We see a term ‘hot tempered’ a lot in Korean internet news. Especially if the news is dealing with a hot issue, you will see ‘hot tempered Korean.’ The ‘hot tempered’ indicates the meaning of sarcastic term of Korean flying into a rage and forgetting it easily.
           ‘Hot tempered Korean’ originated from Korean’s typical character train of ‘hurry hurry.’ The ‘hurrying culture’ derived a while ago, during the 1960s and 70s when industrialization hit Korea. Speed became competitiveness which started the ‘hot tempered’ culture.  Korean’s hot tempered culture goes like this: When there’s a problem that draws people’s attention, everyone jumps into it and after a week or days, people who were into the problem acts like nothing ever happened and move on with their own lives. Also hot tempered Koreans can be controlled by the majority’s comments regarding the issue. Even with same issue or same person, Korean’s attitude towards those can differ from time to time. It can be opposite from the past. Korean people tend to follow the majority’s thoughts due to their hot tempered culture. Currently, with internet and smartphones people can view majority’s opinion anywhere so the hot tempered culture is getting worse every day.
           Damage from Korean’s hot tempered culture is too much to say. The recent victim of hot tempered culture is Congressman Kang Yong-suk after comedian Choi Hyo-jong spoke out about the congressman on the show called ‘Gag concert.’ Kang posted that he charged Choi with defamation the of character of a congressman. Of course people started to talk bad about Kang. Not only general crowds but also the fellow comedians and other public figure criticized Kang with their SNS. There were some people who supported Kang’s action but after a while they joined the opposite side or ignore the issue. Of course, time passed and people moved on with their lives. They all acted like nothing ever happened. Though still disputing the comments, Kang dropped the charge and made his position. Then the majority’s opinion started to position his side saying that he wasn’t that bad. People said that the accusation was bad but the attempt wasn’t something that he should get punished. The majority opinion went to the very opposite side after few months that issue happened. This is not it. Every year, Korea argues with Japan about who Dokdo belongs to. During the arguments we can see Korea’s typical hot tempered culture. Japanese keep claim about Dokdo’s dominium with lots of resources. They also appeal to many international organizations such as UN. However, only Korean acts when Japan claims Dokdo’s dominium and appeal to international organization which tends to be in March. During March, every Korean posts same resources that they used in past to prove that Dokdo is Korean. However, since there’s no improvement in Korean’s attitude on claiming Dokdo, many countries are siding with Japan who has updated resources, a reasonable explanation, and consistency. At the end of March, Koreans move on with their lives not caring about Dokdo as usual. This happening kept on going for years but there hasn’t been a slight change on Korean’s behavior. In worse case, there are some people who use Korean’s hot tempered culture. In the care of corporations, they use sentimental value as their marketing to sell something a lot in a limited time because they know long-term doesn’t work for Korean. Also, there are some TV stars who make scandals on purpose so that they can get people’s attention.
           Yes, it’s better to be hot tempered about the issue, than ignore them because that means at least Koreans care about something. However, problems like claiming Dokdo is not something that can be solved in a month. It needs constant attention like Japan does. Also, there are people who can’t live their lives because of Korean’s hot tempered culture. This culture is part of Korean culture but it needs adjustment. First of all, we need constant interest in the matter. We can’t just counter Japan with the same reasons for years. Japan is not going to give up because all Korean fight with Japan once a year. We should keep an eye on Dokdo and Japan all year round and keep on finding new facts that can support our claim. Second, we shouldn’t be controlled by the majority’s opinion so easily. Opinion is literally just someone’s thoughts. It’s not something that can be judged right or wrong. Also we shouldn’t counteract with others emotionally because of different opinions.

           Hot tempered culture is somewhat Korean’s passionate side. It’s sometimes good that all Koreans care about the same things. However, as mentioned above, it shouldn’t be such short sighted concern. Because of hot tempered and ignorance after that, the problem doesn’t get solved, and people get hurt. Therefore, the hot tempered culture should be adjusted to make Korea better.

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