Yes, some foreign reporters said it was a weird yet impressive phenomenon when they watched the Korean people's reaction to the IMF regime.
But, no..It was not an extreme patriotism.. It simply stemmed from the Korean's inherent belief in collectivism.
Just like Koreans tried to get out of debts while being colonised by Japan, they repeated the same public movement of collecting gold.
The ordinary citizen, perhaps having no idea about what IMF even meant to them, found all possibles ways to help the nation. After the Korean had heard the Bank of Korea didn't have enough U.S. Dollars or gold left to pay off the debt, the Koreans started collecting all their gold to donate to their government. From the tiny wedding rings to bequests, literally anything made of gold, they wanted to give everything possible to the government in order to help get out of the economic blackhole.
Picture source from the Korean Newpaper, Chosun-ilbo (www.Chosun.co.kr)
But, no..It was not an extreme patriotism.. It simply stemmed from the Korean's inherent belief in collectivism.
Just like Koreans tried to get out of debts while being colonised by Japan, they repeated the same public movement of collecting gold.
The ordinary citizen, perhaps having no idea about what IMF even meant to them, found all possibles ways to help the nation. After the Korean had heard the Bank of Korea didn't have enough U.S. Dollars or gold left to pay off the debt, the Koreans started collecting all their gold to donate to their government. From the tiny wedding rings to bequests, literally anything made of gold, they wanted to give everything possible to the government in order to help get out of the economic blackhole.
Picture source from the Korean Newpaper, Chosun-ilbo (www.Chosun.co.kr)
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