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Should we let Korean students call Japanese monkeys?

Source: Korean Students Speak
Source: Korean Students Speak
James Hyams
Written by James Hyams

Korean students’ mindsets: anti-Japan, sex, school and positivity
Sex, drugs and rock n roll are on the minds of many Western high school students, but what about Korean students?

With the exception of drugs, it seems Korean students are no different but have additional worries about the pressure of school, study, and Japan.

Some say Koreans call  Japanese as monkeys because monkeys can be found in Japan.  Monkeys cannot be found in Korea.

Some say Koreans call Japanese as monkeys because monkeys can be found in Japan. Monkeys cannot be found in Korea.

In South Korea, racist remarks about foreigners, especially Japanese, are seldom frowned upon. It is not difficult to find Koreans who would not hesitate to call Japanese people monkeys.

Unfortunately, young students participating in a project run by the winner of the 2014 K-Blog Awards best educational blog category are no exception.

Some students describe Japanese as “monkeys,” “murderers” and “history distorters” on their placards while participating in the project.

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This is indicative of a wider cultural norm but the owner of the KSS tumblr page may not be able to avoid criticism for allowing students a platform to voice racist anti-Japan sentiments.

While many students write messages containing positive self-talk, humor and teenage topics, others post serious socio-political issues. Some placards are particularly sinister, dark, and racist.

But at least, one student appeared to be opposed to the notion of calling people monkey.

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Anti-Japan

Based on the placards, many Korean students seem firmly convinced that Japan is an unrepentant neighbor that cannot acknowledge Korea’s “rightful” ownership of Dokdo islets and a “shameless nation” which insists to call the body of water between the two countries the Sea of Japan.

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Source: Korean Students Speak

A 2013 survey also reveals that more than 62 percent of Koreans believe Japan’s military poses a security threat to Korea. Some 64.7 percent of the respondents also believe that Japan is a military threat.

tumblr_n9qx9usKrW1rsyypko1_1280This is not surprising given that the former occupier of Korea continues to beef up its military presence while denying its past atrocities, including the forced mobilization of comfort women.

“People who have forgotten their history have no future,” one student wrote on her placard.

This could be indicative of Japan trying to rewrite their history books and remove reference to human rights abuses during their occupation of Korea.

School

Other students’ placards identify the struggle and stress endured while in high school. Of this theme, many chose to express dissatisfaction for the stressful Korean high school system. Many wrote they are not getting sufficient sleep.

“I want to sleep for 8 hours right now! Please,” his placard says while puts his head down on his desk.

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Another implied his mental health was in jeopardy. “I’m tired. I’m sleepy. My mental has broken.”

This is not surprising given the astounding results of the National Youth Policy Institute survey.

In 2014 they surveyed 9,521 elementary and secondary school students about their sleep, rest and the causes of stress.

They found that Korean high school students sleep an average of 5 hours and 27 minutes a night. Nearly 70 percent admit they are sleep deprived.

Fifty two percent indicated they lack sleep due to studying late into the evening.

Thirty seven percent indicated they had suicidal thoughts in the past year due to poor grades (40.4 percent) and family problems (27.6 percent).

Nearly 90 percent indicated they had less than two hours of time to relax on weekdays.

Sex

Surprisingly, some students expressed dissatisfaction with not being able to watch pornography until 19 years of age or have sex.

One comical male student wrote “Masturbation is my life” and a young lady wrote, “I want to watch sex video.” Both their eyes and foreheads are clearly visible and those that know them would easily identify them.

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Cho Seong-nam, professor at the Ehwa Womans University, said that teenagers have more exposure to information about sex nowadays.

“More teenagers are openly talking about sex and learn it from the Internet, rather than from school or their family,” she said.

However, Cho warned that teenagers are increasingly becoming vulnerable to wrong understandings and attitudes about sex and relationships.

Positive messages

A small majority of placards photographed and on display on the KSS Tumblr site are remarkable.

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Many students wrote positive sentiments. “You can do it. I believe U,” “No one limits your growth but you,” “You are not alone,” “I love you all,” “Never give up,” “nothing better than you,” “You are really important,” “Love and peace on earth,” “fear of the future is a waste of the present,” “Carpe Diem,” and the list can go on.

tumblr_meagxeQpd11rsyypko1_1280These students often appear with their faces in the photos and are generally showing much more positive emotions than those with anti school sentiments.

Famous German psychologist Rorshach would have a field day interpreting why this is but a simplistic explanation could be that these placards held by students offer insight into their personalities and emotional resilience.

Korean students speak founder

Jenny, the founder of the KSS, is aware of these problematic placards but has opted to refrain from censoring the students.

“Korean Students Speak (KSS) started in order to provide students with the opportunity to utilize English in a creative and organic way to express their opinions and thoughts to the world,” Jenny told The Korea Observer.

We want to encourage students to pen messages that reflect their real opinions, not just what they think we want to hear.”
“In keeping with this aim, KSS does not filter students’ messages, rather uploading every picture/message that KSS receives, regardless of content.”

Jenny started the project in 2011 to encourage South Korean students to write a message on blank paper, take a photo, and upload it to their Tumblr page.

Since then, this social experiment has attracted thousands of students who have posted photos of themselves holding a placard with a short message written on it in English.

“The goal of this project is to encourage students to creatively voice their opinion,” the KSS Tumblr page states.

Lee Tae-hoon, publisher at The Korea Observer, contributed to this article. 

About the author

James Hyams

James Hyams

James Hyams juggles several careers including being a journalist and a social worker. James has an avid interest in 'telling it as it is', exposing matters of public interest, and reviving investigative journalism in the new digital era. Testimony to this is his thesis titled: “U.S. Government secrecy and the withering watchdog: Is WikiLeaks the answer?”

  • Ken Gai

    Perhaps this report would be useful..
    http://eng.the-liberty.com/2014/5641/

    • James

      Although I respect Michael Yon (and his impartiality on most topics) and have followed his personal accounts for a few years, I don’t think he is the best information source on this topic. As he says, comfort women existed but the guesstimation of the amount is simply that – a best guess. Who came up with that number and how? No idea at this stage. Perhaps we should look into this more and write an article on it.

      • Ken Gai

        Indeed.. a dig into that 2007 “Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia” report done by U.N. could be worthwhile.. noting forced vs. paid fee-for-service seems to be an issue.

  • Darvoot Salabim

    parroting what their parents spout at home…

  • JuliWong

    Koreans should be more mindful of their reputation and how they are perceived by the rest of the world. Being racist and mean spirited won’t help them if in the future they have need to secure allies if North Korea decides to move south. They really come across as not likable, arrogant and prejudice. Not admirable at all!

  • Justpretendyoulikekimchi

    Hilariously ironic given Korea’s own propensity to lie about their own history.

    • Lieutenant

      ‘Propensity to lie’ and ‘racism’ are just two face of one coin.

      To Koreans, ‘pride’ is much more important than others.

  • Barry Oscars White

    This is truly a disgraceful “article.”

    The clickbait title is just the start. I couldn’t determine what the point (if any) of this piece was.
    Was it about the tumblr page mentioned? Was it about Korea’s relationship to Japan?

    How the author failed to mention the connection between KSS and The US Fullbright program is beyond me. It’s right there on the about page: http://koreanstudentsspeak.tumblr.com/about

    The above points, the misuse of the word ‘racism’, and the unbalanced tone are not even my biggest problem with this. My biggest problem is that an article like this goes against the principles of the KSS page. Anyone who has lived in Korea knows that students have a hard time expressing themselves, let alone in English and then suddenly this article comes around criticizing the kids for speaking their mind. You say, “A small majority of placards photographed and on display on the KSS Tumblr site are remarkable.” Why not write two distinct articles then? Why things by focusing on anti-Japanese placards at the start of the piece?

    I think it is a shame when important issues get pushed aside by sensationalism.

  • OpenYourEyes

    We must teach the Korean youth the distinction between everyday Japanese people, who are not much different from them, and the Japanese machine of the past.

  • Guest

    brainwashed….

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