve ever heard. Even as a young child I was shocked. I understood though that it was just her ignorance, her life in ethnic isolation. Not so different from the old Korean man on the train. I think Korea is one generation away from being awesome.
- A lot had to happen for change to come about in the West
Going back to the NYT article, it is good to see that the government and laws in Korea are starting to reflect the new realities. In just the past seven years, the number of foreign residents has doubled, to 1.2 million and younger people are starting to marry non Koreans. People might read the article and think, ‘wow, what took them so long’ but consider that an interracial couple was denied a marriage license recently in the US.
I don’t often tell her but I am supremely proud of my fiance for choosing to stand up against the traditions of her family and her country in order to marry me. Women like Rory have started challenging the norms. They are Korea’s version of Richard Loving. I’m hopeful that our children will be the ones who set Korea free.
Related articles:
After 40 years, interracial marriage flourishing -http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
9 comments
Comments feed for this article
November 2, 2009 at 11:45 am
weigook-nam
That train picture is from Japan, not Korea.
November 2, 2009 at 11:47 am
iamjamieread
Thanks, it was labeled from Korea. I’ll look for a better one.
J
November 2, 2009 at 1:18 pm
strayblog
Thanks for posting on my blog, I enjoyed the NY Times article as well, I’m glad this is getting dealt with by the law.
November 3, 2009 at 2:43 am
James17930
Interesting story Beal told me (remember, he lived there for about 3 years):
Some elementary school students were given an assignment to draw pictures of what they would like to do to Japanese people, or how they felt about Japanese. They were basically led to draw things like shooting them, stabbing them etc.
If that wasn’t bad enough, these pictures were then posted as an ‘art display’ in the airport. The fucking airport! Where all foreigners get their first taste of the country. I couldn’t believe it.
I’ve heard some other similar ‘not so nice’ things about Korea, along, now, with this; it’s going to be very interesting, I think, to go there, because, for better or worse, I will not hesitate to speak out against blatant racism if I see it.
Should make for an entertaining time.
November 3, 2009 at 5:38 am
iamjamieread
Well, Korean and much of Asia’s hatred towards the Japanese is rooted in some pretty heavy historical brutalities. As Canadians we have a hard time understanding that because nothing really ever happened to us by another country or group of people (softwood lumber disputes aside). Maybe if you went to the natives in Canada and asked them to draw the same thing, their pictures might look similar but with colonialists on the end of tomahawk blades.
I guess this post was meant to remind people that Korea is a real place like any other. A lot of my posts on this will be happy and play up the beautiful and quirky side of Koreans so I wanted to ground it but also give a real-life comparison to our own and our older generation’s attitudes to put it into perspective. I imagine my experience is similar to what Tai or Govind and even Rory have gone through pretty regularly. It was confusing and a bit painful to feel that way so I am glad that Korea is recognizing it finally and trying to deal with it publicly and legally.
November 3, 2009 at 7:25 am
James17930
Dude, I know all about Korea’s history with Japan, and also the China/Japan history, but it was almost 70 years ago. Europe has pretty effectively moved on from the WWII era — it’s a little disappointing that Asia is going so slowly (chalk it up to traditionalist cultures).
Also, I realize you can’t really do much against ‘old racist people’ — hell, they exist everywhere (i.e. my grandparents); but when racism becomes institutionalized — as in, it’s basically taught in schools — then that’s a huge cultural and social problem, which, actually, contravenes any number of UN Human Rights Code articles, and it’s something that is absolutely wrong and needs to be stamped out.
I only hope that this is what’s starting to happen now.
November 3, 2009 at 9:14 am
iamjamieread
You know I know you know. And I agree.
November 3, 2009 at 2:40 pm
James17930
Okay.
Let us now talk of Bib-im-bap and its deliciousness.
(Maybe the next post can be about food).
December 2, 2009 at 11:22 pm
ostrov
Thank you,
very interesting article