The Koreans have been struggling in their own identify crisis for centuries. Their search for a cultural "essence" always involves serious contradictions. The literature of Korean cultural distinction is strikingly similar to Japanese attempts to prove the "uniqueness" of their own cultural heritage, although "proof" of Japan's uniqueness is usually drawn from examples of Western countries (the significant "other" for modernized Japanese). So it all depends on who the boss is and the political whirlwinds can shift rapidly. Since the early 1970s, Seoul's policy governing the teaching and use of Chinese characters has shifted several times, although the trend clearly has been toward writing in han'gul alone. By early 1990, all but academic writing used far fewer Chinese characters than was the case in the 1960s. In 1989 the Korean Language and Education Research Association, citing the need for Chinese character literacy "at a time when the nation is entering into keen competition with Japan and China" and noting that Japanese educators were increasing the number of Chinese characters taught in elementary schools, recommended to the Ministry of Education that instruction in Chinese characters be reintroduced at the primary-school level. No doubt they was an influx of Shantung exodus to Korea after 1949 and settled down to avoid communist persecution. These "kwagui", some now being the third generation born there, are not treated as part of the mainstream society. This situation is similar to the Koreans born and live in Japan now are being treated as criminals. Those Yakuza in Osaka are mostly Korean descent and they are constantly harassed by the Japanese law enforcement. When they travel, they have to obtain passport from Korea and not Japan tho they were born and raised there. All these nonsense were actually started by, ye you got it brother, the Japanese.
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So ultimately if we must blame somebody, it's the Japanese that gave the Koreans the idea. I est my case. Amen! |