While the first response of many Americans to New York Yankees pitcher Chan Ho Park’s diarrhea comment will without doubt be laughter, the reality is that the incident reflects a cultural divide between South Korea and The United States. Sports media in The US – particularly New York – approach players aggressively. Players are expected to “play ball” and submit to their questions, or they’re labeled some form of “malcontent” or “clubhouse cancer.” Credit repair is needed after those labels are affixed. Yet South Korean culture dictates that all of the athletes and citizens place a high value on such concepts as che- myun (“saving face”) and kongson (“politeness”). While explaining why he'd pitched ineffectively in his appearance! s previous to the legendary April 7 “Chan Ho Park diarrhea” video, Park wanted to establish some common ground with the American reports and also wanted to establish the bigger picture for his stint of bad pitching.
Diarrhea and Chan Ho Park is not the normal New York Yankees experience
If Chan Ho Park announced diarrhea in 1986, the New York Media would have told him to come up with a better excuse. Yankees pitcher Ed Whitson got gastro-intestinal distress because of the New York spotlight back then. If Chan Ho Park's salary was tied up with investments at the moment, the problem could easily have been addressed by payday installment loans. Although in The United States diarrhea might be funny, South Koreans don't typically share that very same sense of humor. As stated above, it is taboo culturally if you don't cooperate with authority figures (the media being treated with less scorn in Asian countries than in The United States). Chan Ho Park was being honest and was confused by how funny the American reporters discover his statement if you watch the video. Either that or he has a fantastic poker face.
Chan Ho Park diarrhea and the Power Distance Index
The Power Distance Index (PDI) deals with how a particular culture such as South Korea deals with authority and hierarchy, according to Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede. According to veteran military pilot and essayist Albert Southwick, “a culture with a high PDI is more apt to respect authority even when authority is plainly in error.” The low PDI score, along with the nation's general respect for foreign beliefs and authority, will indicate why American media is always pushing for a sensational story. South Korea has a high PDI score meaning a native of South Korea would respect media authority whether or not they are invading his privacy. That could be why Chan Ho Park complied with their questions and revealed what Americans would consider TMI – too much information.
That doesn't compare to the flaming plane wrecks
Further study of Southwick’s article illustrates the Chan Ho Park diarrhea dynamic, but on a much more severe scale. In the '90s, fatal accidents happened in Korean Airline jets. The speculated reason behind this is the Korean pilots stayed silent rather than questioning the authority of misunderstood English from the air traffic control towers. ”Chan Ho Park diarrhea” isn't a “Koreagate” when in contrast to loss of life, right?
Resources
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geert_Hofstede
clearlycultural.com
http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-index/
thefreelibrary.com
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/When cultural taboos could be deemed life-and-death matter.(COMMENTARY)-a0191821762
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