Gukppong YouTubers get high on international validation

Home > Entertainment > Television

print dictionary print

Gukppong YouTubers get high on international validation

'Gukppong’ is a portmanteau of guk (nation) and ppong (slang for drugs), which likens a sense of national pride to an emotionally elated state after using drugs. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

'Gukppong’ is a portmanteau of guk (nation) and ppong (slang for drugs), which likens a sense of national pride to an emotionally elated state after using drugs. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
Last month, a YouTube video titled "Gordon Ramsay scolds a famous Japanese chef" was uploaded on a Korean channel. The thumbnail showed the renowned British chef yelling at an Asian woman, and the video claimed that during a cooking competition, Ramsay scolded a Japanese contestant who attempted to present galbi (Korean-style marinated beef ribs) as a Japanese dish. The video has garnered some 3 million views.  
 
However, the incident in question never happened. 
 
The clip was indeed from the sixth season of Ramsay’s reality show “Hell's Kitchen” (2009), but he was simply yelling at the contestant for burning her dish. There’s no mention of the woman’s ethnicity either. The video was deleted earlier this month after Korean netizens called out that this hadn't happened on the show.
 
A now-deleted gukppong YouTube video uploaded last month claimed British chef Gordon Ramsay scolded a Japanese contestant who attempted to present ‘galbi’ (Korean-style marinated beef ribs) as a Japanese dish. The story was entirely fabricated. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A now-deleted gukppong YouTube video uploaded last month claimed British chef Gordon Ramsay scolded a Japanese contestant who attempted to present ‘galbi’ (Korean-style marinated beef ribs) as a Japanese dish. The story was entirely fabricated. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
YouTube videos that discuss nationalistic subject matters to evoke national pride have been popular in Korea, and it is not beyond them to use exaggerated or completely fabricated stories for clickbait. Such genre of videos is referred to as “gukppong YouTube.” Gukppong is a portmanteau of guk (nation) and ppong (slang for drugs), which likens a sense of national pride to an emotionally elated state after using drugs. It started as a pejorative term for chauvinism but now refers to national pride in general.
 
In any country, national pride can be misused and quickly turn into extreme nationalism. But nationalism seen on Korea’s gukppong YouTube has a key characteristic: an endless yearning for validation.  




Seeking validation



Most of the time, so-called “gukppong YouTubers” talk about how another country — preferably the United States or a wealthy Western European nation — is praising Korea. 
 
The videos are known for their gaudy thumbnails with bright colors and sensational titles about how other countries are “astonished” by the excellence of something Korean, ranging from food to technology. Positive remarks from Western nations seem to serve as evidence that Korea is indeed great.  
 
Gukppong YouTube videos are known for their gaudy thumbnails with bright colors and sensational titles about how other countries are “astonished” by the excellence of Korea. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Gukppong YouTube videos are known for their gaudy thumbnails with bright colors and sensational titles about how other countries are “astonished” by the excellence of Korea. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
“Nationalism usually takes the form of rejecting other nations and cultures,” said Yu Hong-sik, a professor of Chung-Ang University’s School of Media and Communication. “But Korean nationalism takes a very unusual form in the sense that it longs to be acknowledged by other nations, particularly the United States.
 
“I believe Koreans have ambivalent feelings. We are proud of Korea’s culture and rapid development, but don’t feel like Korea is truly a developed country quite yet. We feel like Korea cannot militarily survive without America’s help, and our economy is not as big as Japan’s. Korea seems to have a vague middle power position in this world, so we want ‘more developed’ Western nations to validate us. Such sentiments have existed for a long time; it’s just that YouTube is a relatively new, convenient platform to seek gukppong.”
 
Since long before the rise of gukppong YouTube, Koreans have been using the phrase “Do you know?” to self-ridicule such craving for external validation. The phrase refers to Koreans who ask any foreigner they encounter if they know about Korea, asking generic questions like “Do you know kimchi?” Some joke that it has been updated to “Do you know 'Squid Game'?” after the hit Netflix Korea series. Celebrities, athletes and cultural items that become globally famous are called members of the “Do You Know Club.”
 
“Do you know?” is a phrase that refers to Koreans who ask generic questions like “Do you know kimchi?” to foreigners, seeking validation. Celebrities, athletes and cultural items that become globally famous are jokingly called members of the “Do You Know Club.” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“Do you know?” is a phrase that refers to Koreans who ask generic questions like “Do you know kimchi?” to foreigners, seeking validation. Celebrities, athletes and cultural items that become globally famous are jokingly called members of the “Do You Know Club.” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
As Korean pop culture such as K-pop and K-dramas gains more popularity around the world, the once-obscure Korea is being mentioned more than ever in Western news outlets — which means there’s plenty of material for gukppong YouTubers to exaggerate and make videos about.
 
Gukppong YouTubers also frequently upload videos that bash China and Japan. Although Korea’s historical conflicts and cultural feuds with the two nations play a role, the bashing may have a broader context. 
 
“There’s a not-so-tacit global hierarchy among cultures, established and internalized by colonialism, and Anglo-American culture is seemingly at the very top,” said Jang Sung-kwan, a diversity and inclusion activist and a fellow at the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research.  
 
“China, Japan and Korea tend to be dominant cultures within Asia. Nationalist Koreans want to believe we are the best of the three, so they degrade China and Japan. But because the premise is that Western — especially Anglo-American — cultures are ‘above’ us, nationalists need those countries to acknowledge and compliment how great Korea is. It’s a form of internalized racism.”  




Who watches this content?

 
But who gains personal satisfaction from compliments of one’s country? The homogenous nature of Korean society may offer an explanation.
 
“Since Korea is associated with only one ethnicity and culture, it’s easier for Koreans to equate the nation with their individual identity,” said Jang. “People who feel like they lack personality or have low confidence especially tend to rely on being Korean to form their identity. They’re the ones most pleased by gukppong.”
 
A Korean internet meme ridicules Koreans who ask any foreigner they encounter if they know about Korea. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A Korean internet meme ridicules Koreans who ask any foreigner they encounter if they know about Korea. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
This may also explain why the target audience of gukppong YouTube videos is middle-aged or older viewers.  
 
“Back when Korea was poor and had no cultural influence, Koreans had a sense of inferiority toward the West,” said Joo Chang-yun, a professor at Seoul Women's University’s Department of Communication and Media. “Today, many Koreans who grew up during that time, now middle-aged or older, project themselves on how far Korea has come. Compliments from Westerners assuage their feelings of inferiority, which is not as strong among younger generations but still there. Koreans are generally very self-conscious of how the outside world, particularly the West, perceives us.”  
 
Joo added that the two types of gukppong — approval-seeking and bashing — share the same roots.
 
“Koreans are stressed by the ongoing economic recession and pandemic,” he said. “Frustrated people seek solace or a scapegoat to blame, whether it’s a certain race, region or gender. Nationalism is one way to relieve frustration, by either being comforted by external validation or taking out our anger on other nations. The rise of gukppong content suggests that the difficult economy and pandemic times have taken a toll on Koreans’ self-esteem.”  




White gukppong YouTubers
 
Since validation from Westerners is so sought-after, some non-Korean YouTubers actively profit off of such demand. Many foreign YouTubers based in Korea heavily rely on producing content that centers around their opinions, mostly praise, about Korean culture and people. The majority of them are white men from English-speaking countries or Europe.
 
Korea-based British YouTuber Joshua Carrott, better known as “Korean Englishman.” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Korea-based British YouTuber Joshua Carrott, better known as “Korean Englishman.” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
“In a nutshell, those certain YouTubers have commercialized their ‘white gaze’ for profit,” said cultural studies professor Alex Taek-gwang Lee of Kyung Hee University.  
 
“But they can only do so because a lot of Koreans think of Westerners’ perspective as the correct standard to judge things, including our own culture, as remnants of Western imperialism persists. Koreans want to become more globalized, but if ‘what white people think’ is set as the standard, that’s a very limited idea of globalization.”
 
Korea-based Russian YouTuber "Soviet girl in Seoul" praises Korean convenience stores. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Korea-based Russian YouTuber "Soviet girl in Seoul" praises Korean convenience stores. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
“Most popular non-Korean celebrities active in Korea are white, and virtually none are women of color because their opinions aren’t taken as seriously,” Jang said. He added that television often perpetuates the problem.
 
“On television shows that feature foreigners, such as ‘Welcome, First Time in Korea?’ and ‘Non Summit,’ the opinion of white male panel members are considered to have more authority. Shows like ‘Youn's Kitchen’ and ‘4 Wheeled Restaurant’ have Korean stars sell Korean food abroad, constantly seeking out white customers who’ll say bulgogi and kimchi are delicious.
 
Korea-based American YouTuber Oliver Shan Grant's video praises a Korean mattress brand. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Korea-based American YouTuber Oliver Shan Grant's video praises a Korean mattress brand. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
“The underlying notion internalized by Korean viewers is that Anglo-American culture is at the top of the world’s hierarchy. Therefore, white men from English-speaking countries are in the ultimate position of authority to validate us.”




Time for introspection
 
As time goes on, more Korean netizens are finding exaggerated and misinformed gukppong content to be cliché and even cringeworthy. Gukppong videos, along with their signature flashy thumbnails, are frequently ridiculed as internet memes. Views for gukppong videos on YouTube are not as high as a couple of years ago, and more netizens seem wary of being blindly nationalistic. 
 
Prof. Lee says that the point is not to reject nationalism altogether.  
 
“We don’t have to deny the idea of ‘nation,’ nor can we,” he said. “When a Korean is in New York City for instance, being Korean is an important identity to have. Nationalism itself isn’t bad nor opposite of cosmopolitanism. We just have to be careful that it does not spill over to ethnocentrism, which leads us to fallacies.”
 
To be truly “international,” Lee says Koreans must “develop tolerance.”
 
“If we really want international feedback, we have to accept that we can’t always hear the praise we want. Also, interacting with foreigners can simply be an experience without having to judge how good or bad a country is. I believe we’re going through a transition period. As younger Koreans gain more international experience and develop healthy national pride, they’ll become less confined to Western-centered thinking and gukppong YouTube will fall out of favor.”

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)