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A artistic collection of words related to peace, among them words like “dove,” “unification,” “freedom,” “stability,” “happiness” and “stability.”
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Koreans view peace in more abstract terms than Westerners do
The dove. Everyone says that it is a symbol of peace. Recent findings confirm this. In a recent study conducted by the Korea Institute for National Unification, “Peacebuilding: The Psychology of Peace”, 1,000 South Koreans were given a word association test, where they were asked to list three words that came to mind when they thought of peace. Upon examination of the frequency of certain words that can be found among the 3,000 responses, “dove” was the first and most frequent word people thought of, at 13 percent. It was followed by ”unification,” at 9.9 percent, “freedom,” with seven percent, and “happiness,” with 5.9 percent. The results were the same irrespective of respondents’ age, gender or ideology, excepting those in their 20s. For respondents in their 20s, the order was “dove,” “unification,” “happiness” and then “freedom.” Considering the first words respondents chose to represent peace among their three choices, “dove” was ranked especially high, with 211 of the 1,000 (or 21.1 percent) choosing it as their first word. Next was “unification,” which was the first choice of 175 respondents, representing 17.5 percent. The results were the same regardless of age, gender or ideology. According to the survey results, “dove” and “unification” were the words considered most symbolic of peace, with a frequency of 23 percent. Second place went to words that represent positive feelings of the individual, such as “happiness” (5.9 percent) and “love” (2.5 percent). These made up 8.4 percent of the responses. In comparison, “freedom” (seven percent) was the only word choice that related to the rights of the people. Words related to violence, like “war” (two percent), and the absence of violence, like “denuclearization” (1.7 percent), were less frequent. Given these results, the Korea Institute for National Unification’s analysis is that the meaning of peace to Korean citizens is ranked in the order of positive emotions of the individual (happiness and love), the rights of the public (freedom), social order, peace of mind, relationships, violence and finally the absence of violence. Words Americans and Danes associate with peace But is the Korean association of the dove with peace universal? In 2011, 812 people from Denmark and the US were surveyed about their interpretation of peace using a word association test. The results revealed that the word “dove” was ranked 24th, comprising only one percent of responses. It fell behind the words that Danes and Americans most associated with peace, which were “freedom” (7.9 percent), “happiness” (6.4 percent), “harmony” (5.8 percent), “love” (5.4 percent) and “prosperity” (4.8 percent). Words that related to the rights of the people, including “freedom,” “equality” and “democracy,” made up the lion’s share of their responses, at 12.6 percent. “The results suggest that peace is an abstract concept to Korean citizens, rather than a way or condition of life. The fact that they think of peace in symbolic terms, like doves and unification, shows that their concept of peace is similar to that of people in regions that have undergone long-term periods of conflict and violence,” explained Park Ju-hwa, an assistant researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification. “In the midst of endemic conflict, it’s a goal that’s omitted from the process, and peace becomes insubstantial, strongly characterized as a utopian ideal. It seems out of touch with real life, and conversations about how peace can be obtained are insufficient. Given this reality, to Koreans, peace is just a dove,” Park explained. In regard to the low response rate of words related to violence and the absence of violence, Park added that Koreans have endured war and been divided as a country for more than 70 years, so their concept of peace is based on the long-term lack of peace they’ve endured. Having existed in these conditions for so long, Park said, a lack of peace is just a part of everyday life. By Kwon Hyuk-chul, Director of the Hankyoreh Peace Institute Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
