Changzoo Song

nationalist discourse nationalism as ideology nation-building business elite Korea

Nationalist ideology, however powerful it might be, is not always a coherent ideology. In the case of Korea, there have been multiple discourses of nationalism including those of the state, leftist intellectuals, and the business elite. While sharing similar ideological orientations, these discourses are different in their particular views and, as a matter of fact, they have contended for hegemonic status in the ideological terrain of post-colonial Korea. Though tainted with their collaborative past both during and after the colonial period, the business elite of Korea has played an important role in shaping the national identity of contemporary Koreans through its increasing ideological and cultural leadership. Built on the needs and vision of the business class, the discourse of business nationalism stresses: the entrepreneurial class and corporations as the core of the nation; a realist perspective on international relations; the need for national harmony over class division; and the need for the expansion of Korea’s economic and political power. Such features of business nationalism are well expressed in the biographies of business leaders and advertisements, the two most powerful ideological tools of the Korean business elite. In addition, business leaders also promote their own version of nationalism through company rituals, using certain nationalist symbols such as the national flag and the National Education Charter.