Thailand: View from Korea

[Seeker]

I was teaching my adult class, mostly 45-55 year old sararimen, all supporters of the Park Chung-Hee military dictatorship (it's quite an experience working in a country where a fair chunk of the population is nostalgic for a brutal military dictator), when I decided to discuss the latest cycle in the Thai merry-go-round....Quite an eyeopener!

Australians and Canadian were all, like, wtf, but my students were all, like, right on/ AH SA! Why not in Korea? ? Dictator, YAAY!!

Apparently dictatorship is still seen as cool in Asia for many people, a way of 'flushing out the system', dealing with corruption and political undesirables.

The longer I work in Asia, the more difficult it becomes to hold on to my Enlightened 1960s inspired beliefs that 'race is cultural'. It's just so difficult to believe that such basic differences in worldview are anything but innate. ... then I remember our own history...

[DRoseDARs]

Arrange a field trip to a country living under a dictatorship, preferably one that doesn't have a strong South Korean presense or even any major embassies. After about two days, "accidentally" seperate from them... and leave them there, taking their passports, money, and any form of IDs with you. Those that don't die will grow out of it.

[Proteus_MST]

Couldn it be because of confucianism?

If I remember correctly, Kungfutse had very positive views about the state being governed by a single ruler.

[Q Classic]

Yeah... though a lot of people were disappeared in the Park administration, he did gain a lot of kudos from the older crowd thanks to that whole... kick-starting the modernization/industrialization process.

As far as the bendiness towards authoritarianism... I don't think it's so much a racial thing as a generational gap; the older people have always skewed towards a stronger central state and authoritarianism because it was more traditional.

Just my two armchair cents that I found under the cushion. I'd be more coherent, but I just awokee.

[Elok]

Idunno where you'd find it, but National Geographic released a map of the world at night a year or so ago. It shows the concentration of electric lights (which correlates pretty well with prosperity in general) in different countries. Can you guess what North and South Korea looked like?

That's right. North of the border was basically pitch black. There were countries in central Africa with more juice. Then there was a sharp white line at the border, followed by a massive blur that was almost too bright to look at.

So: "Dictatorship...democracy. Dictatorship...democracy. Are we clear on this?" Really, though, what kind of moron lives right next to a POS excuse for a state like the DPRK and thinks dictatorship is a superior option.

[Proteus_MST]

They don´t need electric lights in the north.

The radiance of their enlightened leader guides all north koreans through the darkness surrounding them

[Q Classic]

Well, see, the Park Dictatorship was different: think of it this way. Imagine a pro-business, strong on defense, super nationalistic leader. Kinda like a Reagan.

Then add in an era not unlike the American 40s-50s, where everybody remembered the turmoil of war and the depression, where everyone was happy and thankful of the overriding national goal of becoming modern, powerful, rich.

And where everybody knew their place. Sure, there was a dictatorship, but it seems absolutely warm and welcoming in the sepia-toned images of Leave it to Beaver Park.

[Jon Miller]

A lot of Koreans, even ones in the US, think that South Korea and North Korea should unite.. and view the US as a stumbling block to this happening.

JM

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
A lot of Koreans, even ones in the US, think that South Korea and North Korea should unite.. and view the US as a stumbling block to this happening.

Why the hysterical reaction when we moved our troops then?

[LordShiva]

Of course it's not innate. Worldviews are shaped by collective memories.

[Q Classic]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Why the hysterical reaction when we moved our troops then?

Because the Koreans are schizoid and profoundly ambivalent about the whole... reunification thing?

The younger Koreans would like to see it more than the older ones do; that doesn't mean anybody wants to pay for it, because the costs would be enormously staggering.

The younger ones see America as a progressive stumbling block (one must admit, the policy-less, idiotic 720s the Bush Administration has been doing in attempting to deal with NKorea has only exacerbated the situation), while the older ones see America as a defensive road block.

The Koreans want reunification. It's just that the plan that would make the SKoreans happy would take another 50 years in an ideal situation.

[Bosh]

Well Park Chung Hee is very popular in parts of Korea (the relatively low body count and relatively little personal corruption help a lot) but not too well liked in my bit or SW Korea. Also when your students start praising dictatorships bring up Lee Singman or Chun Doohwan, unmitigated ****heads the both of them.

Originally posted by Jon Miller
A lot of Koreans, even ones in the US, think that South Korea and North Korea should unite.. and view the US as a stumbling block to this happening.

JM

A lot of Koreans like talking about reunification but Korean policy is to prop up North Korea to avoid the costs of reunification (which would make German reunification look like a walk in the park).

Why the hysterical reaction when we moved our troops then?

Because the dominant Korean Nationalist narrative is "Oooh look at us! The big meanie Japanese/Americans/Chinese/whatever are being mean to us because they're a bunch of meanies! Woe is us!" and there isn't much room for logic or consistency in there.

The younger Koreans would like to see it more than the older ones do;

Other way 'round in my experience.

The Koreans want reunification.

Its kind of like energy self-sufficiency in America. All the politicians talk about it but none of them ever take it seriously.