From Korea with pride

Nigerians have been thrilled of late by a South Korean soap, Jewel in the Palace, which aired on the AIT. Unknown to many, it is just one of many cultural exports from the Asian country that is proud of its culture and is determined to share it with the world. Over the years, the country […]

Nigerians have been thrilled of late by a South Korean soap, Jewel in the Palace, which aired on the AIT. Unknown to many, it is just one of many cultural exports from the Asian country that is proud of its culture and is determined to share it with the world.

Over the years, the country with a population of about 50 million people has established about 15 cultural centres in the world. The latest of this is the Korean Cultural Centre in Abuja, the first of three on the African continent. The centres are aimed at sharing Korea’s colourful culture with the rest of the world. It will offer services like language training, music, dance, exchange programmes and lessons in Taekwondo – Korea’s traditional martial arts.

The Koreans are proud of their culture and history as Mr. Suh, Joeng Sun, Director of the Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria explained: “Economy is good but culture is very important. Culture is very important to the survival of the world.”

The Koreans are sparing no expense in exporting their culture. Movies, soap operas and exchange programmes are just a few of these packages. Apart from the just concluded Jewel in the Palace, which showcased Korea’s rich culture and proud history, talks are underway with a local station to air another one. They also have plans to have a total of 50 cultural centres worldwide.

Proud identity

The Koreans do not have diversity in culture. All the people on the Korean Peninsula speak the same language though there are slight variations in dialects. This has helped in creating a strong sense of identity for the people. They share the same beautiful fan and ganggangsullea (circle) dances, the same attires (The Hanbok), and in most cases the same beliefs.

There have been influences from China, Japan and India as well as the west but the Koreans have systematically fought back to retain their culture and identity.

The Indian influence came in the guise of Buddhism and Chinese political institutions as well as the Confucian faith which arrived much later have influenced the Koreans since the 10th century. The influence was almost total to the extent that Chinese characters were used in writings. But because the Chinese system of writing was complex, many Koreans could not read nor write and literacy was an exclusive preserve of the aristocracy.

Rebirth

The need to reinvent their culture was one priority of King Sejong who in 1443 invented a system of writing in Korean with Korean letters. The system was known as Hangeul. It simplified writings and consisted of a series of phonetic symbols (10 vowels and 14 consonants) that accurately represent the distinctive sounds of Korean.

But it was not until the 20th century that this system of writing was widely adopted by the Koreans to the extent that today, over 70 million Koreans in both North and South Korea use it. It has been described by experts as a simplified but scientific way of writing. Instead of stringing letters together, in Hangeul, letters can be arranged in blocks to form syllables and characters may appear below and above one another. It has many characters not found in any writing style in Asia.

“Korean letters are very good for the internet and computing. We can express everything with Korean alphabets,” Mr. Suh of the Korean Cultural centre Nigeria said, beaming with pride.

Modern Influences

Emerging from Chinese dominance at the onset of the 19th century, Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910. This began a 35 year colonial rule in which Korean nationalism and culture was put under trial. The Japanese tried to root out Korean culture by banning Korean-language education. This move was vehemently resisted by the Koreans.

With the defeat of Japan in the Second World War in 1945, Korea regained its independence. Many Koreans today practice Confucianism and Christianity, which was introduced by some Greek missionaries and consolidated by the French in the 19th century.

Later, the Korean War (1950-53) tore the peninsula apart making it a theatre of killings that drew gladiators from countries as diverse as the United States, China and Russia. When the war ended, there were two Koreas standing, the communist North and the capitalist South.

The South has steadily made gains in exporting the country’s rich heritage and even though the Hanbok (Korea’s traditional costume for centuries) has given way to western wears, many aspects of Korean cultures have been preserved. The government today invest millions in reviving and showcasing this culture by opening cultural centres in different corners of the world and sending out cultural ambassadors and cultural troupes as well as encouraging cultural exchange programmes with other countries.

It has been thirty years since Nigeria and South Korea established diplomatic ties and with this cultural investment of Korea in Nigeria and a grand opening of the centre being planned for May, it is obvious how much Nigeria could learn from that Asian country, if not the zeal to develop a localised writing system, then perhaps a sense of pride in our equally rich, colourful and more diverse culture, which Mr Suh says “is very rife” since he encountered it at the airport upon his arrival in Nigeria.