Kayageum vs Beatbox

I was browsing around some Korean commercials, and came across a particularly interesting one promoting some Daelim (a company name) Korean apartments called "e-pyunhan-saesang".

This is the link if anyone's interested in watching; it's only 3~4 minutes long, so it won't take up much time!:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtaMH9d3B2Q

I found it intriguing that several women were playing their "kayageum", a traditional Korean intstrument, to the sound of beatboxing and DJ record scratching. The kayageum vs beatbox, traditional vs new. It was also interesting to see that the women playing their kayageums were all in a more traditional black uniform, while the hip-hoppers were in a more casual outfit. It was as though not only their instruments, but also their styles of practice and living were fused together in one commercial. Once again, I thought of the matter of simultaneous nationalism and globalization.

This reminded me of something that Gi-Wook Shin stated in his article, "The Paradox of Korean Globalization". Shin stated that, "...English is considered the necessary means to secure Korea's position as a first-rate world nation... all of the school's courses, except Korean language and history, are taught in English. KMLA (Korean Minjok Leadership Academy) stongly emphasizes the cirriculum aimed at enhancing Korean national identity."(Shin, 5). I know we discussed this a number of times in class, but I wanted to expand on this a little more. Korea is so keen on saving its traditional values, but at the same time is equally keen in keeping the nation just as developed as other countries. Like in KMLA or the kayageum vs beatbox commercial, they try to blend together two large concepts that, as Shin's title suggests, creates a great paradox.

I understand Shin believed that globalization and nationalism are not paradoxical, but in fact "compatible". However, I still don't understand how a nation could thrive with both concepts so strongly in mind. Wouldn't the population lean a little more towards one or the other? According to Shin's statistics, I found that the majority of Korea appears to lean towards nationalistic ideas. For instance, more of the population in Korea could not use computers skillfully (something that could arguably be considered a more recently developed task, and not much of a "traditional" task). Also, although most agreed that English should be the second language of Korea, most everyone would defaintely agree that English should not replace Korean (Shin, 14&18).

In conclusion, this brings up another thought in my mind. Perhaps Korea isn't trying to blend globalization and nationalism together. Maybe they're actually trying to buffer the globalization, which inevitably occurs within every country, with some nationalistic ideas. Maybe the commercial attracted so much attention because the director found a way to incorporate more recent trends of hip-hop and breakdancing with the traditional ways of the kayageum.

Any thoughts?