The Mouse (The Chwi) That Roarded

[Scottie]

Chwi (or Jwi) is a phonetic. It's more like Zhwee. Korean word; mouse. So. Let's carry on.

The North Korean situation. We don't have a thread on it most likely because none of us know what to make of it. Who does? I may rant at length.

I do believe a North Korean umbrage-taking latest yawp over the rooftops merits our attention.

I would like to offer some thoughts on this. Allow me, as the voice of Koreason, to make a singular point; that point being a rhetorical question.

Has ever any culture, or piece of a culture, so rapidly transformed from a foundation basis of "honor-thy-elders" Confucian traditional society to a culture where, day-by-day, the theatre of pole-dancing suggestiveness became, and is becoming, so flat-out pornographic? It usually takes at least a couple of generations for a society to suffer that shift. Korea? South Korea is not wasting time.

What is now common in South Korea, from which was forbidden, took merely less than a decade. By Koreanness,the transformation is nothing less than astonishing in its immediacy.

On my first life there, and I've had the opportunity to live and observe the Korean world from the inside over the last couple of decades, all food was Korean food. Korean kids praised Korean culture. Everything anyone ever mentioned had to do with heritage. Admirable pride, the sort of which we could only envy here in the West. Expired, now. Then, back then, so not-so-long-ago their bodies were a living artwork to this. The first time I arrived home in North America, after a very long stint in Korea, I was on an airplane that landed in Halifax and I, honestly, really, threw up. Why? Because I came from a culture of logical humanity and saw this vile herd of buffalo women, each well over 350-pounds, and I could not suppress my gag reflex. I was so disgusted that I barfed on an Air Canada flight. Right on the debark gate, fittingly. "Are you okay?" "Yes. I'm fine. It's them that's fucked."

In the small, very small interval, Koreans changed. Once, the people were svelt, athletic, healthy. On my second sojourn, a decade later, the kids were fat, lethargic. Why? Crap arrived. They had pizza shops. Suddenly, in the most terrible and bizarre ways, they'd say "I hate Korean food! I want Big Macs!" We don't have words that express that culture reversal. This was agonizing to hear. This is from a culture so proud that they'd espouse their own dirt technologies over the Space Shuttle. All gone. The children, being coddled and only existing because they came up happy on the "we'll accept you as our one child" ultrasounds, fell victim to advertising. South Koreans mistakenly believed they were a first-world country. This was a tragic blunder. The '88 Olympics opened up the terrible misfortune of having a McDonalds and Burger King competing at the footsteps of Busan's largest train station. Every possible location; headway had way. Anywhere they could put their foot. This brought cults and kooks. What was once a train ride from Busan to Kwang-ju now, oddly, had the backdrop of "What a friend we have in Jesus" on that neon transit overlay outside of a knock-off waeguk poison slinging fat factory, garbled dirge chanted by a small circle of broken-communication cultists in front of sudden astonishing space-age revolving doors. To the English ear it was "Whirrrr a fleeed we herrrr in Jerrrzuuuuz". Tambourine, tambourine, tambourine, "Come to the blurr of glurrz. Jublurr wirr replent yubwhirr". And then the hit on. "Oh, Are you Christyunablurr?"

Nah. I'm an Ablurrist. And, say. Did anyone at that pyramid scheme you fell in to ever teach you the English words for "Fuck off"? It would have been a great cut down except for the fact that the mopron didn't understand what I was saying or what she was saying. So she smiles and tries to maintain. I try not to get arrested.

I may be preaching to a void by saying this but . . . I've lived in South Korea. Twice. Lived twice, visited thrice, on my own, not on a military assignment; note the extraordinary difference for it is vast. It is a strange but influential bass-line to my life. And as if once wasn't enough. Or twice, returning. Returning. I know that culture all too well. Or, I thought, think, I did. I've walked those city streets and back-alleys; I know the tiny shops, the best food, the secret underwaters, every monastery, every cup of tea, each why, each wherefore; each footstep of each mountain, each headless Buddah on NamSan. And that particular why. Oh, how I submersioned myself in its entirety to know the underbeing of it all. Onceuponatime. I know all the best gate markets. I know the ajumma that makes the best kimbab in the best nook. I know the best bus drivers. And in Gyeong-ju, I know the best cab drivers. I sometimes wake up in vivid dreams of actions there. And I lived it, died it, shopped it, loved it, knew it, confounded it, studied it, learned it, speak it, ate it, drank it, bused it, walked it, trained it, consumed it, fucked it, taught it, as it was and never imposed. And I've been to North Korea. I'm not an expert, many are but not me, fact is they ain't starving. That drought was a decade ago and, frankly, they're doing quite alright. Very well compared to many other nation states.

Now? The North Koreans look at the South as people who just do not understand what it is to be Korean. While this is happening, The South Koreans look at the North as people who just do not understand what it is to be Korean.

And they both assume, and this is seriously the key, that the other guy is going to fuck up so badly that they'll have to come begging for reunification.

This is a zugzwang.

Even ten years ago, what you are seeing in those K-Pop videos would have been utterly unthinkable. I don't really care if South Korea lives or dies; exists tomorrow or gets caught up in a Kim Dog-Yum nuclear incident. I'm between indifferent and different; yet I've an odd love for the place. That which is acceptable there now? Compared to that which was "too far over the line" even a few years ago? Astonishing. Societies tend to glacially shift as opposed to seismographically shift. Sure, South Korea was going to blow a gasket. But in such a short time? Granted Koreans spend ten times more time fixated on the Internet than you ever dreamed you would.

The shift from prude to whore? Man, that was lightningfast.

This is the point. Know this because this is the answer:

Ever consider that the differences in what one Korean considers to be Korean is not what the other Korean considers to be Korean? Balance versus imbalance? Balance is the key to Korean mentality. Just look at their flag. It's almost subliminal. It is now out of balance. Thus it needs to be corrected.

This may sound flippant but . . . look again.

There are two Koreas. Ask yourself, seriously, which one of them went farther astray? From traditional Korean values? Well, it's the South that's wandered furthest. That's what is happening.

[A_B]

Simon Winchester's Korea talks about some of these same changes, as he went earlier in life and then returned later. I do think that he tried to shy away from the new stuff to focus on the past traditions that are holding up, in albeit potentially smaller pockets than would be expected.

But the underlying point of Koreanness is the same. Both sides think that the other is wrong, and I can certainly see your point that the North is holding the true traditions closer than the south.

This is the similar to what happened with Vietnam. The North felt they were truly holding up the traditions of the south while the south changed in a western mold (and due to a lot of the same influences). I would assume that had the internet been around then, things would have been much different and that things would have evolved quickly.

My point here is to say that the cultures of Asian people are very much a part of their nationalism. And when there is a schism so deep, a DMZ isn't much to provide solace. For either side.

[howard]

As some will remember, I was part of a partnership that attempted to finance and build a hospital in South Korea a few years ago. (Stupid collapsed investment bank when we were on the verge of our bond offering.) I never traveled over there, but my time spent with folks from over there (of all ages) left me flabbergasted and confused.

I figured I would sort it out once I got over there. Sounds like it would've taken me a lot of time over there to fathom this nation and these people.

The power of advertising, corporate consumer food and products expansion into global markets, and the faux wealth of highly leveraged banking shenanigans (particularly following the 1998 collapse of So. Korean finance) is awe-inspiring.

Fascinating rant, Scottie.

[Scottie]

Something I meant to mention was the "Axis of Evil" speech by Dubbya (yes, that phrase was written by a Canadian. A Canadian whose Mom was, ironically, a socialist). That was a powerful moment. It was not a powerful moment for the Iraqis or Iranians nearly as much as it was a powerful moment for the Bukhan Korean lads. Not even remotely close.

While the Iraqis and Iranians reacted, not unexpectedly, by assuming "this is just American saber-wagging, blah blah blah", the North Koreans were suddenly . . . "What? Us?"

Being branded as "evil" by a nation-state such as America had a staggeringly more profound impact on the Koreans than it did to the Iraqanians. The difference here is, obviously, that the Iraqanians can chalk this up to a religious conflict as they have done for, oh, centuries. But not North Korea. There is no war between Juche and American Christianity. Or between Judaism and Kim Jong-Disco. It just isn't there. There is no direct connection; no oil interests, no economic divide, nothing. It was baffling. To them.

The Koreans (both North and South) saw this as social engineering and indoctrination to the American way. It didn't go over well. Actually, the South was more pissed off than the North (who are more used to being insulted). What America, what Dubbya, seemed to forget was the Korean War, it's causes, the effect of American involvement, the after effects, the divide left behind, families torn asunder, was PROOF to them that America couldn't successfully resolve anything. Koreans have far longer memories than Americans. This last conflict, technically still ongoing, is very fresh in their minds. In Gyeong-Ju, I'd often be awakened by sirens, air-raid drills, where the entire population of the city would disappear and I'd be left standing in the middle of Dongdaero wondering where everyone went, Omega Man; is this real? Is this a drill? Or maybe, why not, this is it. That's the drum-beat of life in Korea. It's always there. Always. Background noise, sure, but never silenced.

If Dubbya over-reached in the desert, his reach was far beyond his grasp (know that phrase) when he added Korea into the mix.

If Dubbya had merely stated that Iran and Iraq constitute an "Axis of Evil", and maybe toss in the "istans", a lot of what prompted the Kimjongs to behave as they have been behaving most likely would never have happened.

The Chinese like having North Korea. It is their personal buffer zone between western imperialism and their own way of feeding themselves. If North Korea falls, the result is a western democracy (American puppet) bordering China. Bordering. That can't happen. China doesn't cotton to such stuff next door, hence the long run Bukhan has had and will continue to have.

North Korea is constantly mocked in western media (which vexes them to no end given that Korean culture is so much about reputation; insults in Korea are far more serious than insults in the West, which we serve up as linguistic habitude). While laymen such as myself do not know what goes on behind the scenes, the one thing that makes the most sense to me, speaking as some guy somewhere, is that North Korea is far far far more valuable to the United States as an ally, as a partner. The Kimjongs would embrace that. They'd have to present it as being "in their own way" but, damn, that youngest Kim? He's Western educated, a smart guy. He'd go for it.

There is a current of thought that the sword-wielding is a attempt by Kimmy to get rid of the old guard by proving to them that their mentality is obsolete. If so, this is a tremendous move by young Kimmy.

And if we can have an ally state bordering China? We'd be insane to miss that opportunity. Exactly the sort of opportunity that the Chinese would never miss.

A year or so after I returned to America, after my first stint in South Korea, I received a letter from a Korean, hand-painted, Korean calligraphy, on parchment, beautifully in a peasant sort of eloquence; painted on parchment, script on rice field; I have it in a frame in the office from which I type this; an artwork with which I shall never part. It was from one of my former students. He was admonishing me for having ever left Korea and returned to the West. It angered and flustered him. Why, why, why, he kept asking, would you rupture our friendship by leaving? There is a bond between us, you can't just toss it away. And, no, that's not "stalking" but rather the Korean outlook on friendship. They're like swans, mating for life. In North Korea, that culture holds fast. In the South, it is crumbling conveniently as western fast-food mentality. Or, Palahniuk, single-serving moments. That's the divide. Right there.

[howard]

This is so bleedin' obvious, the importance to China to control PRK, the advantage to the Kim dynasty and to the USA/west to partner up. Yet, the mediocrities running our foreign policy have failed to grasp this since the fall of communism in China (yeah, I said it!)

A leader like Nixon, Ike or FDR would've been all over this golden opportunity. Even if efforts utterly failed, so what? You're gonna piss off the Chinese? Heh. What is the worse that can happen--they annex the North, a wild card is removed from the deck, and the Chinese cards are on the table for even the blind to see. Sooner rather than later.

Oh, I know; bad for business. All that cheap labor that was a pillar for our fake economy of the last 20 years. Well, that day is nearly over. Too bad it couldn't last forever.

Disclaimer: The only frames of reference I can use in looking at Korea are geopolitics (and even then, only going back a half-century or so) and economics. Areas where I know only enough to be dangerous in my opinions. Beyond these, I am clueless.

[Scottie]

Howard, I added a couple of paragraphs (editing) while you were responding. I believe they've merit.

And they don't call me "the editor" for nothing.

[Scottie]

To clarify that work of art, it's this:



You can chip your teeth all day trying to describe art.

Brilliant. It's all in there. Encapsulated emotion; disappointment, love, aggression, confusion, violence, birth, a lashing out, regret, longing, determination, hurt, balance.

(The Swamp reflecting on a monitor, lower left)

[rass]

Fascinating thread Scottie.

I have nothing to add, other than to throw out this tangentially related article on the Korean (American?) mindset from a couple of weeks ago that I also found interesting.

[Scottie]

What do you see when you contemplate that painting? I've looked at it a guhzillion times. What do you see?

That is a statement, a work of art, from a Korean to an American.

What do you see?

[Scottie]

Oh, credit where credit is due. Hwang In-Jun created that masterpiece.

[A_B]

I see a face hiding behind a bush.

[The Sybian]

Scottie, thanks for your take on a culture I highly doubt I will ever experience, especially since it is rapidly dying out with the younger generations. First, I would think the rapid demise of the old culture is due to the time of the explosion in communication technology coupled with the rapid rise to prominence South Korea has had in manufacturing and economically in general. South Korea has had an amazing rise to prominence in the past 20 or 30 with Hyundai, LG, Daewoo, Samsung, Kia... I guess it really started in the 1960s, but the last 20 years saw the boom (minus the bubble burst). Throw in all the money at a time with instant wireless communication, and South Korea is supposed to have a much better wireless infrastructure than the US, and they have a lot more access to pop culture and a sudden influx of disposable income. I think it is an unusual situation that arguably hasn't ever occurred, so of course the rapid culture shift is unprecedented. I think the teens of the Soviet Union at the time of collapse were similar, but still lacked the access to information and money to make the full radical cultural shift. And while change isn't necessarily bad, it is horrible to see cultures adopt the worst aspects of out cultures and lose what makes them unique and beautiful for a goddamned Big Mac.