A Historical and Social Interpretation of Low Trust in Italy and Korea

Abstract

Trust is now considered an important basis for democratization and social and economic development, and the basis of social capital. However, southern Italy and Korea are classified as low trust societies, due to social problems such as organized crime, nepotism, and lack of cooperation. How can we explain the low trust in southern Italy and Korea? We find some similarities in colonial domination Spanish rule in southern Italy and Japanese rule in Korea. As the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons promoted mutual distrust in the south of Italy, Japanese colonial domination resulted in malicious distrust in Korean society. The “divide and rule” policy of the Spanish autocracy was not different from that of the Japanese colonial government. The Confucian tradition of trust was marred by Japanese colonial policy that was based on the oppression and exploitation of the Korean people. After Korea became a colony of Japan, the Korean tradition of community was intentionally destroyed by the Japanese colonial government. After liberation Korea experienced continuous social turmoil such as the migration of farmers to urban areas, the emergence of industrial workers, and rapid urbanization. The military coup of 1961 and the military rule that ensued imply a continuation of a hierarchical society based on public demonstrations of violence. When the violence of Japanese colonial rule disappeared, a new violent military rule surged in its place. However, when we explain the problem of distrust in the south of Italy with the tradition of the Norman dynasty’s authoritarian state and the Spanish autocracy, we have to figure out how medieval traditions influence the realities of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It can be a dangerous historical leap. It is difficult to refer all kinds of social problems to the colonial experience of Japanese imperialism. It is also not proper to conclude that trust is the source of all kinds of virtues and distrust all kinds of social diseases. We need to draw cautious conclusions on the colonial experience as the origin of the lack of trust in the societies of southern Italy and Korea.