The Korean culture is immensely impacted by the ideological notions of Confucianism and this causes inclusion of the collectivist approach in society. The notion of collectivism explains the values of self being always assumed to be in sync with the group’s well-being and the group stands on common grounds which regard to share values, goals and, mass objectives (Ahn 10). This cultural practice is entirely different from the individualistic culture of Western countries where autonomy, independence and personal liberty are sole drivers of personal and individual growth in the society (Ahn 11). The definition of development and growth are mere integration or summation of individualistic growth and attainments in the western culture. On the other hand, collectivist culture adopts the theory of development subjected to development and advancement of the society as a whole (Ahn 8). The basic foundation of Korean culture is setup on the fundamentals of collectivism and the Korean Society has very clear examples of infusion and intrusion of collectivist approach in various aspects of life (Lee and McNulty 32).
An incident which exemplifies Korean collectivism
The Asian financial crisis of 1997 involved serious currency devaluation, loss of national productivity, and meltdown of economic stability of national economy for almost all the Asian nations. Korea was also a victim of this financial crunch and it suffered heavily on the fronts of devalued currency, crumbled economy, and huge trade deficits. The government sought a way to revive national economy by asking international finance agencies and banks to lend those loans. In retur, the Korean government underwent huge debt liability to leading international lenders like International Monetary Fund. Generally, developing countries in Asia (like India and China) are fully dependent on government initiatives and intervention fir economic policies which lead to revival of their nation (Lee and McNulty 31). However, the Korean society came up with a collective fight against the economic crisis by including rational individualism into their collectivist approach and finally, led the national economy safely to the shore.
More collectivism and no individualism in Korean economy was the main cause behind this economic trembling for Korea. The Korean economist underwent a study which made them realize that due to excessive influence of collectivism in their business culture, the industries and business were adopting more of joint benefit strategies and this resulted in less competitiveness in the national markets (Lee and McNulty 34).Therefore, during the economic crisis leading Korean giants like Hyundai and Samsung started investing in public awareness campaigns to seek their support rather than adopting a individualist approach to improve their own financial situation. The Korean economy was actually suffering due to influence of extreme collectivism and least individualism which resulted in harmonic markets which had strengthened common goals and least focus on individual growth (Lee and McNulty 36). Hence, too much collectivism was actually hampering economic competitiveness of Korean Markets.
Transition of Korean culture and the consequent impact on economy
After envisioning the farsighted mal-effects of too much collectivism in Korean economy, the government started promoting individualism fostering policies and leading Korean business like Hyundai and Samsung transformed towards individualistic growth. As the collectivism was already entrenched into Korean culture, the gradual transformation into individualism resulted in sustainable economic revival for the business and then collectivist approach started again favouring the social economic uplift. Hence, it can be clearly seen that a transition of Korean culture from pro-collectivist before 1997 to a blend of collectivism and individualism after 1997 aided in revival of the Korean economy.
Works Cited
Ahn , D. Diana. " Individualism and Collectivism in Korean Population". Scrips senior thesis. Claremont college, 2011. 8-11. Print.
Lee, Ho-Chull and McNulty, Patricia. " Korea’s Economic Crisis and Cultural Transition toward Individualism ". Economic and Social Research Institute. ESRI Discussion Paper Series No.71, 2003. 30-37. Print.
