The Asianist

Why South Korea seems to be leading the world in the controversial science of stem-cell research (via The Marmot's Hole).

Some explanations are interesting (cultural view of "blood" and genetics, reverence for scientists), some are questionable ("collectivist" research culture) and others are just down right silly ("chopsticks"!).

A couple of points that caught my attention:

For example, despite a nearly absolute ban on abortion, Korea has one of the highest abortion rates in the developed world because the government looks away and no one protests.

This is cited as a good thing in the article! That just goes to show why there appears to be rather loose respect for the law in South Korea -- because the government often does not enforce existing laws.

The article goes on to criticize American-style "moral wresting," but what it really shows is that, in some way, South Korea is a pretty materialistic, amoral culture.

On the positive side:

Korea reveres scientists more than we do. Science is trendy in Korea. It attracts the nation's best students. There's no nerd derision. Hwang Woo-suk is a celebrity in a way we can't imagine an American scientist could be. The national law-enforcement agency assigns officers to protect him. Korean Airlines flies him around the world for free. The minister of science and technology ranks at the top of the South Korean Cabinet—as high as the secretary of state or treasury in the United States. While most foreign scientists who study in the United States end up staying there, nearly 90 percent of Korean scientists end up returning home, despite much lower salaries.

Absolutely true. Long before Bill Gates, not only was there no "nerd derision" in South Korea, the folks there actually revered scientists and engineers as "cool" people.

When I was growing up, I couldn't hear enough about studying science, engineering or medicine from my parents, relatives, friends, parents of friends and ad naseum (when I showed some interest in the study of law, I couldn't hear enough about studying computer science first and then doing intellectual property law).

And, yet, the prevaling social culture of South Korea, in my view, is a mythic-bureaucratic one, rather than a rational-scientist one. Policies and laws are often fashioned from rumors, hearsays and wild shifts in popular emotions rather than after substantive debates about the consequences.

If I may so speculate, I think this has much to do with the prevailing materialistic emphasis on education (study science, invent something or become respected and rich) rather than spiritual one designed to teach one to be a learned, rational gentleman/lady.