Korean Language Blog

May 8th was 어버이 날 or Parents Day in South Korea. Parents Day is a day in which Korean parents are thanked and honored. In some elementary schools, parents actively participate in race relays with their children. There may also be a letter reading event, where children write a letter to their parents. The contents of the letter typically include the children’s gratitude and acknowledgement of the hard work involved in being a parent.

Nuclear families are on the rise in South Korea, and extended families are becoming an anomaly. More people are moving to the cities to obtain competitive jobs. This has caused space to be limited and expensive. As a result, you can find many aging parents and grandparents in rural areas, making a living off of farming. Therefore, Parents Day is an important day where people go down to the countryside to see their parents.

In the past, many Korean women were housewives. Their main responsibilities included running the house and taking care of their husbands’ parents. Today, more women are remaining in the workforce longer, to help support their families. For some women, working is not a matter of choice. The rising cost of living and raising a child have forced some women to at least get part time jobs. Since more women are working and unable to take on the extra duty of taking care of parents, some elderly people have chosen to live alone.

Some people have expressed a concern about the way Korean society is changing. As nuclear families grow, there is a worry that the Korean government may have to carry the burden of taking care of abandoned parents. There is also a concern that values like filial piety may become obsolete. While it’s clear that a change is occurring in Korean society, is this a change that will benefit Korea in the long run?

May 5th is 어린이날 or Children’s Day in South Korea. This is a day where children get gifts, go on outings, and take pictures. On this day amusement parks, zoos, and museums are packed with parents and their eager children. Some establishments offer discounts and special exhibits to lure families, so it’s a very lucrative day for businesses. Restaurants, beaches, water parks are packed with parents who want to spend quality time with their children before they grow up.

Children’s Day is a great break for kids in South Korea. There are so many pressures and demands placed on Korean kids today, to succeed in their studies. This is a day where Korean kids can relax a little. This is also a time where parents shower their affection for their children. Not always, but there can be a tendency for Korean parents to be strict on their children. In Korea, it’s believed that being strict is a sign of love. Although this view is changing, some parents try not to show outward and obvious affection to their child, for fear that the child will become unruly.

It may seem that the parent-child relationship in Korea is stiff and cold, but you might be surprised to know that parents and children have a close bond. Some children remain living with their parents, even when they get married. Not everyone chooses this route, but it’s not unheard of. Also, it’s standard for parents to pay for their children’s college education, and to purchase a house when their children get married. Again, not every family is financially able to do this, but just because a child grows up doesn’t mean the bond between parent and child is over.

You might be thinking, why are children still mooching off their parents even when they become adults? However, if anything, it’s a reciprocal relationship, rather than a parasitical relationship. When parents become old and too feeble to take care of themselves, the children are expected to take care of the parents, whether it’s financially or emotionally. You can think of it as a cycle. When the kids are young the parents take care of the children, and when parents become old, the children are expected to return the favor.

May 1st was Labour Day in North Korea. As you know, North Korea is a communist country run by a single party called the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). Originally, there were four factions within the WPK that consisted of 1) Soviet Koreans 2) the Domestic Faction 3) the Yanan faction and 4) the Guerilla faction. The members of the Soviet Korean faction were Koreans who had ties to Russian communists. To make a long story short, Kim II Sung (김일성), who was Kim Jong II’s (김정일) father, got rid of the faction through political intrigue.

Kim II Sung also ousted the Yanan faction. The Yanan faction consisted of members who had affiliates to Chinese communists. The members of the Domestic Faction consisted of members who opposed Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. The faction dissolved naturally as Japanese rule ended after WWII. Kim II Sung was a member of the Guerilla Faction.  The members had previously fought the Japanese in Manchuria and fled to the Soviets when Japan conquered the area.

During the 1960s, when tensions between China and Russia were mounting, Kim II Sung took the opportunity to form an independent, communist ideology called the Juche (주체) policy. In simple terms, the policy called for absolute independence from foreign powers. In the 1980s, Kim II Sung became the leader of the WPK. The party adopted the usual hammer and sickle, in addition to a calligraphy brush. The brush was supposed to symbolize the party’s desire to be seen as a literate, educated working party.

As a result, May Day is a holiday in which North Koreans remember their Marxist origins. Here’s a discussion I’d like the readers of this blog to comment on. Given the history of Kim II Sung’s role in the WPK, do you think he was a “great” leader? Keep in mind that some people think that the leader’s leadership skills should be regarded separate from the morals of the leader. If you do or do not consider Kim II Sung a “good” or “great” leader, why do you consider him a “good/great” or not a “good/great” leader?