When I was younger and more invested in the Koreatown nightlife experience, there was one thing that I gleefully guiltily looked forward to seeing at the end of each evening—the drunken brawl. Usually it would take place in the valet section or the parking lot of a K-town club or bar at closing time. A shouting match would develop between the two parties, usually because someone inappropriately talked to someone’s man or woman, and before you knew it, a drunken fight would break out.

Now, I don’t condone violence and I’m not talking about the type of fights where guns are drawn and it turns ugly and deadly (I’ve seen enough of these in K-town too). I’m referring to a particular brand of drunken K-town style of brawling that involves a lot of verbal dissing, slapping and clothing being grabbed. My favorites were the chick fights. Some of those girls had mad skills—they had a technique that allowed them to both pull their opponent’s hair in the most painful way while simultaneously vomiting all over their new Prada outfits. It didn’t take a lot to set off these confrontations—a simple look might be enough. I remember one time a Chinese American friend who was with me when a crazy fight broke out, turned to me and said, “Damn! Koreans are scary! What is it with you guys? Is it all that kimchi or what?”

Well, according to this recent article in the Korea Times, “Korea is becoming an ‘angry society,’ where killing people in a fit of rage is no longer a rare crime and other crimes of passion are increasingly becoming commonplace.”

It seems the number of rage-related crimes in Korea have increased dramatically in the past five years. The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office categorized 37,671 cases in 2005 of “crimes perpetrated out of a sudden loss of temper.” That figure rose to 101,670 in 2006, 123,401 in 2007 and 159,833 in 2008. Some recent examples of this trend: A middle-aged man killed a 50-year-old woman with his air rifle because he said she gave him a “scornful” look and two drunk men in their 20s beat up a taxi driver for honking his horn.

Some possible explanations for the violence include Koreans’ competitiveness coupled with an inability to find healthy alternatives to properly “vent their frustrations,” heavy drinking, the evolving breakdown of the traditional family structure and social taboos against seeking psychiatric help (maybe this is also related to Koreans’ intolerance for criticism?).

But according to Korea Times historian Robert Neff, Korean anger isn’t anything new and has its roots in the country’s history: “(There are early accounts that) portray Koreans as having fiery tempers and being quick to resort to violence. (Koreans), as a rule, are quiet and gentle, but when their temper is roused they seem to never get enough of fighting.”

So do you think Koreans are more ill tempered than other groups? If so, have they always been that way or is this a new trend? Chinky or not chinky?