Some Koreans have a love for the dramatic when it comes to getting their hate on for Japan. In today’s Donga, it’s clear that Korean wallets say otherwise.
Per the article:
The service deficit with Japan last year jumped nearly four times from 2005 due to the stronger won and rising number of Korean tourists to Japan….
… As the “Korean Wave” representing the popularity of Korean pop culture lost steam, the number of Japanese coming to Korea declined while more Koreans headed off in the opposite direction thanks to the strong won.
Let’s not forget Korea’s addiction to Japanese technology and subcomponent products (which was also outlined here).
Korea’s trade deficit rises in line with export growth since it relies on Japan for most of its parts and production equipment for major export items such as semiconductor and cars. As a result, Korea’s trade deficit overall went from 25.4 billion dollars in 2006 to 29.9 billion dollars last year.
74 Comments
Koreans “hate” everything and everyone else, until it’s time to get something from them. Or sell something to them. Korea is less a peninsula, and more a fishbowl filled with angry, angry fish.
Hating Japan maybe the status quo or the unofficial perception of the Koreans, but as time has passed and a lot of older generation koreans dying, the younger generation really have no clue as to why they hate the Japanese or if they really do. That is unless there is another PD Notebook/translation scam/report to stir up the public.
They may hate the country of Japan or Japanese, but they love their products. Just look around at the electronics to the cars. If they could they would rather drive a Honda than a Hyundai.
Indeed, politics and technology is one and the same.
Don’t forget how the Koreans copy Japanese dramas/mangas, etc.
The large number of Japanese I know here in NYC seem blissfully unaware of much hate coming from (South) Koreans. The vast majority have literally never heard of Dokdo/Takeshima, squirm in embarrassment at the mere thought when I ask them if they watch Korean dramas or listen to Korean music, and generally think they have pretty good relations with their Korean classmates (they’re all ESL students).
And while the Japanese I know tend to have vaguely negative attitudes toward China, it’s nothing very strong. That’s why I’m always surprised to read about “mutual antipathy” between Koreans and Japanese, and Chinese and Japanese, in the newspapers. The antipathy is pretty much all one way.
Lana,
The exchange is both ways:
http://www.crunchyroll.com/gro.....se_Version
http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-2246
Exactly Andy-in-Japan. It appears the majority of Korean nationals hate everyone.
Until they want their help and/or money. Are all of them like that? No, but the ones who are are few and far between.
They aren’t even nice to themselves, so why should we think they are so kind, polite and warm hearted to foreigners.
I’ve heard it hundreds of times, YES HUNDREDS, from people under twenty that they want to kill Japanese people for what they did to Korea.
You may not believe me and I really don’t care. They actually said/say kill.
People back home are always shocked when I told/tell them about this.
During the so called Korean wave I did a lot of travelling between Korea and Japan. Each time the VAST majority of passengers were Korean and not Japanese. I actually had some Japanese friends visit Korea, I showed them around a bit, they just looked at the garbage and mayhem, laughed and never came back again.
All the same, despite the deficit, the Korean economy seems to be doing fine, if you just look at headline GDP growth. In fact, I’ve been wondering why the Koreans I’ve met are so down on the Korean economy. It’s been growing pretty consistently at 4-5%, which is actually quite a good growth rate for a country at Korea’s level of development. What’s the problem? Is most of that gain accruing to the rich? Or do Koreans simply have unrealistic expectations of perpetual 8% growth?
JohnT…
If you take what those 20 year olds say literally (and if you do, than you should get your head checked) then why do so many of them buy Japanese products… visit Japan?
It’s a line to appease the older generation. They have no real hate themselves (at least not the kind of hate that would make them violent).
Can the young tourists be more female than male? As for Korean young males, it’s hard to envision that they actually like Japan in light of so many virulent Japan-hate postings on the net.
It seems the Korea haters now outnumber the Japan haters at the hole. Andy, JohnT, no one wants to hear what you say because it is the same everytime and only differs in the degree of negativity. You may not be trolls but you aren’t pleasant people either. We get it, you don’t like Korea or Koreans, it is dirty and they are rude. Does shouting about it make your 12 months of slavery anymore bearable?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink
I gather that was meant for me Tripod.
#8 WK - I think maybe John works somewhere rural, and the young Koreans you’ve met are the globalized urban (?). In any case, your final line is too simplistic, methinks. There is genuine hate to be found among the young, even though it was implanted, rather than earned.
Don’t know what others have found out, but my impression is that there is a big gender divide, with young women saying they like Japanese products AND Japan itself, and the young men hewing to the love-hate tradition.
The ladies have been conquered by Shiseido and Hello Kitty…
And Odagiri Jo.
WangKon, why do you post useless things like this here? Isn’t it predictable what the reactions here would be?
Actually… I didn’t think about the comments. I thought the news was ironic.
Even the Japanese themselves say that Korean companies rely too much on Japanese capital equipment and sub components. However, it’s not just Korean businesses that are guilty here.
So many Koreans going to Japan for tourism… isn’t that ironic as well? I guess my ultimate point is that being anti-Japanese is something Koreans (young and old) profess to believe in, but for practical purposes, it has it’s difficulties from a dollars and cents perspective.
Anti-Koreanism… Anti-Japanism and Anti-Chinaism doesn’t really make economic sense at the end of the day… and it probably costs each of these nations billions when you add things up. It doesn’t mean that one bypasses or makes light of the difficult relationship all of these countries have with each other either. However, if each nation paused and thought about how much economics they are letting slip through their collective fingers, then perhaps more can be accomplished…
Inkevitch:
“We get it, you don’t like Korea or Koreans, it is dirty and they are rude. Does shouting about it make your 12 months of slavery anymore bearable?”
동병상련.
Some people don’t feel 행복 unless other people are feeling their 불행.
@#19
It’s-
Schadenfreude!
Fuck you lady, that’s what stairs are for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9B-ZoS0wvU
everytime I go to a Korean supermarket, I marvel at how actively the Koreans copy things like food products.
There is absolutely no shame, no conscious, no restraints.
This, and when I look around at Korean dudes riding Hondas or Toyotas with an Ahn Joonggeun Handprint, with Dokdo is Hankookland bumper stickers or license plate rims, that I shake my head, and say, it’s still not time for the Korean to thump his chest and assume the high ground over the Japanese.
Go to Busan port for the latest import or copied product from Japan.
I honestly don’t know what Busan would be of, if Japan somehow disappeared from earth.
Even our entertainers are too busy copying Japan, and they’re so shameless about it.
Regarding sports, Koreans will always have the upperhand on the genetically smaller Japanese. There are some exceptions in skill heavy sports, such as baseball. There is simply no hitter like Ichiro in Korea, domestically or abroad. However, look at sports as a whole, Koreans perform much better than Japan. There were some exception years, but in modern history, after Korea got modern facilities for training, South Korea always was better in sports, pretty much any sport versus Japan, maybe not baseball. Some pro baseball teams in South Korea play on atrocious injo jandi or even almost dirt grounds.
Regarding brain competition, I think the Koreans may actually be way behind versus Japan in terms of creativity, knowledge, and application. Look at academic publications or industrial products. We are behind.
The Korean mentality is very interesting. The country has
strong anti-Japanese sentiment, Dokdo/Takeshima, Yasukuni Shrine,
colonization of Korea, comfort women, forced assimilation in the
colonial era, etc, but koreans only make Japan the stronger country
and more well known. If you go to Canada, England, and the U.S.A.,
you can see the Korean ethnic enclaves and it’s all filled with
Japanese cars, Hello Kitty, Japanese digital cameras, and so on.
Koreans who study abroad also purchase Japanese cars over Korean cars.
Several Korean immigrants in the U.S.A. open Japanese restaurants and
sushi bars as well. There is a sushi bar in Vancouver and Koreans
even dress up in Japanese attire as well!
I don’t understand the Korean mentality. They have their own culture,
food, cars, electronics, etc., but they always prefer Japanese over
there own, but at the same time, they bad mouth Japan. If koreans
are so proud, why aren’t they proud of their own cars, products,
cosmetics and so on? Koreans love Japanese motorcycles, musical
instruments such as Yamaha and so on. What’s going on in the korean
mind?
Koreans don’t even brand their own country. Nationalism is so high
in Korea, but in reality, korea’s brand value is very low and korean
food is not popular worldwide as well. what’s the deal? if koreans
are so proud, they need to promote their own culture, food, products,
cars, etc. koreans are only making Japan better.
I know plenty of Koreans who enjoy traveling to Japan, watching Japanese movies, reading comics, listening to music, studying Japanese, etc. Plenty who have Japanese friends, pen pals, etc. They might not announce it to a classroom of thirty fellow Koreans in the middle of the latest Dokdo “crisis” but there are a lot of them out there.
The negative stuff, like Japan-bashing on the internet, gets a lot of attention, but I’m convinced there is a silent majority - or large minority) of Koreans at least - who have better things to do than hate Japan and all things Japanese.
“It seems the Korea haters now outnumber the Japan haters at the hole.”
Probably, but I imagine the reverse might be true for some expat sites focused on Japan. (Assuming Japanese expat sites have stories related to Korea. Aside from, “Holy shit, NOVA went bankrupt! Better check out Korea.”)
I agree with WJK, if you go to Koreatown in L.A. or in southern California where there are so many koreans, you can see koreans driving Lexus, Toyota, Nissan, Infinitis, Honda’s, Acura’s, and so on. Why don’t koreans like Hyundai? Are korean cars that bad? Koreans love Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki motorcycles as well. When you see Korean tourists, you can see koreans with Sony, Olympus, Canon, and Nikon cameras, which are all Japanese brands.
It’s really puzzling to see this. Koreans are proud of Lexus’s, Infiniti’s and so on, but those brands are all Japanese.
Hyundai released a luxury car called the Genesis. Will Koreans ever support this? Will Koreans ever like korean cars? Will Koreans ever really be proud of their own country? If so, please show it.
wasn’t it common knowledge that Japanese cars will soon outsell Hyundai/Kias in South Korea, when the opportunity arises?
Look at US gyopos for crying out loud.
They wouldn’t be caught dead in a Hyundai.
who buys Hyundais in America? Used to be the Latinos and Blacks, and they still do, but now a chunk of whites in the Central Time Zone.
wjk, so is it better off if Korea was Japan’s colony? Then Korea itself would
be a developed country. Koreans will then be proud of Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Sony, Olympus, Sharp, Ricoh, Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Shiseido, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Brother,
Yamaha, Hello Kitty, Japan Animation and so on.
So many koreans love studying the Japanese language as well. Why do gyopos
love Japanese cars and not korean cars? Are Gyopos not proud of their heritage? Why are Hyundai’s that bad to gyopo’s? Are the Japanese that
superior to koreans? By looking at everything, it sure does.
Yeah, WK I know that, I just put an example out there of how Korea profess her hate for Japan, but not in terms of dollars…you know like the story you posted?
They profess their hatred of Japan, yet copy their dramas/mangas.
“it’s still not time for the Korean to thump his chest and assume the high ground over the Japanese”
Why should Koreans want to? Seriously, nobody but the Koreans care about this. I’m wondering why Koreans chose to compete head-on with Japan in so many industries. I think the Taiwanese are more focused on niches, and they’re doing fine, if not better.
The Taiwanese have no global brands (i.e. they can’t charge a premium for their products… and no, HTC is not yet a global brand) and their purchase power parity is less than Korea’s.
what WangKon said.
If I die and see that Korea has surpassed Japan in every category in competition, then I die happy.
call it whatever you want.
I was in Osaka a couple weeks ago. The sheer number of Koreans there was unbelievable which, like others here, I found pretty odd given how often many (most?) Koreans go out of their way to express their supposed virulent hatred of Japan and all things Japanese. Blatant hypocrisy anyone?
The Koreans were definitely the worst behaved group of guests at our hotel. Even on foreign soil a lot of them still felt it was appropriate to be rude and aggressive when interacting with “foreigners” (i.e. westerners, Chinese tourists, Japanese). In an ultra polite society like Japan they stood out like a bunch of loud ignorant country bumpkins at an opera.
May my country N-E-V-E-R be “worthy” of Korea’s love.
They do, however, make a damn fine phone.
I guess that means you’ll die sad (and alone). Japan’s got three times the population of SK… The only way your dream could happen is if Japan got nuked again.
“If I die and see that Korea has surpassed Japan in every category in competition, then I die happy.
call it whatever you want.”
I call it juvenile nationalism. If competition with Japan gets people to work hard, that’s great, but it also creates too many hatahs like wjk.
# 30,
I sorta have to agree with that. SK’s population is too small compared to Japan’s. A little over a third though.
We could make a better cell phone, better laser printer, a better LNG tanker…. but better products and a bigger economy across the board? One Korean can equal one Japanese, maybe even 1.2 Japanese. However, one Korean can’t equal 3 Japanese.
Korea is likely not going to be the France, Germany or even England of their respective continent. They can be a Holland, a rich and commercially important nation in Europe, that gets along with its powerful neighbors and maintains its sovereignty. Well, maybe it can be better than a Holland. Maybe it can be something in between a Holland and England. But whatever it becomes, it has to be happy with what they are and what their potential may be.
Having worked with young Koreans, I’ve rarely heard them making bitter remarks about Japan, at least not to the extent in which they wanted to ‘kill’ the Japanese as JohnT accounts. In fact, many of them seem eager to learn the Japanese language, surrounding themselves with Japanese media (music, drama, porn, etc.). Wonder how the older Korean blokes feel about that. Perhaps Linkd’s assumption about JohnT working in rural areas is correct, but w/ Korea wired as it is, I don’t think there would be THAT big of a difference in opinions. Mm, wired… that’s a double-edged sword though. Most of anti-Japanese/nationalistic sentiment these days are most prevalent online, but then, I suppose that isn’t new news here with all of those recent Korean vs. Chinese netizen posts. I personally think they’re just trolls as well, probably unable to express such views offline.
In regards to entertainment industry, I noticed that after the supposed ‘Korean Wave’ boom, it’s now been relegated to only music industry (and only from the Korean-style tabloid media point of view); furthermore, it seems that Korea can only offer male ‘idol’ groups like er, ‘Toho’shinki, SS501, & the lot. Idol entertainers are hardly a Korean concept, eh (I wonder if I should go as far as to categorizing them as boy bands, probably one of the worst things that Americans have invented.)?
I guess it depends on where and when you go looking. In any case, hate is a very impressive consumption good. Anytime it’s needed, people have been able to manufacture it quickly and cheaply, in mass quantities, from readily available raw materials.
Having dealt with young Korean students straight from Korea, I can tell you this, I have yet to hear from them (and I’m a Korean who speak Korean), any hatred remarks against the Japanese as to the same degree some here allege. And I’ve been dealing intimately with new Korean students for years. The Koreans students make friends very easily with Japanese students. I remember one student who told me once, that outside of Koreans, Japanese are the most comfortable for Korean students to make friends with. I also see tons of trans national dating between Japanese and Korean students.
No, the only hating that I’ve seen with my own eyes comes from on line whether they be from Korean or Japanese ultra nationalists, or from expats in Korea.
As for how Japanese feel towards Koreans, I have no ideal what they are thinking. Maybe they really don’t like Koreans, as suggested by many here who have constantly made the point of Koreans as a disgusting dirty people hated by everyone.
But really, take away politics and history, and I think Koreans and Japanese have a pretty good relationship. You all also seem to underestimate the number of visitors to Korea, from Japan.
Hmmm…looks like if I post a link, it gets spammed out. Anyways, Taiwan is doing pretty good PPP per capita-wise. Right now, 1 Taiwanese equals 1.2 Koreans.
I agree with #35.
Being a Japanese I’ve met no hostility from Koreans either in the U.S,SK,Japan or Mongolia where I’ve met with tons of them.
I’ve never lived in Korea,so I can’t say anything about what’s it like to be there as a Japanese,but my colleagues in Seoul told me,basically they faced no trouble in their everyday life.
I do think the Korean medias,both consevative and progressive,are the cansers though.
I have heard the occasional Korea-born Korean in the U.S. say something bad about Japan, but my experience mostly goes with #35 and #37 (and I agree about the media being a big problem).
#12,
Yes, you are also a lemming.
Personaly, I think it’s dead opposite. Many of the older generation don’t hate the Japanese at all, but remember the colonial period with a kindy of guilty fondness. I had a Japanese friend who cycled through Korea. He said he got a hard time here and there, always getting lectured by people about how terrible his country was yada yada, but once he spoke to a really old Korean woman and she started crying. She said he was the first Japanese person she had seen in a long time, and he brought back wonderful memories for her.
It’s the young generation that hates. Same with the attitude towards Americans. The older folk who survived the war know what the U.S did for them, and they’re thankful for it, but the young guys are full of pride, and they’d rather listen to each other and the dead-heads that rule naver and PD than try to tackle their history with anything approaching maturity and objectivity.
Well… when you are 80 or older it’s hard to hate anything and you are nostalgic about anything.
Look at how many old Russians are nostalgic for Stalin.
I think Stalin analogy is irrelevant since old folks are not longing for tyranny.
Colonial generations knew many faces of Japan and had first hand experience with Japanese plus knowledge of language and culture.Though they were forced to adopt such environment,nonetheless that give them more three dimentional view on things Japanese compared to those who gets idea of Japan from textbooks/Chosun Ilbo/internet.
#42, Aceface is a bit right, I think.
The colonial Koreans had a more nuanced view of Japanese rule. There were a lot of hatahs, but there were also a lot of playahs. The 386 generation learned little more than the bad to the point where it was difficult to realize there were some decent Japanese people in Korea.
And Aceface, there are people in Russia longing for a return of a Soviet-style stronger hand over the people.
Yeah,But there’s also many Park chung hee fandom in Korea that has build some sort of industry in publishing world too.
But then again,THAT’s not exactly what they really wish for,I think.
Old folks elsewhere wants more simple life and country like Korea or Russia are basically no country for old men,for changes happens too quick and sometimes too radical.
@Tripod,
Because I think JohnT is a dick for finding something negative to say about Korea with every post he does. I am thinking considering how a group of expat posters are posting that it would be more lemming like for me to join the hate in. As for group think, it is pretty apt, but being in conflict for the sake of conflict and taking the most extreme view for the sake of having a voice is just stupid and often counterproductive.
You know what? Japan gave me 피구왕 통키 and 축구왕 슛돌이 to entertain me when I was a little kid. They’re all right in my book.
Looks like the Love Team is winning in this thread.
“So many Koreans going to Japan for tourism… isn’t that ironic as well?”
Not really a lot of choices as far as doorstep weekend destinations is concerned, doesn’t mean you have to like the people.
To quote a favourite of my father’s, “France is a fantastic, beautiful country, it’s just a shame about the people who live there”.
Apologies to all french visitors here for the joke at your expense.
Arghaeri, Japan is not considered a weekend destination for most Koreans. For just a little more air fare they can go to lots of other places in Asia or the Pacific. IOW Koreans who go to Japan want to visit Japan and the last thing they complain about is the people the way people complain about the French.
#33,
I believe boy bands originated in your neck of the woods:
“In March 1957, while attending Quarry Bank Grammar School in Liverpool, John Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen. Lennon met guitarist Paul McCartney at the Woolton Garden Fête, held at St. Peter’s Church, on 6 July 1957; Lennon added him to the group a few days later. On 6 February 1958 young guitarist George Harrison was invited to watch the group, which was then playing under a variety of names, at Wilson Hall, Garston, Liverpool. McCartney had become acquainted with Harrison on the morning bus ride to the Liverpool Institute, as they both lived in Speke. Despite Lennon’s initial reluctance due to Harrison’s young age, Harrison joined the Quarrymen as lead guitarist at McCartney’s insistence after a rehearsal in March 1958.”
They are the originals.
The majority of Japanese are ignorant if it comes to Korea (have never visited, can’t understand why one shows interest in Korea). Sometimes you can get the impression they’re looking down on them (this would of course never been admitted openly).
In my profession I see another trend, though. While in the past everybody wanted to collaborate with organizations in the west, now more and more new projects involve their neighbors in Asia. Quite natural choice, I would say.
Just my impression (am from Europe, have lived in Japan for two years).
User-81, Totally missing the point!!
Of course they want to go, where did I suggest they were conscripted. I was making the point that just because people want to visit the country, business or pleasure, doesn’t mean they have the same liking for the people or country in general. France is a great holiday and business destination for Brits due to its convenient location, but there isn’t the same love affair for the people.
Similarly, China is also huge destination for Koreans despite their general opinion of Chinese, but then perhaps you haven’t noticed any ill sentiment towards them either. “Unhygienic, dirty, don’t wash, money grabbers…”, not my sentiments… but… certainly heard them here.
I live and work with Koreans in Korea, my family is Korean and unlike you, I most certainly have heard anti-Japanese sentiments expressed — very frequently, at work, when drinking, and when with family. Indeed, my very Korean but quarter Japanese staffer, requested I not let any of the other Korean staff know his “shameful” secret, when he requested compassionate leave for a family funeral in Japan, because of the anti-Japanese sentiment and discrimination.
Just because you have your blinkers on, doesn’t mean everyone else has the same experience as you.
Looks like the Love Team isn’t winning in this thread.
By the way, none of the Koreans I met in the Isle of Wight had ever been to Japan, and I strongly suspect you’ve never met any Isle of Wight Koreans, so you shouldn’t really try to speak for them!!!
andy-in-japan: “Koreans “hate” everything and everyone else, until it’s time to get something from them. Or sell something to them. Korea is less a peninsula, and more a fishbowl filled with angry, angry fish.”
To the extent that Americans suffer from free-floating anxiety, Koreans appear to suffer from free-floating hate.
Well… in other news Yasukuni continues to refuse to de-enshrine dozens of Korean per repeated request from their families.
At least Fukuda is not going to visit Yasukuni… this year.
#55
“At least Fukuda is not going to visit Yasukuni… this year.”
Great. So he might visit next year, as the Japanese are hidden imperialists?
I don’t think Fukuda will go to Yasukuni next year either. But then again, I don’t think he is prime minister in a year from now.
Having taught an intro to East Asia course at a midwestern university in the States a couple of times, my experience has been similar to others who say they’ve never encountered anti-Japanese feelings from Korean students. Maybe that’s because of deference to the instructor in the classroom or the socio-economic background of the students, I don’t know. Someone pointed out the Brit attitude toward France–I remember seeing an interview with an English guy when the chunnel was completed; he was enthusiastic about going to France: “I love French food, french fashion, French architecture–it’s the French I hate.” I don’t find a contradiction in emotions and consumer habits.
As for the car-preference thing, Korean grad students with families tend to drive Hyundai and KIAs, but the younger set prefer German cars. With all of the talk of the troubled Korean economy, I’m amazed at the number of Mercedes and BMWs driven by 18 and 19yo Korean students here. (
I know a lot of Japanese ESL students here in NY, as well as a smaller but still significant number of Korean students. My impression is that the Japanese are for the most part blissfully unaware of any Korean hate. The vast majority have literally never heard of Dokdo/Takeshima, squirm in embarrassment at the mere thought when asked if they like Korean dramas or K-pop, and generally think they have a pretty good relationship with their Korean classmates.
Many Koreans, if prodded, will say they have some bad feelings toward Japan. But without purposefully bringing it up, you wouldn’t guess that Koreans hate Japanese from the people I know here.
I have a feeling a lot of this “hate” is from pimply-faced otaku 20- and 30-somethings sitting in their mom’s basements, so to speak, typing away on online forums because they don’t have any real friends. That’s at least my take regarding nationalistic Japanese.
#50,
You shouldn’t take everything so literally. I was joking.
#55,
Actually, the Beatles was only one of many pop bands that existed at that time.
The original boy band was actually The Monkeys.
hehe, i took it literally because when I clicked the link I thought it was actually quite appropriate.
NYmeeguk,
“my experience has been similar to others who say they’ve never encountered anti-Japanese feelings from Korean students.”
That may well be so, but have you taken into account the xenophile / xenophobe factor.
By this I mean that people who have travelled to study in another country are generally by definition more open to other cultures. Xenothobes by definition are much less likely to travel.
When much younger I studied Japanese in the UK and met and made many Japanese friends who were warm and friendly. From this I garnered the opinion that Japanese were almost universally a very warm and friendly people.
Then reality check:- I actually went to Japan, and came across Japanese who were rude and difficult, unhelpful etc…and wouldn’t dream of going to a place where they’d have to deal with furriners.
It was a reality check, but nonetheless the overall general impression was still good.
I would further note that as songsaengnim your students may be much less likely to discuss such issues in your presence, particularly knowing the PC issues in the US.
I wonder if the same would be true if you listened to them talking in korean particularly when drunk.
Try, taking them to a bar, down numerous bottles of soju, and raise a few topics like, dokdo, yakushini shrine, comfort women. Then see if your perceptions remain the same.
The interesting thing is that after some exposure to each other in foreign countries they often find common ground and some affinity with each other. Saw numerous examples where newly arrived Japanese and Korean english language students were very wary of each other, but a few months later were good friends.
Do a package trip to Japan, with someone like Hanatour, you can see all the intresting sites, and the biggest interface with real Japanese is having you passport checked at the airport. Even the restaurants are nearly all korean skiktangs.
sorry “shiktangs”
i had a korean math tutor(im part japanese but he didnt know lol) he hates japanese but drives a MITSUBISHI SUV.