Every time i look into one of these right left confrontations, I learn more about the contemporary social patterns from the past, that are often difficult to perceive due to the modern trappings, and the bias of generally conservative media coverage in the US and South Korea that filters out the distasteful aspects, especially of the faction that they support.
I thought of the old Chosun class bullying and bias, can the son of a concubine learn the classics? Could a commoner or former slave sit for the government exam? Don't be ridiculous! A part of the Korean-American community in the US still preserves these old class pretensions, and prejudices, which serve to support and justify their social behavior if they are successful in their field. There is an almost per se deification of the medical doctor.
"I don't accept medicare or insurance." "I would never send my child to anything other than an ivy league school." This is what this is about. There is a usually unspoken pecking order in the community based upon profession, education, and wealth. There is also a self righteousness that brooks no contradiction. I think the most common notion is I'm the authority, because I'm a doctor! I'm glad to see that the modern democratic impulse in South Korea today is more than holding their own with the conservatives.
I had to laugh at a Korean editorial video that concluded that your Korean medical doctors aren't "Kim Sa-bu," the Korean fictional equivalent of Dr. House here in the US. "If you think doctors are angels, they aren't."
Maybe they took the survey in Gangnam gu, the wealthiest and most conservative district in Seoul.
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