As Korea has traditionally been a Confucian society with respected scholars and writers, education has always been important in Korean society.

While the ruling class of Japan was the samurai, primarily a warrior class, the Korean ruling class was made of intellectuals called “seonbi” or virtuous scholars. The spirit of seonbi valued decency and integrity, transcended materialism and emphasized the importance of studying and learning.

However, in contemporary Korean society, if one poses the question, “Does today’s Korea really respect scholars and intellectuals?” The answer is, “No, not anymore.”

For example, if you search for a renowned scholar’s name on Naver, a politician with the same name will pop up, along with a big photo and a long list of newspaper and TV reports. Below the politician, will come a movie star’s charming photo and profile. Next, there will be a pop singer’s photo, followed by an athlete’s photo with details of his star-studded career and a host of relevant photos. Finally, at the bottom you might be able to find a small photo of the scholar with meager information. This, among other things, indicates that our society no longer values scholars and intellectuals.

Yesterday, I did a search for a famous university president on Naver and was embarrassed to find his name with a small photo below other results that showed four movie stars and pop singers. How could they treat a university president with such little respect? Obviously, in today’s Korean society, scholars are far less important than politicians, movie stars, pop singers and athletes. I hear that it is Naver’s policy to put politicians on top, followed by actors, pop singers and athletes, in that order. Scholars come last. As for politicians, they are always No. 1 priority, even after they step down from office and are no longer active. It is undeniable that Korea is no longer a country of scholars. Rather, it has become a country of politicians, pop culture idols, and athletes.

Some time ago, a very famous poet and professor of literature arrived at Jeju Airport. She saw a huge crowd of young people who were waving eagerly and taking photos of her. For a second, the poet thought they had come to the airport to welcome her. To the poet’s disappointment, however, the crowd rushed to an idol star right behind her. They had come to greet the pop culture star, not the poet.

Alas! The age of poets is over now. This is the age of pop culture idols and athletes.  

In Korea, an athlete can be exempted from compulsory military duty if he performs well in an international game. That is to say, if he receives a gold medal at an approved international competition, he will not be required to serve in the ROK Army. Meanwhile, I have never heard of an eminent young Korean scholar with international distinction and recognition being exempted from mandatory military duty. We tend to give credit to physical accomplishments, not intellectual achievements.

Perhaps it would be insolent for someone in the humanities to expect special treatment. These days, college graduates majoring in the humanities cannot even find a job easily. That is why Korean students no longer want to enter the humanities. Who would choose a major that will not help him get a job after graduation anyway? It is only natural our students want to become pop stars or sportsmen these days, rather than a scholar. Many of them want to become government officials, not because they intend to contribute to their nation, but because it simply guarantees them a job until they turn 60.

Scholars of the humanities deplore this shallow, disheartening phenomenon. But what can they do? They can only lament the passing of the great tradition of seonbi that treasured scholars and writers, and valued the humanities. In the eyes of the smartphone generation, pop culture idols and athletes are far more attractive and fashionable than scholars and writers. Times have changed now and we are helplessly watching the inevitable social change.

In the eyes of scholars, the smartphone generation may look like shallow, lowbrow monsters that have no taste for the humanities. But these “monsters” are the new generation. Who knows? Old-fashioned scholars may be on the verge of extinction now.

Like the protagonist of Richard Matheson’s novel “I am Legend,” perhaps scholars are fading away, lamenting, “I am legend!” In Matheson’s novel, “legend” refers to someone who is obsolete and thus no longer fits the present reality.

Nevertheless, we need to hold onto the spirit of seonbi to make our society a better place to live. The spirit of seonbi teaches us decency, courtesy and integrity, in addition to the thoughtfulness and self-esteem that our society seriously lacks. 

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. -- Ed.