Minjok and Patriotism
The
difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of
his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no
matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility,
but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war. — Sydney J.
Harris
Patriotism
is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also
acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own
specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s
virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the
virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, “the
greatest,” but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is. —
Sydney J. Harris
Among Koreans, there lies a concept
of ‘minjok’ both on a conscious and subconscious level. On a conscious level,
it is seen during a national soccer game. The whole country passionately cheers
the national team as one team.
Subconsciously,
when I hear about someone Korean who achieved something great on international stage
or even see foreigners choose Samsung Galaxy over Apple’s iPhone, I feel proud.
According to online Naver dictionary,
the word ‘minjok’ is defined as, “a social group shaped historically on the
basis of a common language and culture in the same community and region. It is
not equal to race or national citizens.”
The idea of a single ‘minjok’ originates
from Korea’s foundation legends and continued throughout Korea’s history. It evolved
from the feeling of congruity among people within a community before the
creation of the nation. It is a core idea in the narrative arguing that a
single tribal ancestry was able to thrive without the “mixing” of other groups.
Indeed, after the establishment of distinct dynasties in the middle ages, cross
migration was not as active as in other continents, partly due to the rich
lands for agriculture and settling. In the case of people of other Asian peoples
coming to Korea throughout history, there can be a number of hypotheses: 1.
They were able to be a part of the society and assimilate into Korea’s culture
or 2. Korea did not offer them the life they wished for.
As a peninsula, Korea was exposed to
attack of other countries for centuries. Korea suffered through many invasions
from foreign powers, including several dynasties in China, the Khitan, and Mongolians.
While resisting against the Mongolians, nationalism was aroused in an attempt to
bolster soldiers’ mental strength and defend the country. There was a major movement
to form a voluntary army that was majorly comprised of ordinary civilians who
wanted to protect their kinsmen. This type of military rather than a national
military protected the nation throughout Korea’s history.
Another era of nationalism in the
form of ‘minjok’ culminated during the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. Korea
lost its sovereign rights to make policies and decisions, and most importantly,
as colonization progressed, the Japanese sought to eradicate Korean culture and
even prohibited the use of the Korean language, the worship of Korean religion
and even the use of Korean names. The heroes of the independence movement such
as Kim Goo and Yoo Gwansoon represent this nationalist narrative. Such a
colonial legacy created a strong sense of nationalism still seen in history and
land disputes.
In the West, different forms of
nationalism developed throughout the centuries such as Romantic Nationalism
that swept all of Europe in the eighteenth century and resulted in the shift of
sovereign rights to citizens rather than an imperial power. Many of these
disputes and revolutions were among people of different socio-economic status
and not national difference.
Vive
La France!
Among strong powers, traditional
western ideologies such as liberalism, conservatism, communism, socialism, and
fascism were used to empower communities, but often either within a country, as
seen in the political split in the United States, or groups of countries like during
the Cold War. Korea’s colonial legacy arguably has the most impact on the Korean
people today, and thus Korea’s nationalism becomes understandable.
Today, ‘minjok’ calls out to Koreans
for a love of their country and a willingness to cooperate and help each other like
family. However, from an outsider’s perspective, ‘minjok’ could appear to be an
ideological means for homogenization and alienation, and as history shows,
nationalism that is too radical can result in human rights violation and even
genocide.
In terms of globalization, there is also
criticism that Korea’s insistence on ‘minjok’ can be a big obstacle. In “The
Paradox of Korean Globalization,” scholar Gi-Wook Shin writes that both
proponents and critics of nationalism agree it is antithetical to
globalization. According to the dictionary, ‘minjok’ translates to nationalism.
Will Korea’s nationalism survive the 21st century and should it? Before
answering this question, it is important to think about the nature of
nationalism in Korea and how it is changing towards patriotism. Considering the
various aspects of globalization and its relation to modernization, which is
mostly Eurocentric narrative, I believe Korea’s nationalism was an inevitable
post-colonial response. In this time of transnationalism, Korea’s love for its
tradition and way of life in the form of patriotism is valuable.
Shin argues that Korea’s
globalization serves its nationalist agenda, but uses quantitative data in his
paper from government surveys before the year 2000 to make his case. Korea is
now a part of the transnational community where government no longer has control
over all interaction of people, ideas, and money. We now have YouTube and
Facebook to share ideas every second without any barrier. People travel to
different continents to study, work, travel and even volunteer. In Korea, we
can see many foreigners who live among Koreans and even speak Korean very well.
A well-known example is Sam Hamington from New Zealand, who is a comedian on
the popular reality TV show of experiencing the Korean military with similar
reaction like any new soldier.
There are many multicultural families
that combine both Korean and foreign ways. There will be prejudice for
unfamiliar things, but with time, there is hope. In countries like the United
States, multiculturalism is at least hundred years old. I believe Korea is
moving quickly from nationalism to patriotism, but it should be a patriotism of
compassion as argued in this blog post from The Berkeley Blog. It reads, “Just
as strong attachment to parents can serve as a template for healthy
relationships throughout life, so secure attachment to one’s nation can give us
the confidence to respect other people’s countries.”
We are still proud of our ways, but
also have open mind and value the difference brought by others. This is a
challenge, not only to Korea, but all countries in the global community
especially the leaders. I would like to contribute to this hopeful future by
studying these ideas more deeply in history and in life.
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