the second one is a perverted form of Confucianism that began to be heavily favored by the Yangban(upper class) in the Chosun Dynasty because it gave them free reign to do whatever they wanted to underlings and still command respect.
Yes, the younger people are thinking differently these days: the junor-senior relationship seems to be less rigid and several years ago this guy would not have been arrested for beating smoking teens.
However, waith until these young people with their new ideas start getting older. Time & time again they turn to the old ways when it is their turn in the power position.
I think things are changing, but this whole “you have have to be subservient to me because I’m older than you” isn’t going away for a long time.
I’ve heard it time and time again from a lot of Koreans about how they “respect” elders. It’s as if we westerners respect elders less. They understand that we do respect them, but only when they really deserve- when they are good people, behave well, and treat us nicely in return. They don’t understand thatwe think of respect as a 2-way street. Here, it seems to be only one way.

The goat said:
“The elderly have and always will get respect from me…until they act like a complete asshat…then they just get put on ignore.
The sense of entitlement that some have just because they are old is astounding. To those few, it is not a culture based on respect, it is based on subservience.”

Right on!!!

“One way for Korea to maybe lessen the accusations of Chinese cultural theft would be to expunge the cultural influence that China had on Korea.”

“…expunge the cultural influence that China had on Korea.” That’s a good one - straight out of fantasy camp.

Korea is changing with regard to the influence of Confucianist thought. The story in the original link is interesting because the guy got taken in by the police. Would that have happened even ten years ago? I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. Witness, too, the controversy over the recent changes in the family registry law. As with any such process of social change, some folks are going to favor it, some folks won’t. That’s all that we’re seeing going on.

The sense of entitlement that some have just because they are old is astounding. To those few, it is not a culture based on respect, it is based on subservience.

Ummm. I heard of walking from Gangbook to Gangnam but…

Gaining respect is not a right, it’s a privilege. Just like many other things in life we take for granted.

I always see this when I’m in Korea but old people have absolutely no respect for cops there. There always saying shit like, “I can be your dad. How dare you tell me what to do?”

I’m young enough to sympathize with you but old enough to know that the older generation need to be humored and such “issues” need not be taken so seriously. The quirks of old folks in Korea, with Confucian characteristics, are largely benign and can be a source of much comedy. They are part of what makes Korea special and unique.

My 60-year-old father was once confronted by the Korean police for wanting to walk through a busy highway tunnel. My father wanted to walk from Seoul to Busan. Don’t ask why. The police apparently thought that this was a highly suspicious activity because this was so obviously not a normal thing. My father claimed that the policeman treated him rudely and called the Chong Wa Dae and demanded to speak to Roh Moo Hyun to complain. The next day same policeman sought out my father to apologize for his actions. Everyone was happy.

This is the sort of thing that makes Korea an interesting hell, as opposed to the boring paradise of America and a true broadminded gyopo who understands his roots would have it no other way.

One of the best things about Confucianism is the respect shown by younger people to the elders. This used to be the case in western societies, at least in America, up until the 1960’s.

However, one of the worst things about Confucianism is that sometimes, older people automatically think that it’s their ticket to abuse and mistreat subordinates.

Perhaps Confucianism is a bit like communism? A great idea in theory but very hard to follow in its ideal form in real practice.