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Like other immigrants around the world, they gradually become Koreans when they work, learn the language, marry, have children, and spend the rest of their live
by pavlov 4y ago
Like other immigrants around the world, they gradually become Koreans when they work, learn the language, marry, have children, and spend the rest of their lives there.
(Of course South Korea's case is very particular because they actually have an enormous reserve of eager potential immigrants who already speak the language, living just across their land border, an hour away from Seoul. The problem is that the other side of the border won't let anyone go.)
- FrankyZunim 4y ago[flagged]
- pavlov 4y agoThat's a problem of attitude, not genetics. A person born in Korea can become American, British, Swedish, Singaporean, Brazilian, etc. There's no fundamental reason why it wouldn't work the other way if Koreans wanted their society to be open to newcomers. With shrinking population they may want to have that national conversation eventually. Anyway, when you bring in young single people, the primary cultural diffusion is through their eventual children. They will be Korean in a way that the immigrant parent might never personally feel.
- FrankyZunim 4y ago[flagged]
- pavlov 4y agoIt's entirely different if the newcomers are primarily young and single and start families with non-immigrant Koreans. Seeing that as problematic is a slippery slope into Nazi-style racial heritage mathematics where you'd be obsessing over who's only 3/8 Korean, etc.
- FrankyZunim 4y ago[flagged]
- bllguo 4y agodismissing the concept of ethnicity may be appealing in the Western bubble but you will find few takers in the rest of the world. to reduce the NK situation to "they won't let anyone go" is also disingenuous. even if you ignore that the US refuses to allow any more meaningful peace so it can justify a continued military presence halfway across the globe, the US and South Korea are clearly more powerful and wealthy. clearly they are in a better position than NK to make concessions and pave the way for integration.
- ben_w 4y agoI suspect one reason NK developed nukes is precisely because their leadership don't want to be "integrated".