The New Koreans: The Story of a Nation

by Michael Breen

Just a few decades ago, the South Koreans were an impoverished, agricultural people. In one generation they moved from the fields to Silicon Valley. They accomplished this through three totally unexpected economic development, democratization, and the arrival of their culture to global attention.

Who are the Koreans? What are they like? The New Koreans examines how they have been perceived by outsiders, the features that color their “national character,” and how their emergence from backwardness, poverty, and brutality happened. It also looks at why they remain unhappy―with the lowest birth rates and highest suicide rates in the developed world.

In The New Koreans , Michael Breen provides compelling insight into the history and character of this fascinating nation of South Korea, and casts an eye to future developments, as well as across the DMZ into North Korea.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Asia, Politics, Anthropology, Business, Travel

480 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 2017

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was flipping through the New York Times one day when I came across several full page ads of Samsung products – and I thought “that’s Korean, isn’t it?”. Then I realized that LG is also Korean (by Korean I mean South Korea). I already knew that Hyundai and KIA were Korean-made. I also thought that I don’t know a whole lot about this country that makes so many of these hi-tech products that I take for granted in my house - from the androids and tablets to the refrigerator and stove.

So here was this recent book published this year by an English fellow who has been living for decades in South Korea working as a journalist. It’s entertainingly written in a folksy and humorous style. None of that scholarly-academic writing from our author Michael Breen. We are provided with some history. For example, after the Korean War all of Korea was a basket case – at the bottom level of underdeveloped countries. It was mostly agrarian-poor and illiterate.

So what happened? Korea today is urban and possibly the most Wi-Fi connected country in the world. Mr. Breen recounts this astounding transition. Sometimes democracy is a one-step forward, two-steps backward system – as recent events with Park Guen-hye demonstrate.

The 1988 Olympics were seen as a massive turning point – where South Korea over-shadowed North Korea in terms of development and modernization. Up till then North Korea had been telling the world that its society was superior to that of South Korea. The participation of the entire world in those 1988 Olympics, including North Korea’s purported allies (the Soviet Union, China...),forever put to rest the myth of North Korean supremacy.

South Korea has since demonstrated its’ “can do” attitude even more so in the economic and technology spheres. For example in 1996 during a financial crisis the IMF provided a 58 billion dollar loan.

Page 376 (my book)

Korea repaid its IMF loan by the summer of 2001, three years before it was due.


Page 365

In 1963, 63 percent of working Koreans farmed or fished for a living...Forty years later, this sector was down to 8.8 percent of the workforce... But after 2003, something unusual occurred. The manufacturing sector started expanding again... Indeed, Koreans have become even better at making things.


This is a history of a country doing remarkable transitions from its often violent past and its tense relationship with the North. The problems it now faces and its many accomplishments are well outlined in this book.

[Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me realise how awesome the South Koreans really are. From being an agrarian economy that was devastated by the Korean war, which unofficially ended in 1953, leaving the bulk of its people poor and starving, South Korea has in a few short decades managed to turn itself into a technological, manufacturing and shipping powerhouse, transformed from a dictatorship into a thriving democracy, hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics, jointly hosted the FIFA World Cup, chaired the UN, produced numerous blockbuster, international award-winning movies, given us K-POP, produced the worldwide phenomenon "Gangnam Style" which was once the most-viewed video on Youtube and won the MAN Booker Prize (Han Kang's "The Vegetarian").

This book was written by a foreign journalist who has lived and worked in South Korea since 1982 and is married to a local. It is eye-opening and written in a very accessible, non-academic style. The long sections on politics might be a bit dry but overall I found it a fascinating read.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book begins with a 2014 maritime disaster. In the chapters that follow, you see how the tragedy has elements of both the old and the “New Korea”.

Michael Breen has been living in Korea (as South Korea is now commonly called) and writing about it for over 30 years. The book shows not only his knowledge of the people and their history, it displays Breen’s ability to engage a previously uninformed reader. When he says “democracy began in Korea in 1988” he’s walked you through the history so even though you know that Koreans had been voting for over 40 years, you know what this means. He has an eye for human interest. For instance, westerners will enjoy the story of Emperor Sukjong and Lady Chang as sounding very much like Henry VIII and Anne Bolyen.

Through statistics and short life stories you see the physical and emotional devastation wrought by generations of war and occupation. Freedom from colonization/occupation in and of itself did not change Korea’s poverty. Even into the 1960’s there were years of rice-less Fridays. Somehow, this small crowded nation with few natural resources emerged from among the world’s poorest to be its 15th largest economy.

Education is not only an element of Korea’s economic growth, it is a mammoth change in and of itself. After the war, only 10% of the population was literate. Now high school graduation is almost 100% and 70% of the population is college educated.

The government set a goal of increasing exports. It created a tax code and loan system to favor exports (at the expense of the service industry). Early targets were $100/capita annual exports. Now numbers exceed $1,000/capita. Another is the competitiveness of the culture. This may the legacy of recent poverty: the great-grandparents and grandparents of today’s corporate masters had to scramble for a bowl of rice.

There are memorable stories, such as the unusual biography of the first president, Syngman Rhee; the release in the 1980’s of thousands of political prisoners (how they got to prison; length of term; impact on families); and the many anecdotes about the brutality of the pecking order in the culture, schools and the workplace. There are inspiring stories such as how women supported the nation’s economy in the recent financial crisis by donating their wedding rings and light stories such as the re-naming of the streets of Seoul.

I had bits of knowledge about this South Korea and its people. Breen put it all together in a way that intuitively fits my understanding.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year I've become intrigued by South Korea after watching a lot of Korean dramas on netflix and reading novels in translation. What I'd really like to read is a history of the country by a historian, but all I could find in the library was this book by a journalist so I gave it a try. My prior knowledge of Korean history all came from The Korean War by Max Hastings and the wonderful period drama My Country: The New Age. Although The New Koreans: The Story of a Nation was more journalistic and anecdotal than I would have liked, it also proved informative and I learned quite a bit. Breen covers a lot of historical, cultural, social, and economic ground via an idiosyncratic non-linear structure. I found the historical and economic chapters very satisfactory, but would prefer to read more about the culture and social context by actual Koreans. To his credit, Breen is conscious of how dubious generalisation can be:

As I reject any labels put on me by Koreans, the hypocrisy of lumping them as one group, and claiming they think and behave like this or that, does not escape me. As intellectually attractive as it is, I fear it only makes limited sense to talk about a national character.
Nonetheless, I can confidently assert that Koreans are far more gregarious than, say, the British. At least, I will say this about Koreans over thirty. I am not sure yet about younger Koreans.

There was a lot more about religion than I expected, which was interesting. Religion has taken a very different role in Korean society than European, for sure. I'd anticipated details of the country's rapid economic development and ongoing stand-off with North Korea, which were indeed covered thoroughly. Commentary on how the legal system has struggled to gain any independence from the government gave me context for the highly entertaining dystopian melodrama The Devil Judge. Some of the descriptions of political challenges sounded oddly familiar:

[In 1985] this party won an impressive number of seats in the National Assembly. It began to press for a constitutional change to replace the electoral college system for electing the president, which the government could manipulate, to direct popular election.
However, the National Assembly itself was a pretence. A proportional system was in place whereby additional seats were allotted to each party according to how many seats it won in the election. The way these were allocated allowed the ruling Democratic Justice Party to enjoy a clear majority, although it won only a third of the vote.

The former sounds a lot like the US electoral college system; the latter describes the same results as the British first past the the post system. I still want to read a more academic history of Korea and something more specifically about the rise of Korean culture in the global sphere. Nonetheless, The New Koreans: The Story of a Nation was a promising introduction and seemed rigorously researched. The bibliography looks useful too.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but I had trouble getting into it. I'm not sure why. Compared to the other Korean book I've read this year (Seoul Man by Frank Ahrens) -- this one is much more informed about Korea, and the author has a lot more to say about it.... BUT it's also more of a slog to get through. Ahrens had the advantage of being new to the culture so was more focused on the elements of the culture that stood out.

This book is more amorphous. Is it a history? An examination of the culture? A study of its politics? A look at its economy? Yup. It's all of those things. But it's never standout on any of it. And it's often seems a little too generalized about what it's trying to get at, especially in the early chapters. There are some errors, too. He says China's first Olympics was in 1988. No, there were in LA in 1984. Well, that's minor. But he begins Chapter 12 by saying how Korea savored its chances in the new century. Um, I know somethings about East Asia in those years. Korea was already getting kicked around like a football between the main powers. It already had diminishing room to manuever.

Don't get me wrong. It's still a good book. I am giving it four stars, after all. But it can be annoying. (If I could give half-stars, this would be 3.5). There is some good info it. Some stray things that stuck with: the importance of the group dynamic and group orientation in Korea. There is an ongoing tradition of shamanism in Korea, and even a crackdown against it in the 1970s in South Korea. The movie The Admiral: Roaring Currents sounds interesting. Currently, they have the Sampo generation - people who have the three give ups: love, marriage, children. They just play video games. Syngman Rhee flatly defied the US on the 1953 armistice negotiation, but only agreed to keep his mouth shut in return for a defense treaty - and this worked out for him.

The section on WWII (p.161-64 in the hardcover book) is really strong. Millions of workers were uprooted. Korean was banned in the classroom in 1940 and they were all made to adopt Korean names. 360,000 served as either soldiers or civilian employees for the military. Japan states that 131,955 died in war service, and 21,000 are commemorated at the Yakusuni Shrine. 30,000 died in the nuclear bombings. Between 4 to 7.8 million were mobilized for war labor and 1/6 of Koreans lived in Japan or Japanese-controlled Asia as workers. Women were put in the Comfort Corps. Interestingly, people who lived through it seem less upset at Japan than those born later.

Korea's DMZ is supposed to be 4 kilometers wide but the North moved forward unilaterialy, but this violation is never mentioned and foreign press accounts of the DMZ repeat the official info, not the reality.

It's #1 in university entrance for its young (70.9%). It's #1 in shipbuilding, with the top four firms. It's #1 in TVs, home appliances, and 2nd in mobile devices and semiconductors. It's 9th in electricity generation, 4th in nuclear power production, and has the 2nd biggest carbon market (after the EU) imposing caps on emissions. But their likely to have a drop in people who can work.

[Staci · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book opens with the Sewol Ferry tragedy. Well, technically it opens with a preface about Breen's earlier book The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies but then the first chapter is about Sewol and how Sewol can be seen as a metaphor for the modern or "New" Koreans. The chapter is short and doesn't do the best job explaining the tragedy (or really how it can be used as a metaphor, although that presumably will be explained throughout the rest of the book). For those who are not already familiar with the tragedy, it may not be clear or make much of an impact but if you--like a good number of people who would probably pick up this book--are interested in Korean culture and were interested in it when Sewol happened in 2014, you're probably aware of how shocking that tragedy was for the Korean people at the time: it's like their Titanic (and also, in many ways, a pre-Watergate for them; the president, was heavily criticized for the tragedy and would later be impeached for corruption). If you're aware, the use of Sewol packs an emotional punch right from the get go, I get why Breen would pick it. And yet, and this could be seen in comments made on articles about the disaster at the time, there are a couple of other disasters Breen could easily have picked, most notably the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in 1995. Breen probably picked Sewol because it was the most recent and this was originally an updating of his previous book for the 21st century. (Also, as some would point out, the Korean people have historically accepted a lot of negative things as more or less status quo and have always done what they do best which is pick themselves up and trudge on, relegating their unhappiness to han and not holding out too much hope of any fundamental change and thus being immensely surprised when change actually does occur. It will be interesting to see in a few decades if Sewol manages to maintain an immense hold on the people's emotions.)

It may be a fair argument to say that Breen tilts perhaps a bit much to the optimistic side: at one point early in the book he envisions a future in which ALL countries have transitioned out of poverty, "at such a time, ironically, it may be natural for national boundaries to melt and for the rules we live by to be set at one end by regional and global government and at the other end by local government. Nations may remain for purposes of identity and selecting World Cup teams, but they will no longer need weapons". Yeah, maybe when we have discovered other forms of life in space (or they have discovered us) and Earth has become just one of many planets joined in some sort of peaceful Intergalactic United Nations...although, given the way humans have imagined our encounters with aliens in various books and movies, we might have more and stronger weapons at that point than ever before. Although, to play devil's advocate, Breen may not be making too far-off of a claim, after all, as he states just before the above "World Peace" scenario, nobody including the Koreans believed that Korea could have accomplished what it did or in as short of a time as it did and yet, of course, that is why this book exists, because they did just that. "Their rise out of poverty in the face of such circumstances to democratic capitalism underlines the theme of our age."

Breen, for the most part seems to know what he's talking about, with a real insider's look into Korean society (as he should, having been there since the '80s). However, there are a few moments that stand out, probably because of how rare they are, where you sort of wonder "did/does he really not get what's going on there?" For example, Breen mentions how it was years, YEARS, before he thought to question the toilet-paper-in-the-waste-basket-instead-of-down-the-toilet phenomenon. He also mentions about an argument he had with an office manager where afterwards the office manager brought him some apples, without mentioning that the Korean word for apple and apology is the same, sagwa, and thus the office manager was offering him a literal apology and not just, as Breen put it, "[prioritizing] the relationship and office harmony".

The organization of the book is a little lacking. The first section, the "Portraits", feels rather disjointed and seems to hop from topic to topic with no real plan (and frankly, no complete coverage of the topics either). These chapters almost feel as if they should have been dispersed throughout the rest of the book, almost as interludes. As it is, it is 115 pages before we get to the parts of the book that actually seem to be organized so that chapters dealing with similar subjects are actually together; that is almost certainly too long as it is a rare person who would continue to read 100+ pages in the hopes that the book would get its act together. Indeed, the rule I've subscribed to for many years, though I can't remember where I first learned it, is to give a book 100-minus-your-age pages before you give up on it, e.g. if you are twenty-seven you would read 100 minus 27 pages, that is, 73 pages before deciding to give up on a book (if a book is less than 100 pages, I usually make up my mind around a quarter of the way through). Also, even in later chapters, when we have actually gotten to the main topics, some of the chapters feel less organized, rational, and understandable than the others. Parts of them I recognize as being almost verbatim from the earlier book, The Koreans but the chapters read at times as if those parts were simply copied-and-pasted without enough consideration for how the chapter (or book, for that matter) read as a whole. "[A]t what point does a flaw represent a critical obstacle to continued growth?" This is ostensibly a main question of the book but it's not clear if it ever gets fully answered. And perhaps, it is the attempt to answer the question that really bogs down the book, since it would involve being somewhat able to see into the future, always a difficulty. The last section of the book, "Next", even attempts to do that and between that and the first section mentioned above, "Portraits", the book is somewhat representative of Breen's analysis of the South Korean President's five-year-term, where the first year is a learning period and the last year is a lame duck period (South Korean president's can only serve one term): the first section is a mess and the last section seems highly doubtful or even something to be approached with a high dosage of cynicism so only the three middle sections really hold any weight and, as mentioned, above they can waver in and out in their clarity.

I was excited for this book, since it was to be an updating of the previous one, since I had read the 1999 book and found it interesting but dated. Unfortunately, this book did not do it for me. Part of that is probably due to the fact that Breen is still trying to say what will come next as opposed to just focusing on what has already come and what it is about the Koreans that caused such things to occur. Breen in the previous book had predicted a relatively immediate reunification of the two Koreas and at the end of this one he mentions having once made a bet about Korean unification and chose April 15...1992. Needless to say, in both cases, he was obviously wrong. That doesn't, however, stop him from making predictions yet again. There are better books out there for those interesting in learning more about Korea and the Koreans, new or old. Breen does list what looks to be a rather comprehensive and up-to-date bibliography, so the book may be worth checking out from the library for that alone.

[Animesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel this is a right time to know what Korea was, is and can be and I am talking of both North Korea and South Korea. This read is more like a documentary and a good read for someone who loves watching history or cultural shows because the book is narrated in that sense.

Divided into five parts : portraits, roots, wealth, power, what's next - I felt that the first two sections are wonderfully written. The portraits section is literally like the writer has painted a Korean street and you are gazing it, understanding the strokes and admiring the colours. The book is also inspiring in a sense of how the government though authoritarian and the people coordinated among themselves to bring South Korea from a "basket economy to advanced economy". I was awe-struck just by reading the figures of Korean standings in different fields.

You get to know about religion, internal politics, and the cultural values also. It is not to say that the society does not have any flaws but times are changing everywhere and Korea is changing as well with new generations.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading so many books about North Korea, it is very refreshing to read about its southern neighbour. Overall, this book discussed many things, from its prehistorical and dynastic times to current days. It is fascinating to note, that although separated by the DMZ and divided by ideologies, deep down, Koreans from both sides are similar to each other. For example, South Koreans were only freed from dictatorships only recently, while the Northerns still have much to catch up. I am particularly interested to the South’s economy-building, which associated very closely with its nation-building process under the (military) leadership of Park Chung-hee, transforming South Korea from a third-world agricultural economy into a first-world manufacturing economy. Reading this book, you will not get bored, I can guarantee, for the author has skillfully mixed the historical thingy with interesting life stories of his own.

[Ronald Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an excellent book covering topics such as the democratization of South Korea. The author details the "power shift" from military rule to democracy. I enjoyed reading chapter 24 “The Miracle Of Affirmation.”
Very easy and fun read.

----------Stop Spoilers---------


Spoilers
Some videos I researched after reading each chapter.

(1) “The Broken Ship”
South Korea ferry disaster: Heroes of the Sewol
https://youtu.be/CD-f1b6LVPc

A Thousand Winds violin cover(Eng.sub)_Sewol Ferry Disaster after two years
https://youtu.be/pnkk8n0EZuo

(2) “Out of Gangnam”
Gangnam District sights, sounds, and nightlife in Seoul, South Korea
https://youtu.be/Lq8Pa3HTUmw

(3) “The Defiant Land”
North Korea Looks Strangely Dark From Space In Asia Fly-Over | Video
https://youtu.be/YE7bueQ-xs4

An Exciting South Korean Taxi Ride
https://youtu.be/lj_C6zSpE4k

(4) The Case for Hanguk”
Have you ever heard about this country? Korea *한국 홍보 *영어 *대한민국 *
https://youtu.be/gezflNAThC0

G20 Seoul Summit 2010 Video - Real Story Of Korea
https://youtu.be/mmeVI0NKjpI

(5) “The Group as Refuge”
Korean Stereotypes: Blood Type Personalities
https://youtu.be/tj7rCA9kaus

Ringing the bell in Buddhist Temple, Korea
https://youtu.be/OUpNdanOLCY

(6) “Jesus and Local Messiahs”
Korean Catholicism sees prodigious growth after long, faithful history
https://youtu.be/pDo9SgcKQDI

The Calling ( A story about Ruby Kendrick)
“If I had a thousand lives, Korea should have them all.
https://youtu.be/jB89evRn3LM

Confucianism (Window on Korean Culture #3 유교)
https://youtu.be/xTWyQH22Ko4

(7) “Suffering in the Republic of Others”
Very shocking
As a foreigner not living or never visiting South Korea. It took me six months to learn about the "dark pit" of Korean depression by reading the book “I Have the Right to Destroy Myself” by Young-ha Kim
Korea is not all K-POP and K-drama that the foreigner sees and hears. That was five years ago.
The thing I also noticed is when I try to explain this to other people around the world. They do not believe it. I guess the correct term is brainwashing.

[Sub] 여중생 이야기 / The Tough Life of A Korean Student
https://youtu.be/MBi7rLlCJMk (*Adult Subject)

(8) “Nationalism and Other Things”
Spirit of Korea _ Kim Koo, A leader who will be remembered forever(백범 김구)
https://youtu.be/8COvvWLzE_A


(9) “Love and Learning When Your DNA Isn't Yours”
Korean Women: Traditional & Modern (KWOW #111)
https://youtu.be/9Y9b3QW35cw


(10) “Beginnings”
Korean Wave from 5000 Years of History
https://youtu.be/2PwCYdnlpdY

(11) “The Quest for Purity”
When & How to Bow in Korea
https://youtu.be/jJLrEzpzpYA

[Korean Culture Series] Korean language, Hangeul
https://youtu.be/LMJnbSTzkTU

The Life of Dr. Philip Jaisohn - 서재필 박사 (Soh Jaipil) - Philip Jaisohn Video Contest 1st Place Winner
https://youtu.be/dwZXY3y4hfk

(12) “Being Second Class”
Korean History -Japanese Occupation Period
https://youtu.be/c7WJEN6vUlk

(13) “Brother no More”
Have you ever thought why the 38th parallel was chosen to separate the two Koreas?
Korea: A History Of The North-South Split
https://youtu.be/d712Qt_q0f8


(14) “Desperation”
South Korea Documentary HD Eng
https://youtu.be/z8gw5qNr6PU


(15) “Economic Warriors”
South Korea's miraculous economic development
https://youtu.be/Rra4_Glgw10

Reconstructing Korea’s Crippled Economy Korean Miners and Nurses in Germany
https://youtu.be/XbmW5OaZM1U

(16) “The Smell of Money”
Korean Start-Ups v Chaebols | FT Business
https://youtu.be/Pr1Lf7CNTh0

(17) “The Chaebol Problem”

(18) "Work, Work, Work"
South Korean employees work excessive hours
https://youtu.be/l_ZFIi9BX9w

Korean Business Etiquette: Company Dinners
https://youtu.be/wdAIQQVw5tM


(19) “At Least Pro the Right Kind of Democracy
Gangnam Style Singer Psy's 'Anti-American' Controversy
https://youtu.be/bBHLaBXu_k4

History of Korea; the June 10 civil uprising of 1987
https://youtu.be/M-5YJ62E1NI


(20) Power Shift
6월 민주항쟁 June 10, 1987- Civil Uprising in South Korea
https://youtu.be/hpr1J6-VedQ

(21) “The First Democratic Presidents'

(22) “Dissidents in Charge'
In memory of Kim Dae Jung (김대중 님을 기억하며..)
https://youtu.be/5VQ-7bVqLXM

(23) “Two Steps Back”
South Korea Protest 7th candlelight vigil
https://youtu.be/zIwHpVnvh0I ←-”People Power.”


(24) “The Miracle Of Affirmation”
I Want A Gangnam Style Face: S. Korea's Bizarre Surgery Trend
https://youtu.be/ZCKShGLyeK0

4 Angles _ Korea's Dansaekhwa Fever Spreading across the World( K-아트, 단색화 열풍)
https://youtu.be/L5HKHC40GIU

서태지 와 아이들 (SeoTaiji and Boys)- 난 알아요 (I Know)
https://youtu.be/y8em1w3KIFA

Interview with a famous poet "Ko Un" [Korea Today]
https://youtu.be/tYvcxf1lUpY

The Pansori Epic Chant
https://youtu.be/YfGT-mN6ngw

Sopyonje trailer (Im Kwon Taek)
https://youtu.be/fu6gmh4Wvys

Shin Joong Hyun / Kim Jung Mi - The Sun
https://youtu.be/oMBH-Ns2HeE

BIG BANG LIVE in NEW JERSEY - FANTASTIC BABY SUPER HD
https://youtu.be/b7tGEr_kjvQ

PSY - GANGNAM STYLE(강남스타일) M/V
https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0

2NE1 - FIRE(Space Ver.) M/V
https://youtu.be/ISEoXdHb4W4

Shiri MV - When I Dream
https://youtu.be/XQ5-GJSKREg

Joint Security Area - J.S.A. (Park Chan-wook 2000)- Korean Trailer [Eng Subs]
https://youtu.be/7IEl2BVcnnc

Oasis Korean Movie Trailer 2002
https://youtu.be/A5Tu0i-GaWw

Onara-Ost Dae Jang Geum [Rom+Eng Sub]
https://youtu.be/O4H-Qrd1gTQ


(25) “For Wider Acceptance”
How to Eat Korean BBQ - Stop Eating it Wrong, Episode 22
https://youtu.be/AuyptkdfYaE


(26) “A Wealthier Future”


(27) “The Future of Democracy”


(28) “Time to Unify”

[Jonny Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I realized that this wasn't an academic/objective view of Korea, but a personal opinions and insights into the country (backed up with lots of experiences), I really grew to love it for its accessible & personable insights from a long-time foreigner resident of Korea. I learned a lot about how Korea has developed historically, but also a lot about how Korea is operates today. Especially after having lived here for a year, a lot of things in this book clicked for me, and will continue to give insight as I continue my residence.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I, unfortunately, had to return this but I absolutely loved reading this!!

[Jeffrey Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to writing about Korea—its people, culture, and history—there is no one better up to that onerous task than Michael Breen who has devoted most of his life observing and writing about the country.

However, this is more than just an outsider’s take on Korea. To be sure, Breen with journalistic flair and cultural sensitivity offers an in-depth look at modern Korea that is unrestrained and honest. This is more than a history of modern Korea, however. Breen endeavors throughout this impressive tome to help readers understand who the Koreans really are through anecdotal musings and historical evidence.

Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the opening chapter which talks about the Sewol tragedy when a ferry sank off the southern coast of the peninsula in the spring of 2014. This was a rather bold on the part of Breen to lead off with this tragedy, but this chapter and his delicate, cultural understanding set the tone for the rest of the book when he tries to make sense of why something like the tragedy and its aftermath could happen. I remembered when this tragedy happened and immediately on Facebook, foreigners in Korea started to chime in about “their take” on the accident and the “culture” that allowed it to happen. Breen, though, the acute observer of Korea that he is, can analyze something critically without being shackled by his deep appreciation for the country. In the process, he helps the reader understand the Korean psyche and character without running the risk of being bias.

One of the things that I liked most about the book were all of his anecdotes and his loving attention to detail. Even for this old Korean hat who has lived and worked in South since 1990, I learned some new things about my adopted home. Whether it’s talking about why there’s a wastepaper basket next to a toilet in a public restroom or the manner in which Koreans number and name their streets (one of the first things I learned when I came to Korea and took a taxi—in the days before GPS—was always to make sure I could tell the taxi driver a landmark to help with navigations) Breen’s observations and analyses make for some very enjoyable and insightful reading.

Another thing I liked about the book was how he divided the sections and named the chapters, which helps readers develop a better understanding of Korean than by saying this happened, and then this happened because something else happened. We want to know why it took Korea as long as it did to finally rise from the ashes of the Korean War and become the nation that it is today. We want to know why the Chaebol continue to have a stranglehold on the Korean economy and culture. We want to know why men like Park Chung-hee and Kim Dae-jung played pivotal roles in South Korean politics and their legacies that remain until today. We want someone to explain why K-Pop has become an international phenomenon. And yes, we want to know why something like the Sewol incident could happen.

If there was one book that I would recommend to anyone thinking about coming to Korea to work, study, or simply visit, I would recommend Breen’s book hands down. There’s no one writing about Korea these days more knowledgeable and understanding of Korea than Michael Breen.

Jeffrey Miller,
Bureau 39

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first chapter, about the Sewol ferry disaster, was heartbreaking and an excellently formatted introduction to the text. However, the rest of the book fell short of my expectations. It was informative but the way the facts were presented didn't resonate with me, particularly in the section where all the presidents and their contributions were listed - the material is so interesting but I couldn't retain it. I think subheadings would have helped a lot (I know I sound like I have a short attention span). Better links between the sections would have helped also; it seemed that it was a list of facts and analysis in the context of those facts followed by different facts and analysis.

Overall, a bit dry and I can't say that I ever looked forward to picking it up. I probably would have dropped it if I didn't read 70% of it on a sleeper train.

2.5/5

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since about 8 years have elapsed since this book was published, I wonder if the author’s views have changed any. North and South Korea seem to be as far apart as ever in terms of reunification. I don’t sit around and think about Korea much, but from what I learned in this book, it’s not a place that I’m dying to go to, or live in. The people seem to be a mass of contradictions. And based on the “unhappiness index”, that’s not going to change anytime soon. Actually, with the decline in birth rates, (.74 in S. Korea in 2024 which was a slight increase from 2023 when it was .72-the lowest in the world), things would seem to be going in a negative direction. North Korea has a reported birth rate of 1.78 in 2023, although declining.

[Casper Veen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on present-day South Korea, written in a very pleasant manner. Despite it being 8 years old already while South Korea is changing and developing in a very fast pace - it still feels very topical, probably because the author has lived in South Korea for so long and therefore always looks further than mere current events. Recommended!

[James Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provided an excellent overview of Korean culture, history, economic policy, politics and pop culture. Having lived in Korea and being fairly well-read in the academic and popular literature on the country, I still learned quite a bit. He successfully put into words many of the things and other expats think about and added insights into the reason why things are the way they are. That being said, I felt that the author is overly optimistic regarding the economic outlook. He didn't address the widespread youth unemployment that pervades the country and the resulting generation gap. I spent the whole last year hearing from college graduates unable to find work combined with bad economic news.

[Sara Glover · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had aimed to use this book to inform myself before I travelled to Korea to study, and find it only finished near the end. Multiple times I needed to put it down out of exasperation or disgust.

The opening functions as a good hook but quickly devolves from there. The first section reads more like a travel blog over anything concrete. The treatment of the North also felt wrong. Both in the dismissal of any positive aspects (without positives it couldn't have survived) and the notion that reunification is on the cards because of the success of capitalism, rather than it holding it back. Even these lukewarm points are treated as degenerating the South and it's honour or something. Even some of the facts claimed are so blatantly untrue a South Korean education doesn't include it on its study of the North.

Despite clearly being Southern biased, in itself expected, the book feels drastically inappropriate in some sections when talking about the South. The lack of Korean voices when discussing his grand beliefs of changing the South's name and it's need to learn from Europe gives off a vibe of Western dominance, further re-enforced by the likely innocent descriptions of the South in which its modernization is treated as something unique rather than becoming more Western which is the case. It comes across also patronising, celebrating not the path it took (although this is done later) but the position it is in now.

Descriptions of events the author witnessed also gives away some horrible viewpoints. This includes instinctively blaming workers for the collapse of a business and their subsequent unemployment, and the willingness to believe a rapist because of the South's poor court systems, after the event recounted without denial of the validity was a clear cut example of rape by any reasonable morality. Some things really should be kept to yourself as this does not read as cultural differences between nations but as just being a bad person.

These criticisms apply predominantly to the first half, and this is because after that point we get more into the history and the scope is often more limited to factual accounts over opinions. While being what I initially wanted, it also shows that the author is clearly intelligent and knows generally what he is talking about when it comes to South Korea. With a tighter focus it could easily have been a good and useful book, but unfortunately the first half completely ruins any positive feelings I can muster and is indicated by the months it took me to will my way through it.

[Allen Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone planning on traveling to Korea for business or pleasure, especially if it is going to be for an extended time, would do well to read this book. If you are just interested in the history of Korea, distant and close to present, and where it maybe headed, this book would be hard to beat. I know I was and that is why I was glad to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Morely Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a foreigner who has lived in Korea for 3 years now, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author has a relatively pleasing cadence and it was overall a pleasurable read.

The book gave a very detailed overview of Korean history (which might sound like an oxymoron, but one must remember that the full history of Korea spans a few millennia, even if much of it was unwritten). He presented many interesting events in modern Korean history and laid out a fairly decent blueprint of how modern Korea came to be. Admittedly, as someone not well-versed in economics or politics, some the more detailed analysis, of which there wasn't too much in hindsight, was a little confusing, but that's in no way due to the author's writing.

With regards to the social atmosphere of Korea, I found myself nodding in agreement more times than I could count. He discussed many of the hypotheses I had about Korean society and provided a much needed historical lens through which I was better able to learn about Korea's complicated social dynamics and culture.

Would definitely recommend for anyone interested in learning more about the growth of Korea from a postwar impoverished nation into a global, advanced country.

[Nicole Means · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually a revision from Breen's 2004 book, and it is a great intro for anyone who wants to learn about Korea's complex history and society. Breen's love of Korea is contagious and his brilliant storytelling is made authentic through anecdotes made me laugh out loud! "New Korean" reminds us that we cannot lump all East Asians into the same category-- Korea is a unique culture and should be appreciated for more than kimchi or K-Pop's YouTube sensation, rapper Psy,but rather for its diversity and growing importance on the global market. I recommend reading "New Korean" to anyone looking to learn more about South Korea.

[Alex M · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that provides new insights into Korea.
I've been able to use the historical knowledge from this book to connect better with my Korean co-workers and I have been able to understand why Koreans might do one thing vs another.
It's a very well thought out book and the amount of research undertaken is unfathomable.
This is not a book you can or should finish quickly.
It's jam-packed with information, so take your time.
It took me a few months to read. Absorbing, re-reading, absorbing again and starting the next section.
I would highly recommend to those interested in the Korean culture and to any expats living or wanting to move to Korea. Excellent insights.

[Simran · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing that strikes you while reading The New Koreans is its accessible style and writing. The book packs in a lot of history and context without boring the reader for even a second.
Being acquainted with a lot of background about South Korea, reading this book didn’t provide elements of surprise for me. However, it is laced with brilliant anecdotes, compiled from several interviews. The journalist in Michael Breen shines out in all these anecdotes. The book is often funny and extracts a chuckle out of the reader.

[Will Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear-minded, richly detailed portrait of Korea through the lens of its past and prospects for the future. Extremely interesting how South Korea became disconnected from its complex, storied, and influential past as the result of its colonization, invasion, and tumultuous wars of the 20th century, but rose up from the ruin to become one of the most vibrant and influential cultures and economies of the 21st century.

[Allison Charmaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never highlighted a book as much as I have this one. If you want to know all about Korea from Japanese Annexation to the future possibility of where the country could end up in 30 more years (and what about a unified Korea?), this book is just right. I recommend The New Koreans: The Story of a Nation to anyone who wants to understand why Koreans act the way they do, why their culture is the way it is, and where their ambitions are rooted. Excellent book overall!

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn’t lock into the author’s approach. Reads as a very long op-ed, or a cultural travelogue, but never scholarly. There are some incredible insights here that I saw first hand in an extended stay in Korea (why do Koreans not swim at beaches?), but I mostly left wishing the author would go deeper into fewer, more interesting topics (like the Jeju Massacre).

[Ivan Tchernev · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough introduction to modern Korea in all its guises. Michael Breen takes it in turn to examine the culture, history, economy, politics and future of modern-day Korea to produce a compelling portrait of its peoples. If you are interested in learning about them, I cannot imagine a better book

[Stephanie Boedecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of the country, but I may be partial as I've spent nearly five years there. For me, the politics get a bit dry at times, but also a great explanation of why the country and the people are how they are now.

[Elleke · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting and comprehensive insight in the developmeny of the current South Korea. Breen illuminates different aspects that were instrumental in the creation of the current Korean (political and economic) culture. For me it was easy to read and good introduction to the Korean culture.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual, but I thoroughly enjoyed this western insider's view of Korea. There was a lot of pretty recent history I was completely unaware of. Made my recent Kdrama obsession a lot more understandable. Fascinating!

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read made even more enjoyable because I was preparing for (and then actually on) a trip to Korea while working my way through this book. Breen brings to the table a wealth of experience, keen insights, and a positively delightful turn of phrase. Recommended.