[Kim Seong-kon] When we can truly be proud of our country

Whether it's because they have high standards or they're overly modest, some Koreans do not seem to think that Korea is a fully advanced country yet. As a result, they're not a hundred percent proud of their country.

There are generational reasons for this pessimism. For many members of the older generation who can still vividly remember the nation’s postwar poverty and adversity, the image of Korea as an advanced country may not have fully sunk in. For young Koreans, the cutthroat competition prevalent in their society causes them great discontent, leading them to call their country by the opprobrious nickname “Hell Joseon.” But those generational attitudes are biased and unfair to today’s Republic of Korea.

In fact, Koreans have every right to be proud of their country. Among other things, no other country on earth has ever accomplished such a spectacular economic turnaround and achieved a relatively stable democratic infrastructure in such a short amount of time. Seventy-five years ago, the Korean War destroyed virtually everything in Korea. Today, however, Korea ranks as the world's 12th largest economy, the 5th greatest military power and the 11th highest ranking nation in education. It's no wonder that Korea is often cited as the only country that turned out to be a success among those that received financial support from the US in the 1950s and 60s.

Furthermore, Korea has become a well-known country thanks to the worldwide popularity of its pop culture, called Hallyu or the Korean Wave, which has lately enchanted the world. These days, many young people in other countries are enamored with K-pop, while older people overseas are ardent fans of K-drama and K-film. Kids have also been enchanted by “KPop Demon Hunters,” which has been chosen as one of the “Top 10 Netflix Movies Today.” For this reason, when Koreans are overseas, it is not unusual for them to be greeted in Korean by foreigners who have picked up the language from K-pop lyrics or K-drama dialogues. Such phenomena should surely make Koreans proud of their country.

This seems particularly obvious when we compare Korea to less fortunate countries. Currently in the world, there are still many poor countries where children suffer from malnutrition, starvation and destitution. There are tyrannical countries where people suffer political or religious persecution and where women must endure a rigid patriarchal society. There are also underdeveloped countries where sick or injured people cannot receive proper medical care.

Moreover, there are totalitarian, authoritarian socialist countries where people are under constant surveillance and the press is under strict censorship or state control. In socialist countries, the government has absolute power over the people, and thus, political leaders can do whatever they want. In those countries, there is no freedom of speech, no free press, and no right to assemble. Compared to those countries, today’s Korea is undoubtedly a fully developed, advanced country.

Of course, the Korean people, too, went through the above-mentioned hardships when it was an underdeveloped country under a military dictatorship during the 60s and 70s. Today, however, things have changed, and the Korean people are now enjoying all the privileges of an affluent society and a free country. Therefore, Koreans have every reason to be proud of their country.

If Koreans are not proud of their country yet, it is probably because of their disillusionment with Korea's political climate. Most Koreans are disappointed in the narrow-mindedness and near-sightedness of Korean politicians and their stubborn adherence to outdated ideologies. Indeed, some of our politicians seem permanently stuck in an ideological shell that makes virtually all others who do not believe what they do into enemies they want to destroy. No wonder so many disappointed Koreans mock the phenomenon by sardonically calling it “K-politics.” Unlike K-pop or K-film, “K-politics” surely disgraces the reputation of Korea.

Dogmatic ideologies are something that you cannot overcome or get rid of easily. In the 2023 American film “Kandahar,” a local warlord in an area rife with ideological conflict states that “the harder you try to stamp out an ideology, the stronger it becomes.” Referring to the endless ideological warfare in the region, an interpreter named Mo asks the protagonist Tom, “Do you think that this will ever end?” To which Tom replies, “in ancient times, war was fought for spoils. Modern wars aren’t meant to be won.” It implies that the aim of an ideological war is to “fight for fighting’s sake,” regardless of outcome or substance. Perhaps that is why ideological scuffles never end.

Due to partisan conflicts, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into north and south already. We cannot allow ourselves to further divide the south into east and the west. For that reason, Korean politicians must put an end to ideological warfare for good. Only then can the Korean people truly and wholeheartedly be proud of their country.

Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer's own. --Ed.