Sharing the lecture held on May 9, 2023.

YOUTH PANEL:

In A Collectivist Society, ‘We’ Are the Happy Mutants

SPEAKERS: Hyunjee Cho & Myungseo Kim

The Royal Asiatic Society Korea Youth Panels are a unique opportunity for members and guests to have unfiltered access to the country’s youth. This provides a rare chance for us to listen, learn, and interact with young Korean adults on their terms. To understand their vocabulary and values. To see the future of Korea before us. While academia and mainstream media paint various pictures of South Korea, this event provides you a lived reality.

Lecture Summary

South Korean society has always been a highly collectivist society. However, the once solid status quo has recently been challenged by growing Western influences and vast changes in the technological and cultural environment. This lecture aims to pinpoint and explain the impacts of collectivism in various spheres, both material and immaterial. It will also examine how this transition has resulted in occasional clashes between the generations.

We see collectivist footprints in places such as Daechi-dong, an area infamous for its never-ending focus on private education. Thus, we will take a closer look at the inner workings of the region. This will include examining the local characteristics in which young individuals are constantly compared to each other in a highly competitive and stressful environment. However, there is hope. Some happy mutants survive.

We also see collectivism in the professional sphere, particularly when it comes to the job market. Conglomerates tell us to be ‘creative’ but there remain ‘correct’ answers we are required to remember and repeat like a mantra. Mothers are asked to have children and create a family, but to nevertheless adhere to a specific ‘type’ of family suitable for Korean society. Diversity is encouraged in words, but the reality is far different. Not all mutants are welcome despite how happy they might be.

Bio

Hyunjee Cho is a student studying in International Studies at Hanyang University. She is part of the Global Asia Leadership Forum and Korea Intervarsity Debate Association partaking in various subjects regarding culture, education, politics, the military, society, and more.

Myungseo Kim is a second-year student at Seoul Women’s University’s College of Interdisciplinary Studies for Emerging Industries where she is pursuing a degree in Business Administration.