Author Archives: Jeong Tae Bang

Soju Bomb Toast

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General Information about Item:

  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Customary folklore (superstition)
  • Language – English (Soju – Korean liquor)
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea
  • This is a self-collection

Informant Data:

The informant (myself) is a male from South Korea (age 23). He is a junior at Dartmouth College and majors in Computer Science. He left Dartmouth in 2014 June to start his military service in South Korea, which lasted from August 4th 2014 to May 3rd 2016. For the length of his service, he was assigned to a unit called Korea-US Combined Forces Command and worked at its C-1 Branch Surgeon’s Office, where he was an interpreter and executive assistant to a team of 16 Korean and US officers. He is now back at Dartmouth College. This is a self-collected piece of folklore.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – The self-collection took place in Hanover, NH in November of 2018. The informant was sitting at a dinner party as an interpreter between US and Korean officers, towards the end of March in 2015. The command had recently completed a national-scale annual exercise and the “Victory Party” was hosted by the chief of C-1 Branch (a Korean Navy 1-star general) and his deputy chief (a US Air Force colonel). The atmosphere was euphoric and everyone present (around 70 members, both Korean and American, male and female, officers and NCOs) was happy that the exercise ended in a success and ready to enjoy the night with their comrade-in-arms. The party lasted from 6pm to around 9pm at the Friendship House in US Army Garrison-Yongsan in Seoul, Korea.
  • Cultural Context – The Korean military has a special word for these types of dinner parties within its communities: hoeshik. It is known for consuming large amounts of alcohol and hazing junior members. The hoeshik that the informant is recounting was a more special than usual in that it involved US soldiers. This fact may have triggered the Korean navy chief in the account to exaggerate some details in order to boast his masculinity and prowess at the drinking table in front of the Americans.

Item:

  • There was Korean-style pork-barbeque and a lot of Soju (Korean liquor) and beer at the party. Soon after everyone was seated, the chief and the deputy chief made some welcoming comments as usual. Then came the time for the toast. The chief, having served the Korean navy for more than 25 years, suggested a Korean-navy style toast to the Americans and the non-Navy Koreans. Everyone who was not a Korean-navy, including the informant, watched curiously. He first made a Soju bomb (Soju mixed with beer) in a glass. To truly mixed the drink, he put a few pieces of napkins over the glass and slammed the glass on the table. The drink fizzed in the glass and the napkin absorbed the contents overflowing. Then, he turned around and through the wet napkin towards the ceiling behind his back. Turning around and making sure the napkin was now stuck on the ceiling, he told the confused audience that it is a Korean navy custom: mix your drink, throw the napkin behind your back towards the ceiling, and if the napkin does not stick to the ceiling, you have to drink another shot. It is considered bad luck in the ship if the napkin does not stick and falls to the ground because it is similar to a sailor falling from the ship into the sea. He made everyone follow and made the toast.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript of Associated File:

Everyone watched curiously what he [the navy general] was going to do. He made a soju bomb, which is just soju mixed with beer in special proportions, in a glass. And to mix the drink, he put napkin over the glass and slammed the glass on the table. The soju bomb fizzed inside the glass and then the napkin absorbed the contents in the glass, contents that were overflowing. Then he turned around the threw the wet napkin towards the ceiling behind his back. Turning around and making sure that the napkin was stuck on the ceiling, he explained to us that this is a Korean navy custom. He explained that you have to mix your drink… and if the napkin does not stick to the ceiling you have to drink another shot. So everyone tried that at the party, including the deputy chief (the US air force colonel) and everyone had a good time after that.

Informant’s / Collectors Comments:

The superstition at work seems to have elements of homeopathic magic (law of similarity) at work.

The informatn/collector had a unique opportunity of serving in a joint unit (a unit that has all four branches of the military). It was also combined, in the sense that it had both US and Korean soldiers. From his experiences, he got an impression that the navy outnumbers all other branches in terms of superstitions. Perhaps, this is because they have to live in a confined space for a long time when they sail and is often subject to whims of the violent weather at sea.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

ETS Eve Beating

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General Information about Item:
  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Customary folklore (rites of passage)
  • Language – English (ETS – extermination term of service)
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea

Informant Data:

Daniel Kang is a 24 year old male, and senior at Dartmouth College. He is currently a math and computer science double major. He is a class of 2015 but he enlisted in the South Korean military in 2012 after finishing a year at Dartmouth. He served from July 23, 2012 to April 22 2014 under the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army Avaition School. He worked as a human resources admin. He came back to Dartmouth to resume his studies in 2014.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – The interview took place one-on-one in the informant’s apartment living room. The event described in the interview involved 40 other members of his platoon (only the soldiers, no officers). The informant could not come up with the exact date but it was in the bathroom area of his unit at night around April 1st of 2014.
  • Cultural Context – The extermination term of service (ETS) has a very special meaning in South Korea military. Because the system runs on mandatory conscription, almost no one wants to serve and from day one of the service soldiers start counting the days they have left until ETS. There’s even a saying in South Korean military lore that is a variation of the more publicly well known saying “unification is our dream”: “ETS is our dream”. Therefore, ETS is regarded as a very special occasion as the end of military service and almost a new beginning in a South Korean male’s life.

Item:

  • The beating always takes place the night before ETS. After roll calls (930 pm) and before bed time (10pm), the beating takes place in a designated area. For the informant’s unit, it was the bathroom area just outside of the barracks. This particular person, who was the informant’s friend (meaning same month hierarchy), knew what was coming and hid in the telephone booth. But the 40-or-so platoon memebers found him and dragged him to the bathroom area, wrapped him up in blankets (to prevent external injuries), and started giving him a hearty beating.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript of Associated File:

So on the night of April 1st, this event happened? Please describe.

… It usually happens right after roll call [2130] and like before every has to go to bed. So what usually happens is that the person who is like getting discharged the day after is basically beaten up. So they know it’s gonna happen so they usually run away. So this person, in particular, was hiding in a telephone booth, so we tracked him down and basically.. dragged him back to the base, like around the bathroom area. What we do is.. we are aware this could hurt him and also… but it’s like a thing we do so we usually roll him up in blankets and basically hit him, kick him, sit on him (laugh).

Informant’s Comments:

According to the informant, the degree of violence usually depends on how mean the senior was to the juniors. The juniors ranks get the one and only chance to get back at the senior soldier and make amends.

The informant thought this was a brutal and uncivilized way to end one’s service. He revealed that for his own ETS he did not let other soldiers do this ritual to him.

Collector’s Comments:

It is very interesting to see this rite of passage in a particular version performed at the informant’s unit. The collector has seen and heard it in many different forms, but a detailed account of this ritual in another unit that has lived on for a long time is definitely worth observing. It is also interesting to note that the informant simply chose to reject the ritual by his own will.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

Night Post Duty at IPRSS

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General Information about Item:
  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Customary folklore (superstition)
  • Language – English
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea

Informant Data:

Jun Ho Lee is a 23 year old male, and junior at Dartmouth College. He grew up in Korea and until he came to Dartmouth. He is currently a neurosciene major. He is a class of 2016 but he enlisted in the South Korean military in 2014 after finishing two years at Dartmouth. He served from Aug 4, 2014 to May 3, 2016 under the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army Special Forces Command International Peace Reinforcement Support Services. He worked as a logistics admin until he was deployed to United Arab Emirates as a translator for 8 months. Now he is back at Dartmouth to resume his studies.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – The interview took place one-on-one in the informant’s dorm room. The event described in the interview took place with a senior soldier (2 people involved in total; the informant and his senior soldier). It was in the October of 2014 at night time. The informant could not recall the exact date at his unit in Incheon.
  • Cultural Context – The night post duty is something all South Korean soldiers do, whichever unit or job they have been assigned to. Becuase it happens at night and always in pairs or more, there is some social aspect to it as it is a chance for people on duty together to bond over the night.

Item:

  • The informant was on his first ever night guard duty with a senior soldier. It is a rotation duty where everyone stayed at a post for 2 hours for the night. He had to do it every 3-4 days. There were 5 posts in total around the boundary of the base. He was a little nervous, because he had to prove myself to the senior soldier and others in the platoon that he was a capable soldier. On his way to the third station, the northern most corner of the base. Before entering the guard post, the corporal stopped him in front of a big tree. He told the informant to hold his breath and follow him. Holding his breath, the informant went around the tree three times and entered the guard post. After closing the door, he told the informant someone had committed suicide by hanging himself to the tree while on night duty. Ever since then, soldiers on duty started walking around the tree three times without breathing to “deceive” the spirit of the dead soldier which was supposedly still residing in the tree and have become malicious against other soldiers coming to stand duty at night. The informant was told to do it every time he arrived at this post in future duties and teach it to new recruits when it becomes time for him to go on duties as a senior soldier in the pair.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

We had to go through five posts per night. And on our way to the third station, our third post… my senior soldier suddenly found a tree and he started going around the tree holding his breath. And then, after he finished going around three times, he told me that I had to do the same thing too. So, a newbie I was, I did what he told me to do. I held my breath walked around that tree. Three times, counterclockwise. And then we got into our post station and he told me that the reason behind all this weird ritual that I just finished doing was someone had committed suicide on that tree and it was that walking around three times was a method of deceiving the spirit of the dead soldier who supposedly… still residing in that tree and haunt soldiers coming up to guard the post.

Informant’s Comments:

Informant was said that he did not really give much thought to it in the first place. But he found himself doing it every time he went on duty and later passing it on to the new recruits whom he went on duty with.

Collector’s Comments:

It is very interesting to see this unit folklore that is definitely anonymous in authorship but yet lives and thirves so well over many geneartions of soldiers, although each “generation” in South Korean military system is only 21 months.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

Ssa-ga (unofficial chant)

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General Information about Item:
  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Verbal Folklore (song) with connotations of Cutomary Folklore: Rituals / Rites of Passage
  • Language – English (interview), song itself (Korean)
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea

Informant Data:

DongHyun Lee is a 23-year old male from South Korea. He is currently a sophomore at University of Hong Kong. He has served in the Republic of Korea (ROK) Marine Corps from June 23rd 2014 to March 22nd 2016. He was stationed in a battalion in Yeong Pyeong Island, one of the northern most islands closer to North Korea than South Korea. His job was a machine gun marksmen for the first half of his service time and a cook for the second half.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – DongHyun Lee was interviewed over Skype because he is currently located in Hong Kong. He went on his first regular leave after 3 months of service. It was the first time he returned to society since he started his service. His parents were in Shanghai, China so he stayed with his grandparents. He recalls it was one of the happiest few days in his life.
  • Cultural Context – In the South Korean military, not just in the marine corps, the first regular leave of a soldier has a special meaning, not just in military culture but also in society in general (because most Korean males serve due to conscription). The first leave means returning home and meeting family and friends for the first time since enlisting. The nature of conscription makes this a very special time for not just the soldier for those around him.

Item:

  • Ssa-ga (translated as unofficial chant). It is a tradition among ROK marines. The song’s origins are unclear but different variations are very much alive and well-transmitted in different ROK marine units. Ssa-ga is actually a collection of different songs sung in different occasions. The informant’s recollection and recitation was the first-leave ssa-ga, which had to be sung to a marine’s parents right in the place and the time the soldier meets his parents on the first day of the first leave. The informant was a special case in that he had to sing it through Skype since his parents were in Shanghai, China (his comrades most usually sang it in public places e.g. bus terminal).

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

Korean original version (English translation each line below)

신병위로휴가가 – The New Soldier First Leave Ssaga

어두운 밤하늘에 팔각모쓰고, 골목길을 걸어갈 때에

Under the dark night with my 8-pointer on, when I’m walking in the alley

저 멀리 어머니 나와계신다 못난 아들 마중하려고

I see my mama standing in the dark, waiting to greet this ingrateful son

어머니 어머니 울지마세요 울지말고 들어가세요

Mother, Mother, please don’t cry. Please go back inside.

다음에 이 다음에 전역하거든 못한 효도 다 할게요

Next time, next time when I get discharged, I will do my best to make up for the lost time

Informant’s Comments:

Informant was a little embarassed to sing this and thought it was a little funny that he had to sing it over skype. In fact, he was the only one in his company at the time to have sung the Ssa-ga this way. One of his comrades sang it in front of his parents the Incheon Freight terminal packed with people.

Collector’s Comments:

The texture of the song is lost in translation, but the original audio is attached for those interested. It is an interesting combination of a verbal folklore that also serves as a customary folklore that has meanings as a rites of passage: for the first time the marine presents himself with his military identity to those who have known him only as his civilian self.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang

Aki-ba-ri (self force-feeding)

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 General Information about Item:
  • Genre and Sub Genre –  Cutomary Folklore: Rituals / Rites of Passage
  • Language – English
  • Country where Item is from – South Korea

Informant Data:

DongHyun Lee is a 23-year old male from South Korea. He is currently a sophomore at University of Hong Kong. He has served in the Republic of Korea (ROK) Marine Corps from June 23rd 2014 to March 22nd 2016. He was stationed in a battalion in Yeong Pyeong Island, one of the northern most islands closer to North Korea than South Korea. His job was a machine gun marksmen for the first half of his service time and a cook for the second half.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context – DongHyun Lee was interviewed over Skype because he is currently located in Hong Kong. He got assigned to his unit in Yeong Pyeong Island after finishing 7 weeks of boot camp. He recalls being very nervous and confused, as he felt he was not quite ready to face the reality of confronting his seniors.
  • Cultural Context – The ROK Marine culture is extremely hierarchical. Throughout the 21-month service period, ROK marine culture climb up the strict hierarchy divided by the number of months each marine has served. Each month has a special name, a code of conduct, and rites of passages which are unofficially yet universally maintained by the conscripted soldiers (from ranks E1 to E5). Thus, whatever your senior soldiers want you to do for them, you have to do it unless you are ready to face some grave consequences which often includes collective violence and further hazing.

Item:

  • Aki-ba-ri (transalted as “exertion of willpower to the extreme level”)  – On the first day of his arrival at the unit, two sergeants (E5) in his company came up to him asked him what he wanted to eat right now. When he answered he wanted to eat spicy instant noodles, right away he was forced to eat 8 portions of the noodles in one sitting, after which he vomited. This was the beginning of initiation rites that he had to endure until he got promoted to corporal (E4).

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

Can you give me your experience with Aki-ba-ri?

Sure, sure… on the first day, the sergeants… came to me and asked, “Hey noobie… what do you want to eat right now?”

At first, I said, “I’m fine, thank you,” because I was so nervous, but then they were like, “come on, we will give you a treat.”

They were quite friendly when they actually asked… Back then I wanted to eat [spicy instant chicken noodles]… The sergeants said, “Okay, we will buy you [spicy instant chicken noodles].”

So I came to this… PX so I grabbed one [spicy instant chicken noodles]. But then, the sergeant was like, “hey, you only eat one?? Come on, you can do better than that.”

So I had to pick another one. But this guy kept insisting me to grab more and more, as if 2 or 3 weren’t enough. So eventually I got 8 of them… And I had to eat them all.

In one sitting or throughout the day?

It was one meal. And I eventually vomited, becuase my stomach couldn’t endure the pain.

What was their reaction after you finished eating?

After I finished, they were like “NIce job man, you are awesome.” But I could tell it was… sarcasm, obviously.

Informant’s Comments:

Informant was able to laugh over this recollection now, but he was definitely upset and scared at that time.

Collector’s Comments:

The informant’s direct experience with this initiation is very authentic and expressive. It is a widespread hazing ritual sometimes even publicized in the South Korean media, but it was the first time the collector had heard a full version of an actual experience.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang