#62. 종특 -- I expected nothing less from you people

You might have noticed that the Koreans can be slightly insensitive about racism and the ensuing stereotypes. I like to attribute this to the fact that Korea is originally formed exclusively of Asians, and it has not been long since the "foreigners" have started moving to Korea to live.

I, for one, had not seen any non-Koreans until I was about seven or eight, and when I first saw a non-Korean, I was genuinely shocked and amazed that this person was so different from everyone else I knew. I knew it was rude to stare, but I definitely stole way too many glances at this foreigner.

This maybe seems pretty close-minded and negative, but I think that there is also a good side to this. I grew up with almost no preconceived stereotypes about ethnicity, because this was not a topic that ever came up in conversations. After all, we were all descended from the same person according to mythology, and no one knew a lot about cultural differences! So when I did move to North America to live, I was mostly unaware of the racism or racial tension. And when I did start to learn about stereotypes, I was old enough to immediately tell that they were wrong, and these ideas were much easier to reject.

Nevertheless, now that Korea has become a lot more multicultural (we of course still have a long way to go!), these stereotypes began forming a bit. There isn't a particular widely used word for racial stereotypes in Korean (maybe it could translate as "인종적 편견" but again, the history of stereotypes in Korea is relatively short), so the Korean internet users made up a new one. For example, the following sentences might be seen on the Korean internet:

"한국인의 종특은 스타크래프트이다." (The 종특 of Korea is Starcraft.)

(On seeing a good-looking Arab man) "우와, 아랍인 종특 나오네!" (Wow, he's exuding the Arab 종특!)

(On seeing a charming Italian) "이탈리아 종특 부럽다." (I'm envious of the Italian 종특.)

(On seeing an outgoing American) "천조국 종특 경외스럽다." (I'm awestruck by the American 종특.)

Maybe from these contexts, you can guess what the word "종특" is supposed to mean -- it means a particular characteristic -- often stereotypical in nature -- of an ethnicity. Koreans are good at Starcraft, Arab men are good looking, Italians are good with words, and Americans are extroverted and friendly.

The word "종특" is a shortened form of "종족의 특징." The word "종족" is a bit funny, because it is almost never used in real life. It means "species, tribe, or a particular strain," and it gets used in fantasy novels or games for the most part. For example, the Hobbits are a 종족, as are the elves, goblins, and dwarves. The word "특징" just means "characteristic," although in the Korean usage, it might be better to translate it as "defining characteristic."

So "종특" really means "characteristic of a species." In a way, it is slightly derogatory because the humans are, of course, a single species. Insects and animals have multiple species, so it almost brings everyone (including that of the speaker) down to the level of non-humans, and talks about the defining characteristic. So I suppose its nuance borders vulgarity and humour.

Of course, you can easily imagine that this word can be used negatively as well. Interestingly enough, most negative usages of the word I've seen come from Koreans being critical of themselves. For example, Koreans might say:

성격이 급해서 새치기를 하는건 한국인 종특인듯 (One characteristic of the Korean species is that they are impatient and they often cut the line)

김치 먹어봤냐고 물어보는건 한국인 종특이냐? (Is it characteristic of the Korean species to ask everyone whether they have tried kimchi?)

But for some reason, I rarely see this word being used to be critical of other ethnicity that are not Korean. While I think stereotyping is not healthy (and the Koreans also seem to be aware of it, as they would probably never use it in real life unless they were with very close friends), maybe this makes it slightly better?