Society always have its stereotypes. However, in the Western world, people are encouraged to not discriminate against people with different backgrounds. Although everyone has some sort of ideology of people with different backgrounds, people tend to avoid being open and direct about it. In the drama, Misaeng, discrimination can be blatantly seen as the main character, Jang Geu-rae, suffers at his workplace due to his educational status. This is a reflection of the current office environment in Eastern countries and especially in Korea. This essay will give a deep insight on Korean’s view in the importance of education and status.

In the first episode, Jang Geu-rae is given an internship in one of the largest company in Korea. He got his position through some sort of relationship with the executives which is one of the reason that he is discriminated against. The biggest flaw that leads to him being excluded from his fellow interns is that he did not graduate high school nor received any post secondary education. In fact, he only has a General Equivalency Diploma, GED, which is considered to be the bare minimum for any person. In this episode, his colleagues played pranks on him as well as talked behind his back.

Korea as a society has the idea that success requires a good education. This thought is ingrained in them as they only considered people that graduate from top universities such as “Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University” a success (VanderGast et al. 2015, 4). Because of this philosophy, children in Korea live hellish lives during their education. In fact, due to importance of education, many students “reported high levels of stress in their daily lives” as well as “suicide [being] the leading cause of death among teens” (Hu, 2015). Since education is valued so deeply, the people that graduate from the top universities are given great status and will be respected. In the case of Jang Geu-rae, his lack of education is a valid reason for his coworkers to marginalize him even though he has not been given the opportunity to prove himself. Even when he is given a job that he succeeds in, such as the scene where he keeps his client’s company while his department chief, Mr. Oh, is stuck in traffic, he is still not recognized for his efforts. This prejudice against Jang Geu-rae is a representation of how important education and status is in the Korean society.

The reason why Korea values education and status so highly is a reflection of their history. “It is commonly accepted that the [Joseon] dynasty… permanently Confucianized Korean civilization, in effect rendering Korea’s premodern culture inseparable from Confucianism itself” (Kyung, 2010, 72-73). When Joseon first came into power, Jeong Do-jeon with King Taejo abolished the previous religion of Buddhism that was held by the Goryeo dynasty (Lee et al. 1997, 279). They implanted Confucianism as the new religion which completely changed the structure of politics. This new structure requires scholars to take a standardized exam in order to become officials (T’aejo sillok, 273). This exam is similar to how students in today’s Korea take an exam to see what universities they can get into. When they are able to go to a prestigious university, it is similar to becoming an official in the Joseon era. Hence, it is shown that “educational status and hierarchy [is a] part of the Confucian philosophy” in which Koreans have incorporated in their subconscious minds due to their history (VanderGast et al. 2015, 4).

In conclusion, the discrimination Jang Geu-rae faced in Misaeng can be attributed to the lack of education and status he has. This discrimination is a reflection of the Korean society in that Koreans take status and education to high regards. The reason they value these qualities is because of the Confucius history they have. With the rise of Joseon dynasty, Confucianism became the dominant philosophy which leads to valuing education much more than before. This ideology carried over to the current society. In a way, today’s society is a reflection of the history that Korea has faced.

Question:

What are some other reasons that Koreans value education and status so deeply?

As the current society is slowly deviating from the discrimination due to the increase in multiculturalism in Korea, do you think that Koreans will change their ideology regarding education and status? Why or why not?

Bibliography:

Hu, Elise. “The All-Work, No-Play Culture of South Korean Education.” Parallels. April 15, 2015. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/04/15/393939759/the-all-work-no-play-culture-of-south-korean-education.

Kim, Won-seok, dir. Misaeng. Number 3 Pictures, 2014. https://www.netflix.com/watch/80165296?tctx=0%2C0%2C2ccd12e1-70d7-46d9-8aae-7ac139b241fa-124328052%2C%2C.

Kyung, Moon Hwang. A History of Korea. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

Lee, Peter H., WM. Theodore de Bary, Yongho Ch’oe, and Hugh H. W. Kang. Sources of Korean Tradition Volume One: From Early Times Through The Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

Shin, Kyung-soo, dir. Six Flying Dragons. Redwoods, 2015. https://www1.ondramanice.io/drama/six-flying-dragons-detail.

T’aejo sillok. “King T’aejo: Founding Edict 1:43a-45a.” Edited by Lee, Peter H. and WM. Theodore De Bary. Sources of Korean Tradition Volume One: From Early Times Through The Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. 272-274.

VanderGast, Tim S, Sejal Parikh Foxx and Claudia Flowers, Andrew Thomas Rouse, Karen M. Decker. “A Window Into South Korean Culture: Stress and Coping in Female High School Students.” Journal of School Counseling 13, no. 13 (2015): 1-29.

SYNOPSIS: Geu-rae has just started to experience the hardships upon his internship at One International. The interns desparately want Geu-rae as their partner for their presentations because they would be easily able to stand out from him in front of the employers. Sang-shik, although a stern and prideful man, is willing to defend and support his subordinate even if he lacks experience. Being teased by the interns and having high expectations from his superiors, Geu-rae is determined to challenge himself and to overcome his obstacles at work. Geu-rae holds on to the words and advices of his peers that will motivate him to produce better results.

I will argue that Geu-rae’s experience as an intern for One International is, in some sense, analogous to North Koreans transcending into South Korean society. Geu-rae is a man of great character and integrity, but just like any North Korean struggling to survive, “access to education and individual opportunity is scarce for some and often not based on merit” (Han 2015, 127).

Geu-Rae’s has the opportunity to do something better for his life when his connection offers him an intern position at a large establishment. Just like any other North Korean that defects from DPRK towards ROK to improve their standard of living,  ROK “attempts to nurture the integration of North Korean refugees into South Korean society” (Epstein and Green 2013, par. 1). Being unfamiliar and isolated in the office culture, Geu-rae is having difficulty getting through his internship when treated poorly by many of the coworkers who despise him. It probably comes from Geu-rae’s fortune of having a prestigious opportunity that rarely comes handed to just high school graduates, whereas others worked very hard to get to where they were through post-secondary education and applicable work experiences.

The staff attain the same attitude as South Koreans who “are unwilling and unable to accept the different cultural and poor economic backgrounds of NKRs” (Han 2015, 134). The status-quo appears to be that merit determines the success of workers. Thus, when Geu-rae suddenly comes out of the blue, he is unaccepted and excluded by the majority of the staff for his lack of academic accomplishments.

Geu-rae is quite similar to the NRK’s who “live on a minimum income, both materially and in terms of social participation. In particular, they experience discrimination and prejudice throughout their social activities” (Han 2015, 128). Such poor treatment might cause Geu-rae to give up his hope of having a better life for himself, and may be tempted to leave the company. However, Geu-rae is not the one to give up so easily, and instead wants to apply his own personal skills he attained in his past to different challenges.

Through reflection of this episode, we can see that regardless of Geu-rae’s background, the upper-management and a few of his acquaintances are willing to treat him equally with the other interns. Although it’s not an easy time for the protagonist, Geu-rae is willing to continue learning and growing so that one day he may be a strong asset to the company.

Question:  Will there always be this internal conflict between the DPRK and the ROK, or can they learn to forgive and forget the past in order to grow as a nation?

As the viewers easily sympathize with Geu-rae’s story, it’s not as easy for the other interns to understand his situation. In such a case, how can we realistically change the interns’ willingness to be more inclusive of Geu-rae?

Photos are screenshots from the drama, no copyright infringement is intended.

Work Cited

Epstein, Stephen, and Christopher Green. “Now On My Way to Meet Who? South Korean Television, North Korean Refugees, and the Dilemmas of Representation.” The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus, 2nd ser., 11, no. 41 (October 13, 2013). Accessed May 24, 2018. doi:10.3726/978-3-0353-0782-5/23.

Han, Gil Soo, and Taylor & Francis eBooks A-Z. 2015;. Nouveau-riche nationalism and multiculturalism in korea: A media narrative analysis. Vol. 31. New York, NY: Routledge.

Kim, Won-seok, dir. Misaeng. Number 3 Pictures, 2014. https://www.netflix.com/watch/80165296?tctx=0%2C0%2C2ccd12e1-70d7-46d9-8aae-7ac139b241fa-124328052%2C%2C.