Shame and Pride as Components of South Korean Youth's National Identity

The topic of national identity is directly related to the problem of the integrity of society and the viability of the state, personal sense of belonging to a particular state. In particular, shame and pride as components of national identity can influence the perception of events in national history, both past and present. This research is aimed at examining shame and pride as components of South Korean youth’s national identity in terms of attitudes of young people in the 21st century towards national history. The research is conducted via quantitative and qualitative methods using published studies on this topic by Barry Schwartz, Professor of Social Theory, the database of International Social Survey Programme and in-depth interviews with South Korean student youth. This research of the components of youth’s shame and pride makes several contributions to political and social analysts and can become one of the tools to predict the South Korean government’s actions both in domestic and foreign policy via determining whether these components of national identity have already passed the stage of differentiation due to the division of the Korean Peninsula into two states in the middle of the last century.