Sunday November 18, 2007

Six factors for success

By Kim Seong-kon

SEOUL: Recently, a Korean daily newspaper, the Kyunghyang Shinmun, disclosed a poll on “Important factors for being successful in Korea”. The results, which reflected our society, were quite amusing but embarrassing.

Most people who answered the poll chose without hesitation the “prestige of one’s college” as the top priority. That is, it is imperative in Korean society to graduate from a prestigious university in order to quickly climb up the societal ladder of wealth and status.

This implies that if you are not a graduate of a first-rate university, you are doomed to fail from the beginning.

Next, people chose “connections” as the second most important factor for being successful in Korean society. That is, “politics” is extremely important for surviving and flourishing in Korea.

You must consider all factors and stand in the right line. If you loiter around in the wrong line, you may end up inadvertently ruining your career. You also need to have a lot of connections to those who are politically influential and powerful.

It is no wonder “express service” (courier service) carriers suddenly become very busy delivering all sorts of gifts during holiday seasons such as Chuseok or the lunar New Year. It seems the importance of old school ties and regional connections cannot be stressed too much in Korean society.

The third choice of the people was “wealth” or “financial capability”. Koreans seem to believe that unless they are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, they cannot possibly be successful. So the poor tend to resent the affluent and the privileged, even though they themselves aspire to be rich and famous.

The Korean maxim, “If I’m having an affair, it’s a romance. As for all other affairs, they’re nothing but scandals,” nicely summarises this uniquely Korean sentiment.

Then the poll indicates that “family background” is the fourth most important factor for being successful in Korea. That means, in Korea, your father’s social status and occupation play a pivotal role in your social success.

If you are from a reputable, celebrated family, your success is guaranteed. If you were born into an average family, you are unlikely to flourish.

The fifth choice was a “good-looking face”. In Korean society, your physical appearance is often more important than your ability or competence. That is why Korea has become a paradise of plastic surgery. No matter how homely you may look, you can easily be reborn either as an astonishingly handsome man or as an exquisitely gorgeous woman, thanks to the unsurpassed skills of Korean plastic surgeons.

Finally, people picked “bluffing and sugar-coating skills” as the sixth vital factor for a successful life. In Korean society, content is often considered less important than lustrous wrapping, and quality is often regarded less important than quantity.

In a society where bluffing and sugar-coating is considered valuable, honesty becomes superfluous. Indeed, only 1.97% of the people who had responded to the poll chose “honesty” as an important factor for being successful in Korea.

Nowhere can one find “capability,” “competence,” or “dedication” as the primary factors for a successful life. Korean society does not seem to count “commitment” as an important merit either, which is another vital factor for being successful in other countries.

Strangely enough, there is no corresponding Korean word for the English word, “commitment”. In a society where politics and connections are important, perhaps “commitment” is not so compelling.

In other countries, things are quite different. In the United States, for example, a considerable number of high school graduates enter a community college first, and then transfer to a major state university later. Self improvement, an important virtue in American society, is constantly encouraged.

In Korea, however, people tend to disapprove of such improvement, calling it “educational background laundry” or “changing the signboard”. That means, once a community college student, always a community college student. It’s like karma that follows you everywhere you go.

In this global age, however, Koreans need to alter their consciousness and shed off their old, stiff skin in exchange for a newer, more flexible one.

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