How Koreans perceive Americans

Dec 12, 2010
Raphael Sheen

How Koreans perceive American GIs, American English teachers, American businessmen, African-Americans and Jewish Americans.

For people who come from countries where ethnic diversity is considered a positive thing, South Korea can seem like a country that openly discriminates foreigners. Korea is a homogeneous country where until recently there were no immigrants.

Furthermore Confucius said "have no friends not equal to yourself". This quote can have several interpretations, mine being that Koreans avoid having friends that do not have their economic and social status. Furthermore, while people from individualistic societies tend to view each person as an individual, Koreans are group oriented and tend to think that a person's accomplishments are linked to his group's or ethnicity's accomplishments.

For example, if Koreans meet one Caucasian American who is rich and educated, they will think that all Caucasian Americans are rich and educated. If they hear about an African-American who was arrested for murder, they will think that most African-Americans are involved in criminal activities.

How Koreans perceive American GIs

The perception of American GIs in Korea has not always been positive. From the 1950s to the 1990s, American GIs were the only significant non-Asian foreign population living in Korea. Most American military officers did not bother to learn Korean and often refused to eat Korean food. Many of them did not take cultural sensitivities into account and openly criticized Korean food and Korean people. Finally, many officers were heavy drinkers and became aggressive after drinking. Special prostitution areas were created just for American forces stationed in South Korea.

How Koreans perceive American businessmen

While successful American businessmen like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg are popular among Koreans, Koreans believe that the companies they founded are more important than the actual people who founded them. Koreans believe that politicians and businessmen should not get the same exposure as artists or entertainers.

Americans doing business in Korea are considered to lecture too much about their accomplishments and the technical aspects of their products. Koreans value a relationship-based approach where they slowly build trust before they engage in business activities. Koreans often don't trust American businessmen because unlike in the US, the Korean government and judiciary system does not get involved in business deals. While Americans tend to trust the legal system when doing business, Koreans prefer trusting their partners.

How Koreans perceive English teachers

In the 2000s, South Korea started hiring English teachers, most of whom were educated Caucasian Americans. Many of them were college graduates who came teach in Korea so they could pay off their college debts.

English teacher's reputation was affected when there were rumors that some English teachers were caught smoking and dealing illegal drugs. While smoking pot can be considered an harmless offense in the US, it is considered a serious criminal offense in South Korea. Furthermore, many English teachers who blog about teaching have harsh words against Korean society and post lewd comments about Korean women. Koreans who read their blogs have spread the rumor that English teachers view Korean women as sexual objects and Korean society as a retrograde society, which does not please most Koreans.

These issues have led American English teachers in Korea to be mentioned as a potential threat to Korean society. However, Koreans are convinced that the only way to learn English is to have native English teachers who speak the language. In many ways, English teachers are considered indispensable to Korean society. The concept of "native English speaker" is often limited to Caucasian Americans.

How Koreans perceive Korean-Americans and Asian Americans

Korea being a homogeneous country where there is no known American who perfectly integrated Korean society and adopted Korean values, Koreans believe that likewise Asian Americans are not real Americans. Despite the fact that most Asian Americans speak an English no different than that spoken by Caucasian Americans and adopted American values, Koreans believe that Asian Americans are not fluent when it comes to speaking English and have "Asian values".

Many Asian Americans and Korean Americans are believed not to have credibility as Americans. Korean companies often do not trust Asian Americans when it comes to dealing with Americans because they believe cultural differences between Asian Americans and other Americans may arise during the deal. Many English institutes do not hire Asian Americans because they believe Asian Americans can not teach students proper English.

How African Americans are perceived by Koreans

As a Caucasian American living in Korea I have occasionally encountered taxi drivers who did not want to take me because I was a foreigner. Most businesses also refuse to speak to me in Korean and prefer using broken English, which impairs the communication since I can speak Korean fluently. But that is nothing compared to what African Americans experience in Korea.

African Americans living in Korea virtually have to travel by bus or subway, because Korean taxis refuse to stop when they see them waving for a cab. Koreans often refuse to sit next to African Americans when taking public transportation. Unlike Caucasian Americans and White people in general who get spoken to in English in Korean stores and supermarkets, African Americans are spoken to in Korean and there is no attempt from Koreans to try to use English when an African American clearly does not speak Korean.

A researcher at a Peace Studies institute in Korea told me that he did not "trust African Americans". African Americans are believed to be the cause of drugs and crime in the United States. Koreans often believe that African Americans do not speak English but speak a "creole". They are therefore denied jobs as English teachers. The LA riots and violent confrontations between African Americans and Korean Americans have strongly contributed to fomenting this anti-African American sentiment in Korea.

How Koreans view Jewish Americans or Antisemitism in South Korea

It is worth noting that Koreans don't view religion as part of ethnicity. While Korea is a homogeneous country, there are Korean Christians, Buddhists and Muslims. Koreans view ethnicity as more important than religion. Many Koreans think that Jews are Caucasian Americans who happen to have a different religion.

There are many similarities between Jews and Koreans. Both South Korea and Israel were independent in 1948. Both Jews and Koreans value education and degrees, although in completely different ways. Both people use solar and lunar calendars, and the Korean lunar calendar bares close resemblance to the Jewish lunar calendar.

However, there have had anti-Semitic incidents in Korea. A Nazi-themed bar was once discovered in the Northern city of Uijeongbu(1). A very controversial advertisement for cosmetics had a Korean woman disguised as Adolf Hitler trying to sell cosmetics(2). A Korean comic book glorified the fact that there was no significant Jewish presence in Korea(3). However, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon tried to reassure the Israeli Ambassador to the UN that "Koreans are the Jews of Asia"(4).

Confucianism and the perception of foreigners

Confucius said "when we see a man of contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves". One of the interpretations given to this quote is that when Koreans see a foreigner or someone with a completely different culture, they prefer remaining silent and distant rather than trying to discuss and debate the cultural differences.

In fact, "turn inwards and examine our self" is a euphemism that Confucius used to simply say "leave" or "ignore". Thus if Americans show ideas that are in opposition to Korean values, Koreans will most likely leave without notice, or stop listening.