Korean Anthropology - Field Notes 3

While sitting on this flight, killing time, I was trying to decide which of the many reports that I’ve started on Korean Anthropology would get finished before landing, when the sound of a middle aged male, two rows behind me, trying to extract the mucus stuck at the bottom of his smoke ravaged lungs, helped me to focus – as well as causing my business class lunch to lurch back up to the entrance of my digestive system - on a delicate topic that I thought I should bring to your attention...

The Korean Art of Throat Clearing

This charming (more on the charm of this in a moment) pastime of just about every male over the age of 15 can be, and is, practised just about anywhere - on the street, in public washrooms, on a flight, in a restaurant, in a lift, in a taxi and probably in the bedroom (I've not studied this, just conjecture).  Just about any place you can think of. And, just when you are least expecting it – there it is – that deep, gurgling, thick, gooey, half cough, half grunt of a good fistful of creamy, nicotine-stained phlegm moving from the upper lung / mid oesophagus region to the middle of the tongue.  The true practitioners of this can reach 85dBm (measured with my iPhone App) so even the near hard of hearing will know that someone’s moment of display has come.

I choose my words carefully there, I think ‘display’ is correct but to be honest I’m new to this anthropology thing and throat clearing is surely not a typical area of study.  I mean this in the same way that in certain species of birds, e.g. the pheasant, the male will put on a display to attract the female. Since this is done entirely by males and it is done all the time, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Korean Art of Throat Clearing is actually a cheeky little flirt rather than mere spit preparation.  However, it also happens to evoke in the innocent listener the body’s gag response.

There are many different types but I think after much enforced study, I’ve managed to isolate a few prototype categories. First, there is the Upper Cavity Rattler, this seems to be the province of the younger males. It is often preceded by a deep inhale from the nostrils which suggests that there is not enough of the thick phlegm in the throat and a bit of gathering is in order.  Observe carefully and you can see the quick movements of the throat and neck as the fluid moves deftly from the back nasal passage, down the throat and then back up to the mouth, i.e. the payload delivery area. Not quite as loud as the other categories, but you can still hear all that liquid swishing around.

The second category seems to be universally practised by all ages, it is the Deep Throat* .  The advantage of this technique is its speed – it is sort of the ‘quick draw’ of the genre. It can be produced, in full swell, with seemingly hardly any preparation.  A solid and sometimes lengthy gurgle is produced giving the listener a strong impression of the viscosity of what is welling up from the throat to the mouth. A classic to accompany your dessert from the man behind you in the posh restaurant.

The final and last category, I would say, is clearly the reserve of the professionals – a Full Chested Hork.  Younger men can’t produce this, I think, simply due to the decades of dedicated smoking necessary to get the phlegm to such a solid consistency and in sufficient quantity to make one think that perhaps it is not a spit preparation at all but really the creature from the black lagoon crawling to the surface. A broad chest is and full extended belly are necessary to allow full resonance to every gurgle and bubble. Following my theory that this advanced throat clearing is actually male display, a Full Chested Hork is clearly the Alpha male marking his territory. How can any woman resist?

Another thought on the male display idea: there is a subtle metaphor happening here, i.e. referring to the male’s sexual prowess.  The idea is that the throat clearing has two stages, the spit preparation (the noisy stage discussed above) in which the fluids are gathered and then followed by the actual spit or ‘ejaculation’.  Now seeing that most of the places where an innocent bystander can witness this throat clearing is indoors public places, the actual spit never happens. Again by observing throat movements, it can be seen that it gets swallowed. Sometimes this can be several moments later (watch for cheek movement to spot those that keep it in the mouth for awhile)before the male will reluctantly ‘stand down’.  So continuing the metaphor, I would call this act of preparation but no production as ‘horkus interruptus’.

It is puzzling though. Since it is so widespread, it is clear that the female must enjoy and even admire this activity. Otherwise why would men continue to do it? I’ve seen some evidence of women swooning in the presence of, say, two large men who indulge in a Full Chested Hork in a small lift, but I can't be sure that it is their charm the woman was overwhelmed by. Is it just me  being a wimp that I so often feel like gagging?  The female is never seen to indulge in this obviously fun pastime – it is worth noting that smoking among women in Korea is almost non-existent, a mere 5% of the female population (more on this later) – maybe they simply can’t compete with Korean men to get the phlegm to the necessary thick and chunky consistency.  

* the observant reader will have noticed my shoddy attempt at getting more page hits by naming the second category after an apparently still popular 1970's film.