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While many Asian nations embrace color red as a sign of prosperity, take Chinese and Japanese use of the color for example, it is said that there was once a syndrome called “Red Complex” spread throughout Korea in which people expressed the feeling of fear and deep disapproval toward the color red.
Although there are numerous traumatic stories behind it, in order to avoid the chicken or the egg dilemma, I would only note here that this complex largely stems from the accumulation of the bloodiest events in the history of Korea.
From my personal experience, I also have noticed how some Koreans did not view red kindly. Some may show great reluctance, particularly when it comes to writing in red. For instance, when I was about 10 years old, I was doing my homework at my grandparents’ house. My grandmother saw me using a red pencil and she told me, in rather aggressive manner, never to write in that color because it would bring me a bad luck. Since this incident, I have been avoiding red pens except for drawing purposes. Furthermore, when I was working at a PR agency in New York, I saw a Korean entrepreneur refusing to close the deal because my boss signed contract in red. They ended up executing it in black.
Although there are numerous traumatic stories behind it, in order to avoid the chicken or the egg dilemma, I would only note here that this complex largely stems from the accumulation of the bloodiest events in the history of Korea.
From my personal experience, I also have noticed how some Koreans did not view red kindly. Some may show great reluctance, particularly when it comes to writing in red. For instance, when I was about 10 years old, I was doing my homework at my grandparents’ house. My grandmother saw me using a red pencil and she told me, in rather aggressive manner, never to write in that color because it would bring me a bad luck. Since this incident, I have been avoiding red pens except for drawing purposes. Furthermore, when I was working at a PR agency in New York, I saw a Korean entrepreneur refusing to close the deal because my boss signed contract in red. They ended up executing it in black.
Nonetheless, this red complex seemed to have eased down in today’s Korea Take a look at the city of Seoul now. Amid current World Cup craze, the city is literally flooding with red. The supporters express their high spirits and patriotism via full use (or abuse) of red, the signature color of Korean national team. They even call themselves the “Red Evils,” as if earlier mentioned complex had never been existed in this country.
Korean World Cup Soccer Fever from Simon and Martina Stawski on Vimeo.
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