[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.

Who is Yoo Gwan Sun?

While I was searching about the concept of "minjok," for the assignment of take-home essay, I found a big relationship between the spirit of "Samil Movement"(a 1919 civil uprising against Japan's colonial rule) and a natural temper of Korean minjok. And I got interested about 'our sister' Yoo Gwan Sun and got to know about her life.

Yu Gwan Sun was a female independence activist who is an icon of the resistance movement against the colonial Japanese period. Cheonan is the hometown of Yu Gwan Sun.

Before I tell you of Yu Gwan Sun’s significance, let me give you a short background of Korean History.

Due to a long period of isolation, Korea had become militarily weaker than its three neighbors, China, Russia and Japan. China was a traditional trading partner who wished to protect its interests in Korea. The Russians also courted a stronger relationship with Korea. This situation protected Korea for a time against the Japanese, who were interested in expanding their influence in Asia through “Gunboat Diplomacy”. In 1895, Japan won the wars against China. Soon after, in 1905, Japan defeated Russia as well during the Russo-Japanese War. This left Korea unprotected and alone.

Japan invaded Korea in 1910, and proclaimed it an official part of Japan. Korea lost all of its rights as an independent country and Japanese rule over Korea officially began. The Japanese occupation was heavy handed and brutal as the Korean people were treated poorly. The Japanese even went so far as to assign Korean citizens new Japanese names, in an effort to fully destroy Korean culture. 

On March 1st, 1919, the Korean people rose up to protest Japanese rule and declared Korea once again an independent country, (This is now known as the “March 1st Movement”). While this movement started in Seoul; in Cheonan, a young girl named Yu Gwan Sun, joined and led the independence movement while still only a high school student.

In Cheonan, Yu Gwan Sun planned demonstrations for independence, and on March 31, 1919, Yu is remembered for lighting 24 torch beacons on Mt. Maebongsan, which inspired about 4,000 Cheonan citizens gathered at Aunae Marketplace to protest Japanese occupation shouting, “Long live Korean Independence!”

Unfortunately, 19 people were shot during the Cheonan protest, and dozens of people were injured. Yu Gwan Sun was arrested by Japanese police and was forced to serve detention at Cheonan Japanese Military Police Station. She was tried and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment at Seodaemun Prison. During her captivity, Yu Gwan Sun continued to protest for the independence of Korea, for which she received harsh beatings and was severely tortured. She died of her torture on October 12, 1920.

Yu Gwan Sun’s death was meaningful though she never saw the independence of Korea. The independence movement lasted for about one month, with about 2 million people participating in the movement. During the protests, the Japanese killed more than 7,000 people. While the Korean people failed to regain independence through these protests, they succeeded in showing the world a strong will for independence.

Dandelion Fluff

Dandelion Fluff

Hyun Jin Jun

A tiny dandelion fluff, my little hand,

is floating on the empty, mild air of spring.

Quietly, with a scent of loneliness,

I wait for a gift, a love…

It still remains an empty air, and an empty hand.

Led by the whispering of the wind, I reach out my hand.

Feeling a slight touch, a slight love,

A beautiful love begins with fluttering fluff of dandelion.

[In-class essay #3] Mankind is no Island

“No fortune to indulge.” When you pass by the subway station, you can usually see homeless people sitting on the ground, begging for money from passers. Most people do not feel the need to give them coins, and are indifferent to them. Some rich people believe that it is sure that people without abilities should not have any chance to get authority of money. In other words, society is not giving opportunities to have “the fortune to indulge” to those who are homeless.

The video shows that homeless people often lack connection to a home and society, limits their sense of belonging. One of the biggest factors that make them alienated is people’s indifference. This society prioritizes the ability of each individual. Only the ones who have good skills can succeed and survive. For this reason, people are too busy to take care of themselves and have no time to look around at neighbors. Furthermore, individualism makes a person hypocritical. For example, a lot of people donate their property to poor people. However, do they care about the homeless people in the station? It is an irony that they help the poor who live far away but not the ones nearby.

           This irony is not limited to relationships between ‘man and man.’ It can be also adapted to the relationships between groups. For instance, there are numerous enterprises in the nation, and they compete with each other to sell more products. However, smaller enterprises are often alienated in the process. In the case of Korean industry of electric device, because the larger enterprises monopolize the products, smaller ones could not enter the market and usually fail to succeed. Though it seems that those kinds of large companies give us many benefits by providing useful products, they hinder other people who are to run new companies. In addition, there exist nations or races that are alienated in the world. Powerful and developed countries use all the resources and there are few chances for underdeveloped countries to make themselves stronger. Also, races in Africa are not respected by other cultures and they often have no sense of belonging in the world. Even though not all ‘groups,’ such as enterprises, nations, or the races, are excluding certain minor ones, much of society still has the problem of indifferent treat toward disadvantaged people with less fortune.

                  There are so many people who are isolated from society. Humans cannot live alone. If each of us can think of others and care about them, we could make the world full of warmth.

[In-class Essay] The trick behind 'Nacirema'

121115 Hyunjin Jun

The article is about the body ritual of Nacirema, which spelled backward of American, explains the traditional habits of people of Nacirema. At first, when I read the article I thought that the Nacirema were merely a group of First Nations that lived in between Canada and America’s southern states. However, after knowing that it represents America, I realized that it was a trick that the author used for effective transmission of his message.

             When I read the text without the realization of American, I thought that the body ritual of Nacirema is something that we should learn and succeed. I reminded of primitive tribes in Southeast Asia while reading it, and it is considered that their traditions should be protected and respected.  Though the medicine men, the holy-mouth-men, latipso, or the listener follow the cruel ways to treat people, I believed that it is their own tradition and we might find some lessons that can be adopted in the modern society. For example, “listener” helps exorcise devils from the heads of those who have been bewitched by letting their patient talk of the difficulties he or she has faced. From this, readers could learn that just listening to others reduces their sufferings.

             Even though it depends on how readers understand and accept the article, the body ritual of Nacirma itself reflects the real modern American culture according to the author. To be specific, a family shrine is a bathroom where a chest with prescriptions and medicines is. “Laptiso” is a hospital. Although treatment can be uncomfortable and expensive, American adults still seek medical treatment which does not really guarantee a cure. A listener is a psychiatrist, and the Nacirema people’s tendency of opposing to their bodies reflects Americans who are not satisfied with their body shapes.

There are three words that appear very often in the article; “ritual”, “ceremony”, and “magical”.  For example, Miner describes the bathroom as a site for “ritual”, medical treatment in hospitals as “ceremony” and medicine as “magical” material. These words seem to suggest that there is a supernatural or religious element behind the practices. However, as I come from a similar culture, I understand these practices to be perfectly secular. To me, bathroom habits are practiced regularly in a certain way out of need and personal preference, not because it is “prescribed”.

             Lastly, I learned the importance of cultural relativity from this article. As I mentioned, Nacirema reminds me indigenous groups in the innermost depths of America whose cultures and practices come shocking to me. For example, they do not wear clothes, which is regarded as a crazy behavior in my culture. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of people in those groups, my culture would appear strange and unfamiliar. Most people tend to believe that all of their daily habits have the reasonable and scientific reasons for doing them. Thus, it must be unacceptable when they see different cultures. Instead of looking at the practices themselves, it may be more helpful to examine the beliefs behind them when looking at diversity across cultures.