The Role of Youth Subcultures in the Transformation of Identity of South Korean People

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between the formation of subcultures and the flexible identity of South Korean people, which was formed under the influence of modernization and globalization while maintaining the Confucian core of national culture. The special Confucian type of social structure of Korea, developing since the Middle Ages to present day, recognizes the presence of various, sometimes conflicting trends, requiring alternative functioning of cultural filters and mentality, which is favorable soil for the emergence of a large number of groups with different lifestyles and values. In the 1960s in South Korea, modernization began which took place on the surface without preparing the foundation for such a kind of transformation. The rigidity of the political regime within the country, as well as following the political and economic course of the United States and the final rejection of the search for attempts to unite the Korean Peninsula against the background of superficial reform, led to the emergence of a large number of student movements for democracy, reunification and preservation of national specificity. In the midst of student movements of the 1960-1980s for democratic transformations, new subcultures and movements were born. Depending on the symbolism in South Korean society, nowadays one can distinguish subcultures of K-pop fans, underground and hippie, oljang, clubbers, whose members within groups have similar characteristics - a common language, communication network, personal connections, superficial acquaintances, general norms and values, behavior models and forms of relationships. In the long run, Koreans will continue to actively perceive new ideas and patterns, skillfully integrating them into their culture and monetizing them.