A land of pride and stress, desire and control
What is the reality of Korea's 'K fever'?

This book proves that South Korea's dazzling achievements, which have swept the world and garnered attention, and our own stress, frustration, and upward drive to keep up with the pyramid, stem from the same roots.
The two are never separate elements.
That pride and stress is the strange and contradictory nature of the Republic of Korea itself, which makes the 'K' stand tall in the world while also tormenting us.

Why do the 90s generation in this country display such combative, resigned, and unpredictable behavior? What do the achievements and limitations of K-Quarantine tell us? What do the rapid rise of nationalism and multiculturalism in Korea suggest, and what have we been missing in this discussion? And who exactly are the "386s" in our society, and why do they so confront and divide us? Finally, what exactly is wrong with our education and college entrance system?

This book is a comprehensive exploration of the essence of the generational theory and the pros and cons of the 386 generation, as well as the theories of education and the state, that have stirred up Korean society, based on the unique knowledge and insight of a person born in the 1990s.
The author's analysis goes beyond hastily defending or criticizing each issue, offering a fresh perspective by closely examining its world-historical origins and context.
In that sense, reading this book will be the first step toward truly understanding the colorful dynamics of 'K'.

So what elements of Korean society have allowed it to stand at the forefront of the currents of the times? A hierarchical structure that views society as a single entity and ranks everyone; a desire to rise within that pyramid, rejecting any hierarchy; an active collectivism that seeks to follow the norm and make others follow suit; a contradictory view of the state that complains about its inability to provide yet believes it can provide everything; a dualistic mentality that believes it must earn its voice through morality yet desires worldly advancement above all else.
Perhaps these elements of Korean culture, faced with the changes of globalization and informatization, created something unique in this society, leading it into the 'future.'
---From the "Preface"

The character of K seems very suitable for these confusing times, as it adds to the confusion rather than being clearly understood in itself.
And the upward consciousness, hierarchy, speed-first thinking, and strong national capabilities implied in K seem very suitable for today's world created by the torrent of globalization and informatization.
As mentioned above, these factors have also given rise to the bizarre and confusing phenomenon of K's rise to prominence globally.
Therefore, understanding K can provide clues to understanding today's world, and conversely, trying to understand today's world can also tell us who we are.
---From the "Preface"

The reason why the intensification of social conflict and the development of the content industry can be considered two sides of the same coin can be found in the content that developed in the 2010s.
The content that developed in the 2010s reflected a significant degree of conflict, regardless of genre.
In the realm of popular music and entertainment, music charts and audition programs have become battlefields where fierce competition between fandoms and entertainment companies constantly takes place.
Web novels have become more "Korean" than ever before, captivating readers with stories about social ascent, struggles in a hostile world, and the stress of competition.
Although to a lesser extent than web novels, webtoons also experienced a similar trend.
As changes in content are reflected, changes in consumption patterns are also observed, as competing online communities increasingly engage in conflicts over content and platforms, attempting to exert real influence.
---From "Chapter 1: Who are the people born in the 90s?" and "How did they become the 20-somethings of today?"

The combative nature of content in Korea in the 2010s stemmed from the unprecedented emergence of the internet at the forefront of popular culture production and consumption. The proliferation of smartphones, following the expansion of PCs, erased the barrier between the online and real worlds, as previously explained. This, particularly among the digital native generation, has fostered a tendency to react more quickly, strongly, and frequently to events in online spaces.
This meant a rapid expansion of interactions between content producers, suppliers, and consumers.
Consumers could provide immediate feedback on what they liked or disliked about the content they experienced.
In some cases, that feedback has been scaled to a collective level, exerting enormous influence on content producers and providers.
Consumer preferences have naturally become more agile, and suppliers have had to create content that addresses consumers' immediate desires much more effectively than in the past.
---「「Chapter 1: Who are the people born in the 90s?」, from 'The Raging Wave of Information: Content and Community'

As content evolved through interaction with consumers born in the 90s, new Korean content gained international popularity.
The most important reason was the rapid interaction between consumers and producers, and the result of fierce competition, which led to a tremendous qualitative increase in individual content.
However, this does not fully explain the enthusiastic response to Korean content.
I believe the secret to this enthusiasm can be found in the fact that similar generations in other countries share the same social pressures experienced by those born in the 1990s in Korea due to globalization and informatization.
---「「Chapter 1: Who are the people born in the 90s?」, from 'The Raging Wave of Information: Content and Community'

If we consider the social environment in which the 90s generation lived, it is easy to see where they allocated their cognitive resources instead of pursuing values.
Those born in the 90s, when stratification was considerably advanced, focused on different areas according to their own circumstances.
First, those born in the 1990s who were able to climb the ladder to the upper socioeconomic class were thrown into competition that was much more intense than before.
Their lives were depicted as a series of academic competitions that began at least in middle school, followed by competition for jobs, and then competition for assets.
There could be no rest in competition, because who one competed with in which area and in which life cycle determined one's status among them.
In many cases, their parents also joined in this competition, making it even more intense and putting a lot of emotional pressure on the competitors.
There, social media culture has even made cultural consumption more competitive.
---「「Chapter 1: Who are the people born in the 90s?」, 'The values ​​of the people born in the 90s, or the absence of values'

Therefore, among those born in the 1990s, there is a tendency to monitor each other to prevent the rules from being hacked as much as possible, and to resist anything that could make this predictable system uncertain through external intervention.
So, rather than lowering the predictability of the system through intervention and disruption, it can be said that it is better to pursue the predictability guaranteed by meritocracy evaluated through tests and accept the differences and inequalities that come with the results.
In that sense, what the 90s generation wants is not 'fairness' but rather something that does not further increase anxiety and a minimal mechanism that can be trusted even as the foundation of trust is being swept away.
---「「Chapter 1: Who are the people born in the 90s?」, 'The values ​​of the people born in the 90s, or the absence of values'

Countries initially had to rely almost entirely on masks produced in China, or rather, given away, and did not hesitate to intercept masks destined for other countries.
Luxury clothing companies that Korea once looked up to have redeployed their employees to produce handmade masks.
In contrast, in South Korea, no one had trouble procuring masks after the initial panic buying was quelled by the government's distribution system.
This was possible because, while the government-established distribution system was important, it was fundamentally because Korea still had a significant base of low-value-added manufacturing, or in other words, primary manufacturing.
---「「Chapter 2 What K-Quarantine Tells Us」, 'How South Korea Responds to the Virus'

It would be difficult to separate Korea's past military-state system from the way it overcame the crisis by conscripting medical personnel and working with public personnel who were readily available.
The strong power of the state could at any time requisition various resources of society and deploy them to achieve the goals desired by the state.
During the military regime, this powerful power was used as a means of oppression to maintain their regime, but it also provided a driving force for various social developments and modernizations, including education, industry, and health.
South Korea's state power interfered with numerous human and material resources, hindering the "free" activities of the private sector, and instead forced things that would otherwise have been unmoved to move much more quickly.
---「「Chapter 2 What K-Quarantine Tells Us」, 'How South Korea Responds to the Virus'

If we had to categorize it, Korea's method of utilizing the nation's mobilization, administrative, and information power was closer to China than to Western countries.
Western countries that have better guaranteed individual rights like privacy, whether to uphold liberal values ​​or simply because they lack the administrative precision to do so, have had to endure the pandemic.
South Korea should have been placed next to China in terms of quickly resolving the mask supply problem thanks to its low-end manufacturing.
In other words, it is reasonable to view COVID-19 and K-Quarantine not as a triumph of liberal values ​​such as freedom, openness, and transparency, but rather as a signal that these values ​​are in crisis.
---「「Chapter 2 What K-Quarantine Tells Us」, 'How South Korea Responds to the Virus'

In that sense, just as important as a strong nation in the fight against COVID-19 was the ability to gather information to track and contain the spread of the virus.
As we've seen in previous articles, South Korea's state institutions have actively utilized new information technologies, such as the internet, smartphones, and CCTV, to exert their administrative power to the fullest extent, and through such measures, they were able to ultimately contain the outbreak.
Of course, that doesn't mean that technology is everything.
Developed Western countries, despite possessing the technological foundation to collect and act on information in this way, effectively opted for a hands-off approach because political consensus in society was lacking and state institutions were not accustomed to proactive, efficiency-oriented administration.
In other words, what was truly needed to successfully contain COVID-19 was a combination of a technological foundation that enabled sophisticated tracking and isolation, and a strong state apparatus that could actively deploy it.
This combination was the essence of East Asia's uniquely successful quarantine efforts.
---「「Chapter 2 What K-Quarantine Tells Us」, from 'National Crisis and Resurrection: 1990-2020'

That is, while critical awareness and disillusionment with the nation and nationalism have spread, Koreans still display extremely nationalistic behavior.
However, it is not easy to find an article that recognizes and points out this contradictory situation.
Of course, in some anecdotal moments, such as the Sam Okyere incident, so-called intellectuals have expressed their discomfort and critical awareness of the public's nationalist backlash.
But can the current disillusionment with nationalism and the coexistence of intense nationalist sentiment in Korea be explained by existing critiques of nationalism or discussions surrounding political correctness?
So then, what is the force that makes even those who frown at the mention of nationalism at this very moment become immersed in ‘nationalism’?
---「Chapter 3 On Nationalism and Multiculturalism」, from 'Whispers to the Soul: On Nation and Nationalism'

As a result, a strange phenomenon has occurred in Korea, especially among the youth, where nationalism has declined but not disappeared.
Nationalism as a public value of commitment to the community or as a basis for cooperation among its members has ebbed away, and as a mechanism for national mobilization, it has come to be ridiculed.
On the other hand, nationalism experienced a major revival in the 2010s as a refuge for those feeling psychologically unstable.
People rushed to correct and attack others in the name of their sacred nation when they saw even a pattern similar to Japan's Rising Sun Flag, the so-called war criminal flag. They were more angry than anyone else about the political and economic conflict with Japan, launched an anti-Japanese boycott movement, and stuffed those who bought Japanese products on the Internet.
Some people subscribe to channels where foreigners praise Korea to gain vicarious satisfaction through a sense of belonging.
In other words, the role of the nation-state as the public foundation of optimal cooperation, which enabled the triumph of nationalism, has virtually disappeared, while only the psychological role of pride through expression of hatred and vicarious satisfaction remains.
---「Chapter 3 On Nationalism and Multiculturalism」, from 'Whispers to the Soul: On Nation and Nationalism'

That's why, when I think about the immigrant issue, I think the word that best describes the phenomenon is 'gapjil' rather than expressions like discrimination or hatred.
Abuse of power is an act in which a person who understands the hierarchy exerts his or her authority over someone he or she deems to be lower in the hierarchy, insults their character, and attempts to interfere with their life.
What is important in Gapjil is that a partially standardized vertical hierarchy and rank operates most significantly before all other identities.
The strongest characteristic of Koreans is that they are always being bullied by others, but they are always ready to bully others when they see the opportunity.
Teda.
---「Chapter 3 On Nationalism and Multiculturalism」, from 'Korean Multiculturalism from Below'

But one thing seems to be certain.
The fact is that globalization, the greatest wave of modern society, has split the waves of immigration into two.
I really felt this alienation when I returned to Seoul National University.
A large number of Seoul National University students were 'globalized' students.
They traveled back and forth between Europe and the United States during every vacation, had foreign friends of all skin colors, and were well-versed in many cultures and foods from around the world.
But I felt that the 'foreigners' they met were very homogeneous despite their outward differences.
---「Chapter 3 On Nationalism and Multiculturalism」, from 'Korean Multiculturalism from Below'

So, what mattered was who would seize hegemony in the power struggle between organizations disguised as a debate.
And NL succeeded in seizing the initiative by leveraging its uniquely anti-intellectual organizational methodology, typified by "character theory," and the nationalist sentiment still prevalent among Koreans. NL intuitively realized that the most crucial factor for political victory was not theoretical coherence, but a dogma capable of igniting resentment, and that a humanistic approach was the method of winning over colleagues and instilling this dogma in them.
In fact, considering that the student movement of the 1980s was initially motivated by feelings of indignation toward the Gwangju Massacre and the new military regime rather than calm and logical considerations, NL's victory was truly all too natural.
---「「Chapter 4 The Life of the 386 Generation in Korea」, from 'From Park Chung-hee to Chun Doo-hwan: The Formation of the 386 Generation'

The narrative of the student movement in the 1980s, thus completed, could only become a collection of antitheses to the path that South Korea had taken in the 30 years since the war.
Since the war with North Korea, which played a decisive role in the formation of the nation of South Korea, and the assistance of the United States were interpreted in a way that was contrary to the perspective presented by the regime, it was natural that antitheses and underdogs would occupy a dominant position in all aspects including politics, economy, and society.
They imagined that if only Korea could act as an antithesis, all of its problems would be solved.
The idea was to break away from the capitalist powers of the United States and Japan, foster friendship with North Korea and China, and foster small and medium-sized enterprises for the welfare of the domestic public, opposing conglomerates that exploit consumers and workers for exports. Furthermore, workers and farmers, the main producers, must obtain all rights.
---「「Chapter 4 The Life of the 386 Generation in Korea」, from 'From Park Chung-hee to Chun Doo-hwan: The Formation of the 386 Generation'

Therefore, the essence of NL's 'socialist nationalism', which formed the mainstream of the student movement's ideology, should be viewed as neo-traditionalism rather than socialism.
They were not descendants of the Bolsheviks, who sought to build an equal world led by the working class through socialism.
Instead, they were confused by the various shocks of modernization, such as the rapid development and subsequent cultural changes and class divisions that took place during the military dictatorship, and they wanted to restore the rural communities they were familiar with to Korea. If we trace their lineage, it would be more correct to say that they were descendants of the Wijeongcheoksa faction of the late Joseon Dynasty.
In reality, they did not try to restore the social hegemony of Confucian scholars by fighting against modernization like the Wei Zheng Chuksapa.
However, they showed a strong affinity for the Neo-Confucian sensibility that they had internalized through education in their homes and communities since childhood, and were influenced by traditionalist humanism and spirituality, including those of Ham Seok-heon and Shin Yeong-bok, which suited the sensibilities of the righteous and righteous faction more than the Soviet-style socialism that aimed for modernity.
---「「Chapter 4: The Life of the 386 Generation in Korea」, from 'Neo-Traditionalist Revolutionary Theory: 386 Generation in the Context of World History」

So, it was natural that the 386 generation themselves, as soon as they graduated from college, actively participated in the Korean economy, which was mature and prosperous enough to guarantee prosperity to the majority of the people.
This elite group of college-educated people, approximately 35% born in the 1960s, left behind their past dreams of revolution and emerged as key figures in various areas of Korean society.
What enabled them to form a powerful force opposing the regime in the 1980s was that they were the first large population group in Korean society to benefit from higher education.
From the moment they abandoned revolutionary theories and joined various sectors of Korean society at the peak of rapid economic growth, it was inevitable that they would gain a powerful influence throughout society.
---「「Chapter 4: The Life of the 386 Generation in Korea」, from 'Neo-Traditionalist Revolutionary Theory: 386 Generation in the Context of World History」

And it was in this very situation that the 'Cho Kuk incident', which ignited the 586 controversy, broke out.
The Cho Kuk incident was an incident that, more dramatically than a drama, showed the stereotype that the 586 generation, who still live with a passionate heart of resistance against dictatorship and imperialism, were actually people obsessed with accumulating assets and inheriting class.
They were criticizing young people who bought Uniqlo while singing the anti-Japanese song "Jukchangga," and yet drove around in Japanese Lexus cars.
These were people who were indignant at American imperialism blocking cooperation between North and South Korea and secretly hoped that China would drive out the United States, yet somehow managed to send their children to study abroad in the United States.
And while they say that a house is not a 'thing to live in' but a 'place to live in', they are the people who are more sensitive than anyone else to the prices of apartments in Gangnam, Mokdong, Bundang, etc., and while they say that specialized high schools and private high schools should be abolished and educational competition should be eliminated, they are the people who try to make all sorts of specifications for their children and get them into prestigious universities.

---「「Chapter 4: The Life of the 386 Generation in the Republic of Korea」, from 'Between an Advanced Nation and a Colony: Class Succession and Doublethinking'

The essence of the current college entrance exam system can be said to be to prevent the 'inner demands' of Korean education from being expressed externally and to confine them thoroughly within the classroom and school.
But this did not mean that the demands of the heart had disappeared.
The internal demands, that is, competition, are now confined to the classroom and are not easily perceived from the outside, but unlike in the past, they are still strong (although, of course, they also show a tendency to concentrate on the top).
In order to get good grades, students had to memorize handouts handed out by teachers for ten exams over five semesters, wasted time on meaningless formalities and show-off activities to add even one more line to their student records, and wrote in their student records about books they hadn't even read properly, saying that reading them changed their lives.
---「Chapter 5 Entrance Exams and the Essence of Education」, from 'The Desire for Success, the Illusion of Reform: Entrance Exams from a Student's Perspective'

Instead, if we look at the changing school landscape as the entrance exam system focuses on grades and academic records, we can easily guess what the 'outer value' was.
The idea is to have students sit in the classroom, focus on the teacher's lesson, and work together on a fancy project that adults will enjoy.
However, it is still difficult to know what these activities actually mean.
Before criticizing the upward consciousness that fundamentally constitutes Korean education, we must first question whether the "principles" of education, which serve as the basis for such criticism and are filled with beautiful and pleasant words, are not merely pursuing "what was pleasing to the eye."
---「Chapter 5 Entrance Exams and the Essence of Education」, from 'The Desire for Success, the Illusion of Reform: Entrance Exams from a Student's Perspective'

To summarize the problems of modern education, they are as follows.
Since the latter half of the 20th century, modern society has demanded more knowledge, and the polarization between those with knowledge and those without has deepened.
In the midst of this, the lower class, lacking the knowledge society demands, is being neglected without being able to grow into proper human resources, and the inefficiency produced by education based on rigid and conservative curricula is playing a major role in this.
Meanwhile, many universities that were created to meet public demand are failing to function properly and are continuing to operate in a wasteful manner, and even top-tier universities are finding it increasingly difficult to provide high-quality educational services due to their preoccupation with research.
However, even amidst this, because of the premium attached to a diploma from a top university, the competition among those participating in the entrance exam is becoming increasingly fierce.
---「Chapter 5 Entrance Exams and the Essence of Education」, from 'The Origin of the Academic Background System and Suggestions on Changes in Education'

To this end, it is essential to appropriately control the indiscriminate autonomy of universities and to reclaim a portion of the evaluation function from universities, which virtually monopolize the authority to evaluate and distribute human resources.
Furthermore, developing a credible evaluation system for each subject and providing this evaluation as an infrastructure would be a solution.
Universities are failing to supply the labor market with the human resources society needs, relying solely on the inertia of the "academic background premium" amidst the lazy coexistence of the three elements of research, education, and evaluation.
Moreover, the bloated undergraduate education is increasingly hindering research, which is becoming increasingly difficult as knowledge expands exponentially in the 21st-century information society.
As knowledge producers, professors should now devote more time to research rather than wasting time on undergraduate education.
Whether voluntarily or not, universities must now be freed from the unnecessary burden of undergraduate education, and students must also be freed from its shackles.

---「Chapter 5 Entrance Exams and the Essence of Education」, from 'The Origin of the Academic Background System and Suggestions on Changes in Education'