"Dynamic Korea" — But how inclusive is it Really?

Korea, precisely South Korea, or the Republic of Korea, has been embracing extreme dynamicity when it comes to economic development. But how is the society, really?

Dynamic Korea, Open Korea, Amazing Korea… these are the slogans that Koreans love to brand themselves.

However, the reality is not that rosy. In a 2021 survey by the National Human Rights Commissions of Korea, 89.9% of public servants such as government officials or schoolteachers admitted that some degree of racisms exists in Korea, and that the road to diversity is a long and winding road. Reddit (yes, understand that it is not the best of references, but still worth reading to understand certain portion of public sentiment) is flooded with people sighing about Koreans being racist.

Some point to Korea’s supposed ethnic homogeneity — often calling themselves Hanminjok (the Korean race) — as a reason for the lack of diversity. But considering the fact that Koreans are in fact not ethnically homogeneous at all — maybe linguistically, yes, but not in heritage or experience, — there is no ground to Koreans being extra reclusive in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Before we dive into why DEI matters — and how to apply it in communications (the theme of this blog) — let’s look at some revealing numbers on Korea’s current state of diversity.

Korea’s Culture, Tourism and Sports ministry in 2024 surveyed Korean people on their perception of diversity in the country. Though the survey is heavily focused on cultural diversity, it is noteworthy. 

About 38.1% of the respondents said they do not know the concept of cultural diversity. About 70.5% thought there was a value in cultural diversity, though. About 78.3% said they haven’t experienced cultural diversity or received any training (education) on cultural diversity. Education? The report acknowledges human rights education, awareness campaigns for disabled people, as well as cultural diversity, diversity reception, hate prevention to be of such.

The respondents said that cultural diversity is about respecting and acknowledging diversity. This includes actions that take other people’s positions into consideration; hang out with people from different backgrounds, not feeling uncomfortable being with people with different religions or beliefs; try to discuss and arbitrate on the various ideas; not feeling uncomfortable in challenging ideas against traditional values.

They marked Korea to be 50.8 point out of a total of 100 points in terms of diversity. This could be counted mildly ordinary, the researchers said.

So, what are the ways to improve diversity in Korea? They said training and campaigning for awareness enhancement to be the most impactful. Having regulations and systems to support diversity, as well as cultural diversity boosting programmes followed.

So, this is not really me or any experts talking. But Korea lacks diversity, and Koreans know it. And they think it needs to improve.

The only way is to move forward. Bring diversity to Korea. Then equity and inclusion will follow.