[기사요약] 한국 사회를 설명할 때 군대문화는 빼놓을 수 없는 요소다. 기업, 교육 기관, 선후배 관계에 전반적으로 영향을 미치고 있는 군대 문화가 어떻게 뿌리잡았고 사람들이 얼마나 피부로 느끼고 있는지 알아보자.


Military  culture in Korean society 


[1] For Kim Tae-jin, an employee of a conglomerate in Seoul, his division’s leader is no different from a military company commander. Kim always toes the line without talking back, knowing that his boss would not listen to lower-level staff. 

*no different from: ~와 다를바가 없다
*talk back: 말대꾸하다
*toe the line 시키는대로 하다


[2] “I always just listen to whatever he says, opting to refrain from making any proposals or expressing my own opinions. After all, my boss will do everything as he wishes anyway,” said Kim.

*opt to ~하기로 선택하다
*refrain~하기를 삼가다, 피하다


[3] “On top of that, even when I have my personal plans to spend time with friends or family members, I wouldn’t dare turn down my boss’ sudden calls to attend company dinners where we, most of the time, end up drinking a lot.”

*on top of that 게다가
*wouldn’t dare 감히 ~못하다
*end up 결국은 ~하게 되는 He ended up jobless


[4] Like Kim’s case, military mores have seeped into many parts of Korean society ranging from the corporate sector to academia, and even in athletic fields, as men, who completed their mandatory military service, climb up the social ladder.

*seep into 스며들다
*social ladder 사회적 위계, 사회 계층


[5] As the country now promotes individuality and creativity, the rigid culture has started to wane. But in male-dominant sectors, a military-style leadership still lives on.

*promote: 고취하다, 추구하다
*wane 약해지다, 시들해지다
*male-dominant: 남성 중심인, 남성이 우세한


[6] “Well, we don’t have insignias on our clothes, but it is virtually a military environment here at our technical research center,” said Ahn Ho-young, an engineering student in a doctorate course of a university in Seoul.


[7] “With my professor calling all the shots with regard to my thesis and other academic affairs, we just do what we are told to do in this hierarchical structure. I think that to carry out piles of work in an efficient way, a military culture has naturally taken firm root here.”

*call the shots 지배하다, 감독하다
*affair 일, 사건, 행사 event
*hierarchical 계급, 계층에 따른
*take root: 뿌리를 내리다, get a foothold


[8] In the 1970s and ’80s when citizens’ levels of education were low, the military was one of the rare organizations that produced well-disciplined, systematically trained human resources.

*disciplined 훈련 받은, 잘 통솔된


[9] Thus, companies, schools and many other sectors sought to recruit retired soldiers to emulate what was then regarded as an “advanced” culture. Some companies have given former military officers extra points on their recruitment exams.

*emulate 모방하다, 따라가다


[10] Former military officers were useful in training entry-level employees, forging a stable management structure and pushing for major corporate projects more efficiently, albeit in an undemocratic, authoritative manner.

*forge 만들다, 형성하다
*albeit 비록.. 일지라도


[11] However, there have been efforts to change the military culture, with many employers encouraging their personnel to offer creative ideas that would help them better compete in the local and global markets.

*personnel 조직 인원, 직원


[12] “That military culture is now a relic of the past, at least in our company,” said an official of another major conglomerate, declining to be named.

*relic 유물, 유적


[13] “We seek to inject fresh blood into our organization based on our conviction that their fresh perspectives and insights would help us respond more proactively to the fast-changing market trends and find what senior staff might have overlooked.”

*inject fresh blood 신인, 새로운 인물을 데려오다
*conviction 믿음, 확신 belief
*respond proactively 적극적으로 대응하다


기사전문: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140409000974

팟캐스트: https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2

팟빵: http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638