4 ms·

man this region of Korea as a whole always have these stories popping up. Unlike the rest of the Korea South western part of Korea is economically undeveloped a

man this region of Korea as a whole always have these stories popping up. Unlike the rest of the Korea South western part of Korea is economically undeveloped as a result of the political elite being from South Eastern region which benefit tremendously (namely Hyundai and other big companies creating large amount of jobs). Allegedly there exists a couple millenia old feud between Koreans from these two regions of West and East. People from West and East don't marry each other or do business together. Much of Korea's online communities show extreme hatred for people from South West region of Korea.

w1ntermute 12y ago
> Much of Korea's online communities show extreme hatred for people from South West region of Korea. One major reason for this is the Gwangju Uprising[0]. 0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Uprising http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Uprising
- curiously 12y ago
  Yes in particular it's viewed as a pro-communist armed revolt from a region that has not received any of benefit from Korea's rising economy. It's a controversial topic in Korea and views are divided. It's interesting to note that the special force soldiers specifically from South East region were handpicked to carry out merciless beatings and killings.
  - yongjik 12y ago
    Oh for fuck's sake, shut the fuck up. The only people who say the uprising of Gwangju is a pro-communist revolt are super-extreme-right-wing (even by Korea's standard) shitheads who can't tell their ass from their mouth. Sometimes they make pretty noises when the court fines them for slandering those who died in Gwangju. (Even our largely conservative court decided these idiots are not worth the rice they eat.) "It's a controversial topic in Korea and views are divided"? Jesus Christ. (Well, just in case anyone's wondering if I'm parroting one side's argument, the "leftists" like me aren't immune to idiotic arguments from time to time. Decades ago it used to be popular to suggest that the US might have provoked the North Korea into starting the Korean War. Of course, the fall of Soviet Union and the release of tons of documents put an end to that line of thought. We're dealing with that level of reality distortion field here.)
whoisthemachine 12y ago
It's amazing how little it takes for people to nurture bitter differences with neighbors.
- curiously 12y ago
  It started a long time ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea Basically the South East kingdom Silla ended up killing everyone and taking the whole country to themselves with the help of China. Then when they pulled a switcheroo and attacked China and unified Korea.
trynumber9 12y ago
Honam (Jeolla) acts as a separate political block too. It votes the same party, with a low of around 80% in 2007 and high of 95% in 1997. Just look at the regional break down for each election and you can see that South Korea is divided among itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_1997 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_2002 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect...
- curiously 12y ago
  Yes that's a common reason why that region as a whole is blamed for bringing a decade of anti-American, pro-North Korean policies that ultimately backfired. It has long been equated with violence and rebellion for left wing causes. You can see that since 2007 Seoul has basically shifted back to right wing administration and has not returned since.
yongjik 12y ago
Economic inequality is still a problem, but everything else you wrote is about twenty years out of date. It's like how there are still white supremacist websites in the US even when a black guy is their president. Sure, there is at least one online community who show extreme hatred toward people from the Southwest region (I wouldn't name it, but it should be obvious to anyone who's been following South Korean news for the past several years[1]), but they represent the social norms of South Korea about as much as Youtube comments do of America. (They also tend to show extreme hatred of women, the liberals, the poor, the disabled, and North Korea.) Also anybody who talks about "a couple millenia old feud" between these regions don't know what they're talking about. Case in point: in 1963, Southeast(Gyeongsang)-based candidate Park Jung Hee won the presidential election[2] thanks to the votes of both Southeast and Southwest regions. (He then went on to foster the regional discrimination we're talking about to secure his political base, and died a dictator, but that's another story.) Even when it comes to economic inequality, the much more serious problem is that between Seoul (and its neighbor regions) and everywhere else. It was another social problem president Roh Moo-Hyun (2003-2008) tried to solve (by building a new capital city that specializes on administration, like Washington DC), but the constitutional court killed the plan by basically inventing "customary constitution" out of thin air. He was also widely supported by the Democratic Party (or several other names the party assumed in Korea's hectic climate), largely based on the Southwest region, but he himself was from Busan, the biggest city in the Southeast. So, there. As for why these "island slaves" are always found in the Southwest region, I think there's a much simpler explanation: that's where almost all islands are. Look at the map of South Korea. Not all coastlines are shaped alike. [1] By the way, if you know the site, admitting "I visit that site" will be about as beneficial to your online reputation as saying that you support Westboro Baptist Church. [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_1963 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect...
- curiously 12y ago
  The feud is very much real and exists especially if you've ever been to South East part of Korea. It is not at all on par with white supermacist but it's a tradition of segregation that is regardless of how advanced or modern Korea is exist in some way or another. It may not be visible on the open but people from South East openly discriminate people from South West. The two regions were separate kingdoms couple thousand years ago and the beef still remains. You can see clearly the disparity in income and economy between South West and South East which reflects the economic policies of the past. It may not be as explicit than before but you can see that there's a reason why South West voted for the 10 year for a leftist administration in Korea that brought much danger to the security of republic of Korea as a result of practicing sunshine policy. The website is well known in Korea called ilbe.com and it's extremely popular right wing views gaining the attention of mainstream. IT has many entertaining articles written in non-honorifics and ton of swear words which is quite a departure from the mainstream media. It's common to see people spreading their hatred for Jeolla (South West) region and it's people often referring to them as some really awful stinky fish dish from that regioncalled Hong-uh (홍어, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocellate_spot_skate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocellate_spot_skate) and pictures of former presidents Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun have become a sort of meme.
donpark 12y ago
This is not about Korea but about humanity falling apart at fringes. We value truth because we fear lies. We value kindness because we fear brutality. We value order because we fear mayhem. We fear because we know we are capable, of all these shadows.

w1ntermute 12y ago

> Much of Korea's online communities show extreme hatred for people from South West region of Korea. One major reason for this is the Gwangju Uprising[0]. 0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Uprising http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Uprising

curiously 12y ago
Yes in particular it's viewed as a pro-communist armed revolt from a region that has not received any of benefit from Korea's rising economy. It's a controversial topic in Korea and views are divided. It's interesting to note that the special force soldiers specifically from South East region were handpicked to carry out merciless beatings and killings.
- yongjik 12y ago
  Oh for fuck's sake, shut the fuck up. The only people who say the uprising of Gwangju is a pro-communist revolt are super-extreme-right-wing (even by Korea's standard) shitheads who can't tell their ass from their mouth. Sometimes they make pretty noises when the court fines them for slandering those who died in Gwangju. (Even our largely conservative court decided these idiots are not worth the rice they eat.) "It's a controversial topic in Korea and views are divided"? Jesus Christ. (Well, just in case anyone's wondering if I'm parroting one side's argument, the "leftists" like me aren't immune to idiotic arguments from time to time. Decades ago it used to be popular to suggest that the US might have provoked the North Korea into starting the Korean War. Of course, the fall of Soviet Union and the release of tons of documents put an end to that line of thought. We're dealing with that level of reality distortion field here.)

whoisthemachine 12y ago

It's amazing how little it takes for people to nurture bitter differences with neighbors.

curiously 12y ago
It started a long time ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea Basically the South East kingdom Silla ended up killing everyone and taking the whole country to themselves with the help of China. Then when they pulled a switcheroo and attacked China and unified Korea.

trynumber9 12y ago

Honam (Jeolla) acts as a separate political block too. It votes the same party, with a low of around 80% in 2007 and high of 95% in 1997. Just look at the regional break down for each election and you can see that South Korea is divided among itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_1997 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_2002 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect...

curiously 12y ago
Yes that's a common reason why that region as a whole is blamed for bringing a decade of anti-American, pro-North Korean policies that ultimately backfired. It has long been equated with violence and rebellion for left wing causes. You can see that since 2007 Seoul has basically shifted back to right wing administration and has not returned since.

yongjik 12y ago

Economic inequality is still a problem, but everything else you wrote is about twenty years out of date. It's like how there are still white supremacist websites in the US even when a black guy is their president. Sure, there is at least one online community who show extreme hatred toward people from the Southwest region (I wouldn't name it, but it should be obvious to anyone who's been following South Korean news for the past several years[1]), but they represent the social norms of South Korea about as much as Youtube comments do of America. (They also tend to show extreme hatred of women, the liberals, the poor, the disabled, and North Korea.) Also anybody who talks about "a couple millenia old feud" between these regions don't know what they're talking about. Case in point: in 1963, Southeast(Gyeongsang)-based candidate Park Jung Hee won the presidential election[2] thanks to the votes of both Southeast and Southwest regions. (He then went on to foster the regional discrimination we're talking about to secure his political base, and died a dictator, but that's another story.) Even when it comes to economic inequality, the much more serious problem is that between Seoul (and its neighbor regions) and everywhere else. It was another social problem president Roh Moo-Hyun (2003-2008) tried to solve (by building a new capital city that specializes on administration, like Washington DC), but the constitutional court killed the plan by basically inventing "customary constitution" out of thin air. He was also widely supported by the Democratic Party (or several other names the party assumed in Korea's hectic climate), largely based on the Southwest region, but he himself was from Busan, the biggest city in the Southeast. So, there. As for why these "island slaves" are always found in the Southwest region, I think there's a much simpler explanation: that's where almost all islands are. Look at the map of South Korea. Not all coastlines are shaped alike. [1] By the way, if you know the site, admitting "I visit that site" will be about as beneficial to your online reputation as saying that you support Westboro Baptist Church. [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_election,_1963 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_presidential_elect...

curiously 12y ago
The feud is very much real and exists especially if you've ever been to South East part of Korea. It is not at all on par with white supermacist but it's a tradition of segregation that is regardless of how advanced or modern Korea is exist in some way or another. It may not be visible on the open but people from South East openly discriminate people from South West. The two regions were separate kingdoms couple thousand years ago and the beef still remains. You can see clearly the disparity in income and economy between South West and South East which reflects the economic policies of the past. It may not be as explicit than before but you can see that there's a reason why South West voted for the 10 year for a leftist administration in Korea that brought much danger to the security of republic of Korea as a result of practicing sunshine policy. The website is well known in Korea called ilbe.com and it's extremely popular right wing views gaining the attention of mainstream. IT has many entertaining articles written in non-honorifics and ton of swear words which is quite a departure from the mainstream media. It's common to see people spreading their hatred for Jeolla (South West) region and it's people often referring to them as some really awful stinky fish dish from that regioncalled Hong-uh (홍어, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocellate_spot_skate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocellate_spot_skate) and pictures of former presidents Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun have become a sort of meme.

donpark 12y ago

This is not about Korea but about humanity falling apart at fringes. We value truth because we fear lies. We value kindness because we fear brutality. We value order because we fear mayhem. We fear because we know we are capable, of all these shadows.