BCM111

Globalization and Westernization in South Korea

There is no doubt that the era in which we live in shapes our daily lives and influences what we as individuals and a community are exposed too. Through the studies of communications we are able to identify and dissect the reasons behind quick paced globalization and increasing interdependence between countries and cultures thus, in recognition of this we are able to identify and dissect the ins and outs of cosmopolitanism and the reasons why we accept AND don’t accept global citizenship today.

‘Globalization refers to an international community influenced by technological development and economic, political, and military interests.’

Globalization could lead to the homogenization of world cultures, or to hybridization and multiculturalism’ (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 458)

Globalization effects every individual and society whether we want it to or not. More importantly, globalization has completely changed the way in which our societies are run. I will use my own heritage (being half south Korean) as an example. Most of East Asia historically has lived by the physiological idea of confucianism, therefore idea’s such as filial piety are deemed of utmost importance throughout Asia, particularly South Korea. However, marriages in Korea last year being at “281,600 was down 7% from the year before and the lowest since 1974,” number of marriages in South Korea hits lowest point since 1974 (noh Hyun-woong, 2017). The confucianism ideology in which South Korean’s have actively been practicing for hundreds of years, focuses on the importance of family values and marriage. It can be argued through the declining marriage rates that traditional cultural values such as the idea of marriage being essential for living a good life are being replaced by changing perceptions fueled by westernized idea’s such as feminism. Another example of shifting ideoscapes can be seen with the legalization of adultery in South Korea. South Korea’s legal system reflects the change of perceptions aligning with a westernized idea of that the the law should not be anachronistic and impeding to personal freedom/privacy which many critics agree with and “have said the law against adultery is outdated in a society where rapid modernization has frequently clashed with traditionally conservative values” South Korean court legalizes adultery leading to a condom stock surges (the telegraph, 2015).

However, westernization is not the only strain of globalization today but one of the very many examples of contributing reasons to emerging interdependence between nation states. The dissection of globalization leads us to the foundations of globalization or  “global cultural flows” such as ethnoscapes, mediascapes, ideoscapes, techno scapes and financescapes. All these scapes are inextricable and can be seen as the infrastructure of a cosmopolitan ideology.

Shifting ideoscapes from traditional confucian views to a westernized perception in South Korea is one of the many many examples of how the world is becoming increasingly more globalized today.  Perhaps cultural imperialism in the way in which the dominant culture (the west) has seemed to shape the global moral code, is an indication of the world shifting towards one cultural view. However, Appadurai argues in his text ‘modernity at large, cultural dimensions of globalization,’ that conceivably a global and cultural world could lead to a place that is “filled with ironies and resistances, sometimes camouflaged as passivity and a bottomless appetite in the asian world for things western” (appadurai, page 29). An example of resistance in South Korea can be seen as conservative’s that defend traditional ideas of patriarchy and filial piety however, due to the overwhelming change of attitudes that interrelate to people on a global level, it can be seen that eventually traditional idea’s will die out. In saying this, multi directional media flows such as Korean cinema have large influence in the west. Thus, globalization can not be seen as only dominated by western idea’s but a cycle of the sharing of cultures and idea’s.

Annotated source

Appadurai, a 1996, pg 29, modernity at large, University of Minnesota Press, last viewed on the 26th of August

This source centers around the rapid pace of globalization. He speaks of shifting ideoscapes and makes references to the the resistance of westernization from Asia. This helped me in the way that I was able to use evidence from a credited academic source of my comparison in South Korea of the changing perceptions of young people in relation to conservative views primarily held by the older generation.

He also speaks of the rapid speed of globalization and how in the past although there was trade and affiliation globally, the fast pace of things such as global flows which include communication and media, has driven the globalization towards a cosmopolitan world. Appadurai’s source is a reliable academic journal, therefore can be seen as useful to my research

Noh, Number of marriages in South Korea hits lowest point since 1974, viewed 26 of August 2018, 2017, http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/788003.html

This newspaper article was helpful in the way it provided accurate quantitative data to aid my research. Through statistics of actual marriage rates it validated my argument. As it was a news paper article published in South Korea it can be deemed relevant and reliable.

“To be Asia literate would be to perceive the underlying role of the latent aspect, that is, that the attitudes influencing our perceptions of the Orient are shaped by the way the Orient itself is studied and talked about”

(Leong and Woods, 2017).

The 21’st century has been named the “asian century.” However, due to the considerable difference in language and culture, just like anything that is unfamiliar, it is easy to create stereotypes and an attitude that is bias to you’re own personal experiences in a different culture. This is referred to as ‘orientalism’. Orientalism is separated into two components, ‘latent orientalism’ which refers to the understanding of the bias in that the attitudes towards ‘asians’ are comprised by the opinions of the dominant culture (the west), and ‘maniefest orientalism’ which refers to the consciousness in the way you are representing Asia. When it come’s to speaking about Asia, it is important to acknowledge that as someone who is not Asian, it can be very difficult to empathize and fully 100% understand a culture that is very different from your own hence, terms such as latent and manifest oritentalism help distinguish to us as students of global media and culture, that a lot of what we already may know about Asia could be very well a bias view.

WHY subjects such as asian literacy is important comes down to many things. As part of budding real life adult’s of the ‘asian century’, we are part of an era that is filled with global industries and international workforces. All of us will at point be exposed to working with or FOR ‘asian’ people, thus, the recognition of their culture and being able to empathize with them as if it was your own culture is without a doubt an important mindset to have.

However, that being an incentive for our future to want to learn about Asia, internationalization of higher education is a way in which perhaps we can exercise the concept of being ‘Asia Aware’. As university student’s we are an example of globalization and cosmopolitanism in the way that we are all from a global context. A youtube video from Sheffield university called ‘we are all international students,’ is a prime example of an attitude that should be followed by all of us in regard to the internationalization of higher education. Unfortunately however, Australian’s have received much backlash after media articles surfaced about violent attacks on Indian international students, causing much strain and hostility between Canberra and Dehli. The crisis has “cost Australia billions of dollars and thousands of jobs” repairing the road to oz (jen rosenberg, 2012), this showcases that this racist attitude impedes globalization and ALSO effects our own stance in the international community. Furthermore, the horrific attacks on indian international students can be seen to be validating marginson’s theory in that ‘International education is not the rich intercultural experience it could be’ (marginson, 2012). 

Annotated source 

rosenberg. j , repairing the road to Oz, viewed 26 of August 2018 2012, https://www.smh.com.au/education/repairing-the-road-to-oz-20120729-2365d.html

This newspaper article helped me in the way that I was able to to gather social commentary through a reputable news company (Sydney Morning Herald). The news paper article was able to provide me with secondary research in regards to the reaction of the Indian’s therefore supported my argument and research.

Salter, p 2013, The Problem in Policy: Representations of Asia Literacy in Australian Education for the Asian Century, last viewed 27th of August 2018

This source helped me through being able to identify the concepts of latent and manifest orientalism. Both terms were useful in the way that they were able to articulate exactly what being “Asia literate” means. As it is a published academic journal article it can be seen as a reliable source.

‘South Korea has become the seventh-largest film market in the world, with national film attendance totals by 2000 exceeding 70 million. In a phenomenon the Asian mass media have referred to as the Korean wave (or pronounced Hallyu in South Korean), South Korea is now a brisk exporter of music, TV programming, and films to the Asia-Pacific region’ (Ryoo, 2009)

The ‘Korean wave,’ and the popularity of Korean media is prominent in not only Asia but now on a global scale as “south Korean dramas and music has begun to edge out American and Japanese market dominance in Asia,” (ryoo, 2009). The reasons for its newfound popularity can be seen as a result of South Korea’s high income and production levels, the cultural proximity and affinity with neighboring asian countries, the deployment of themes that asian audiences can relate to more then American cinema and the melting cultural barriers between South Korea and Japan resulting in a more broad viewing.

However, all though all these reasons point out why the ‘Korean wave’ is such a phenomenon in Asia, reasons for its global popularity in the west also have a big part to play in why it is so big globally. Taking the movie ‘old boy as an example, the ‘dark and gloomy movie experiments with the themes of psychological madness and the sexual distortions existing in contemporary South Korean society and modernity’ (ryoo, 2009), captured the western audience and due to its success even sold remake rights to universal studios in 2004. The Korean film industry continues to thrive globally with big audiences all around the around.

Additionally, it is not only the film market that has had great global success. Korean music i.e ‘K-pop’, has received arguably more world- wide recognition then film has. ‘When bands like 2NE1, Super Junior and SHINee hold concerts in Europe and the United States, tickets sell out within minutes’ bringing kpop to the west (choe, 2012), showcasing the evident popularity of K-pop throughout Europe and America. The demand of K-pop from the west shows how multi directional media flows are actively existing in our society and further highlights that with increasing access to media, popular culture is becoming globally homogenized.

Annotated bibliography: 

Ryoo, r 2009, pg 139, Globalization, or the logic of cultural hybridization: the case of the Korean wave, last viewed on the 16th of August 

This source gives back round information on the subject I was mainly focusing on in my last paragraph of the “korean wave.’ This source assisted me in the way that it pointed out the western affiliation with the ‘Korean wave,’ and provided historical information for how it has come about through time. As a published academic journal article this source can be seen as a reliable source.

Choe, S 2012, bringing kpop to the west, ny times, viewed 26th of august 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/business/global/using-social-media-to-bring-korean-pop-music-to-the-west.html

This source emphasises on the emergence of Kpop in the west which perfectly aligned with my point of the global wave of asia and multidirectional flow. As it is the New York times it is a credible news paper and can be seen as reliable.