Compare Korean personality to Japanese

This might be a touchy subject, but I was just wondering if Koreans have many traits in common with the Japanese? I would imagine them to be quite different, but since they%26#39;re neighbors, to also share many personality qualities. Are they as materialistic as the Japanese? Do they read comics constantly? What%26#39;s the attitude toward the US military?

Compare Korean personality to Japanese

Hi daawgon,

What an odd question. See if I can help. They are different in manners and culture but having said that, they are also similar. It%26#39;s actually a bl**dy hard one to answer. Both are great peoples.

I don%26#39;t know if Koreans watch any Japanese TV dramas but can say that there is a large following in Japan for Korean TV, i.e. ';Winter Sonata'; (a love story) and ';Chan Geum'; which was a historical drama of the first woman doctor in Korea.

%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;%26lt; Are they as materialistic as the Japanese?%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

Hell, that sounds like something from behind the old Iron Curtain. The answer is no more so than you and I buddy.

And no, neither of them read comics constantly.

Attitude towards the US Military is probably pretty good though some individuals in the military have let the side down pretty badly at times.

Generally Koreans and Japanese take people at face value. I%26#39;ve never had any problems in either country.

Cheers.

Compare Korean personality to Japanese

risking being told (again) that I don%26#39;t know what I%26#39;m talking about:

I was at a temple (Donghaksa) recently- more a nunnery school, I suppose. A group of JP schoolkids appeared; they walked earnestly along in pairs and (I presume, because my Japanese is rudimentary) their teacher said ';look at that';- all eyes turned left. Teacher said something else, and they all looked at the river. They went.

We ate our lunch, and then a Korean school group appeared, mainly again in pairs, but chattering and laughing. Seeing us they shouted ';hi';, so we replied. Then the teacher told them to wander off and look round; some did, some went and chatted to the teacher, and (I suppose they were 11 or so) held the teacher%26#39;s hand for a while (wouldn%26#39;t happen in UK!). Eventually the teacher came over to speak to us, and we chatted about kids. Thry all study after school at ';crammers'; ,and their parent feel education (and esp English) is vital.

Conclusions? Korean kids were like UK kids in the 50s- noisy but not causing trouble and a pleasure to see. The JP kids seemed much more regimented.

My impression is that this is a little true for the JP people as a whole. In Tokyo, people cross the street on a crossing and they take notice of the arrow on the road that tells you which side of the crossing to walk. In Seoul, people cross the road; sometimes they take the crossing but they go whichever side is most convenient to them.

Just my view- don%26#39;t read anything more into it.

Hi ethelman,

You must have struck an unusually quite bunch. Normally Japanese and korean Kids compete very well in the decibel ratings.

Cheers.

I guess ethelman2 found well a subtle difference between Korean and Japaneses. Both Korean and Japanese acknowledge that they are quite different each other in characteristics and peronalities. It is mostly because of the location, history and cultural background. So Japan is usally called '; The very close but the most far country'; in Korea, though it connotes historical background of colonialization more.

However, as far as far-east asian values concerned, Koreans are similar with Japaneses, rather than Chinese, although confucianism, the governing ideology ruled Korea for more than 500 years until early 20C, came from China.

But pls don%26#39;t generalize my opinion because I am one of the people who has multi-standards toward Japan.

Sure enough that this issue is very critical in Korea.

The impression I get out of all this is that Koreans (in general) are far less xenophobic than Japanese, but both are traditional with nationalistic customs, and the youth are like youth everywhere (worldly wise and rebelling against tradition in general)? I also get the impression that the Korean sense of humor is much more Western than that of the Japanese. Am I correct?

Koreans I know are very British (not American) in their sense of humour- generalising of course. These Koreans have a great ability to laugh at themselves, and a sense of irony. In UK terms, they can take the p*ss out of themselves- something not unknown in the US but (from our UK perspective) by no means universal.

I have still seen and heard anti JP things in Korea; the classic was during JP-KR friendship year, where an official said of (I think) the last empress: ';Even though she was Japanese some Korean people liked her.';

Given the things that went on in the ';colonial period'; I can easily understand antipathy.

I know a few JP friends who are learning Korean, which I think is still not usual. But a good thing to do, IMHO.

Again another similarity in that Japanese also have an earthy sense of humour closely resembling that of the British. Japanese, like the Koreans, are also willing to make fun of themselves.

Cheers.

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