On the last 7th April, a soldier in the private first class was killed by predecessors’ violence in the army. This incident remained unknown until the 3rd trial in the courts. That became known by Korea Military Human Rights Center on 31st July. We could see how authoritarianism brings about tragedy in a person’s life by the ruthless result of beating by a predecessor. Koreans were shocked by this incident. Moreover, the New York Times criticize sharply the fact of Korean Military culture, suggesting the necessity of fundamental change.
As human beings, every Korean should be respectful of others. Unfortunately, the real world is not. Hierarchical structures in our society emerge in many different forms, like superior and subordinate, a teacher and pupil, permanent position and temporary position, etc. It works directly, and is sometimes invisible. Aren’t you curious why this system still exists in modern society? We should find out why it appears strongly in Korea and how to handle it.

A History of our Hierarchical Society
   The Constitution of the Republic of Korea, Article 1?1: The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic. Article 11-1: All citizens are equal within the law, and there is no discrimination in political, economic, social or cultural life on account of sex, religion, or social status. It is a commonplace to say that the Constitution should be observed.
   However, in the reality, these laws are not applicable to Korean’s cultural norms. These are observed in newspapers, conversation, people to people, and so on easily. Then, how did these cultural norms form? A long time ago, when society was being built, people were classified by Class, such as the slaveowner relationship. This relationship was hard to break when it was once fixed.
   After the caste system was over in our country, Korea aimed to democratize the nation. But classes among the people still existed in our society. The only criteria for classifying people were changed to “Capital” and “Authority”. Nevertheless, the class systems existed in the past and exists in our modern society. Why does 
   Korea have a new class system? It is a very curious problem. Korea has an “Elder First” custom which is a Confucian idea. It’s not bad if it is used as a meaning of respect or being considerate to the old. However, some senior people think age makes many things possible such as argument between the old and young. An old man says “How old are you? How can you argue with me?” Then a young man should just say “sorry”. This example reflects Korean custom. The Elder first custom makes Korean society more vertical and authoritative.
   From the 1970’s through the 1990’s, Korea experienced industrialization and democratization. Transition was going along rapidly, so it caused a cultural lag. Although new eras need new norms, we still have “Elder First”. Then how can we make a more realistic norm? Let’s explain the features and side effects of hierarchical society on Korea and solutions that can change it.

Hierarchical class in military and alternatives
   A variety of violent incidents still occur, related hierarchy. However, punishment intensity is very light. Look at the report “A senior female damage crime and punishment conditions” by Hong In-Pyo who works in the National Assembly in the International Committee of Jurists from Military Courts. During these five years, 83 cases of sexual crimes against female soldiers happened, but only the offenders of 3 cases were punished with imprisonment. This means that only 5% of offenders were imprisoned.
   Furthermore, the suspects at field grade were all non-prosecution disposition except for one person. Because many cases of crimes in the military are done by those in higher positions, and victims in lower positions are in trouble for making accusations. Often victims can be treated unfairly even though they announce their accusations. So they usually conceal their pain to avoid exposing their harm. This way, violence is not known to people in the military. Much more troubles may exist.
   Rank in the military is a hierarchical system. So it is a vertical relationship and a chain of command. Rank itself is a strictly necessary thing in the military. But, if violence continues to happen with this, we should catch the internal problems. We should know the real military condition in the present. How about the reality of the Korean military? Military crimes occurred 7,530 times in the past year. 8.4% has increased in comparison with 6,946 cases in 2012. There is a thing you should watch carefully. That is, unrelated in specificity, criminal cases were 70% of 7,530. This tells us the fact that violence is prevalent in the military.
   Moreover, whether it is appropriate to hold trials in military courts is being argued. In many cases, the military courts were presided not by law professionals, but by military officers. Also, “the confirmation procedure” is controversial. That system allows that the military commander can reduce the penalty. Like this, military courts are under the influence of division commanders. It has been criticised that the military court doesn’t utilize legal expertise and does not guarantee the independence of the court.
   As we can see, we should know that military violence has not disappeared or lessened. A proper punishment to offenders is not applied due to the military legal systems and chronic disease that unconditionally covers up problems when incidents happen. The justification that superiors must educate subordinates in lack of ability somehow, even if it is to mobilize violence, still exists. As long as that thinking method comes into practice, the violence will be passed down.
   What should we do to improve this? It should be “developing programs and providing an institutional strategy” in priority. The change of thought that all soldiers are members of our
community should be the foundation in order to root out violence in the military. For that, various
programs must be made to increase closeness and bad laws must be reformed to protect and
help the suffering. Moreover, we must pay attention to invisible violence consistently. We should
stop the vicious circle caused by an unreasonable system and provide a method to enhance the
punishment for the offenders.

The Hierarchical feature in business
   This is an era of materialism. People work for an employer and get payment for their work. So after
graduation, university students go into the business world, which has a vertical culture, too. Business connected with Capital has a more powerful hierarchy. Capital has an uncanny power, it can reduce the people’s discipline. Therefore, the weak are easily deprived of their rights. In business, there are two kinds of relationships. One is external, the other is internal.
   Franchise business can represent an external relationship. When a corporation and one franchise
owner make a contract, the powerful side is called “A”, and weak side is called “B”. They create profit through the mutual cooperation. However, correspondence between theory and practice is just like a dream. In the real business society, “A” wields its power. For example, in 2013, one owner of C franchise convenience store committed suicide. This incident occurred three times at that year. They were unable to withstand “A”’s tyranny.
   There are lots of problems in the contract. First, the term of the contract is too short. Mr. Kim, who is a hamburger and ice cream franchise owner, said “I only have one year. So if I can’t make a profit that year, I don’t have a chance to contract again.” Second, “A” demands unreasonable things. According to Mr. Kim, “A” wants to have new interior designs every five years. Interior design can be used over ten years, but they want it to change the interior design by their company. Third, “A” doesn’t listen to “B”’s voice. When “A” make a new corporate law or event, they don’t care about “B”’s situations. For instance, “B” should sell event products. Their quantities are decided by “A”. This is an unusually large amount so he cannot sell them all. Dead stocks are all under “B”’s responsibility.
   Then, how can we solve this problem? There are some good examples. Mr. Choe, who is H chicken corporation owner, thinks that coexistence and loyalty are important. He considers “B”’s opinion,
tries to resolve difficulties quickly, and guarantees profit. For instance, Mr. Choe gave up his gain
and supplies the same ingredient cheaply when ingredients price have skyrocketed. And if he makes
a contract, he never change his partner. As a result, his company built one thousand franchises and
it is ranked No.1 of consumer satisfaction. This is a great model that franchise corporations will take
in this future.
In the internal relationship of business, temporary employees have many problems. During
the 1980’s several financial problems caused the Korean government to experience a so-called
“crisis of the welfare state”. To overcome these troubles, Korea employed a neoliberal reform
policy. Temporary employee problems are the most remarkable among others in these days. On
October 7 2014, a temporary employee committed suicide. She endured sexual harassment by a
superior for the only hope of getting a permanent position. However, when she received a notice of
the cancellation of the contract, she could not stand any more. This is the miserable situation for
temporary employees.
   Today, 50.2% are in temporary employment (March, 2010). Lots of people work in unstable
situations. They are always worried about the next contract. Their wages are 46.8% of that of
permanent positions, even if they do the same work! The rate of social insurance that they have
is about 33%. Even worse, the ratio of labor union that they joined is just 2~3%. In short, they are
not paid enough and no one helps to protect their jobs. So, almost of them endure their bad labor
environments to keep themselves employed.
   In order to get over difficulty, the working class should be united. In our history, through working
class protest, Korea made new laws and cultures for workers. Just waiting for change from
capitalism will be useless, and maybe it’s impossible. So workers should try to find their rights. In
2007, the E-land company’s temporary employees fought for their rights. They went on strike for
500 days, and they achieved success even if it was not perfect. Following this case, the working
class should protest for their rights.

Our Daily Life in a Hierarchical Society
   With corporations and the military, class culture is wide-spread in everyday life in the Republic of
Korea in secret. Let’s examine these problems with critical eyes.
   The first is sex discrimination. Korea is well-known for serious discrimination in treatment between men and women in the workplace, such as promotions and wages. There is data that supports this fact. According to March 11, “Glass Ceiling Index” published by British weekly magazine the Economist, Korea is ranked at the end among the OECD countries. The Economist has nine categories, including highly educated and gender employment ratios of women, gender wage differences, women entering senior positions ratios, and proportion of female parliamentary seats. Its maximum score is 100 in total. Korea recorded 15.5 points.
   “A glass ceiling” means an invisible barrier preventing women’s advancement and fair treatment in a workplace community. The Economist pointed out that “Korea’s female employment rate is low and promotion to higher positions is difficult, also the wage gap between men and women is 37%, that is the largest figure among OECD.” Because these are issues to be resolved, it is necessary to provide women in the country with birth or pregnancy welfare. Also, intellectually deep discussions must be conducted because reverse discrimination could appear in the process.
   Second, there is “job discrimination”. Consider it as discrimination according to the type of job and vertical discrimination in the workplace. As you can see, discrimination according to the type of job looks like the attitude of disregarding a janitor while we act courteously to the Dear Professor. Vertical discrimination is differentiation even if people are on similar work in the same place according to vertical rank. A typical example is a doctor and a nurse. Nonetheless, the doctors and nurses work in one hospital, the doctor examines the patients and nurses follow the doctor’s instructions. Throughout history, it has been settled that the jobs involving fame and money were envied and respected by the public, while jobs accompanied by physical labor are considered to be humble jobs. Job discrimination depends on the kind of social and cultural awareness and bias. We should recognize the fact all people are equal regardless of jobs, and we need to make a habit of equal attitude to various kinds of jobs.
   The third is the relationship between senior and junior. This is common for many college students. This year, a controversial incident happened. There is a “Like” feature on Facebook. A Facebook event was an incident by a junior clicking “Like” on Facebook for the night. By that, senior was unable to have a tight sleep, and he spoke abusively to junior. This was derived from the values that
“I can look down on someone if they are subordinate”. In addition, extreme discipline in the Physical
Education departments is a problem. It included such as excessive dress code, using term limits, and forcing running with no walking. These rules show the old idea that juniors must obey older seniors and observe vertical relationships strictly.
   Why should we be looking at widespread discrimination in the world? First, we should not forget all people are equal. For those who are lower than us, we should show a generous attitude toward them, and have a mind that all occupations are equally honorable. Second, do not think it has nothing to do with us and listen to the people in various environments. Even though it is a minor one, it can be related to modern society. We don’t know how it could affect us in the future. Based
on these things, we should look at society critically.

What should we do?
   we do not doubt that Korea is a hierarchical society until now. This system causes various severe problems. Wherever people live, such as the military, corporations, or daily life, hierarchy exists. It creates negative results when it combines with Korean’s vertical custom. To settle this matter, both sides effort are needed and government should establish a long-term policy. So, we can suggest three solutions.
   First, “B”s effort is mostly needed in the short run. “B”s always polish the apples of “A”s and is controlled by “A”. However, to just suppress anger is not a good attitude. B he should know that is a shamed action which do not help his colleague when he is cast out from “A”. If “B” combine with each other, the world could be changed. Korea needs to make new “labor laws” so the people in the lower classes can keep trying hard to achieve their rights.
   Second, a communication culture is needed. “A” and “B” can overcome a culture gap and can coexist through communication. This culture makes “A” and “B” understand and consider each side’s matter. Consequently, they can find a better solution. Conversation always accompanies the uncomfortable, irksome, and difficult. Work systems could be unilateral without this action. Our society has many systems but it is in a transition state so far. So we should upgrade this system and apply to solve real problems.
   Last, education gives a recognition of communication culture to members of society who live in the next generation. Education is a tool for building a next generation society. So we should form the idea of solution about hierarchal phenomenon for the next generation.
   In human history, the emergence of hierarchical society is inevitable and the human and hierarchy have been inextricably linked. It makes a lot of problems, but human always find the solutions and apply it for a real society although they are not perfect. It develops the history of mankind. Korea is no exception, so we can work out our issues.

Lee Sae-un | By CP Cub-Reporter
Song Yoon-ji | By CP Cub-Reporter