The Koreans: Their Mind and Behavior (review)

140BOOK REVIEWS advance new and perceptive interpretations that shatter traditional assumptions about the way the United States fought for an acceptable outcome in Korea. Yet both works suffer from a troubling tendency to assign blame almost entirely to the United States for the tragedy in Korea. Foot also exaggerates the impact of domestic politics on U.S. policy , suggesting, for example, that Truman would not have approved crossing the 38th parallel if there had been no congressional elections that fall. Worse yet, after finishing either book, few readers will remember that the Soviet Union did much to encourage the Korean War. More important, there would have been no U.S. military intervention in Korea had Kim Il Sung not launched an invasion that almost succeeded in imposing his totalitarian system on South Korea. Nor would the Korean conflict have lasted much beyond the spring of 1952 had the PRC not been obsessed with saving face. James I. Matray New Mexico State University The Koreans: Their Mind and Behavior, by Jae-UnKim (translated by Kyong-Dong Kim). Seoul: Korea Research Foundation and Kyobo Book Centre, 1991 . 236 pp. W7.000. This book begins with an interesting preface in which the author states that "since liberation in 1945 we Koreans have paid less attention to grasping ourselves than to learning others and absorbing theirs." Given the paucity of contemporary English language works on the attitudes and behaviors of Koreans, this book written by Ewha University professor Jae-Un Kim, translated into English by his brother (Seoul National University professor Kyong-Dong Kim), stands out as not only provocative subject matter for scholars of Korean Studies, but also (perhaps especially , so) to international business people and non-Koreans who must interact with Koreans. Although it is written more in the style of an academic dissertation, one could also imagine it as a useful field guide for foreign diplomats, scholars, and others stationed in Korea. Indeed, the book is quite readable, despite its academic style and the peculiarities in syntax that one associates with translated works of this sort. There are some interesting propositions raised early on in the book, particularly with regard to some of the methodological hazards of BOOK REVIEWS141 studying one's own culture (objectivity) and of not going so far as to include some cross-cultural comparisons. Invariably, some of these problems are addressed by the very interactive nature of reading itself. I found myself at times straining to judge the objectivity of the analysis and also engaging in a bit of cross-cultural comparison, comparing not just the ideas and behaviors of Koreans with non-Koreans, but also the variety found within Korean society itself. To be certain, the task of completing a study as large as that suggested by the book's title is quite challenging , in spite of the commonalities among Koreans and the pervasiveness of cultural practices. I enjoyed reading this book in part because of the careful organization of the material. Following an introductory chapter, the author provides a nice review of the literature in which he has grouped the studies according to some related themes. Following each subsection, there is a concise summary of the key points raised by the various writers. The next chapter deals with some empirical results of a survey conducted in the early 1980s on Korean attitudes and behaviors. The final chapter contains some concluding remarks. Neatly packaged, though in parts somewhat redundant, the book itself presents a picture of the Korean mind and behavior. The references to noted scholars and thinkers in both Korea and in the world at large demonstrate almost a polite deference to an intellectual ancestry. The literature review is largely descriptive, with little or no critical analysis of the various viewpoints and perspectives offered. Passages that are often conflicting and contradictory are left standing and unresolved. Hence, the views of Yi Ki-baek, Ch'oe Namson , Yi Kwang-su, Ham Sök-hön, Ch'oe Hyön-bae, and many others taken together paint a complicated, hot/cold, passive/aggressive, inside/ outside view of the Korean people. The section on "ecological perspectives," in which the personality of the Korean people is related to the...