[Desk Column] Corporate Taming and Wonsan Bombardment

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Cho-hee] Recently, while flipping through TV channels on a weekend, I came across a familiar movie. It was the comedy film Gas Station Raid, about four neighborhood delinquents who, as if there were no tomorrow, suddenly rob a local gas station while eating ramen. Back in 1999, the exaggerated acting of the then rookies Lee Sung-jae and Yoo Oh-sung felt a bit cringeworthy, but the pure slapstick humor, simple and straightforward compared to the overly complicated films of today, still delivered a thrill.

The highlight of the movie was Yoo Oh-sung’s signature line as the tough and dim-witted character ‘Mudaepo’: "Daegari baka" ("Smash the head"). At the time, I just laughed it off, but watching it now, the scene feels significant. The catharsis of shattering authority was exhilarating. However, his display of dominance in front of the few captives?the gas station owner and a teenage part-timer?revealed the violent hierarchical relationships, one of the social maladies in Korean society.

Unlike women, men often experience what is called ‘wonsan bombing’ from childhood. It was a common form of corporal punishment by teachers or seniors during middle and high school or university days. I also recall colleagues saying that after experiencing the ‘original’ version in the military, it was somewhat bearable. Among friends, there’s also the bittersweet memory of trying it out of curiosity but not lasting even a second before rolling on the floor.

I reflected on the meaning behind the act of ‘smashing the head.’ Simply pressing the head?the highest part of the body?downwards in front of someone’s feet is enough to cause humiliation. In Korean social relationships, power hierarchies are always established by assessing superiority. The so-called ‘eolcharyeo’ (military-style disciplinary posture) seems to be a tool used by superiors to assert their authority.

Regarding the act of placing one’s head on the ground, a well-known historical reference is the ‘Samgwe Gugo Dorye (三?九叩頭禮)’ vividly depicted in the film Namhan Mountain Fortress. After losing the Byeongja Horan war, King Injo of Joseon surrendered to the Qing emperor at Samjeondo, bowing three times and knocking his head on the ground three times each time?a humiliating ritual. Forcing someone to press their head to the ground is a means for those in power to demand submission.

The climax of Gas Station Raid comes in the latter part of the film, where Yoo Oh-sung, holding up a lighter in a gas-soaked station, commands dozens tangled inside to ‘smash their heads.’ I didn’t realize it then, but watching it again now, Mudaepo’s character somewhat resembles Im Jong-sul, the protagonist of the novel Wanjang.

Though in different forms, ‘smashing the head’ still occurs in various ways throughout our society. Recently, when talking with business leaders, they unanimously say they have never faced a tougher five years. During the Moon Jae-in administration, laws tightening regulations on companies were introduced roughly every three days. The president’s promise to “remove the red flags (speed controls to protect cart drivers)” has long become empty rhetoric. Over-legislation, such as the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and shareholder derivative suits, which ignore innovation and only restrict business activities, has increased side effects and burdens on companies.

Every time the government changes, disciplining the business community is repeated. Like confirming the flipped political power map right before their eyes, lining up companies and issuing threats is the nature of political power. The presidential election is just around the corner. Presidential candidates promoting pro-business and pro-economy stances are all the same. Of course, no businessperson trusts this blindly anymore. Given the high uncertainty, the business community’s true concern is how they will be forced to ‘smash their heads’ this time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.