Is Korea culturally distinct from China and Japan?

I know Korea is different from its neighbors, but how different? And in what ways? What makes S. Korea different from the other Asian countries?

I know the U.S. is different from Canada and Mexico, but how different? And in what ways? What makes the U.S. different from the other North American countries?

You've asked questions that are impossible to answer in a substantive way in a couple of paragraphs. All you're going to get are a few comparisons of general stereotypes that won't give you an accurate or meaningful understanding of any of the countries involved.

Check out OPs other questions

Haha, OP's other questions are definitely easy to ask, almost pointless to waste any time giving any answers.

I simply want to learn about various countries from a compare-and-contrast perspective. I have to do major study on one foreign culture, so I'm trying to assess my options as clearly as possible. The easiest way for me to do so at the moment is through comparison.

Sorry if the questions were worded poorly. I realize that Korea is obviously different, but I wanted to get insight from people with more experience in Asian travel. What are the biggest differences you notice in travel to Korea vs. other countries? etc.

I didn't mean any of my questions in an ignorant way, but rather to encourage discussion and compare experiences. That's what a message board is for, after all.

This question is much too broad. I agree with #1-you're probably going to get a bunch of stereotypes. And then the ensuing arguments that come with that. You really need to narrow down the question.

Not sure why you are getting hate from all the cool people. . .These countries are similar but not the same in some pretty distinct ways. Clearly, its impossible to get complete answers, but I don't think its inappropriate to attempt some answers.

An excellent answer to your question(s) can be found in the book "Korea Unmasked"...i forget the author, but he is Korean and the book compares China , Japan and Korea in the ways you are asking about and does it in comic strip! format, which is often quite interesting and humorous.

My two cent observations after 6 years of life in NE Asia, and Korea in particular....

-Korea has more or less been the little whipping child of both of its larger neighbors, Japan in particular, but also every other major power that has set foot in the region (americans are still here). This has DEEPLY influenced the culture and mindset of Koreans. Koreans feel overshadowed by their neighbors and are rightfully proud of their current economic success in spite of a total lack of resources and the utter devastation of the Korean war. This manifests itself in 2 very obvious ways:
(a) an insane work ethic and emphasis on education as the key to overcoming the lack of natural resources and its small size
(b) a general fear of outsiders.....(particularly Japan), but extending to anyone that they perceive as attempting to hold the nation down or denigrate Koreans. It is difficult to visit a Korean historical site and not read about a Japanese atrocity or two...often a long list of how many times the Japanese burned the area down or looted it.

-Korea is the most economically advanced country in Asia, save for Japan or Singapore (and Hong Kong if you consider it to be independent). The level of technological integration and usage by even average citizens is mindboggling. In some cases, Koreans are more advanced than Japan even. Huge wave of citizen social movements are currently reliant on blogs and the internet. . . in fact, Korea is a bit of a test tube for the power of the internet to empower the general public (see Oh My News and the recent anti government protests over beef).

-Korea is a relatively young democracy. Korea first enjoyed economic success, then threw out the dictatorship in the late 80s. As such domestic politics is rowdy, and Koreans are still struggling with the limits of free speech and government accountability.

-Korean food is better than Chinese or Japanese, particularly if you like spicy food. (I feel the flames of generalization coming at me now)

cheers,

koreadude

Korean food is better than Chinese or Japanese food? Oh no you didn't. And good for spicy food? The Chinese have them beat hands down.

The Japanese and Chinese also have a crazy work ethic, especially when it comes to education.

I once almost got smacked in the face by a young Korean for mistaking him for a Japanese. So whether they are actually culturally different from the Chinese and the Japanese or not, I'd rather avoid bringing up any similarities or general comparisons with their bigger neighbours.

Thanks for your attempt, debatekorea. I realize that it's a hard question to answer, but it's hard to get a real feel for a place from a textbook, so hearing a personal opinion is nice.

And thanks for the warning, Aribo. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

just go to Korea and feel it yourself - that is the best and quickest way. expensive way though.

I'm in Korea right now, was in Japan and China before I came here. I thought Korea will be a copycat of Japan given all the bashing it has received. I'm surprised at how vastly different it is from Japan. Saying Korea is similar to Japan is like saying Japan is similar to China.

They may all have been similar a thousand years ago but they all branched out quite nicely.

chopsticks are longer in Korea.

metal chopsticks....

Chopsticks in Korea are longer than in Japan....though shorter than in China. The Koreans do use chopsticks that are thin and metal. They are by far the hardest to learn how to use, but they are more environmentally friendly.

Other factoids:

-Korea has the only scientifically designed writing system. While the word origins are often rooted in chinese, the script is uniquely Korean, created around 500 years ago. It is phonetic (not pictographic like Chinese).

-Korean (spoken) is related to Mongolian in sentence structure (unlike Chinese).

-70% of Korea is mountainous.

-Korea is undoubtedly one of the few places in the world where a mosque (the one in Seoul) sits on top of a hill that is primarily accessible by walking through an alleyway of gay bars and clubs.

-Korea has all four seasons (snicker).

Since the topic is about culturally distinct, here are what you will notice right away:

Restaurants in Korea (Korean restaurants) mostly have low tables where you have to sit on the floor and leave your shoes by the door. Exceptions are fastfoods and restaurants in malls. Every meal will be served with kimchi. Japanese restaurants are expensive. You'll most likely eat in mid-price to low-price range where you'll sit side by side with salarymen. You order by pushing buttons on a vending machine and present the ticket to the server. Conveyor-belt sushi is pretty good too. You'll also encounter standing-only restaurants. All 3 use chopsticks but only in Korea you'll find spoons readily available on the table alongside chopsticks.

Temples are also very distinct. Japanese temples are made entirely of wood. They prefer simplicity. Even the color is brown. Korean temples have elaborate contructions and use plenty of color. Korean pagodas are made of stone which is uniquely Korean. Chinese temples are made of clay and they prefer to color it gold and red. They also use a lot more incense.

If you walk around Akihabara in Tokyo, that's totally uniquely Japanese. You'll be surrounded with manga, the latest consumer electronics, the latest videogames, and the latest elaborate coin-up arcade games. There's also plenty of conveyor-belt sushi place there. Totally different than when you're walking around the Bund/Nathan Rd in Shanghai.

If you visit the war museums on each of these countries, you'll get 3 different interpretations of every conflict they had.

Temples are also very distinct. Japanese temples are made entirely of wood. They prefer simplicity. Even the color is brown
Generally true when speaking about Buddhist temples. But Buddhism is originally an "imported" religion in Japan, although it has been modified after the Japanese adopted it.
However, temples of the indigenously Japanese Shinto religion often have bright, usually bright red (close to dark orange, not sure if there's a separate word for it in English) exteriors.

Maybe my definition of culture is different from yours, but I'm not very convinced by your examples of Akihabara and conveyor-belt sushi. Before any Korean gets angry at me, let me say that I'm not an expert on the history of conveyor-belt sushi, but if I'd have to bet I'd say that that's a Japanese invention. Places where you get a receipt from a vending machine and exchange that for your meal can be found at several places in Japan too.

I'm under the impression that classical Confucian ethics are maintained more conservatively in Korea than in Japan; if there is any truth in that, that probably says more about the cultural differences than manga or pachinko parlours.

It might be easy to compare western countries to give you a reference.

The Japanese are like the British (Island Nation, very proud of itself, very proper, hold on to traditions, reserved)

While the Koreans are more like Italians (Very passionate (just check out world cup 2002 footage, more colourful (koreans swear a whole lot more!!)

There is a Famous Book called "Korea Unmasked" That is written by a Famous Korean Author that outlines this theory. And its a Comic so its a really fun read..

Also I know another Author named PJ ORourke who called the Koreans "The Irish of Asia" and I agree. They are really fun to be around once you get past some of the strange quirks.. They love to drink. Have a very good sense of humor and really let loose.

And Never Ever Compare them to Japan. Especially right now. Koreans are furious that the Japanese Government is claiming The Islets of Dok as there own.

Its korean Territory but the Japanese are playing hardball and really pissing koreans off

here is a site

http://www.dokdocorea.com/

The Japanese earliest claim to the Island is in 1904 and the earliest Korean one is about 1500 years earlier.. So you do the math..

Anyways... Just trying to give some backstory. I live in Korea so I hear about it alot!
AlsoI find Koreans easier to get to know.

Koreans have a hard outer shell you have to crack, but once you do that they are really true friends.

I have found Japanese harder to really get to know. They are more easy going at first but then sometimes friends will just fade away.

This is my take.

Both Korean and Japanese cultures were heavily influenced by the Chinese culture. I would be believe that Korean culture is more so than the Japanese, which have taken on a life of its own.

In terms of language, the Korean written language used to follow the Chinese system. However, they invented their own some time back to differentiate themselves. If you go to Korea, you can still find old shops or buildings which have Chinese characters. This is especially true for the imperial palaces, with the signages in Chinese. The Japanese Kanji system is inherited from the Chinese. In fact, they preserved some very old letters which is not even in use now in China. The pronunciation of Kanji letters are very similar to the Mandarin pronunciation.

In terms of traditional architecture, both Japanese and Korean are influenced by the Chinese. Especially true for the roofs, one can notice the similarity. However, the Japanese architecture has evolved through the years to take a form of its own. On the other hand, the Korean architectures is still very much like the Chinese due to the proximity. If you visit the Korean imperial palaces, you can see that the architectures are distinctively Chinese.

There are numerous areas which you can notice Chinese influence as well. However, the above two is probably the most obvious, if you have visited China, Japan, and Korea.

Just my 2 cents.

The Roads Often Travelled
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