[KS] Korean Culture for eldest son to care for parents

[Sunjoo Kim]

Dear members,
Following website (YOsOng kaebalwOn / Korean women's development institute - 
KWDI) provides many interesting and up-to-date statistics on various topics 
ranging from population, family, education, welfare, etc.

Its home page:
http://www.kwdi.re.kr/index.jsp

Gender statistics information system (GSIS) here:
http://gsis.kwdi.re.kr/

Its English page does not seem to work.

One example link belows shows "³ëºÎ¸ð ºÎ¾ç¿¡ ´ëÇÑ 
°ßÇØ(¼º/¿¬·É¡¤±³À°Á¤µµ¡¤È¥Àλóź°)" 1998-2006 and many other related 
statistics.

http://gsis.kwdi.re.kr:8080/cgi-bin/sws_999.cgi

Sun Joo Kim



----Original Message Follows----
From: michael ralston <mkr_lists at yahoo.com>
Reply-To: mkr_lists at yahoo.com,Korean Studies Discussion List 
<koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
To: Korean Studies Discussion List <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
Subject: Re: [KS] Korean Culture for eldest son to care for parents
Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:11:27 -0700 (PDT)


Hello everyone,


    David Prendergast?™s book, ?œFrom Elder to Ancestor: Old Age, Death, and 
Inheritance in Modern Korea,??may be helpful.  (Global Oriental, 2005)  I 
haven?™t read the entire book yet, but he addresses different aspects of the 
issue.

Kyu-taik Sung?™s address at the 1997 World Congress of Gerontology (?œFilial 
Piety in Modern Times:  Timely Adaptation and Practice Patterns?? 
http://www.cas.flinders.edu.au/iag/proceedings/proc0030.htm) is also worth 
looking at.

    Polling in 2002 showed 25.9% of respondents (20 years and over) thought 
they were performing their filial obligations well; 32.4% thought they were 
not performing their filial obligations well, and the remaining 41.7% 
thought they were average.

     One anecdotal note about the increasing value of women??a friend of 
mine mentioned that when marrying the groom?™s family is still responsible 
for providing housing while the bride?™s family is responsible for the 
furnishings therein.  With the steep growth in housing prices and the more 
modest increases in the cost of furnishing a house, a male?™s household 
faces a very large financial burden.

   Regards, mike

--- On Thu, 6/12/08, Stephen Epstein <Stephen.Epstein at vuw.ac.nz> wrote:

 > From: Stephen Epstein <Stephen.Epstein at vuw.ac.nz>
 > Subject: Re: [KS] Korean Culture for eldest son to care for parents
 > To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
 > Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 8:09 AM
 > Dear all,
 >
 > As an additional observation on this thread, it's worth
 > noting the remarkable shift that's occurring away from
 > preference for sons to preference for daughters. I include
 > below a piece from Choe Sang Hun, who's been doing
 > excellent work for the NY Times. The article appeared in
 > December of 2007. If anybody can point me to recent surveys
 > that specifically track S. Korean preferences on this issue,
 > I'd be grateful. Choe's piece cites the ratio of
 > male to female babies born, which would seem a reliable
 > statistic, but I suspect there is more to the story, and
 > that the change in birth ratio may be lagging behind the
 > attitude change. Although there may be some pressure from
 > older generations to have one son, anecdotally (at least in
 > and around Seoul, among middle class/professional circles)
 > the shift to daughter preference has been almost seismic in
 > just the last few years, as far as I can tell. One reason
 > I've heard given several times, related to what Gene
 > notes, is that in conjunction with other changes in family
 > structure, daughters are now felt to be more reliable
 > caregivers for elderly parents than daughters-in-law.
 >
 > Cheers, Stephen
 >
 >
 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: koreanstudies-bounces at koreaweb.ws on behalf of Eugene
 > Y. Park
 > Sent: Thu 2008-06-12 3:35 PM
 > To: Korean Studies Discussion List
 > Subject: Re: [KS] Korean Culture for eldest son to care for
 > parents
 >
 > Dear all,
 >
 > I fully agree with Clark's observations. I'd even
 > go as far as suggesting
 > that for quite some time, whether to live with the
 > man's parents (or even
 > near by them) has been a contentious issue for marriage
 > couples. Of course
 > the Koreans are aware of the tradition of parents-eldest
 > son cohabitation,
 > but now a days one would be hard pressed to find a woman
 > duly accepting
 > and abiding by the notion. She may as well--and rightfully
 > so--ask: Why
 > should it be my husband's parents who should be taken
 > care of while my own
 > parents too need help?
 >
 > On the last chuseok in Korea when I was trying to avoid the
 > worst day of
 > expressway traffic, a cousin of mine cynically noted: These
 > days, it's all
 > spread out; people make one-day trips, since the daughters
 > in-law don't
 > like to stay long at the parents-in-laws'.
 >
 > Best,
 > Gene
 >
 >
 > On Thu, 6 12, 2008 06:23, Clark W Sorensen wrote:
 > > Dear Lawrence,
 > >
 > > I didn't mean to imply that Korean culture has
 > changed as fast as Korean
 > > law, but still there have been fairly drastic changes.
 > With the
 > > equalization of inheritance between sons and between
 > sons and daughters,
 > > however, the emphasis on the eldest son is much less
 > than it used to be.
 > > Coresidence of parents with married children is the
 > exception rather than
 > > the rule in urban areas, and when such coresidence
 > takes place, although
 > > it is most often with the eldest son, it is sometimes
 > with more affluent
 > > younger sons, or even daughters. At contemporary
 > ancestor worship rituals,
 > > while the eldest son may give the first offering of
 > liquor, the subsequent
 > > offerings are often not now limited to two, but
 > extended to as many
 > > descendents as wish to make offerings including
 > daughters in some
 > > families. Roger Janelli and I have both contributed
 > articles to Charlotte
 > > Ikels edited volume "Filial Piety: Practice
 > > and Discourse in Contemporary East Asia"
 > (Stanford Press) that discuss
 > > both change and continuity in this value in
 > present-day Korea. Just
 > > because people still read the same old texts
 > doesn't mean they understand
 > > the significance of these text in the same way their
 > parents and
 > > grandparents did.
 > >
 > > Clark
 > >
 > >
 > > On Tue, 10 Jun 2008, lawrence driscoll wrote:
 > >
 > >>
 > >> Dear List:
 > >>
 > >> Although Clark Sorenson's reply to InJung
 > Cho's query sounded very
 > >> adept, and may be all that the lawyer needed, I
 > must say that I am
 > >> surprised that the subject did not generate more
 > discussion.
 > >> In my own mind the intricate father-son
 > relationship had always been
 > >> fundamental to the Korean family structure, and to
 > Korean culture in
 > >> general.
 > >>
 > >> I must admit that my first reaction to such a
 > query, made by a person
 > >> with a name that is clearly Korean, was amazement.
 >  But then I realized
 > >> that if I were to be approached to answer a
 > question about my own Irish
 > >> heritage, I too would be at a loss. Our family
 > roots are now some 5
 > >> generations removed from Ireland. And I am
 > guessing that Dr. Cho's may
 > >> be similarly distant from Korea.
 > >>
 > >> But regardless of Clark's citing of 1988 as
 > the official end to such
 > >> filial obligations, I can't but help believe
 > that for many, these duties
 > >> of the eldest son continue to be deeply ingrained
 > in the national
 > >> psyche. Granted that while the three year mourning
 > period at the
 > >> gravesite of one's father, has long been
 > relegated to antiquity, other
 > >> manifestations of the Master's (Confucius)
 > teachings are no doubt still
 > >> in tact. Please correct me if I am wrong, and if
 > the demise of this
 > >> tradition has indeed been happening at a far
 > faster pace.
 > >>
 > >> Thank you.
 > >>
 > >> Lawrence Driscoll    N.J., U.S.A.
 > >>
 > >> > Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2008 13:23:55 -0700>
 > From: sangok at u.washington.edu>
 > >> To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws> Subject: Re:
 > [KS] Korean Culture for
 > >> eldest son to care for parents> > Dear Dr.
 > Cho,> > It was indeed true
 > >> until 1988 that eldest sons in South Korea
 > succeeded to the house
 > >> headship, received extra property in inheritance,
 > and were expected to
 > >> take care of their parents in old age. Korea
 > family law has been
 > >> revised several times since then, however, and the
 > Constitutional
 > >> Court has made a number of critical decisions, so
 > the issue is no
 > >> longer cut and dried. Eldest sons can now
 > partition from their birth
 > >> house if they wish. Other children have a residual
 > obligation to their
 > >> parents as well, so the legal status of the eldest
 > son at the time of
 > >> his death would depend upon whether he was still
 > registered on his
 > >> parents family register, whether he had children
 > of his own, and
 > >> whether he had any siblings. Because of the
 > complicated nature of all
 > >> of these considerations I would think hiring a
 > Korean lawyer would be
 > >> well worth the cost.> > Clark W.
 > Sorensen> University of Washington> >
 > >> > On Fri, 6 Jun 2008, Injung Cho wrote:>
 > > > Dear all,> >> > I was
 > >> contacted by a lawyer about the Korean customs of
 > looking after> >
 > >> their old parents. I am afraid that I don't
 > know much about this
 > >> issue.> > So I am turning to this discussion
 > forum for help. Any help
 > >> will be> > greatly appreciated. I've
 > attached her email below.> >> >
 > >> Regards,> > InJung Cho> >> >
 > =========================> >> > Further
 > >> to our telephone conversation just now, I confirm
 > that I act for> > a
 > >> Korean family ??husband and wife who are farmers;
 > their younger son>
 > >> > (completing military service) and
 > daughter.> >> > Last year their
 > >> eldest son who had graduated with a degree in>
 > > Hospitality
 > >> Management was killed in the Kerang Rail
 > accident.> >> > The family
 > >> were flown over for the Memorial Service held last
 > year.> > The eldest
 > >> son was in Australia doing work experience in
 > hotels with the> > hope
 > >> of obtaining a better position in Korea with his
 > international work> >
 > >> experience. The family were assisting him
 > financially during his> >
 > >> studies and whilst he was here.> >> >
 > They have advised that as is
 > >> traditional in Korean society the eldest> >
 > son would care for them in
 > >> their retirement.> >> > This matter
 > needs to be supported by
 > >> independent proof of this cultural> > norm
 > and I am hoping that there
 > >> are some studies or statistics or other> >
 > information which can be
 > >> put before the court to establish the great>
 > > financial loss to the
 > >> parents.> >> > Any assistance will be
 > greatly appreciated.> >> > Thank
 > >> you> > Lesley Simons> >> >
 > Lesley Simons & Associates> > Barristers &
 > >> Solicitors & Migration Agents> > MARN:
 > 0210699> > Tel: (613) 9509
 > >> 2572> > lesleysimons at bigpond.com> >
 > Fax: (613) 9509 2142> >> >> >>
 > >>
 > >> > >
 > >>
 > _________________________________________________________________
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http://search.live.com/cashback/?&pkw=form=MIJAAF/publ=HMTGL/crea=srchpaysyouback
 > >
 > >
 > >
 > >
 >
 >
 > Eugene Y. Park
 > Associate Professor
 > Department of History
 > Krieger Hall 200
 > University of California, Irvine
 > Irvine, CA 92697
 > Tel. (949) 824-5275
 > Fax. (949) 824-2865
 > http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=4926