Korea at crossroads: back to Confucianism or further Westernization

Korean culture has typically been characterized as a unique hybrid of traditional Confucian values coupled with a modern, pragmatic and dynamic approach to the economy.

Since the mid-1990s this balance has been shifting more clearly toward Westernization: workers’ productivity is slowly shifting to Western levels, car worker strikes are not uncommon and savings rates have dropped resulting in problematic household debts.

At the same time social welfare costs have grown at the highest rate among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). And school policy is converging with permissive Western standards. The subsequent decrease in competitiveness has resulted in a shift of the manufacturing of products to low-cost emerging markets.

Prior to these recent changes, Confucianism influenced Korea after the establishment of the Joseon Kingdom some 600 years ago. Korea’s moral system, social ordering, customs, everyday life habits and, to some extent, the legal system are based on Confucian values.

The Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-478 B.C.) taught the key virtues of etiquette, humaneness, integrity, knowledge and righteousness, all elements still more or less reflected in Korean society. But his teaching also included filial piety, frugality, honesty, kindness, loyalty, modesty, respect and shame, all virtues that traditionally have been passed on in Korean child rearing and the Korean education system with varying degrees of emphasis, but are now on the verge of being given up all too easily.

Lately, there is growing concern that Confucian-based virtues have declined in Korea’s value system and eventually may disappear from Korean society altogether. Schools no longer enforce the same levels of discipline, polite manners and expectations of respect on their students. Family life has also moved toward Western standards, where offspring are viewed as equal partners rather than children in need of education.

The growing human circulation of young Koreans studying overseas in combination with Australian-, American- and British-born Koreans bringing back Western values and behavior, sometimes even “overshooting” Westerners in terms of attitude and outspokenness, also contribute to changes in Korean society.

Korea hosts some of the most influential Confucian sites such as places of ancestral worship, Confucian schools, temples, and the country also cultivates Confucian scholarships. However, Confucianism is no longer part of the Korean school curriculum, and is offered only as an elective subject at universities.

Has it therefore been reduced to archaic practices in Korea? Are Confucian traditions such as bowing to one’s superior simply customs without holding actual cultural meaning? Is Confucianism soon only to be found in folklore such as in gardens, on pottery and within tea ceremonies?

Academics often use the onion analogy of culture developed by the famous international business professor Geert Hofstede, where key beliefs such as the basic virtues promoted by Confucius reside in the core of the onion in contrast to the outer layers that represent conspicuous cultural differences such as fashion or the emergence of K-pop.

According to Hofstede, key beliefs resist change, while the visual differences change with new trends. Korea’s lifestyle and fashion have been influenced by Western trends, yet many traditional Korean customs remain. But the move to increased social welfare payments and social programs, increased taxes and changes in school policy toward permissiveness now also point toward a shift in core beliefs with basic virtues moving to Western standards.

In Confucianism there is no free money (or extensive social welfare payments) and education should teach students devotion to teachers, loyalty to their school, respect and manners, all elements that are now jeopardized by the current changes in Korean school policy.

Korea is now at a crossroads between East and West. The challenge is to determine whether it should protect key beliefs while the outer layers of the Hofstede onion will no doubt undergo further changes. Or should the nation permit change to both: the key beliefs (in other words, the soul and mantra of the country) as well as the more obvious elements of culture.

The upcoming presidential election encapsulates some of this questioning such as the call for “economic democratization,” essentially weakening the successful chaebol. While these conglomerates hold market power, they have also substantially contributed to Korea’s global economic progression, and without them the now strong global brands Hyundai and Samsung would not have grown to their current sizes. They needed a strong home market in order to expand globally.

Korean politicians recently travelled to Europe to look at extensive social welfare systems there. However, given the continent’s weak economies and immense public debt, along with decreasing global competitiveness, losses in capital, jobs and brands to the Asian markets, Europe’s socialism (i.e. high taxes for the hard working segment of society, welfare payments and extensive free services for the low income bracket) is hardly a formula for sustainable success.

European citizens have developed a sense of entitlement and look to their governments to solve problems they face, and as such are losing a sense of self-reliance and self-worth. Such an attitude of entitlement is partially the result of a misguided permissive education system that treats students as customers and teachers/professors as servants, eventually resulting in the lowering of academic and behavioral standards, lowering performance orientation, and ultimately decreasing competitiveness in European society overall.

Korea needs to avoid falling into the European trap of a society of entitlement and a permissive education system. It is now time for Korea to pause and pursue Westernization no further ― it has already taken over the beneficial elements Western society has to offer. The focus should now be on a hybrid of Confucian values with the Western economic system, but also the preservation of the inner layers of the cultural onion and remain traditional and conservative in its education and fiscal policy.

Such values are passed on, first and foremost, by parents and also the education system (kindergartens, schools, universities). In order to keep the unique Korean culture and spirit alive, the nation needs to refrain from adapting Western school policies besides implementing further elements such as creative thinking. Keep the bow both in education and society. <The Korea Times/Chris Baumann>

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