Korean tolerance of violence

I saw Stanley Kubrick’s war film “Full Metal Jacket” at a theater 16 years ago. The background is a U.S. Marine boot camp during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Pvt. Pyle, a slow and dull soldier, often attracts Sgt. Hartman’s wrath. Hartman insults Pyle, who cannot dismantle a gun let alone shoot. After Pyle earns collective punishment for the rest of his platoon, members of the platoon get mad and haze him. In the end, the mentally distraught Pyle learns quickly but then kills Hartman with a gun before taking his own life.

Back then, my response was “What’s the big deal?” Pyle’s physical and mental pain was nothing to me, back then a Korean army sergeant (to be more specific a KATUSA or Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army). When I was in middle school, I experienced corporal punishment, a face down position with the sole support of one’s head instead of hands. In high school, I saw a teacher beat a student while coming from the school backdoor to the corridor. Though no corporal punishment existed at the infamous Nonsan boot camp in North Chungcheong Province, I heard four-letter words like the ones Pyle heard in the movie. I got scared all of a sudden because I found myself desensitized to everyday violence.

Schools are different today. A teacher can never beat a student, not to mention use corporal punishment. Violence has been greatly reduced in the military as well. Regiment commanders give business cards with their phone numbers to encourage reporting of seniors who beat subordinates. Nonetheless, Koreans are still insensitive to violence. Every year, certain upperclassmen at colleges force freshmen to drink alcohol and beat them in an orientation program. I have never heard that seniors tried to get rid of violence in the orientation.

Last week, a middle school student killed himself in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. He wrote, “They try to hug me. They force me to join a violent club.” Few adults would have thought “What’s the big deal?” Even if schools try to get rid of bullying and violence, the problem cannot be solved if society remains insensitive to violence. I am so afraid over the tolerance of violence in the people.

Weekend Section Reporter Min Dong-yong (mindy@donga.com)