Synopsis:
Because of Ho Cheol’s death and betrayal of his beloved Ju Yeong, O Yang Chon demoted from Senior inspector to inspector and was sent to Hong-il constabulary. Unfortunately, Jang Mi asks Yang Chon for a divorce and other police officers in Hong-il constabulary do not see him as the “legendary.” On the other hand, Sang Su and Haeri are jealous of Jung-O who gets all the attention from the other police officers. However, when Jung-O went to the homicide scene, she gets devastated and cannot forget the horrible scene. In addition, Yang Chon criticizes Sang Susaying that he doesnot show any commitment to his position from the first day of work.
Discussion:
Like Dr.Saeji has mentioned in our first lecture, Korea can be described into five concepts: collectivism, hierarchy, shame, nationalism and competition. Throughout the drama, we can easily illustrate all five concepts in different way. Not only the main characters but also the sub characters indicate different perspective of lives. When I deeply look into the drama differently than the usual, I see several problems that Korea is now facing. At first, nothing seems eccentric in the drama. However, once you think and look into the issues that we, Koreans, are having, everything will start to lookodd thinking about a question such as “why would they do such a thing?”
From the beginning of the drama, it clearly shows that Korea is one of the competitive countries where it focuses on higher education, showing that people live their lives to the fullest by studying for several years to get accomplishments that they are desired of. According to Kim and Choi, people who received 4-year college education receive 150% more than the high school graduates and also there are 160% wage differences comparing what university or college he or she has graduated from and they will be treated differently in Korean society (Kim and Choi 2015, 457-458). For example, in episode 4, the drunk members of parliament commit violence toward Han Sol without any hesitation since they know that they are in higher positions than the ordinary police officers. I believed that this scene is actually showing the tragic side of Korean society in order to criticize the effects of social stratification and how the status in reality is certainly important (Ibid., 457).
Another fact that I would like to point out is the circumstance that we talked about in our lecture that elderly poverty rate is constantly rising in Korean society. The growth rate overall population aging, from 7.2% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2014 but Korea is not well prepared for the upcoming aged society, especially in terms of serious low-income issues (Jeon 2017, 175). As we see in the episodes, we can truly tell the differences between Yang Chon’s economic status and his father’s economic status just by looking at their houses. Yang Chon lives in an apartment in an urban area whereas his father lives in a rural area by himself; the society is becoming more and more difficult for the middle-aged people to live, raising their children plus taking care of their aging parents as well. Elderly parents do not want their middle-aged children’s help, knowing that they are having a hard time as well. Therefore, the single elderly in poverty is ranked as the highest in the OECD (lecture).
In conclusion, the problems in Korean society can be easily found. Overall, however, I believe that the drama itself magnifies the problems more seriously than the actual problems.
Largely, we can think about the questions such as:
- Do you think we can see the social stratification in our daily lives? Or is it exaggerated in the dramas?
- As a UBC student, do you think that receiving higher education really effects not only in Korea but also in Canadian society?
Bibliographies:
- Doohwan Kim, and Yool Choi. “The Irony of the Unchecked Growth of Higher Education in South Korea: Crystallization of Class Cleavages and Intensifying Status Competition.” Development and Society44, no. 3 (2015): 435-63. Accessed September 27, 2018. doi:10.21588/dns.2015.44.3.004.
- Jeon, Boyoung, Haruko Noguchi, Soonman Kwon, Tomoko Ito, and Nanako Tamiya. “Disability, Poverty, and Role of the Basic Livelihood Security System on Health Services Utilization among the Elderly in South Korea.” Social Science & Medicine178 (February 14, 2017): 175-83. Accessed September 27, 2018. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.02.013.
Bo Mi, you bring some really great examples into this discussion! I personally feel that higher education plays a large role in career attainment throughout the world, yet I find it more valued in Korean society.
I think North America is becoming more accepting towards those without higher education in the job market. Although it is still highly competitive, there is a diminishing stigma surrounding attainment of higher education. However, this change has only begun quite recently and is difficult to see reflected in the North American job market.
In Korea, however, the attainment of higher education is of high importance. Throughout students’ primary education years, the main goal to work towards is passing the college entrance exam. This, in itself, is deeply rooted in traditional Korean culture, reaching back to the days of the official Governmental Exam (Kwago).
Undeniably, both North America and Korea have highly competitive job markets that value higher education. Salaries are higher, in both places, for those who have received higher education, as is the availability of jobs. However, I think we are beginning to see a slight shift in the North American value of higher education, though the relaxed perspective may take years to be actually reflected in the job market.
As Alice mentioned, Korea is very competitive society, and I believed that due to social stratification, the competition is emerged to achieve higher positioned in this society. I have not experienced the social stratification yet, but I can see the social stratification in the Korean society. For example, in the lecture, Dr. Saeji said that Koreans trust Samsung company. It is true that Koreans are dependent on Samsung company. However, Lee Jaeyong, who is a chief of Samsung company, commits some irregularities, but the Korean government cannot catch him or give harsh punishment towards his faults because Lee Jaeyong is positioned higher impliedly than the government, even though he is a citizen of Korea which means that he needs to follow the Korean law. Through this, there is social stratification in our society, and higher positioned people have strong power which can control the lower positioned people. Also, I think that both Korean and Canadian society require the higher education because most companies want their employees to have extensive knowledge, so higher education such as having bachelor degree or master degree has priority to be hired. Therefore, due to this result, people compete each other and desire to enter higher university. In addition, receiving higher education can bring a chance to have a higher position in the future. Thus, I believe that people care about receiving wide education and desire to have higher position to survive in this social stratification.
I strongly believe that people can see the social stratification in our daily lives. The 21st century that we live in is a society where social stratification is distinctive. We can easily notice the difference by whether someone is living in urban or rural areas, the size of the house, brand of the car and clothes, which school/university one goes to and what kinds of education he or she is receiving. I think Korea is more noticeable in terms of the social stratification then other countries, because of the hardship in the past. In the past many people were in lower status due to Japanese soldiers during the war and the IMF. In some way Korea has become a country where the stratification has taken for granted. For example, higher status or rich people would complain at a restaurant or at a department mall or even to a civil employees and most people won’t be able to do anything because the workers would get fired and because those people are the main consumers. Big companies like Samsung would be a great example of social stratification. Samsung is a company where many people have trust in terms of their products, which was mentioned in the previous lecture. It has so much power that there is a rumour that if Korea loses Samsung, Korea will lose its power and the country would go through IMF once more. People think highly of Samsung and still trust Samsung despite all the atrocious issues Lee Geon Hee and Lee Jae Yong has caused. Even if they commit severe crime, they will somehow get a way or even if they are sent to jail their rooms are more luxurious than other criminals. For example, in the drama members of parliament, even though they refused to do the breath test and used violence against the police officer, they were never sorry for their guilt because one way or another they would get away using their power. Also in Korea Gangnam is a city for where all the high status and rich people live in and which is why it is a symbol of wealth and class. Normal civilians would never dare to buy a place in Gangnam because of the housing price being the most expansive in any cities in Korea. I do not think the drama has exaggerated about the social stratification. It may look so in order to attract viewers attention, but it is mostly similar to real life.
In regards to Alice’s first question on problems of social stratification in our daily lives, I would answer it with a solid yes. I think the reason why the screenwriter wrote the upsetting scene into the drama is to signify the problem. Knowing that the drama has gained attention from the viewers for covering social issues like this. The happening in between the members of parliament and Han-Sol highlights the problems of having an education focused society. Although many people, especially in Canada where people in any status respect another as human beings, and perceive such scenario as one of rare and exaggerated cases in Korea and may ask “who would dare do such a thing?”; the reality of Korea is that such scenario happens daily for people working in low amount of education required positions. For example, although officers here in Canada or North America in general are much respected to citizens of the country, Korean officers have this image of an individual who have failed to become higher positioned social worker, such as a prosecutor or a lawyer. And stressing so much focus on the amount of education one receives, which often leads to higher social position, has led Korean society to be immune to unethical behaviours like abusing anyone in lower standing. Therefore, it is urgent for Koreans to begin feeling something is wrong with actions like this and the society which accepts such behaviour.
Bomi, fix your Romanization. These are fictional people’s names, hence they need to be Romanized using RR and following standard rules of spacing (no space) and dash (to avoid confusion) and capitalization (first syllable) (Juyeong, Jeong-o, Sangsu, etc.). This will help you get in the habit of thinking seriously about Romanization, avoiding mistakes later in the course, and learning the seriousness of consistency. In-text citations also need to include the year (Smith 2019, 22) or (Smith 2019: 22)– if you just said (Smith 2019, 22) and you’re using Smith again, say (Ibid., 24) (assuming you’re now on page 24). Bibliography is not in Chicago style, seriously fix this before Mr. Cheung grades it or you’ll lose quite a few points. And I think a couple sentences of conclusion, instead of “overall, questions, thank you” would be stronger. Content, however, is quite good, I’m just trying to encourage you and your group to avoid mistakes that cloud the communicative power of your essays (and later exams/papers).
Bomi, fix the issues before Mr. Cheung grades^^ — you still have time since he still hasn’t.
Bomi, you’ve supported your observations very well with statistics – since you seem interested in the drama’s proximity / distance to reality, it might be interesting to pursue that thought further.
Everyone’s brought up some interesting points along these lines, about the absurdity of situations or wealth and social divides. It’s important to consider whether things might be INTENDED by the writers as parody, or whether they come out of some kind of lived experience, which oftentimes can lend a work a lot of relatability and power. Given the very acute writing I’ve seen in this drama, I wonder if it does tend more towards one over the other.