The New York Times has a fascinating story about how South Korea is struggling to embrace its new, more colorful reality.
Globalization has recently brought an influx of foreigners into this once homogeneous society, a place where 42 percent of respondents in a 2008 survey said they had never once spoken with a foreigner. And the transition hasn’t been easy. The article explores the possible origins of the nation’s racial hostility.
In South Korea, a country repeatedly invaded and subjugated by its bigger neighbors, people’s racial outlooks have been colored by “pure-blood” nationalism as well as traditional patriarchal mores, said Seol Dong-hoon, a sociologist at Chonbuk National University.
Have you had any experiences with racial discrimination in South Korea? Please share your thoughts.
Photo via NY Times.
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