Presentation by Jin Hong RIM (Embassy of the Republic of Korea ...

Presentation by Jin Hong RIM
(Embassy of the Republic of Korea)
October 18 th , 2011

Surrounded d by big powers
At the crossroads of
continental and maritime civilizations
Culturally speaking,
Wild love for singing g and dancing,
maybe as a way to release tension and stress
coming from adverse conditions

Korea
Latvia
Population Roughly 50 million Roughly 2.2 million
Area (land) Roughly 100,000 sq km Roughly 62,000 sq km
Capital
Ethnic
Seoul in and around
(roughly 12 million)
Riga
ethnically homogeneous
(Language spoken)
and speaking
composition
the same language Latvians 58%
(Language) Russians 38%

Historically, China has regarded itself as the
center of the world, as its name, ‘the Middle
Kingdom’ suggests.
Its culture is one of the world’s oldest and
most complex and has exerted strong
influence all over East Asia and beyond…
Confucianism, classical Chinese …

Japan has been usually on the receiving end of
the culture, originating from the continent, such
as Buddhism, Chinese characters, and crafts.
Korea, being located at the crossroads, has
always served as a cultural bridge in East Asia.
Korea’s location has given the country a unique
cultural advantage but at the same time,
made itself vulnerable to invasions from
neighbors. (on the next page!)

Massive Chinese invasions in early yperiod
Mongolian invasion in early 13 th century
A pair of Japanese invasions in late 16
th century
Manchurian invasion in early 17 th Century
Annexed by Japan from 1910~1945
1945
The division of Korea and the Korean war

Model Confucius State
- Respect for elders
(as reflected in honorifics)
( )
- Hierarchical social structure
- Group-oriented
- Group-oriented
(harmony over individual tastes)
A i i f d bili
- Aspiration for upward mobility
through education

What is honorifics
An honorific is a word or expression
showing respect to the person you are
speaking to. (or to the third person)

What is honorifics
Korean also has anti-honorific first
person forms ("your most humble servant“)
whose effect is to enhance the relative
honor accorded a second or third person.

Using honorifics is mandatory in formal
and informal social settings
Koreans identify themselves in relation
to the relative position of the person
that they talk to or refer to and their
language changes accordingly.
(depending on the person’s age or status)

Hierarchical social structure

Model Confucius State
- Group-oriented
(harmony over individuals)
id - Aspiration for upward mobility
through education

36 years of colonial experience
(1910~1945) by Japan
and 3-year long civil war (1950~53),
left Korea in total ruins
With hard work and education,
Korea has managed to stand back
on its feet and is now a member of G20.

After the Korean War, Korea had to start
from scratch and set out on breathtaking
industrialization from early 1960s
Starting from 1980, Korean began to enjoy
the fruits of rapid economic growth
to afford leisure and entertainment.

It was American and European pop culture
that dominated the scene in 1980s.
Things began to change mid 1990s and
people started looking for entertainment
with domestic content made in Korea.
By 2006, Korea became one of the handful
nations that consume more locally yproduced
cultural content than foreign content.

It started t with popular music and movies and
then TV dramas.
There genres of popular culture
made a splash in Japan and China and then
went beyond East Asia and all over the world.

Thank you for your attention.
You may raise any question….

Jin Hong RIM
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
jhrim_1966@yahoo.co.kr