[KS] Re: Koreanstudies digest, Vol 1 #517 - 3 msgs

[Walter K. Lew]

Good advice, Scotty. Glad to know you finally found a girlfriend!

Also glad to know that "pan-mi" sentiment is just "desire for 
acknowledgement," a Hegelian Other-ordaining, subjectivity-granting 
glance or wink in a midnight subway from young American men when they 
are "surrounded by drunken ajosshi's everywhere" (Seems like all 
ajosshi's are always already drunk, lurching out of every corner of 
Seoul, right? Hey, I may have been one of 'em!). I mean I thought 
pan-mi kamjOng had something to do with revived Cold War geopolitics, 
two country schoolgirls crushed by an incompetently driven and 
maintained Army vehicle distortedly reported and lightly dismissed, 
the basing of 40,000 US troops w nuclear capability in the heart of 
one's dependent country, and the concomitant inability to realize 
one's dream of reunification with the northern provinces where every 
day the hope of seeing one's separated family members tragically 
dwindles. (My father gave up hope long ago.)

That's right!--I shd have remembered: it's like when anti-Americanism 
was all abt a botched call in the Winter Olympics speed skating 
competition! I don't know why I exaggerate things so much. After all, 
Koreans are such passionate sports fans and they just want to hear 
and say, Hello!

--Walter K. Lew

>Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 17:46:27 -0800 (PST)
>From: "J.Scott Burgeson" <jsburgeson at yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: [KS] anti-Americanism in ROK
>To: Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
>Reply-To: Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
>
>Political dynamics of anti-Americanism in Korea aside,
>I really want to object to some of the advice
>proferred about avoiding conflict in public here. Many
>people have commented (here and elsewhere) that they
>know of foreigners who were minding their own business
>and then were attacked or accosted by locals for no
>apparent reason. I just want to say that minding your
>own business here just isn't good enough! As a
>foreigner here, you will attract attention whether you
>want to or not. The point is how do you return that
>attention? If you just ignore it, some locals will
>find that attitude standoffish and feel insulted or
>provoked by it and want to do something about it. But
>if you pay attention and accept it and deal with it,
>you'll be amazed at how few problems you have here.
>Some people have talked about how the No. 1 Seoul
>subway line is a danger spot for foreigners,
>particularly at night. Well, two weeks ago I was
>riding that line at midnight with my Korean girlfriend
>who is 15 years younger than me--she looks like a
>college student (because she is) while I clearly look
>like I'm in my thirties. We were holding hands and
>whispering in each other's ear and laughing and
>sitting very close, all the while surrounded by
>drunken ajosshi's everywhere. Yet there was no problem
>at all because as soon as we sat down, I looked at
>them briefly, simply to acknowledge their presence,
>and that was enough. In other words, I acknowledged
>them, rather than being superior and pretending that
>their stares or attention weren't important to me.
>all surprised that some of them got mugged or ripped
>off--they didn't even have the energy to acknowledge
>the locals as real people. And isn't that what all
>this pan-mi demonstration in Korea is about--desire
>for acknowledgement? Again, I cannot stress enough
>that minding your business here in Korea ISN'T GOOD
>ENOUGH! It's all about interacting with people and
>engaging them rather that ignoring them, which is what
>"minding your own business" means. Assume that
>everyone is looking at you even if you can't see them
>looking at you (because they often are). And if
>someone checks you out directly, check them out in
>return and ACKNOWLEDGE THEM! All politics is local,
>isn't it? By acknowledging people on a personal level,
>maybe that's enough to satisfy in a minor, intimate
>way their desire for political acknowledgement on an
>"international" level--at least long enough to avoid
>any sticky situations, which is what everyone here is
>talking about, right?
>    --Scott Bug