Chemyeon literally means 'body and face'. The concept of it is difficult to nutshell into one defining word, but the oft-quoted one is 'saving face' or at least saving the projected image or facade, to maintain respectability.. Although preserving one's self-respect and dignity is common in any culture and society, in a Confucian-influenced culture such as Korea, it operates strongly and can create huge misunderstandings and culture clashes with foreigners.
In an individualistic western culture, we think more directly, in terms of “this is what I think.” In a collective-minded Korean culture, people tend to place more importance on "what would they think about me?" Therefore, a person tries to avoid presenting his own thoughts or taking responsibility when he is confronted with opposing opinions. So, to a foreigner, you might hear one thing that was said to appease your face (regardless if you are aware of what face could be lost or if you cared enough to preserve it, even if you did know.) and also the Korean's face, but it might not reflect the exact sentiment of the speaker. This can easily be misdiagnosed by a westerner as being two-faced or hypocritical, given that we are used to hearing people shoot from the hip and make no bones about what others think about the bluntness.
There are many situations where "chemyeon" could be misinterpreted for shyness. Koreans will often explain to you about the shyness of their culture, when they actually are referring to "chemyeon". For example, if you are an english teacher in a classroom and you point at a student and ask them to do something or say something, you will often see the hesitation and the slight glance around at other students. Sometimes, the student will eventually stammer something or sometimes the student will slouch into their chair and try to magically disappear. The fear of 'what others will think of them' becomes overwhelming and might make it difficult to say or do anything at all.
Same with Koreans who you know speak passable English. They don't want to embarrass themselves by either making a mistake, or even draw attention to themselves by speaking it well enough that it could be perceived as showing off. But particularly, they often don't want to embarrass themselves in front of other Koreans. Therefore, you might often find yourself getting a better English response from Koreans, when there are no other Koreans in the room.
As a foreigner dealing with Koreans, there is no real expectation for you to adopt these kind of cultural sensitivities and how to best navigate through them, but the purpose of this article is to raise your awareness of it and to be mindful when you see it surface.
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