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WORLD NEWSMonday 30 November 2015
In South Korea, a town of Kims, and an unusual shared history
HYUNG-JIN KIM least 100 clan members some, perhaps because made up of people who lages.
Associated Press remain, but there were some Koreans generations share prominent ances- In a nearby Paju village,
NONSAN, South Korea (AP) once hundreds. The others ago gained their presti- tors: royal princes, top offi- seven out of 10 households
— Many of his students have been lost to the fren- gious surnames by buying cials, revered scholars. The were once associated with
are Kims. So are his fellow a Yun family. Now the num-
teachers, an elementary Kim Sun Won, left, and his relative Kim Yong Won stand near the large earthen tombs of his ber is about three in 10.
school alumnus and the “In those times, there was
owners of restaurants and ancestors located behind his traditional tile-roofed home where the 70-year-old has lived his less individual action.
pubs that he patronizes in Young people today are
his small farming village. whole life in Nonsan, South Korea. Many of his students are Kims. So are his fellow teachers, an spoiled. Aren’t they?” said
Lots of Kims in his neighbor- Yun Hoon Duk, a resident
hood, too. Such is every- elementary school alumnus and the owners of restaurants and pubs that he patronizes in his in the Yun village. “We had
day life for Kim Sun Won, grown up with our grandfa-
who, obviously, is a Kim small farming village. Lots of Kims in his neighborhood, too. Such is everyday life for Kim Sun thers, uncles and nephews
too. ... so we naturally learned
He’s lived all his 70 years Won, who, obviously, is a Kim too. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) the rules of etiquette.”
in a tile-roofed home in a The clan clusters reveal
clan village, surrounded by zy of construction across them, not through birth. villages preserve ancestral a fascinating feature of
people who share his con- South Korea, where a
nection to an illustrious an- much of the country, and For Kim, however, ancient shrines and regularly hold handful of surnames far
cestor from centuries ago. outweighs the rest in pop-
Other clan villages in South to young people leav- family ties remain as tan- memorial services by burn- ularity. More than 20 per-
Korea are dominated by cent of the country’s 50
Hwangs, Yuns and many ing small-town life for big- gible as the large earthen ing incense, offering food million people are Kims,
other names. from two former South
“This is the house where my ger opportunities in Asia’s tombs behind his house. and liquor at altars and Korean presidents to the
father, grandfather, great- South’s only Olympic figure
grandfather and great- fourth-largest economy. As a direct descendant of deeply bowing. skating gold medalist.
great-grandfather lived,” All Kims do not belong to
Kim said, walking down a Ancestry does not have 17th-century Confucian In Paju, a city near the the same clan. They are
small hill dotted with his an- divided among about 350
cestors’ tombs and grave- the pull it once did for scholar Kim Jang-saeng, North Korean border, two “bongwans” that are as-
stones. “I’ve never wanted sociated with particular
to abandon my home- locations. Kim Sun Won,
town.” for instance, is a Gwang-
Modernization is turning san Kim, named after a
the villages into a fading southern town where his
tradition. Dozens with at first ancestor is believed
to have settled. Govern-
the 70-year-old holds villages are home to doz- ment surveys in 2000, the
most recent census data
about 15 memorial servic- ens of people with the sur- available, showed there
were 286 South Korean
es per year for his ances- name Hwang who claim surnames and 4,179 bong-
wans.
tors at his home, a respon- as an ancestor Hwang Hui, The dominance of a few
surnames is closely linked
sibility he calls his “destiny.” a 15th-century prime minis- to Korea’s feudal and
Confucian history and the
“I don’t mind living near ter renowned for his moral legacy of Japan’s coloni-
zation of the Korean Penin-
the tombs,” said Kim Sun integrity and righteousness. sula from 1910-1945.
Surnames were usually
Won, a retired local civil “He’s like our religion,” reserved for nobility and
royalty until the 18th cen-
servant in the city of Non- said Hwang You Yeon, a tury, when some bankrupt
aristocrats allowed com-
san who now teaches filial 69-year-old resident in one moners to be added to
their genealogical books,
piety, the life of Kim Jang- of the two villages where called “jokbo,” in return for
money.
saeng and local history at Hwang Hui spent most of There are no official re-
cords on how many com-
a traditional Confucian his post-retirement years. moners got surnames, but
it’s believed to be signifi-
school. “I feel secure here “He’s our pride.” cant because rampant
poverty and the lack of
because I have the sup- Last spring, the Hwangs efficient state surveillance
systems made the forgery
port of all my family clan made headlines when they of jokbos widespread.
members here.” confronted a ruling-party Continued on Page 27
Clan villages thrived under lawmaker who alleged
Confucian, traditional val- Hwang Hui took bribes and
ue systems that prize fam- committed adultery. The
ily connections, filial duty, lawmaker apologized af-
respect for ancestors and ter the Hwangs threatened
regional ties. to campaign against him.
In Kim’s Yeonsan village These days, it’s largely the
there are now about 130 elderly who live in villages
households associated associated with their clans.
with his family clan, but Young people migrate
there are many more non- to cities, and while some
Kim households. A genera- eventually return, others
tion ago, Kim said there with different surnames
were about up to 300 clan have moved in too. In
households, mostly extend- some cases high-rise apart-
ed families. ments have changed the
Clan villages are usually character of once-rural vil-
