South Koreans Have Always Believed That "White Is Beautiful"

Despite the lack of rain, it very common to groups of young South Korean women carry colourful umbrellas, shading themselves from the sun. The elderly are sporting extravagant visors on their heads, ensuring not an inch of sunlight reaches their faces. Every possible measure is being taken to avoid the sun, to avoid the risk of tanning.

While most of the Western world have embraced the idea of bronzing their skin – a majority of South Koreans are utterly convinced that having fair, pale skin is the only way to look beautiful.

Both historically and universally, having tan skin was once a telling factor in being of a lower class. Those with darkened skin had spent hours working outside under the sun, completing physical labour to earn their way.

According to the Cultural Heritage Administration, the history of Koreans’ preference for "white skin" dates back thousands of years.

A mural found in tombs from the Goguryeo Kingdom (AD 37-668) -- such as one in Susan-ri Tomb in North Korea that was listed as a World Cultural Heritage -- depicts nobles by emphasizing their pale white skin, which was part of the typical makeup of that era.

"White and glossy skin symbolized high class, which motivated people -- men and women alike -- to make their skin white. This is indicated through our ancestors’ preference for bathing or the use of cosmetic products using natural ingredients," the state-run agency wrote in a 2014 article from its monthly magazine Love of Cultural Assets.

In the folk tale "Chunhyangjeon," protagonist Chunhyang’s love interest Mongryong puts on makeup to make his face look whiter before meeting her, indicating that white skin was preferred as early as in the 17th century.

Jeong Yak-yong, an 18th century scholar, and most other people from that era whose records show were assessed as "handsome" are said to have "white skin."

Another interesting point is that Westerners were not considered "white" at that time.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the Westerners were called "saekmok-in," which is directly translated into "people of colored eyes" but in practice meant "assorted categories." It mostly referred to the Semu people, from Central and Western Asia.

Dutchman Hendrick Hamel, one of the small number of Westerners known to have landed on the Korean Peninsula, spent 13 years in 17th century Joseon and wrote a detailed account of the country. He said Westerners were called "myeon-cheol," which directly translates as "iron face" and in practice used to refer to a reddish, rusty complexion.

While tanned skin is more accepted as beautiful in the Western World, fair skin was, and remains, the ideal of beauty in South Korea.