The guy below sounds like a Gen Z shill for North Korea, and his tone of voice is too excitably ranty, but he does make one good point about how South Korea has kowtowed so completely to the "English craze" that the country is in danger of losing its own culture because of English mania. On my own blog, I've consistently preached that South Koreans shouldn't be surprised when foreigners speak Korean; by contrast, South Koreans should expect long-term foreigners to learn some measure of Korean. This is Korea, after all, and we foreigners are the guests here. If anything, we should show gratitude to the country that feeds us, clothes us, pays us, and houses us by making the effort to speak more than a few grunted, mispronounced phrases. In the States, even with all of the rampant political correctness, there's still an expectation that immigrants will learn English. In France, once you leave the big cities, you're expected to navigate in French. Koreans should expect foreigners to get off their lazy asses and learn Korean. Koreans shouldn't feel pressure to speak English when they see a foreign face, nor should they automatically assume that foreigners are Korean-incompetent whether the foreigners are or not: The default assumption should be that the foreigner can speak Korean. That would be a good example of national pride.
Right now, North Korea is experiencing real economic growth, with 3.7% expansion, a construction boom in Pyongyang, and signs of modernization like apps, taxis, and electric vehicles.
— Kangmin Lee | 이강민 (@kangminlee) June 13, 2026
And something to note: all the branding for the new developments in NK stays in Korean,… pic.twitter.com/GGOM2wh946
I agree with you. People definitely should make an effort to learn the local language, especially if they are going to be there long term. I have a friend from Taiwan who married a German guy, and in order to gain residency in Germany, she had to pass a German language test.
ReplyDeleteBut, I am also happy that English has become the de facto world language. I have spent most of my career working overseas, and while I try and learn some of the local language, I am usually not there long enough (or am maybe just too dumb LOL) to get more than a very very basic fluency. Even with that, most people are pretty happy that I am making the effort.
Re: video
What is not mentioned, that a lot/most of the new developments are Chinese made stuff with the DPRK slapping on Korean logos and branding.
Brian