[Opinion] Too Much Nationalism

Recently the Association of Writers for National Literature (AWNL), a progressive group, tried to remove the word “national” from its name but failed due to objections from its members. An official of the group told an interesting anecdote regarding the unavailing name change. The AWNL felt the need to change its name after it sent its name in English to a foreign organization in an attempt to do business together, and after the group abroad refused on the grounds that the AWNL must be a far right organization seeing the word “national.” The word “national” plainly shows how it is recognized for both progressiveness and extreme right-wing tendencies at the same time in Korea.

Singer and producer Park Jin-young (35) voiced that the label “Korean wave” should be removed from Korea’s cultural products, which is increasingly gaining recognition worldwide. Park made the above statement in an interview with a media outlet prior to a forum on the Korean wave, or Hallyu, at Harvard University`s Kennedy School of Government, held on January 16. Park said, “I don’t have any idea as to how the Korean wave, which was shapeless at first, became a national attribute, standing for ‘everything for Korea.’” Park added that too much emphasis on the nation reflected in the Korean wave roused antipathy in neighboring countries, and that it hindered Korea’s export of cultural products.

Back in 1997, the Korean wave started with a soap opera titled “What Is Love,” in China and is now expanding its power and influence all over the world beyond Asia. The Korean wave now even seems to have infiltrated North Korea.

Against this backdrop, department and doctorate courses on the Korean wave were installed at some colleges. For its part, the government embarked on revision of relevant laws to provide financial support to exports of cultural products, and a string of banks and corporations are scrambling to invest in performances and production of soap operas.

However, it is not sure how long the Korean wave will last. Last year, a total of 208 films worth $24.51 million were exported to foreign countries, but it was a 68 percent drop from the previous year. It is widely believed that Korean wave is not in a full downward trend, but it is surely in a sluggish period. There might be many reasons for this, but too much stress on nation stated by Park might be one reason. Too much emphasis always entails antipathy. We should be cautious about excessive nationalism in order for the Korean wave not to degrade into a cold wave.

Lee Jin-nyong, Editorial Writer, jinnyong@donga.com