The Hindu Business Line : South Korea, a culture in transition

SOUTH KOREA is a country in a hurry. Having mastered engineering, it is in a hurry to learn English. The new generation could not care less about the psychological scar left by the Japanese occupation that lasted 35 years.

As Koreans churn out automobiles and electronic goods, many times bettering the Japanese, society is also undergoing a major change.

The traditional architecture of the country is giving way to the mono-block-like apartments. The divorce rate is among the highest in the world and it is the same society that set store by strong family values only one generation ago.

As the rising power of the chaebol evens out the might of MNCs in their country, nothing could be farther from the new generation's attention span than issues such as strife with North Korea.

Sure, they take out protest rallies against the US Army presence in their country. But they stake out the US Embassy in Levi's jeans and Nike shoes and end the day with a bite at McDonald's.

The previous generation had little reason to interface with the outside world. So, most of the old-timers do not speak English even today. But the new generation is working double time to correct this anomaly.

The fad now in Seoul and other big cities is for the students to head to the US in large numbers with the aim of returning with an English language diploma.

According to a Seoul-based consultant working with WPP subsidiary Merit/Burson-Marsteller, such diplomas from the US would automatically add a minimum of $10,000 to one's annual salary package.

"This is leading to a big flow of traffic to the US to learn English as what you spend on the course can easily be recovered in a year. The average monthly salary for a shopfloor worker with a university degree in South Korea would be $2,000 while that of a white-collar worker would be $3,000. Come equipped with an English language diploma and beginner can expect at least $4,000," said Ms Hee Seung Lee, who herself opted to learn English in the US.

Last year, some 4,20,000 South Koreans applied for US (non-migrant) visas and nine out of 10 were approved, at a rejection rate of 5 per cent.

This year, the numbers are estimated to rise so dramatically that the two governments are in talks to consider a visa-waiver once the rejection rate comes below 3 per cent.

And those who cannot afford the $10,000-plus fee for such language courses in the US have found a cheaper option in the Philippines at $1,200-1,500 for a one-year course.

"Walk into a university library in Seoul, Busan, Daegu or Tawjun and one finds the students reading pretty much the same books. It seems to be almost a three-way division these days between law, CPA/MBA and English/civil services.

There has been a perceptible drop in the number of students taking up basic courses like engineering," Ms Lee said.

The South Korean Government is now going on an overdrive as it tries to lure back students to engineering with monetary aid and scholarships, but the numbers continue to slide.

For a society that built itself on the strength of a strong engineering base over the past five decades, the future seems to allow space for engineers from other countries.

Though it may take a few years before the spectre of a major demand-supply gap for core engineering personnel begins to show, one already finds immigrant South Koreans like Mr Pushpinder Singh Rana from Hoshiarpur in Punjab settling down nicely in the sales engineering division of a leading chaebol.

The writing is on the wall. In the coming years, one may get to see more engineers from India and even China in South Korea as its industry continues to march forward.