Episode 53: Han (Concepts)

Korean. American. Podcast

This week Jun and Daniel take on another so-called pillar of Korean culture and society: han. How does Jun define han, and what issue does he take with the definition from its Wikipedia page? What was behind Jun’s initial reluctance to dedicate an episode to this topic? What are some of our hosts’ personal examples of han? What does it mean to have han at a national level? What are some other countries or people groups that share something in common with Korea that may result in similar han-like sentiments? What makes Korea uniquely suited to embody han? What does arirang have to do with han? What is the Korean word for ferment, and how is it beautifully connected to the concept of han? How does Daniel believe his experience of han compares to that of his parents or the older Korean population? What is something about the Korean language that Jun believes contributes to the feeling of han? What classic Korean film from 1993 was all about han, and was the first movie to surpass 1 million viewers in Korea?

If you're interested in any of these questions, tune in to hear Daniel and Jun discuss all this and more! Also in this episode, Jun and Daniel nearly reveal their MBTIs, and dedicate more time than usual to the nuances of various English words.

Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_(cultural) (Han Wikipedia article)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-n3W8OXaY8 (서편제 Movie)

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Chapters

1. Episode 53: Han (Concepts) (00:00:00)

2. [Ad] What It's Like To Be... (00:12:49)

3. (Cont.) Episode 53: Han (Concepts) (00:13:27)