This week I have the opportunity to speak with Alex (Woo Seung) Sohn, Head of US Office, King Sejong Institute Foundation. The goal of the organization for King Sejong is to share Korean culture through activities and Korean Language.
Given the recent rise in K-Pop and K-Drama, many people are becoming interested in Korean culture. But that is still at a superficial level. To fully become more immersed in the culture, it is imperative to learn about the language. One of the ways is that the Korean language is more of a context-driven language than a non-context driven language. For example, in English and other languages, the sentence itself can quickly convey the meaning by itself. However, Koreans like to communicate a bit directly, and one word can mean different things depending on the context. Because of those structures, not learning the language will take away many of the deeper nuances of the Korean language.
SKY was also regarded as the acronym of three of the best universities in Korea. They are Seoul National, Yonsei, Korea University. These universities give a lot of prestige to the individual. However, nowadays, like the United States, the influence of the company is becoming less relevant as time goes on.
Additional things we touched upon were those American soldiers who were dispatched in Korea. They stayed within the barracks as opposed to going out. One of the fundamental things we noticed is that people like to stay within their comfort zone. It is our natural habitat to retreat to what is familiar, whether that is good or not good for us. That can also be the cause of the conflict and miscommunication across the world. The reason being that miscommunication can be a byproduct lack of willingness to be exposed to being uncomfortable.
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