Cultural Post ---SDLC 111

[Xiaoting Sun]

In South Korea, people stress on member of group concept. Loyalty supreme and over-rides most other social rules and regulations. People there consider group success is more important and priority then individual success. The whole contry is a big group and even big families. Through communication with Korean students on campus, younger students call elder students as elder sister누나 or elder brother오빠, even they do not have blood relationship. This phenomenon is more common in South Korea, the young will call man uncle삼촌 who is like their father’s age. In western hemisphere, people will just call Mr. XX or Mrs. XX instead of uncle and aunt. When a foreigner visit in Korea, it is common that a big family with a focus on the extended family or extended relationships. Because they consider them as a big family, so the society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. Communication is indirect, because they want to leave the idea to the listener to fill in the blanks and make out the meaning by correctly reading the contextual clues.