For most foreigners who come to the ROK the Korean social hierarchy is the most confusing, frustrating, anger inducing thing they have to endure during the period of the employment. Unfortunately, in the school system, be it public or private, the hierarchy is at the center of life at the school with teachers and students strictly working with in it. But before we get into all that, let me explain the reason for it.
Korea in it's millenia long existence has historically been highly influenced by China. One of those influences that came, settled, and conquered was Confucianism, a social code that relied on all people knowing their place in said society and behaving according to their station, giving unbending honor and respect to those above them and expecting the same from those below them. All of this would ideally form the perfectly cohesive society. The ancient Koreans ate it up.
Confucianism became so well ingrained that it transcended the Korean language, creating a dizzying maze of honorific word endings, phrases, and even the titles of family members. And many of these are used only by females or only by males! Students of the language have quite a lot of homework, and any slight mess up (like forgetting to add "yo" on the end of a sentence while talking to a scary Ahjumma) can cause serious offense from which you may not socially recover.
All of this is geared towards keeping the established social order healthy and strong for the purpose of a well
Knowning your place in the social order of things is one of the first hard lessons for many foreigners.
Korea in it's millenia long existence has historically been highly influenced by China. One of those influences that came, settled, and conquered was Confucianism, a social code that relied on all people knowing their place in said society and behaving according to their station, giving unbending honor and respect to those above them and expecting the same from those below them. All of this would ideally form the perfectly cohesive society. The ancient Koreans ate it up.
Confucianism became so well ingrained that it transcended the Korean language, creating a dizzying maze of honorific word endings, phrases, and even the titles of family members. And many of these are used only by females or only by males! Students of the language have quite a lot of homework, and any slight mess up (like forgetting to add "yo" on the end of a sentence while talking to a scary Ahjumma) can cause serious offense from which you may not socially recover.
All of this is geared towards keeping the established social order healthy and strong for the purpose of a well
Knowning your place in the social order of things is one of the first hard lessons for many foreigners.
