The Elements Organic Culture of Korean People

Following calls in recent critical debates in English-language Korean studies to reevaluate the cultural concept of han (often translated as “resentment”), this article argues for its reconsideration from the vantage point of minjung theology, a theological perspective that emerged in South Korea in the 1970s, which has been dubbed the Korean version of “liberation theology”. Like its Latin American counterpart, minjung theology understood itself in explicitly political terms, seeking to reinvigorate debates around the question of theodicy—the problem of suffering vis-à-vis the existence of a divine being or order. Studying some of the ways in which minjung theologians connected the concept of han to matters of suffering, this article argues, offers an opening towards a redirection from han’s dominant understanding within academic discourse and public culture as a special and unique racial essence of Korean people. Moreover, by putting minjung theology in conversation with contemporary political theory, in particular the works of Wendy Brown and Lauren Berlant, this article hopes to bring minjung theology to the attention of critical theory.

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Association between chronic low back pain and degree of stress: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-94001-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sungwoo Choi ◽

Sangun Nah ◽

Hae-Dong Jang ◽

Ji Eun Moon ◽

Sangsoo Han

Keyword(s):

Low Back Pain ◽

Back Pain ◽

Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Low Back ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Severe Stress ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Korean People ◽

Using Data

AbstractLow back pain (LBP) is a very common health problem worldwide, and has a major impact on quality of life. This is a cross-sectional study using data obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) to investigate the health and nutritional status of Korean people, conducted in 2013, 2014, and 2015. The total of 8,473 patients included in the analysis. A 357 (19.34%) subjects in the chronic LBP group and 1,697 (25.61%) subjects in the no chronic LBP group reported no stress (P < 0.001). The numbers of subjects reporting mild, moderate, and severe stress in the two groups were 934 (50.6%) vs. 3,785 (57.11%), 432 (23.4%) vs. 910 (13.73%), and 123 (6.66%) and 235 (3.55%), respectively (all P < 0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis with full adjustment for other variables indicated higher OR for severe stress (OR 2.82, P < 0.001) than moderate (OR 2.54, P < 0.001) and mild (OR 1.55, P < 0.001) stress. We confirmed that there was a significant association between chronic LBP and degree of stress. Therefore, the degree of stress should be assessed in clinical treatment of chronic LBP patients.

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