The Differences in the Details - Gwangju, South Korea

I had never heard of Lotte Mart until I moved to South Korea. On the peninsula, however, it is ubiquitous. Lotte Mart at once appears to be a familiar shopping complex and a disorienting sprawl of vendors. It is difficult to know when one is leaving or entering any given shop. After a little time spent wandering around the extensive modern-marketplace, it becomes clear that the seemingly random sprawl of merchandise is actually strategically arranged so that exiting forces the customer past an attendant of some sort. That being said, theft would otherwise be unlikely anyway.

Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
Lotte Mart is the brick and glass building on the right. The full complex straddles either side of the large shopping garage. I did not take photographs inside the store....because that seemed weird.

Robberies are nearly unheard of in Korea. For context, South Korea experiences 14 times fewer robberies than the United States and 162 times fewer burglaries. This is partly associated with the pervasive surveillance of the country. It is worth also considering the connection between the county's low crime rate and their collectivist culture.

Motivations are more closely linked to social contribution than seems mainstream in U.S. culture. The accumulation of personal wealth could be seen as an act of patriotism. Any impulse to falsely acquire material possessions or to cease wealth from another member of the collective barely has the opportunity to be considered as too risky, as it is, on its face, absurd.

Although collectivism has roots in Confucianism, it might also be useful to trace certain behaviors toward those advantageous for past agricultural lifestyles. Agricultural structures flourish as a result of communal support and compromise. Respect for elders and age reflect clearly defined hierarchies once necessary for order. These communities may have proved a fitting host for the communal values of Confucianism or the religion may have hardened such tendencies into formal habits of thought and custom. Likely, a bit of both.

Seoul, South Korea
The temple complexes in Seoul bring the ancient into one of the world's most modern cities.

In South Korea today, delineation by age remains the norm. This is perhaps the most visible difference in culture, particularly when it comes to which form of speech one ought to use in any given interaction. The age of one’s companion also impacts who bows and when, who pays for a meal, who pours the beverages and/or serves the food, and how one crosses the street.