Korea Beyond Korea: Korean Diaspora and the Role of the Korean Americans (A New Challenge for Korea in the 21 Century)

Young-chan Ro

ICAS Conference

Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

August 6, 2011

 

Globalizing Korea: A New Korea

This is both the best and the most challenging time for Korea. That is the best time for Korea as seen from economic prosperity, national productivity, and the worldwide recognition of Korean products. Since the mythic figure Tan’gun[1] founded the nation, Korea has never enjoyed today’s prosperity, economic power, scientific knowledge and technological advancement, and international recognition. Although in the past, Korea did have chances to demonstrate cultural creativity, scientific invention, and intellectual brilliance, she never had the kind of prosperity and economic development, and the worldwide and global recognition that enjoys today. Korean brand names such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai both promote and celebrate Korea’s worldwide reputation. The success of Korea is not limited to economic prosperity alone but extends to other areas all of which demonstrate the rise of Korea on the global horizon. In addition to economic prosperity, Korea has achieved an international prominence in various professional areas from arts to sports. Korean talents are in the top ranking not only in classical music but also in pop culture. The so-called “Korean wave” or hallyu has made splashes to the shores of all the continents of the world. Korea has never enjoyed wealth and prestige of this magnitude since the founding of the nation. Yet all this “success,” however, has happened to Korea only within the last 30-40 years, less even than a half century. This is a relatively short period of time for Korea to achieve this global prominence. There aren’t many countries that have risen to global and international prominence in such a short time. Korea is a late comer in catching up rapidly with the leading countries in the global sphere. Most developed countries in Europe, North America, and Japan took longer than a century to achieve the world prominence.

It is also impressive to see the speed of success in achieving this world prominence with given such small size of territory, one half of the Korean Peninsula, and with a population of 50 million people. Korea, one of the smallest countries on earth, has gained a global reputation with its products, and Koreans are scattered to every corner of the world, about 7 million Koreans  throughout  in 176 countries.[2] Koreans are the second most scattered people, after the Jews, on earth. Historically, the Jews, the Chinese, and the Italians have been the most scattered people. The Korean diaspora, however, is rather a more recent phenomenon compared to the Jews, the Chinese, and the Italians who started their diaspora centuries ago.

From the historical point of view, Korea has largely been confined to the territory of the Korean Peninsula surrounded by powerful countries such as China and Japan. Korea often was described as  the country of “morning calm” (Chosŏn, 조선, 朝鮮), or a “hermit nation” or “hermit kingdom,”[3] even as late as the 19th and early 20th centuries. This indicates clearly that the Koreans were not eager to go outside of the country and seek places to live other than the Korean Peninsula. In addition, Koreans have a strong sense of value attached to “space.” Koreans conceived the Korean Peninsula as a privileged place, and developed a strong sense of attachment to this particular space for centuries. It is remarkable to see that now the Koreans are one of the most scattered people on earth. Historically, the Koreans were not adventurous the people like the British, the Spanish, or even the Chinese and the Japanese. Yet Just in over a century, the Koreans have become one of the most adventures people on earth in seeking their fortunes in all different nations and cultures.

Throughout history, Korea had suffered from numerous foreign invasions, occupations, and colonization. Especially the last century, due to the Japanese occupation, the Koreans started leaving the country for a better life. Some patriots fled the country in an attempt to seek independence of Korea from Japan by diplomacy or military power. Even before the notorious Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, due to destitution, and social injustice, people often were dreaming about a  “new heaven” and a “new earth,” a new world. The old world, the world in which they lived, was the world of corruption, injustice, war and poverty. The “new world” for the Koreans was a symbol of justice, social order, prosperity and peace. This idea of the “new world” was a popular theme of “new religions” in Korea, especially during the 18th and the 19th centuries. Influential leaders, visionaries, mystics, religious figures emerged during this time with apocalyptic worldviews and messianic hope for the country.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Throughout Korean history, especially during the late 18th and the 19th century, the idea of a “new Korea” was prophesized by a number of religious and spiritual figures including Ch’oe Cheu (Su-un),[4] Kang Chŭngsan(1871-1909),[5] Sotaesan (1891-1943)[6], all of them were the founders of new religions in Korea. All of the three Korean new religions had a common theme: anticipating a new age and new world. The newness was something all the Koreans of the 19th century were longing for. Popular apocalyptic books such as Chŏnggamnok (정감록,鄭鑑錄)[7] also exerted a great influence on a popular level in attracting  many  new religious movements that contain some elements of the indigenous Korean spirituality. The opening of “a new heaven and a new earth” is a very familiar idea to most Koreans who for centuries lived under the old order of the world with poverty, corruption, injustice, and a lots of han, or a feeling of unresolved resentment, from 18th through early 20th century Korea. The most well known Korean version of the  messianic hopes  and apocalyptic visions were expressed in the terms of  ch’ŏnjigyebyŏk  (천지개벽,天地開闢,“opening of heaven and earth” ), huch’ŏngyebyŏk  (후전개벽, 後天開闢, “opening of the later heaven”),  sinch’ŏnsinji (신천신지, 新天新地, “new heaven and new earth”),  sinch’ŏnji (신천지, 新天地, “new heaven and earth”), etc.  These are familiar words to most Korean people.

The common idea in these words is the “opening” of a new heaven and a new earth after the old world order has gone. Although this notion has been a common eschatological theme of all new Korean religions, it was also a popular idea in the Korean folk tradition. The idea of gyebyŏk (개벽,開闢) or “opening,” has two specific meanings of opening, the opening of “space” and the opening of “time.” In this sense, according to these apocalyptic movements and literature, Korea was prophesized as opening a new heaven and earth, and a new age.

It is true that these apocalyptic visions were not fulfilled exactly the way it was prophesized and most Koreans did not take these words literally. On the other hand, the messianic hope of the 19th century Korea did not entirely disappeared from the mind of the Koreans. Rather, most Koreans have held the hope that someday Korea will rise to world prominence and prosperity. In this sense,  it is highly symbolic to notice that this messianic hope of ushering in a “new Korea” may now be being realized, of course, not the way as predicted in chŏnggamnok, but in the way that Korea has reached today’s prosperity, success, and worldwide recognition in the past 30 or 40 years. This is a sort of a “new Korea.” Now is the time for Korea to open and become a new and global Korea. It also means to opening of new “time”; a new era. Now Korea has come to define itself in terms of “new” in both “space” and “time”.

In fact, the Korean way of thinking does not separate space from time and vice versa because time and space are not two separate entities. The Western mind clearly separates space and time. The Korean mind, however, cannot conceive of time without space, space without time. Now, Korea is creating a “new” Korea in both space and time. In terms of “space,” it is a global Korea beyond the geographical and territorial Korea. We may call it even a “cultural Korea.” In terms of “time,” it is a Korea beyond the confinement of the historical past. It is a future Korea that we have not seen. It seems to me that the traditional and popular messianic view of  the “opening of the latter heaven” huch’ŏngyebyŏk (후전개벽, 後天開闢) may be happening to Korea in the form of global Korea. This new Korea can be seen in a symbolic way of the Korean messianic hope. In this respect, the Korean diaspora can be interpreted in light of the emergence of a new global Korea. If we take the Korean diaspora seriously in interpreting it as the emergence of a global Korea or a “new Korea” with the sense of “mission” and “prophecy” of  the opening of a new heaven and new earth for Korea, this will be indeed the beginning of a new Korea. Before we  indulge  in this fantasy or a dream land, we must carefully examine the reality of the Korean diaspora. It may be useful for us to look at the diaspora phenomena found in other countries to understand better the characteristics of the Korean diaspora.

My following observations on various diasporas is not intended to describe the historical or factual accuracy of each diaspora, but to reflect its cultural implications.The Jewish diaspora, probably the earliest diaspora starting in 586 BCE , after the destruction of the First Temple and the consequent the Babylonian Exile, has had a significant religious and spiritual influence. Judaism has laid the foundation for Christianity, and Christianity has become the foundation for the Western spirituality and culture. The Chinese silk road has become the symbol of the commercial and cultural exchange between East and West but also of cross-cultural influence between the two spheres. The Italians are the descendents of the Greco-Roman civilization. What about the Koreans? How do we compare the Koreans with these great peoples who have influenced the world throughout history? What do the Koreans will be able to offer to the world as they scatter to all of the places in the world?  Korea is now facing a serious challenge in defining its role in globalizing process.

Cultural Challenge

Diaspora, although its original meaning was “scattering of people,” now gains a new meaning in terms of cross-cultural interaction because of transnational migration in the age of globalization. In this sense, the Koreans have to think about the cultural implication of Korean diaspora. Although the number of the Korean people in diaspora (7 million) is relatively small compared to the Chinese (50 million) and the Italian (40 million), the countries the Koreans scattered (176 countries) are wider and broader. It is about the time for Koreans to think about Korean diaspora not only in terms how many countries covered but also in terms of its cultural influence on these nations. From the cultural and religious perspective, the Taekwondo martial art has been very successful in establishing the Taekwondo centers in almost every corner of the world. According to an unofficial count of the Korea National Sport University, Taekwondo is now reached to about 200 countries. This number is higher than the Korean government’s official count of the number of the Korean diaspora countries. There may be some countries where Taekwondo centers are operated by non-Koreans. In any case, it is clear that Taekwondo now has become most successful in globalizing Korea. Korean Christianity also has been successful in the area of the world missions. According to the Korean World Mission Association, there are 22,130 Korean Christian missionaries working in 169 countries. This is a remarkable number when we consider the fact that Protestant Christianity was introduced just about a bit over a century ago and Catholicism about two centuries ago.

The Christian population in Korea is now about 25% of the total population of Korea, however,   Christianity in Korea is arguably the most powerful, dynamic, and influential religion in Korea. Though Christianity and Buddhism are almost the same in terms of number of followers, in terms of social influence, Christianity is the most powerful religion in Korea. Christian population in Korea, compared to Buddhism, occupies more elite class than Buddhism does. Korean Christianity has been remarkably successful compared to any other country in Asia or the world for that matter. It is beyond the scope of the paper to discuss the history of Korean Christianity and its growth, but it would suffice to note that Korean Christianity has experienced one of the most phenomenal growths in the entire history of Christianity. As mentioned above, Korean Christianity has been very active in world mission sending so many missionaries to so many countries. In the history of Christian mission, America has been the number one country in sending the most missionaries all over the world including Korea. While the number of American missionaries, especially in the main line Protestant denominations, is decreasing, Korean Christian missionaries are dramatically increasing. Most major evangelical churches in Korea sponsor Korean missionaries to Africa, South Asia, South America, Middle East, Central Asia, and Russia. In fact, Korean churches are boasting that they are now taking over the task of the world missions from American churches. They even feel this mission task as God’s calling especially in light of the decline of American and European churches: God called the Korean churches to succeed the world mission in replacing American churches. A Scottish friend recently sent me a news clipping about a Korean Christian minster being ordained in Alloa by the Church of Scotland, and becomes a minster in a small Scottish town. Mr. Sang Cha, a former Hollywood agent, became the first Korean pastor in ministering at the original home of Presbyterianism. It is highly symbolic to see a Korean Christian taking on ministry in Scotland, the land that gave birth to Presbyterianism, and that had deeply influenced Korean Presbyterianism.

Historically, during the time of national crisis or new challenges, Koreans had a strong sense of mission in thinking that they were called not only to make the imported foreign cultural and religious traditions such as Buddhism and Confucianism their own but also to maintain and carry on the originality of these traditions as the best successor. During the time of the unification of the three Kingdoms and the rise of the Unified Silla (668-935), Korean Buddhists felt a deep sense of faith in Buddhism believing that their country must become an exemplary Buddhist nation (pulguk, 佛國) even better than India and China. During the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392-1910) when Confucianism was the official ideology, especially after the fall of the Ming Dynasty of China, Korean Confucians felt that they were the legitimate successors and defenders of the authentic form of Confucianism. Now some Korean Christians have a similar idea in thinking that Christianity in the West and America is waning, and has become too secularized. Korean churches, thus, must maintain the purity and originality of Christianity and Korea must take over the task of the world missions. This sense of mission is even stronger among the Korean Americans in America. About 80% of Koreans are attending churches while about 50% Americans attend Sunday services. This means that the Koreans are the highest among any racial and ethnic groups in church attendance in America or anywhere in the world. Most non-Christian Koreans who come to the United States or Canada from Korea convert to Christianity when they arrive in North America. There are many reasons for the non-Christians from Korea to start attending churches:  need for a community, sense of belonging, need for information, job, social networking, transcendental power to survive and succeed, etc. At any rate, Korean churches have been very successful in utilizing these needs of the Korean people and converting them to Christianity.

Most ethnic minority groups in the United States who came to this country brought their own religious traditions and maintain them as their sources of spiritual inspiration and cultural enrichment as found in the Jews, Indians,  Thais, Vietnamese, and those from  Middle East. The Koreans, however, when they came to this country, brought Christianity from Korea as their own religious tradition. Now Christianity has become a Korean religious tradition. Most Korean Christians in fact do not feel that Christianity is a foreign religion. Most immigrant communities from Asia, Middle East, and Europe brought their religious traditions as part of their own culture when they came to America. In this sense, their cultural identity and religious identity are not different. The Jews, for example, have no separation between their religion and culture. For the Jews, their history, culture and religion are all inseparably intertwined. For the Korean Christians, however, their cultural traditions and religious traditions are entirely different. Their cultural identity and religious identity are not the same. Yet, most Korean Christians do not feel any sense of conflict between their cultural identity and religious identity. Korean Christians feel that the Biblical history and stories are so relevant to Koreans that they treat the history of Israel and the Bible stories as their very own stories. Most Korean Christians feel more familiar with Biblical history and stories than with Korean history. The story of Abraham in the Bible is more powerfully engrained in the mind of Korean Christians than the story of Tan’gun. Furthermore, most Korean Christians consider Korean indigenous spirituality as pagan and idol worshiping that should be eliminated from their mind. Thus, the Biblical tradition has become not only their spiritual but also their cultural tradition for most Korean Christians. They think that God has chosen Korea and the Korean people to be His people and make them to succeed the Christianity for the future. 

As Korea becomes global and the Korean diaspora becomes wider and broader, Korean Christianity will become more global. Korean churches will be everywhere on the planet and sending Korean missionaries to everywhere. Korea will soon be the most powerful Christian country in the world. In this process, what Korea is globalizing will mostly be Christianity, not Korean culture other than culinary culture and the Taekwondo martial art. Korean Christianity has shown very little respect for Korean traditional religions and spiritual traditions including Buddhism, Confucianism, and shamanism. Often the Korean Christians have shown their disrespect for and disapproval of these indigenous traditions. Since Korean Christianity paid no or little attention to the Korean traditional culture and indigenous spirituality, what they are globalizing is the Christianity they received from American missionaries and the West.

 

Challenges

As the Korean diaspora becomes more global and the globalization of Korea becomes more extended, Korea is facing new challenges.  The security of the divided Korean Peninsula may be the central concern. The Washington Post reported on July 7, 2011, as the top story on the front page,[8]  the news of South Korea being awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics as announced in Durban, South Africa after the voting of the Olympic Committee. On the same date, Washington Post also reported the North Korea’s Nuclear power in connection with Pakistan.[9] And  also published a report about South Korean mandatory military service.[10] In spite of the South Korean success on the global front in gaining the prestigious award of hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, we are reminded of the fact that Korea is still a divided country with the nuclear threat from North Korea and South Korea still has mandatory military service. It is highly significant that a major US newspaper, the Washington Post, should publish three reports on a tiny country like Korea: all witnessing to the success, but also the  perils, and uncertainty facing Korea. Whatever “success” the South has achieved is fragile and vulnerable in light of the instability and uncertainty due to the nuclear threat from the North. Furthermore, the nuclear weapons in North Korea threaten not only South Korea but also the neighboring Asian countries and even North America. The nuclear threat from North Korea makes the future of Korean success uncertain.  

Cultural crisis is our next concern. The globalization and modernization of Korea have brought about the Westernization of Korea. In fact, “globalization” has become “Westernization” or “Americanization.” Korea has eagerly accepted and embraced the “Westernizing” process more than any other country in the world. Teaching and learning English is the most important subject at school and proficiency in English language has become the measure of one’s “success” in hiring and promotion at work. In short, English has become the most critical single criterion for one’s intellectual ability and social mobility. Furthermore, the number of Korean students studying in America is reaching 100,000 almost the same number as students coming from China or India. An even more serious problem is that English has invaded every aspect of Korean life. Not only has English vocabulary become part of Korean, but English has also transformed the Korean language and sentence structure. By doing so, English has changed the Korean way of thinking. Contemporary Korean language, for example, is more conscious about the distinction of gender and number in sentences. Traditionally, Korean is an inclusive language less concerned about the gender and number distinction. The Korean language and way of thinking are losing their unique Korean patterns and quality under the influence of frequent and sometimes wrong usage of English. Although English is an essential part of globalizing Korea, the “local” linguistic heritage of Korean must be kept as an essential part of the globalization process.

The globalizing process must not be understood as a one way traffic, i.e., Westernizing Korea to make Korea yet another Western country in transforming Korea with English, Western life style, and Western values. Rather, it is equally important to look for other ways of making Korea global. Globalization, thus, has to be the process of mutually interacting and transforming. In this respect, Korea is facing a new challenge: how to be successful in making Korean culture, culinary culture, pop culture, spirituality, language, and traditional values global. As discussed above, Christianity in Korea has been successful in Christianizing Korea including Korean Americans in this country but painfully neglectful in nourishing and shaping Korean cultural identity and heritage. The Korean churches are boasting the success of their growth but they have not been successful in providing a rich Korean cultural environment. Korean churches are filled mostly with the first generation Koreans but much less successful in attracting 2nd and 3rd generation Koreans. While other ethnic immigrant communities found their cultural heritage and spiritual inspiration in their own religious tradition such as Buddhist or Hindu temples, Islamic mosques, Jewish synagogues, etc, the Korean churches have no interest in learning and teaching Korean cultural and religious heritage. The Korean Americans are becoming more and more disinterested in attending Korean churches. The only reason why Korean American churches are prospering is because of the first generation Koreans. Even after the initial immigration wave in 1970s and 80s Koreans keep coming to the United States in making the first generation of the Koreans as a perpetual one. Since the Korean church congregants are made of mostly the first generation, Korean churches have had a steady growth. On the other hand, most 2nd generation Koreans are leaving Korean churches in spite of the attempt to keep them at the church through the “English Ministry.” Among those who stay with the Korean churches, will most likely to become conservative, evangelical, and even Pentecostal Christian because they are deeply influenced by the conservative and evangelical campus ministries while they attend colleges. Evangelical Christianity does not allow cultural and religious pluralism. Pluralism is a dirty word for its adherents. Because of this conservative and evangelical influence, Korean American Christians and their churches are overwhelmingly conservative, evangelical, exclusive,   monolithic and, consequently, considerably less tolerant. This evangelical Christianity has a passionate zeal for Christianizing the world but is strongly against religious pluralism and cultural diversity. As Korea becomes more and more global, and the Korean diaspora becomes wider and broader, Korean evangelical Christianity is becoming narrow and rigid, dogmatic, exclusive, self-righteous, spiritually arrogant, and opposed to and dismissive of Korea’s rich spiritual heritage.

Conclusion

As Korea becomes global, we can’t simply ignore the cultural and spiritual heritage we inherited from our ancestors. We should not allow ourselfves to become cultural orphans and adopt the Western culture as our own. This is not to say that the Koreans must go against Christianity nor advocate that we should go back to Buddhism or Confucianism. On the contrary, Korean American Christians have a unique opportunity to become to appreciate their own heritage without leaving their own faith in Christianity. True globalization can be achieved only when we become truly local and at the same time truly global.

 

 

 

 

 



[1]The foundation myth of Korea is recorded in Samgukyusa (The Memorabilia of Three Kingdoms) written by Iryŏn (1206-1289).  According to this myth, Tan’gun was the first ruler of Korea and some scholars suggest that Tangun was also a shaman-king. See, for example, Chai-Sik Chung, “Korea: The continuing Syncretism,” Religions and Societies, Asia and Middle East, edited by Carlo Caldarola, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1982. 607-608.

[2]  According to The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trades statistics (May 1, 2009), the number of the Korean oversea residences are 6, 822,606 in 176 countries.

[3] “Hermit Nation” or “Hermit Kingdom” were first used by foreign observes. William Elliot Griffis, for example, wrote, Corea: The Hermit Nation. New York: Scribner’s Sons, 1882.

[4] Ch’oe Cheu (1824-1864) was the founder of Tonghak  [Eastern Learning] which later became Chŏndogyo [Teachings of Heavenly Way]. His egalitarian creed, based on his mystical vision of the innate divinity of heaven in each individual human being, challenged the social injustice and the major religious traditions in Korea at the time. For more information and a deeper understanding of Ch’oe Cheu, see Paul Beirne, Su-un and His World of Symbols: The Founder of Korea’s First Indigenous Religion, Burlington: USA and Farham: England, Asghate Publishing Company, 2009.

[5] The founder of Chŭngsan’ gyo [Teachings of Chŭngsan], based on Kang Cheungsan’s  mystical vision. According to his cosmology, there are two heavens, the former and the latter, and the world is going into the “latter heaven” at the end of the 20th century. 

[6] Sotaesan was the founder of Won-Buddhism in Korea, a form of a new Buddhism in emphasizing the newness of spirituality to adjust to the material newness. It is a religion advocating  spiritual transformation” to adjust  “material transformation.”

[7] The Chŏnggamnok [Record of Chŏnggam], an esoteric book,  was allegedly written down a record of a conversation between Chŏnggam and Yi Tam. Although the historicity of these figures are uncertain, this book  has been one of  the most influential apocalyptic books in Korea predicting the collapse of the Chosŏn Dynasty and the birth of new dynasties and it also provides where and how  to avoid at the time of catastrophes, war and  turmoil. For more information, see James Grayson, Korea: A Religious History, Oxford. 1989. 242-3  

[8] The Washington Post, Thursday, July 7, 2011

[9] The Post, A1- A14

[10] The Post, C1-C2