NationStates Jolt Archive

COMMENTARY: This way to the "heart of China" takes a bit of time, but is a much more palatable, effective and lasting method than either conflict or diplomacy. The subversive nature of so-called "Western culture" has long been known, but South Korea gives it an Asian face and a few interesting twists.


China's Youth Look to Seoul for Inspiration (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/02/international/asia/02korea.html?th&emc=th)


By NORIMITSU ONISHI
Published: January 2, 2006
BEIJING - At Korea City, on the top floor of the Xidan Shopping Center, a warren of tiny shops sell hip-hop clothes, movies, music, cosmetics and other offerings in the South Korean style.

To young Chinese shoppers, it seemed not to matter that some of the products, like New York Yankees caps or Japan's Astro Boy dolls, clearly have little to do with South Korea. Or that most items originated, in fact, in Chinese factories.

"We know that the products at Korea City are made in China," said Wang Ying, 28, who works for the local branch of an American company. "But to many young people, 'Korea' stands for fashionable or stylish. So they copy the Korean style."

From clothes to hairstyle, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many Chinese and other Asians for the past half decade. As part of what the Chinese call the Korean Wave of pop culture, a television drama about a royal cook, "The Jewel in the Palace," is garnering record ratings throughout Asia, and Rain, a 23-year-old singer from Seoul, drew more than 40,000 fans to a sold-out concert at a sports stadium here in October.

But South Korea's "soft power" also extends to the material and spiritual spheres. Samsung's cellphones and televisions are symbols of a coveted consumerism for many Chinese. Christianity, in the evangelical form championed by Korean missionaries deployed throughout China, is finding Chinese converts despite Beijing's efforts to rein in the spread of the religion. South Korea acts as a filter for Western values, experts say, making them more palatable to Chinese and other Asians.

For a country that has been influenced by other cultures, especially China but also Japan and America, South Korea finds itself at a turning point in its new role as exporter.

The transformation began with South Korea's democratization in the late 1980's, which unleashed sweeping domestic changes. As its democracy and economy have matured, its influence on the rest of Asia, negligible until a decade ago, has grown accordingly. Its cultural exports have even caused complaints about cultural invasion in China and Vietnam.

Historically, Christianity made little headway in East Asia, except in South Korea, whose population is now about 30 percent Christian and whose overseas missionary movement is the world's second largest after the United States.

Today, in China, South Korean missionaries are bringing Christianity with an Asian face. South Korean movies and dramas about urban professionals in Seoul, though not overtly political, present images of modern lives centering on individual happiness and sophisticated consumerism.

They also show enduring Confucian-rooted values in their emphasis on family relations, offering to Chinese both a reminder of what was lost during the Cultural Revolution and an example of an Asian country that has modernized and retained its traditions.

"Three Guys and Three Girls" and "Three Friends" are South Korea's homegrown version of the American TV show "Friends." As for "Sex and the City," its South Korean twin, "The Marrying Type," a sitcom about three single professional women in their 30's looking for love in Seoul, was so popular in China that episodes were illegally downloaded or sold on pirated DVD's.

"We feel that we can see a modern lifestyle in those shows," said Qu Yuan, 23, a student at Tsinghua University here. "American dramas also show the same kind of lifestyle. We know that South Korea and America have similar political systems and economies. But it's easier to accept that lifestyle from South Koreans because they are culturally closer to us. We feel we can live like them in a few years."

"They seem to have similar lifestyles," Ms. Qu said. "They have friends and go to bars. They have good mobile phones and good cars and lead comfortable lives."

Her classmate, Huo Kan, 23, said, "American dramas are too modern."

Ms. Qu said, "They're postmodern."

Ms. Huo added, "Something like 'Sex and the City' is too alien to us."

Jin Yaxi, 25, a graduate student at Beijing University, said, "We like American culture, but we can't accept it directly."

"And there is no obstacle to our accepting South Korean culture, unlike Japanese culture," said Ms. Jin, who has studied both Korean and Japanese. "Because of the history between China and Japan, if a young person here likes Japanese culture, the parents will get angry."

Politics also seems to underlie the Chinese preference for South Korean-filtered American hip-hop culture. Messages about rebelliousness, teenage angst and freedom appear more palatable to Chinese in their Koreanized versions.

Kwon Ki Joon, 22, a South Korean who attends Beijing University and graduated from a Chinese high school here, said his male Chinese friends were fans of South Korea hip-hop bands, like H.O.T., and its song "We Are the Future." A sample of the song's lyrics translate roughly as: "We are still under the shadows of adults/Still not Free/To go through the day with all sorts of interferences is tiring."

To Mr. Kwon, there is no mystery about the band's appeal. "It's about wanting a more open world, about rebelliousness," he said. "Korean hip-hop is basically trying to adapt American hip-hop."

Like many South Koreans, Oh Dong Suk, 40, an investor in online games here, said he believed that South Korea's pop culture was a fruit of the country's democratization. "If you watch South Korean movies from the 1970's or 1980's, you could feel that it was a controlled society," Mr. Oh said.

Hwang In Choul, 35, a South Korean missionary here, also sees a direct link between South Korea's democratization and its influence in China. After restrictions on travel outside South Korea were lifted in the late 1980's, South Korea's missionary movement grew from several hundred to its current size of 14,000 missionaries.

Mr. Hwang, who since 2000 has trained 50 Chinese pastors to proselytize, is among the 1,500 South Korean missionaries evangelizing in China, usually secretly.

"Under military rule, it was simply not possible to come out of South Korea, and even our activities inside the country were monitored," Mr. Hwang said. "We had the potential to be missionaries out in the world, but we were constrained. We had the passion, but we couldn't express our passion."

Until South Korea and China, enemies during the Korean War, normalized relations in 1992, North Korea had a stronger presence here, with its embassy, restaurants and shops. Back then, South Korea remained unknown to most Chinese, or suffered from a poor image.

"If a Japanese television set stopped working, the Chinese would say something's wrong with the power lines," said Ohn Dae Sung, the manager of a Korean restaurant, Suboksung, who has been here since 1993. "If a South Korean television set stopped working, they'd say it was the fault of the set."

The Korean Wave has been gathering for some time, with its roots traceable to several developments, including the Seoul Olympics in 1988. The first civilian president was elected in 1992, ending nearly 32 years of military rule and ushering in tumultuous change.

A newly confident South Korea has pursued an increasingly independent foreign policy, often to Washington's displeasure, warming up to China and to North Korea. Social changes that took decades elsewhere were compressed into a few years, as new freedoms yielded a rich civil society, but also caused strains between generations and the sexes, leading to one of the world's highest divorce rates and lowest birth rates.

As South Korea quickly became the world's most wired nation, new online news sites challenged the conservative mainstream media's monopoly; press clubs, a Japanese colonial legacy that controlled the flow of news, were weakened or eliminated. Unlike other Asian nations, South Korea has tackled head-on taboo subjects in its society, including the legacy of military rule and collaboration during Japanese colonial rule.

Here, at a computer center on a recent evening, young Chinese could be seen playing South Korean online games. Cyworld, the largest online community service in South Korea, is announcing its arrival in China by plastering ads on city buses.

Thanks to the Korean Wave and South Korea's new image, being Korean helps business.

"I'm sure there is a connection, though we don't have exact figures," Jim Sohn, the chief executive of LG Electronics China, said in an interview inside the company's brand new $400 million headquarters here.

Another company that has benefited from the Korean Wave's "positive effect" is Hyundai, said Um Kwang Heum, president of its Chinese division. Though a latecomer to China, Hyundai signed a joint venture agreement with Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings in 2002 and has already become No. 2 in sales among automakers in China.

Thanks to its local partner, Hyundai's cars have been chosen by the Beijing government to replace the city's aging taxis before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Hyundai Elantras will make up most of the city's taxi fleet in time for the Olympics, which are expected to be a turning point for China, just as they signaled South Korea's entry onto the world stage in 1988 and postwar Japan's in 1964.

For all of South Korea's influence in China, though, few Chinese expect the Olympics and democratization to dovetail as they did in Seoul.

A local television production company, Beijing Modern English Film and TV Culture, proposed a Korean-language program for adults in 2004 but was rejected 10 times by the Chinese authorities for unexplained reasons. Eventually, it successfully pitched a cartoon, "Happy Imitation of Korean Sentences."

"As long as it was a kids' show, it was O.K.," said Sun Hogan, a producer at the company.

"The government," he added, "is definitely a little nervous about the popularity of the Korean Wave."

*looks around*

Quiet in here isn't it?

COMMENTARY: This way to the "heart of China" takes a bit of time, but is a much more palatable, effective and lasting method than either conflict or diplomacy. The subversive nature of so-called "Western culture" has long been known, but South Korea gives it an Asian face and a few interesting twists.


I'd already read that article. It's certainly interesting, though I have mixed feelings about it. I certainly don't like the notion of a "cultural war", which implies converting another nation's people to your own way of life, and is thus detestable. But learning from other cultures and integrating them into your own can be a very good thing, especially if it makes Chinese people more inclined to demand greater rights. (A shame it won't incite them to ask for social rights, though. China is one of the most capitalistic countries on Earth, and South Korea is hardly a counter-example).

Really good! Really good!, but how to stop the number of chinese that live in Europe or America, something must be done about their numbers.

Really good! Really good!, but how to stop the number of chinese that live in Europe or America, something must be done about their numbers.
Uh ... why???

I'd already read that article. It's certainly interesting, though I have mixed feelings about it. I certainly don't like the notion of a "cultural war", which implies converting another nation's people to your own way of life, and is thus detestable. But learning from other cultures and integrating them into your own can be a very good thing, especially if it makes Chinese people more inclined to demand greater rights. (A shame it won't incite them to ask for social rights, though. China is one of the most capitalistic countries on Earth, and South Korea is hardly a counter-example).
Interesting perspective. Care to say more? :)

Uh ... why???

My point of view is that there are far too many chinese living in Europe and in America, in some countries they are starting to view them as threat to economy, besides their descendants could hope to reach high goverment posts.

I'd already read that article. It's certainly interesting, though I have mixed feelings about it. I certainly don't like the notion of a "cultural war", which implies converting another nation's people to your own way of life, and is thus detestable. But learning from other cultures and integrating them into your own can be a very good thing, especially if it makes Chinese people more inclined to demand greater rights. (A shame it won't incite them to ask for social rights, though. China is one of the most capitalistic countries on Earth, and South Korea is hardly a counter-example).

I think you are confusing capitalism with simply wanting to make money. China wants to make money because they need foreign capital. They hardy have a free competition driven market. I'd say Korea is 2000% more capitalist in China. I do find it amusing that some feel the need to label the 'People's Republic' as capitalist some thin brained attempt to slander market economies witht the totalitarianism that all 'People's republics' inevitally turn to to control their peoples.

I think you are confusing capitalism with simply wanting to make money. China wants to make money because they need foreign capital. They hardy have a free competition driven market. I'd say Korea is 2000% more capitalist in China. I do find it amusing that some feel the need to label the 'People's Republic' as capitalist some thin brained attempt to slander market economies witht the totalitarianism that all 'People's republics' inevitally turn to to control their peoples.
the people's republic of china has controlled its people since taking power in 1949. they are the MODEL for "peoples republics" oppressing their populations.

they are now (maybe) turning AWAY from control of their people

I don't really see much sign of that. All that really has happened in the PRC IMHO is that the rulers have realized that to survive they have to sell to liberal democracies. Tianamen was'nt that long ago and they've not shown any signs of allowing any sort of civil liberties.

I think you are confusing capitalism with simply wanting to make money. China wants to make money because they need foreign capital. They hardy have a free competition driven market.

China is a mixed economy.

Parts of the Pearl river delta are amongst the most capitalist places of the world. It is a free competition in certain sectors..and with absolutely no constraints like worker wage regulations/rights to boot.

The mixed economy rhetoric really does'nt support any form of capitalism. Essentially the government of the PRC realized that they need to produce for the free capatilist world if they wished to survive because quite simply People's Republics (I'll not call them communists just yet lets wait a while before the comunists show up to claim that no one has ever tried 'real' communism) don't worrk. So you've got DonJhong province producing industrial output for liberal democracies and Shanhia and HongKong selling it to them. It's an interface not a real economy...

The mixed economy rhetoric really does'nt support any form of capitalism. Essentially the government of the PRC realized that they need to produce for the free capatilist world if they wished to survive because quite simply People's Republics (I'll not call them communists just yet lets wait a while before the comunists show up to claim that no one has ever tried 'real' communism) don't worrk. So you've got DonJhong province producing industrial output for liberal democracies and Shanhia and HongKong selling it to them. It's an interface not a real economy. The lack of civil rights afforded to the employees is also a big indicator of how little the PRC has changed. Civil rights and free expression are kind of essential for a market economy to work. Without the exchange of ideas it is hard to create real wealth.

Interesting perspective. Care to say more? :)

Gladly. On what point specifically? ;)


My point of view is that there are far too many chinese living in Europe and in America, in some countries they are starting to view them as threat to economy, besides their descendants could hope to reach high goverment posts.

I don't see how they're a threat to their countries' economies. Quite the contrary. And what would be wrong with them attaining high government positions?


I think you are confusing capitalism with simply wanting to make money. China wants to make money because they need foreign capital. They hardy have a free competition driven market. I'd say Korea is 2000% more capitalist in China. I do find it amusing that some feel the need to label the 'People's Republic' as capitalist some thin brained attempt to slander market economies witht the totalitarianism that all 'People's republics' inevitally turn to to control their peoples.

I never said that capitalism breeds totalitarianism. But in China many companies operate with no restraints, and are free to fire people as they choose. Workers have few or no rights. They work long hours for a low salary, and are fired if they try to protest in the slightest. There is nothing socialist about China today. It makes no pretense at protecting workers' rights. Why do you think foreign businesses are flocking here? More and more French people are moving to China to start businesses, for example. China has embraced capitalism at its most extreme.

I'd call that Socialism in the extreme. To force the labor of others without their free consent is socialism to a T. Why for the good of the 'people' because the state needs the income and the state knows what is best for the Chinesse people right? Socialism pure and simple.

I'd call that Socialism in the extreme. To force the labor of others without their free consent is socialism to a T. Why for the good of the 'people' because the state needs the income and the state knows what is best for the Chinesse people right? Socialism pure and simple.

Absolutely not. For one thing, they're not working for the state, but for private companies - exploitation by private companies is part of capitalism, unless you have a highly unorthodox definition of socialism.

And how is "forcing the labour of others without their consent" socialist?

You have a very loose definition of what a private company is. Did you know that the largest owner of 'private' industrial concerns in the PRc is the Red Army? Let's count those allowed to have private enterprises in the PRC without influencce int he Party. Hmm I did'nt make it to one did you?
"exploitation by private companies is part of capitalism"?!?!? How on earth can a private company exploit or compell anything? If you don't want their product then simply don't buy it. If you don't want to work for them don't. It's dificult to exploit someone who has the option of walking away.

And how is "forcing the labour of others without their consent" socialist?
Simple enough. You work for your employer (this is capitalism) because he pays you. He has something you want (money) and you have somethinng he does (time effort skills) you trade there is no force involved. Now then if someone else (say a government or mugger) seizes the proceeds of your labor by threatening to do violence to you then you have by extension had the labor itself forced under durress. Under socialism sometimes this is more direct. Say factory'sowned by government agencies in the PRC or Gulags in the old CCCP....

That was awesome, thanks Eutrusca for posting it. Very exciting, but also somewhat worrying. If SK is warming up to China and NK well I kinda imagine like some cartoon where the really cute kitten is all cute and warms the heart of the two big evil dogs that are about to eat it, and sure they like it because it is cute, but then they just decide to eat it. Realistically speaking, SK will probably not be taken over, I hope not.
I also think that it is interesting that for a Chinese teen to like Japanese culture, he would be looked down upon. While you take the U.S. and we have millions of teens who worship anime, hentia, and the Japanese technology.
In conclusion, I loved this read it actually cheered my day up a bit.

P.S. Could this article have been written by a someone of Japanese descent? NORIMITSU ONISHI. I dunno if that is very Japanese or not, but I can spell it in Japanese.

If SK is warming up to China and NK well I kinda imagine like some cartoon where the really cute kitten is all cute and warms the heart of the two big evil dogs that are about to eat it, and sure they like it because it is cute, but then they just decide to eat it. Realistically speaking, SK will probably not be taken over, I hope not.
Realistically, probably not. Korea has always been a piviot point in the area. Chinese culture left from Korea and other cultures entered Asia from Korea as well. It's been taken over numerous times and yet has always survived so no worries there.

Eventually I do think the two Koreas will unify again, how and in what way will be interesting to see though.

I also think that it is interesting that for a Chinese teen to like Japanese culture, he would be looked down upon. While you take the U.S. and we have millions of teens who worship anime, hentia, and the Japanese technology.
Current events between Japan and Korea(s) and China are heated and stressed right now. Interestingly though, a lot of the Korean wave orginated in Japan. The styles, I mean, were orginally Japanese then given Korean faces to make them palitable to the Korean, and now Chinese, people. Ironically, the same Korean Wave has hit back at Japan as well.

P.S. Could this article have been written by a someone of Japanese descent? NORIMITSU ONISHI. I dunno if that is very Japanese or not, but I can spell it in Japanese.
Yes.

Let's count those allowed to have private enterprises in the PRC without influencce int he Party.

Businesses in China are often overseen by, or closely connected with, a member of the Party, yes, I'm aware of that. Does that make them socialist? Absolutely not. I'll concede it could theoretically imply some State control over the economy, but in practice that's not truly the case. The government is devoted to the requirements of big businesses, not to the needs of the workers. It lets businesses do whatever they damn well please.


"exploitation by private companies is part of capitalism"?!?!? How on earth can a private company exploit or compell anything? If you don't want their product then simply don't buy it. If you don't want to work for them don't. It's dificult to exploit someone who has the option of walking away.

Assuming they always have that option in practice, and can just find another job, one in which they won't be exploited, which they don't.


Simple enough. You work for your employer (this is capitalism) because he pays you. He has something you want (money) and you have somethinng he does (time effort skills) you trade there is no force involved. Now then if someone else (say a government or mugger) seizes the proceeds of your labor by threatening to do violence to you then you have by extension had the labor itself forced under durress.

I assume you're referring to taxes. If you view taxes as theft, then that's a point we fundamentally disagree on. A society without taxes cannot function, and personnally I don't mind my tax money going to help the needy. That's what society is for.

And you're neglecting an important point about capitalism. You say workers aren't robbed of the proceeds of their labour. But they are. A worker is never paid the true value of his work. Competition enables businesses to set wages as low as they please, and there's little workers can do about it. Hence they're exploited, the proceeds of their work going to those who have neither worked for it nor need it.

Between a system in which part of my labour goes into taxes for a fairer society, and one in which it goes to rich company owners who exploit the work of others, I know which I prefer.

P.S. Could this article have been written by a someone of Japanese descent? NORIMITSU ONISHI. I dunno if that is very Japanese or not, but I can spell it in Japanese.

It's a very Japanese name.

Businesses in China are often overseen by, or closely connected with, a member of the Party, yes, I'm aware of that. Does that make them socialist? Absolutely not. I'll concede it could theoretically imply some State control over the economy, but in practice that's not truly the case. The government is devoted to the requirements of big businesses, not to the needs of the workers. It lets businesses do whatever they damn well please.
Right because we all know that in the PRC companies that rely on the good graces of the Party to the point where it is essentially necissary to do businesss are actually free enterprises and not an extension of the Party....


Assuming they always have that option in practice, and can just find another job, one in which they won't be exploited, which they don't.

Well no they don't in the PRC which once again is evidence that they are'nt a capitalist country. We can agree on something at least.

I assume you're referring to taxes. If you view taxes as theft, then that's a point we fundamentally disagree on. A society without taxes cannot function, and personnally I don't mind my tax money going to help the needy. That's what society is for.

And you're neglecting an important point about capitalism. You say workers aren't robbed of the proceeds of their labour. But they are. A worker is never paid the true value of his work. Competition enables businesses to set wages as low as they please, and there's little workers can do about it. Hence they're exploited, the proceeds of their work going to those who have neither worked for it nor need it.

Well if you don't mind your money going to these causes as a capitalist I say 'fine then contribute your money where you will. Just keep your hands off of mine.' Where we fundamentally disagree is in the matter of choice.
Competition is what raises wages. And if you beleive that the owners of businessess did'nt earn it then I suggest YOU try to start a business of your own. And if you think the workers are exploited ask yourself what there work would be worth without the capital resourses needed to open a place of business.

Between a system in which part of my labour goes into taxes for a fairer society, and one in which it goes to rich company owners who exploit the work of others, I know which I prefer.
Between a system in which my labor goes to those who work end earn it and those who demand it there's no question as to which I would choose.

Eut, being a NYT fan myself, I was wondering if you read the front page article weeks ago (November?) about growing overt racism in Japan and the negative reaction to the Korean Wave there. It is a very interesting contrast, although obviously the nation has a very different relationship with Korea.