Although most Americans could have the original response to laugh to New York Yankees pitcher Chan Ho Park’s diarrhea comment, it truly shows a cultural divide between The US and South Korea. Especially in New York – Sports media in The United States approaches players aggressively. If players don't "play ball" and submit to all of their questions, they are labeled as "clubhouse cancer" or "malcontent." Credit repair is needed after those labels are affixed. Yet South Korean culture dictates that citizens and athletes in general place high value on such concepts as che-myun (“saving face”) and kongson (“politeness”) . When explaining why he had pitched so ineffectively in his appearances previous to the legen! dary April 7 “Chan Ho Park diarrhea” video, Park probably wanted to set up common ground with American reporters, be cooperative, and establish the big picture for his sting of poor pitching.
Diarrhea and Chan Ho Park is not the normal New York Yankees experience
Back in 1986, if Chan Ho Park had announced diarrhea to the New York Media, they’d have told him to come up with an original 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. South Koreans don't have the sense of humor to think that diarrhea is funny as Americans would feel. And, as stated above, it is culturally taboo not to cooperate with authority figures (and the media are treated with less scorn in Asian countries like South Korea than they’re in The United States). Chan Ho Park was only being honest, and if you watch the video, it appears clear that he’s confused by how funny the American reporters find his statement. Either that or he has an excellent poker face.
What Chan Ho Park diarrhea has to do with 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 is the reason behind Chan Ho Park having such compliance in answering questions and giving the American people exactly what they would call TMI – too much information.
That doesn't compare to the flaming plane wrecks
More studying of Southwick's article will show the Chan Ho Park diarrhea dynamic on a very much more significant scale. Korean Airline jets got into many fatal accidents within the 1990s. The reason speculated is that instead of questioning the clarity of English language instructions from air traffic control towers and possibly appearing as though they were questioning authority, the Korean pilots remained silent and misunderstood. ”Chan Ho Park diarrhea” isn't a “Koreagate” when compared with loss of life, right?
Sourcesfor the Article
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 can be deemed life-and-death matter.(COMMENTARY)-a0191821762
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