This week I received a request from a friend and professor in the United States: “Can I please explain the concept of han,’ particularly how it manifests in contemporary society and the benefits it provides to the community.” Korea clearly continues to fascinate many people around the world and a lot of them are looking for the secret code or key to understanding why Korean people are the way they are, why their K-dramas resonate the way they do, and why their favourite idol’s eyes linger on screen a little more than is comfortable. Could it be than this is all due to han’? Certainly we are no strangers to articles and YouTube videos declaring “How Squid Game Reflects Korean People’s Unique Sense of Han” or “Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite Shows the Economic Han of Modern Korea.”
This week I received a request from a friend and professor in the United States: “Can I please explain the concept of han,’ particularly how it manifests in contemporary society and the benefits it provides to the community.” Korea clearly continues to fascinate many people around the world and a lot of them are looking for the secret code or key to understanding why Korean people are the way they are, why their K-dramas resonate the way they do, and why their favourite idol’s eyes linger on screen a little more than is comfortable. Could it be than this is all due to han’? Certainly we are no strangers to articles and YouTube videos declaring “How Squid Game Reflects Korean People’s Unique Sense of Han” or “Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite Shows the Economic Han of Modern Korea.”