[Last assignment] What is Minjok?

Who are ‘we’, and how are we different from ‘they’?

The identity of ‘minjok’ is one of the most important standards of discriminating ‘we’ from ‘they.’ However, it is very difficult to define and generalize the concept of ‘minjok’ as it has a broad range of meaning. In the case of Korea, the word ‘minjok’ can include those; who are born in Korea, who maintain Korean nationality, who spend most of their lifetime in Korea, who speak Korean, who are ethnic Koreans, or who share Korean history and follow Korean customs. Yet, all of these have the limitation to fully explain the meaning of minjok. However, it is certain that people of Korean minjok have had the common features (or characteristics) shown since our single race had appeared in the past.

             Half a million years ago, ‘Dangun’, now called grandfather, founded Gojoseon which is the first Korean kingdom. He is said to be the "grandson of heaven", and we are the “grandson of Dangun.” The word grandson gives us the feeling of a family that shares the identity. Actually, the awareness about Dangun’s posterity accompanies a lot of simplification and omission. There are some races that were involved in Korean race after Dangun’s period, and their cultures have been formed interacting with foreign cultures. Thus, referring minjok as a single race or grandson of Dangun is the expression that emphasizes a strong sense of community that Koreans share each other.

The specific historical fact shows it well. In 1919, there was the ‘March 1st Movement’, or Samil Movement, which is a civil uprising against Japan's colonial rule. The 33 nationalists who formed the core of the Samil Movement gathered at Taehwagwan Restaurant in Seoul, and read the Korean Declaration of Independence.

“We hereby rise up! Conscience is on our side, and truth marches with us. Men and women, young and old, leave your darkened corners and partake in the joyful resurrection along with all creation! The spirit of our many ancestors protects us from within, and the tide of the new world from without. To begin is to succeed! Let us march straight into the light!”

People gathered at Taehwagwan Restaurant not for their own lives, and not just for the reason that more number of people make them stronger. They had the thoughts of rescuing minjok from a big suffering. There isn’t any reason for them to devote their lives to save the nation, but the only motive is the awareness that they are one big family, minjok. It is considered that this awareness of minjok made Koreans so easy to be assembled and make a mighty strength. In addition, most of the declarations of independence emphasize minjok by explaining that those who fight are the offspring of Dangun.

  Koreans’ tendency of gathering together still remains nowadays. For example, in 1998 when Korea faced the IMF crisis, people showed a big sense of community which helped Korea from overcoming the economic crisis in a short time. They collected contributions of a gold and raised the money by themselves. Another good example is the ‘2002 World Cup,’ which made all of Koreans be enthusiastic of cheering the national soccer team. Most of foreigners just enjoy the World Cup as one kind of sports, but Koreans regard it as a big festival where everyone raises his or her voice together for the team. Actually, there’s no reason for them to cheer the players whom they don’t really know each other. Nobody does it as a result of considering about the economic gain that winning the World cup could bring to Korea. In contrast, people just feel that they’re family at the same time they have historically inborn feature of gathering.

             As the world is becoming ‘a village’ and the boundaries between the countries are vague, individualism is getting deepened. It is true that Koreans’ perception through ‘minjok’ is diminishing as time goes by. However, our strong sense of community acts a great strength that can confront the world. It would be better if we have tolerance and openness toward other nations at the same time we raise the self-esteem of minjok.