What is surprising on Inglehart-Welzel cultural map? / which of those(some examples in class) are most surprising?

 

  Since I’m Korean, I naturally think about the position of the South Korea first. According to the map mentioned in the class, Korea has survival and secular values. But my opinion is different. I think Korea has the value of traditional and self-expression. First of all, I think Korea is now having self-actualization needs beyond the survival values. Of course there are exceptions as like always, but most people in Korea are not in danger of death from famine or poverty tomorrow unless they work today right away. Rather, many people use labor as a means of self-realization, not a means of survival. I think this is the reason why people get a job that one can do better and more interesting field. Not only labor but also fashion, hobbies, sports, and so on, Koreans are concerned to what they can better express themselves. 

  And secondly, Korean society tends to value traditional values. Korea has been developed based on Confucian ideas since long time ago. although the Confucian ideas has been weakened lately, the elderly are still often having. And generally we values parents and children’s relationships and family itself. In addition, age is still regarded as an important position by 장유유서(which is one of Confucian ideas, means that there are social order and politeness among age.) It is also considered polite to respect and not to be rude to a older people have higher authority than I am. Thus Korea society can be seen as closer to country that pursue traditional values. Also, In the class, secular-rational values are characterized by relatively embrace more about issues such as divorce, abortion, euthanasia and suicide. But this will be another example of why Korea does not belong to secular-rational values. Because In Korea, abortion was illegal until recently, and legalization began to be discussed only in April, 2019. And from now there are too many people that against legalization of abortion so it is still being hot potato. And also euthanasia is illegal. suicide and divorce are not allowed in the social atmosphere as many people view it negatively. Therefore, I think the place where Korea should be located is in the values of traditional and self-expression. 

  It was surprising that Korea was taking the most negative stance on the influx of foreigners. I don'k now when the survey was conducted, but I expect the results will change a little if we do this survey again in 2020. Korea is a representative single homogeneous nation. However, as globalization progressed, we were able to exchange cultures with other countries and the number of foreigners living in our country increased. Our culture is also transforming into a multicultural country. Now Korea creating a multicultural community in line with the global trend instead of having a closed characteristics as a homogeneous nation.  

  It is a narrow-minded idea that foreigners are getting to live and having jobs in Korea means to take away the jobs of our people. Koreans are also increasingly working in foreign countries. And foreigners should no longer be seen as competitive match, but as a partners who work together to promote the development of our country. In addition, the younger generation are wanting to develop global skills in order to interact well with foreigners and to get along with globalized world. Learning English is almost a basic skill, and more and more people are studying up to the third and fourth foreign languages. Over time, the idea of foreigners will be more open and inclusive.