South Koreans and K-pop fans worldwide were devastated with the news of popular boy group, Super Junior's leader, Lee Teuk's father and grandparents death. Car accident was the said to be the cause of the death but now investigators found that it was possibly suicide.
South Korea has the #1 suicide rate in the world. So Lee Teuk's story is not just his story, but something that all of Korean citizens can relate to. From the outside, it can be hard to determine the cause of such a high suicidal rate. After all, Korea is a prosperous country, what could drive its citizens to suicide?
Of course, not all Koreans are suicidal nor do they all know anyone personally who has committed suicide but the highest suicide rate in the world is saying something. Among the young adults, the primary reason may be schoolwork. At least for high school students in South Korea, sooneung (수능), a college entry exam, is everything. I've heard of stories of people crying after taking their exams because they feel that they've done poorly, and I've heard one of those people say that later on, they looked back and realized it wasn't that much of a big deal. So what needs to be instituted to ease the high school students' stress and anxiety due to sooneung is a program(s) that reaches out to high school students to let them know that sooneung really is not a matter of life and death.
The second major cause of suicide in Korea, that I found, was family issues. Family issues is not a foreign concept here in America, but here's the difference in Korea: it's still considered embarrassing if you're parents are divorced. Of course American kids with divorced parents feel similarly but here, kids are able to be more open about it and in one of my elementary schools (as I've attended multiple ones), there was even an after-school program for kids with divorced parents. It's a rare case for American students to hide the fact that their parents are divorced, but in Korea, it's a common thing. Both of my parents have half-siblings and I heard that they tried to hide that fact when they were younger. Even though that was something of their days, its still evident in modern-day Korea. So like here, there should be programs and clubs where students who have divorced parents can go to for assistance and counseling.
So from my two main causes of suicide I've stated, we can know that Korea lacks programs of counseling and support. Korea is a civilized country but it needs to do a better job of educating its younger generation of what matters more in life.
(451)
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Friday, January 10, 2014
The Public Opinion on North Korea - "Remember the Citizens"
Very recently, North Korea slapped away South Korea's offer of a reunion for families who have been separated by the 38th parallel line, and you can read more about it here. I can say a lot of things regarding my own disappointment that North Korea came up with a lame-duck excuse to say no to this, but what caught my attention more was the comment section of the article.
In the midst of the detailed comments on political blah-blah-blahs, there was one particular comment about how America should have bombed North Korea a long time ago. I point this out not to criticize that one singular person who commented that but because I've actually heard a lot of people say the same thing. Let me be one person who breaks it to the general audience, which is you who are reading this, that that kind of thinking shows just how ignorant the person who spoke it is.
Kim Jung-Un, his father and grandfather no doubt deserve such criticisms but what about the North Korean citizens? What did they do wrong? After all, they're also victims of North Korea like the rest of us, which is funny because the rest of the world have not actually fallen prey to North Korea. Rather, the one true victims of North Korea are its people - who are brainwashed with propaganda to the point that they literally worship their totalitarian ruler who makes them starve and deprive them of the technological and scientific advancements that the rest of the world has been following. They don't realize that their super-great leader is a nuisance to the rest of the world. It's mighty difficult to want to bomb a whole population who do not really know much of anything.
Not only are the South Koreans the pitiful ones for being separated from their families in the North, so are the North Koreans. The real distinction between the two are the geographical regions in which they live in, I mean of course there's also the factor that one is Communist while the other is not, but my point is, they're all still Koreans. Same language, same food, same culture, same ancient historical backgrounds... Yet, because of the fact that one region is Communist, the thinking of the two Koreans have evolved to be different. What I mean by different thinking is, North Korea has recently refused to have a reunion with the South and this is most likely because all the people need to be locked in so that Kim Jung-Un can stay in power. And like I said, the North Korean people worship the guy so they'll go along with what he says without even questioning it, hence their way of thinking differs from the South. At least, that's my own opinion, based on my unscientific observation. The same Korean-blooded people thinking differently because one worships a greedy dictator while one has been free to prosper - this is the sad reality that so many people miss out on.
So before you wholly zero in on how ridiculous North Korea is next time, remember the citizens. Both of the North and of the South.
(526)
In the midst of the detailed comments on political blah-blah-blahs, there was one particular comment about how America should have bombed North Korea a long time ago. I point this out not to criticize that one singular person who commented that but because I've actually heard a lot of people say the same thing. Let me be one person who breaks it to the general audience, which is you who are reading this, that that kind of thinking shows just how ignorant the person who spoke it is.
Kim Jung-Un, his father and grandfather no doubt deserve such criticisms but what about the North Korean citizens? What did they do wrong? After all, they're also victims of North Korea like the rest of us, which is funny because the rest of the world have not actually fallen prey to North Korea. Rather, the one true victims of North Korea are its people - who are brainwashed with propaganda to the point that they literally worship their totalitarian ruler who makes them starve and deprive them of the technological and scientific advancements that the rest of the world has been following. They don't realize that their super-great leader is a nuisance to the rest of the world. It's mighty difficult to want to bomb a whole population who do not really know much of anything.
Not only are the South Koreans the pitiful ones for being separated from their families in the North, so are the North Koreans. The real distinction between the two are the geographical regions in which they live in, I mean of course there's also the factor that one is Communist while the other is not, but my point is, they're all still Koreans. Same language, same food, same culture, same ancient historical backgrounds... Yet, because of the fact that one region is Communist, the thinking of the two Koreans have evolved to be different. What I mean by different thinking is, North Korea has recently refused to have a reunion with the South and this is most likely because all the people need to be locked in so that Kim Jung-Un can stay in power. And like I said, the North Korean people worship the guy so they'll go along with what he says without even questioning it, hence their way of thinking differs from the South. At least, that's my own opinion, based on my unscientific observation. The same Korean-blooded people thinking differently because one worships a greedy dictator while one has been free to prosper - this is the sad reality that so many people miss out on.
So before you wholly zero in on how ridiculous North Korea is next time, remember the citizens. Both of the North and of the South.
(526)
Thursday, January 9, 2014
New Year in South Korea
Happy New Year everyone! Now that a new year has brightened, everyone in Korea has become one year older. Because Koreans count the baby's months in the womb as a year, you're already a year old when you're born. Hence, the people born in the same year are all the same age, regardless of their actual birthdays. Of course, their international ages ("American" ages) vary depending on the actual birthdays.
Every new year, Koreans eat a rice-cake soup, Dduk guk (떡국), which is pictured above. (This is a brief side note - Korean food tend to sound unappetizing based on English descriptions, which is rather annoying.) By eating Dduk guk, you turning a year older becomes official, but it's not the end of the world if you skip out on eating dduk guk. What Koreans also do to celebrate the new year is play a game of yunnori (윷놀이) and wear their hanboks.
The thing with us Koreans is, we celebrate the new year twice because, well, we have two new years! One is the new year that most of the world, including America, celebrates and the other new year is the lunar new year - based off of the calender that goes by the moon.
I don't have a problem with Korean customs for the new year's (why should I?) but this whole thing about counting the baby's months in the womb as a year always gets me wondering. I mean, a baby's in the womb for 10 months, right? I understand that's close to 12 months, which legitimately makes up a year, but 10 months still isn't quite a year and to count as such seems questionable to me. I know that China also uses this system for ages and although it's just one another country, but every time I meet/encounter someone from a different Asian country and they tell me their age, I always get tripped up about whether it's international age or like the Korean age.
Although I get technical with all the 10 months versus 12 months thing, growing up, I always liked telling my fellow American friends what my Korean age is. For me, my birthday is later in the year, so at least before my birthday, I always add two years to my American age. And then when my birthday comes that year, then I'm a year older in American age, so I'd just have to add a year to find out my Korean age, do you follow? That was and still is my amusement, telling people what my Korean age is seeing their reactions.
새해 복 많이 받으세요! ("Receive a lot of blessings this new year" - Korean's version of "Happy New Year".)
(442)
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| Click here for picture source |
The thing with us Koreans is, we celebrate the new year twice because, well, we have two new years! One is the new year that most of the world, including America, celebrates and the other new year is the lunar new year - based off of the calender that goes by the moon.
I don't have a problem with Korean customs for the new year's (why should I?) but this whole thing about counting the baby's months in the womb as a year always gets me wondering. I mean, a baby's in the womb for 10 months, right? I understand that's close to 12 months, which legitimately makes up a year, but 10 months still isn't quite a year and to count as such seems questionable to me. I know that China also uses this system for ages and although it's just one another country, but every time I meet/encounter someone from a different Asian country and they tell me their age, I always get tripped up about whether it's international age or like the Korean age.
Although I get technical with all the 10 months versus 12 months thing, growing up, I always liked telling my fellow American friends what my Korean age is. For me, my birthday is later in the year, so at least before my birthday, I always add two years to my American age. And then when my birthday comes that year, then I'm a year older in American age, so I'd just have to add a year to find out my Korean age, do you follow? That was and still is my amusement, telling people what my Korean age is seeing their reactions.
새해 복 많이 받으세요! ("Receive a lot of blessings this new year" - Korean's version of "Happy New Year".)
(442)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
South Korean Reality Shows
The term "reality show" may be unfamiliar to Americans but in Korea, it's a "Konglish" word for programs where celebrities do real-life things like camping or going on a trip and doing various entertaining activities. I guess what Americans may think of when they hear the word "reality show" may be something like 16 and Pregnant.
Of course, Korea does have something like 16 and Pregnant but that is not what Koreans consider a reality show. A reality show is a form of a variety show and in order to understand what a reality show is, you have to first know what a variety show is. A variety show is just a show comprised of music, games, and just such entertainments for the viewers, usually in the form of a talk show. Over the years, variety shows have included a "Real theme" in which the celebrities show their "real" selves, so eating, sleeping, and sometimes even showering (that's the show "1 Night 2 Days" and yes, they keep it clean so they only show male celebrities, hence in "1 Night 2 Days", and they only show shoulders and above). So in these reality shows, the celebrities do not fake anything really, but rather just be themselves and be amusing and funny because after all, a variety show is for entertainment.
The crew in the broadcasting systems also add in amusing captions that definitely play a key role in making the shows entertaining. Jokes are used often; and speech/thought bubbles are also added next to a celebrity.
I wish America would have these variety shows. I get to see my favorite Korean singers and actors be their silly selves on shows, playing games to see who eats dinner first or who gets the best side dish in the dinner and stuff like that, but wouldn't it be great to see, I don't know, Logan Lerman and Jennifer Lawerence on reality shows? It's great that we get to see their stunning selves on the red carpet, but to be able to see them go through obstacles for their team and cooking and maybe even miserably failing at it would double the entertainment of Americans. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about unless you've seen these Korean (and actually, just Asian) variety shows so here's a couple of examples from good ol' YouTube you can look into: Running Man (crazy popular show!), 1 Night, 2 Days (2 Days 1 Night), Shinhwa Broadcast.
So even just glimpsing at some of the reality shows, you can see how loose it is and not so formal. American talk shows are all super formal, I mean look at Oprah and Live! with Kelly, sure, sure they do goof off and everything, but nothing really hands on and there definitely is different air to American talk shows and Korean ones. I mean, I'm not trying to degrade Oprah or Live! with Kelly at all, but some more different styles to American T.V. shows like that of Korean ones would be nice too.
(508)
Of course, Korea does have something like 16 and Pregnant but that is not what Koreans consider a reality show. A reality show is a form of a variety show and in order to understand what a reality show is, you have to first know what a variety show is. A variety show is just a show comprised of music, games, and just such entertainments for the viewers, usually in the form of a talk show. Over the years, variety shows have included a "Real theme" in which the celebrities show their "real" selves, so eating, sleeping, and sometimes even showering (that's the show "1 Night 2 Days" and yes, they keep it clean so they only show male celebrities, hence in "1 Night 2 Days", and they only show shoulders and above). So in these reality shows, the celebrities do not fake anything really, but rather just be themselves and be amusing and funny because after all, a variety show is for entertainment.
The crew in the broadcasting systems also add in amusing captions that definitely play a key role in making the shows entertaining. Jokes are used often; and speech/thought bubbles are also added next to a celebrity.
I wish America would have these variety shows. I get to see my favorite Korean singers and actors be their silly selves on shows, playing games to see who eats dinner first or who gets the best side dish in the dinner and stuff like that, but wouldn't it be great to see, I don't know, Logan Lerman and Jennifer Lawerence on reality shows? It's great that we get to see their stunning selves on the red carpet, but to be able to see them go through obstacles for their team and cooking and maybe even miserably failing at it would double the entertainment of Americans. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about unless you've seen these Korean (and actually, just Asian) variety shows so here's a couple of examples from good ol' YouTube you can look into: Running Man (crazy popular show!), 1 Night, 2 Days (2 Days 1 Night), Shinhwa Broadcast.
So even just glimpsing at some of the reality shows, you can see how loose it is and not so formal. American talk shows are all super formal, I mean look at Oprah and Live! with Kelly, sure, sure they do goof off and everything, but nothing really hands on and there definitely is different air to American talk shows and Korean ones. I mean, I'm not trying to degrade Oprah or Live! with Kelly at all, but some more different styles to American T.V. shows like that of Korean ones would be nice too.
(508)
Friday, December 20, 2013
Fashion Brands in Korea
Koreans are obsessed with following the latest trends, and when it comes to trends, you can't forget about the role that fashion brands play in Korean culture. Now, I say fashion brand in Korea and you may be expecting some fancy, ridiculously expensive, foreign brand you've never heard of, but actually, Koreans all take up foreign brands. Heck, I hardly even know Korean brand names.
Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Coach, etc. are all loved by Koreans. But, being that these brands are American and they're being sold in another country, these brands are a whole lot more expensive there than it is here in America. So when Koreans visit America, they exclaim about how cheap the big name brand products are (while we Americans just shake our heads) and they crazily buy them up and take them back to their home country. So it's easy to take gifts to America, just get them a big name brand merchandise.
Of course, when it comes to international name brands in Korea, or for that matter, any other foreign countries, there are fakes. People make fake Coaches and what not, and if you have an Asian friend, you may have heard of this.
However, although Koreans are all about taking up trends, unlike in America, not having a name-brand clothing is not necessarily frowned upon. For example, let's say there's a certain winter fashion style that's trending now in Korea (and there always is), and as long as you take up that style, then you're good. It doesn't matter if it's not Calvin Klein or Northface or whatever. Of course, in America, it's not like you're considered living under a rock for not wearing expensive name brand clothing, there are always fashion style trends here too. But I feel like when I go to school, I have to wear something from like American Eagle or Hollister, but not necessarily take up some trend. Of course I do take up trends in general, like that pretty much annual trend of everyone where UGG boots, but it's like the focus is on what store name is stamped across your shirt. But Koreans are more about following the trend itself, not necessarily wearing the brand everyone wears. Am I making that distinction clear? So in "American terms", as long as you take up a trending style, it doesn't matter too much whether you got that trending outfit from Wal-Mart or American Eagle.
So I wish Korean clothing was more prominent in America. One thing I noticed for one is that it's more modest than the majority of the popular clothing worn here. And if I don't have to worry about where I buy my clothes from, as long as it's still cute and accepted by modern-day society, it would make things easier. Anybody else out there agree with me? (Seriously, I appreciate all the views but feel free to leave a nice comment! :D)
But I have to point out the factor that in Korea, you wear uniforms in middle and high schools. And then in elementary schools, it's not about store brands and the same thing can be said about America; most American students don't really care about what they wear to school until middle school.
Although I stated my pretty accurate observation that in Korea it's trending style > name brand, don't get the idea that Koreans absolute don't care about name brands. Like I said, they gobble up them name brands. In my blog post that I linked in the first paragraph, I mentioned how not having a Northface jacket in Korea has caused bullying issues. So yeah, name brands are big deal in Korea. It's not a good factor to have with their crazy obsession with following the trends, so this does put Korea in a bad light, but society can be harsher in Korea than it is in America. But hey, what country out there is perfect? Korea still has it's pros too. I still love So Ko!
(667)
Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Coach, etc. are all loved by Koreans. But, being that these brands are American and they're being sold in another country, these brands are a whole lot more expensive there than it is here in America. So when Koreans visit America, they exclaim about how cheap the big name brand products are (while we Americans just shake our heads) and they crazily buy them up and take them back to their home country. So it's easy to take gifts to America, just get them a big name brand merchandise.
Of course, when it comes to international name brands in Korea, or for that matter, any other foreign countries, there are fakes. People make fake Coaches and what not, and if you have an Asian friend, you may have heard of this.
However, although Koreans are all about taking up trends, unlike in America, not having a name-brand clothing is not necessarily frowned upon. For example, let's say there's a certain winter fashion style that's trending now in Korea (and there always is), and as long as you take up that style, then you're good. It doesn't matter if it's not Calvin Klein or Northface or whatever. Of course, in America, it's not like you're considered living under a rock for not wearing expensive name brand clothing, there are always fashion style trends here too. But I feel like when I go to school, I have to wear something from like American Eagle or Hollister, but not necessarily take up some trend. Of course I do take up trends in general, like that pretty much annual trend of everyone where UGG boots, but it's like the focus is on what store name is stamped across your shirt. But Koreans are more about following the trend itself, not necessarily wearing the brand everyone wears. Am I making that distinction clear? So in "American terms", as long as you take up a trending style, it doesn't matter too much whether you got that trending outfit from Wal-Mart or American Eagle.
So I wish Korean clothing was more prominent in America. One thing I noticed for one is that it's more modest than the majority of the popular clothing worn here. And if I don't have to worry about where I buy my clothes from, as long as it's still cute and accepted by modern-day society, it would make things easier. Anybody else out there agree with me? (Seriously, I appreciate all the views but feel free to leave a nice comment! :D)
But I have to point out the factor that in Korea, you wear uniforms in middle and high schools. And then in elementary schools, it's not about store brands and the same thing can be said about America; most American students don't really care about what they wear to school until middle school.
Although I stated my pretty accurate observation that in Korea it's trending style > name brand, don't get the idea that Koreans absolute don't care about name brands. Like I said, they gobble up them name brands. In my blog post that I linked in the first paragraph, I mentioned how not having a Northface jacket in Korea has caused bullying issues. So yeah, name brands are big deal in Korea. It's not a good factor to have with their crazy obsession with following the trends, so this does put Korea in a bad light, but society can be harsher in Korea than it is in America. But hey, what country out there is perfect? Korea still has it's pros too. I still love So Ko!
(667)
The Fast Movement of Trends in Korea
You think trends in America are irresistible to follow? Well, that's at least doubly magnified in South Korea. One person wears something new to school, and the next day, everyone's wearing it. I hate to admit it, but that is hardly an overstatement.
Earlier this year, my friend in Korea sent me a package of all sorts of gifts and one of them was a dress. At first glance, it looked like a cute dress, but when I took a closer look, I realized it was a style I've never seen before. I guess the best way to describe it in words is that it's a sweater-dress. You can click here for a visual of it, it's similar material to the sweater on the far left, only mine is more of a tan color and it's a dress. Hmm, on second thought, mine's not as furry, but it's the closest picture I could find. I was going to wear that dress the next day upon receiving it, and my mom mentioned something about how this style won't be trending in America until at least a year later, but I still wore it to school the following day. Nothing really happened except for one boy asked me, "What exactly are you wearing?" I mentally answered him with a "Don't make fun of it, your girlfriend will be wearing something like this next year."
So as was evident in the provided example above, it can be difficult at times to wear clothes from Korea in America because America is so behind Korea's trends. Take a look at the clothes trending in South Korea here, and by the way, just because my dress was unusual in the sight of American's (for now), that doesn't mean the rest of the clothes in Korea are like that. I mean it makes sense that new trend-setting items seem foreign at first and then once everyone takes it up does it become normal and accepted. However not all of the trendy clothing in Korea will be strange to Americans, at least, I don't think so.
Back to my point that America is so behind clothing trends, I can point out specific examples. Back in early 2009 Korea, bright, colorful pants/skinny jeans were trendy but if you were to wear them in America then, you would be counted as a weirdo. But now, if you were to wear a pair of bright blue pants to coordinate with your outfit in America, it's no big deal. I mean 2009 and now 2013, that's a pretty big gap isn't it? Then some other time, maybe a year or two ago, I was out shopping with my mom and either myself or my sister (I have horrible memory at times) wanted a certain style of sandals and my mom, who by the way is more Korean than I am, said, "This is now a trend here? This was a trend in Korea long time ago." Hash tag Korean-American probs.
The final opinion of mine that I would like to conclude with is that I'm not always 100% satisfied with Korea's obsession with trends. Trends start with a snap of two fingers in Korea and it ends almost just as fast. In this blog post as a whole, I only touched based on fashion trends, but the scary sweep of trends in South Korea goes for anything else - hair accessories (when I visited Korea in 2009, hair pins you can find in hair salons were a trend), certain cell phone accessories, catchphrases, 먹방 (muck-bbang) is another trend these days and it's someone who eats a lot, so eating a lot is a trend (don't ask - but hey, I like it, it gives me an excuse to eat away!), etc. Like I touch based on already, trends are weird at first but they become the norm as soon as everyone else around you are a part of it, so muck-bbang may seem extremely mysterious to you but the trend affect has done it's job on my brain - a muck-bbang, someone who eats a lot, seems to be alright by me.
Okay, now this paragraph will be the conclusion (why do I always talk so much?), back to my point about not liking Koreans' obsession with trends. It can be a lot of pressure in America alone to have to be updated with the latest popular thing and what not, but remembering my last visit to Korea, the pressure was way more overwhelming. And what are trends that people obsess over them to the point that those who do not take up those certain trends become outcasts? Seriously, the recent bullying issue of schools in Korea had something to do with owning a Northface jacket. Really?? So one of my disdains I have for South Korea is their superfluous obsession with following trends, and I wish all of society in general, regardless of in which country, would not be so attentive and judgmental regarding trends.
(834)
Earlier this year, my friend in Korea sent me a package of all sorts of gifts and one of them was a dress. At first glance, it looked like a cute dress, but when I took a closer look, I realized it was a style I've never seen before. I guess the best way to describe it in words is that it's a sweater-dress. You can click here for a visual of it, it's similar material to the sweater on the far left, only mine is more of a tan color and it's a dress. Hmm, on second thought, mine's not as furry, but it's the closest picture I could find. I was going to wear that dress the next day upon receiving it, and my mom mentioned something about how this style won't be trending in America until at least a year later, but I still wore it to school the following day. Nothing really happened except for one boy asked me, "What exactly are you wearing?" I mentally answered him with a "Don't make fun of it, your girlfriend will be wearing something like this next year."
So as was evident in the provided example above, it can be difficult at times to wear clothes from Korea in America because America is so behind Korea's trends. Take a look at the clothes trending in South Korea here, and by the way, just because my dress was unusual in the sight of American's (for now), that doesn't mean the rest of the clothes in Korea are like that. I mean it makes sense that new trend-setting items seem foreign at first and then once everyone takes it up does it become normal and accepted. However not all of the trendy clothing in Korea will be strange to Americans, at least, I don't think so.
Back to my point that America is so behind clothing trends, I can point out specific examples. Back in early 2009 Korea, bright, colorful pants/skinny jeans were trendy but if you were to wear them in America then, you would be counted as a weirdo. But now, if you were to wear a pair of bright blue pants to coordinate with your outfit in America, it's no big deal. I mean 2009 and now 2013, that's a pretty big gap isn't it? Then some other time, maybe a year or two ago, I was out shopping with my mom and either myself or my sister (I have horrible memory at times) wanted a certain style of sandals and my mom, who by the way is more Korean than I am, said, "This is now a trend here? This was a trend in Korea long time ago." Hash tag Korean-American probs.
The final opinion of mine that I would like to conclude with is that I'm not always 100% satisfied with Korea's obsession with trends. Trends start with a snap of two fingers in Korea and it ends almost just as fast. In this blog post as a whole, I only touched based on fashion trends, but the scary sweep of trends in South Korea goes for anything else - hair accessories (when I visited Korea in 2009, hair pins you can find in hair salons were a trend), certain cell phone accessories, catchphrases, 먹방 (muck-bbang) is another trend these days and it's someone who eats a lot, so eating a lot is a trend (don't ask - but hey, I like it, it gives me an excuse to eat away!), etc. Like I touch based on already, trends are weird at first but they become the norm as soon as everyone else around you are a part of it, so muck-bbang may seem extremely mysterious to you but the trend affect has done it's job on my brain - a muck-bbang, someone who eats a lot, seems to be alright by me.
Okay, now this paragraph will be the conclusion (why do I always talk so much?), back to my point about not liking Koreans' obsession with trends. It can be a lot of pressure in America alone to have to be updated with the latest popular thing and what not, but remembering my last visit to Korea, the pressure was way more overwhelming. And what are trends that people obsess over them to the point that those who do not take up those certain trends become outcasts? Seriously, the recent bullying issue of schools in Korea had something to do with owning a Northface jacket. Really?? So one of my disdains I have for South Korea is their superfluous obsession with following trends, and I wish all of society in general, regardless of in which country, would not be so attentive and judgmental regarding trends.
(834)
Friday, December 13, 2013
Celebrities in the Military and their Special Privileges
I talked
about mandatory military service in South Korea in my previous blog
post, and now I want to narrow it down to celebrity recruits and the
privilege that they are allowed to have.
Se7en and Mighty Mouth's Sangchu made headlines as they greatly took advantage of their privilege of going out when they're doing service for the country. Needless to say, I was one of all of the people who criticized their actions.
But what confuses me more is, why should celebrities get special privileges in the military? Before a celebrity is a celebrity, they're a human-being. So the likelihood of them getting injured in the military is the same for them too, even if they're stars. But the fact that they're allowed more leisure-times and whatnot because of their careers seem more than unfair to me. What about the men of other professions - aren't they of importance too? I don't know, maybe those other men do get special privileges, but I've only heard about celebrities exploiting their privilege.
Take for example a great model, actor Yoo Seung Ho who rejected enlisting as a special celebrity recruit but rather just another recruit, and now he's risen to be an assistant instructor.
Again, needless to say, there's a clear difference between him and Se7en and Sangchu. And I shouldn't just pick on those two as other celebrities have taken advantage of their special privileges. I'm just glad that the Korean government finally found it necessary to change up their policies.
Any Korean boy's fear or excitement, depending on the individual, is enlisting in the military someday. But I've encountered more Korean boys that are dreading military enlistment than boy that are anticipating it. I briefly talked about how mandatory military service has been part of the Korean culture so long that, theoretically, it could someday be abolished once and for all, but the very thought of it is odd. Korean fathers telling their sons about their time in the military, talks of how to prepare for enlistment, and etc. are all a part of Korean culture and the fact that a celebrity can skimp out on it because you have a lot of fans just sound unjust to me.
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Se7en and Mighty Mouth's Sangchu made headlines as they greatly took advantage of their privilege of going out when they're doing service for the country. Needless to say, I was one of all of the people who criticized their actions.
But what confuses me more is, why should celebrities get special privileges in the military? Before a celebrity is a celebrity, they're a human-being. So the likelihood of them getting injured in the military is the same for them too, even if they're stars. But the fact that they're allowed more leisure-times and whatnot because of their careers seem more than unfair to me. What about the men of other professions - aren't they of importance too? I don't know, maybe those other men do get special privileges, but I've only heard about celebrities exploiting their privilege.
Take for example a great model, actor Yoo Seung Ho who rejected enlisting as a special celebrity recruit but rather just another recruit, and now he's risen to be an assistant instructor.
Again, needless to say, there's a clear difference between him and Se7en and Sangchu. And I shouldn't just pick on those two as other celebrities have taken advantage of their special privileges. I'm just glad that the Korean government finally found it necessary to change up their policies.
Any Korean boy's fear or excitement, depending on the individual, is enlisting in the military someday. But I've encountered more Korean boys that are dreading military enlistment than boy that are anticipating it. I briefly talked about how mandatory military service has been part of the Korean culture so long that, theoretically, it could someday be abolished once and for all, but the very thought of it is odd. Korean fathers telling their sons about their time in the military, talks of how to prepare for enlistment, and etc. are all a part of Korean culture and the fact that a celebrity can skimp out on it because you have a lot of fans just sound unjust to me.
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