Korea's Hyper-Confucianism

"Maryknoller in Korea" quotes a professor at a university in Seoul in his diocesan bulletin about the "rigid look[s]," "stiff facial expression[s]," and "somber facial looks" of Koreans — THOSE YOU KNOW AND DON'T KNOW. This Korean professor mentions that "as children... Koreans are told to be kind to people they know but people you do not know you don't act as if you know them."

For the Confucian, the five relationships form the basis for all social interaction. Taken to the extreme, this might leave people who don't fit into one of the relationships out in the cold. The Korean word for "other people" (nam) shares a root with words for "excess," "left over," and "left behind." A colleague once said that Koreans are simultaneously the most considerate people in the world (to those with whom there is a relationship) and the most inconsiderate (to people with whom there is none). Driving on Korea's roads, where there are no relationships, bears this out.