Note: While I
disagree with a lot of South Korea’s characterization in the series, his shortcomings are not the intended focal point of this post, as designated by the
title. Just wanted to acknowledge that and make it clear.

South Korea’s curl is said to represent his soul…probably.
However, knowing Hima, I think this may just be a pun for South Korea’s capital
– Seoul. It’s often said that a capital city is the soul of a nation; they’re
cultural and political hubs that show off its best features.

It’s also been speculated that South Korea’s curl represents
the yin-yang symbol on their flag. I believe Hima incorporates this sort of
symbolism more so in how he characterizes South Korea’s polarized personality.

The red half (Yang) symbolizes positive cosmic forces, and
is often associated with the sun and warmth. The blue half (Yin) symbolizes
negative cosmic forces, and is often associated with the moon, darkness, and
coldness. Taken together, the yin-yang is supposed to represent the balance of
the Universe, as well as the mind, body, and yes – the spirit (i.e. soul).  

What I’ll be arguing here is that South Korea is given two
distinct personalities in the series. He’s either very joyous and full of
energy, or there are other times where he seems insecure and unsure of himself.

The running gag with South Korea is that he falsely claims
to invent things. He’s very cheerful, and often bugs China and Japan.

On the other hand, there are plenty of times where he’s not
depicted this way. For example, Japan shows confusion at the fact that South
Korea willingly makes Japanese food for other countries and mimics his behaviour,
despite the fact that South Korea ‘hates’ him.

There’s another instance where he gets Japan to watch
one of his K-dramas. To me, it seems like he wants Japan’s praise to act as
some sort of validation. He’s mimicking Japan, and appears to be vying for his
approval. Given their economic relations after WW2, I wouldn’t say this is too
much of a stretch.

South Korea’s hidden insecurity is revealed further in the
strip where Japan creates mind-reading binoculars. After using them on China,
South Korea refuses to believe that China doesn’t want him around and denies
the truth of the binoculars. He thinks they don’t work properly.

In terms of his appearance, South Korea’s photogeneity and
obsession with photoshop is likely a reflection of the cosmetic and plastic surgery
culture in his country. South Korea has one of the highest plastic surgery
rates in the world, and as such, this is often linked to their extremely high
suicide rate, especially among young adults. Beauty is everything in the
country, and it would seem this is important to South Korea too as he
photoshops every-day photos of himself, perhaps unhealthily.

There’s also the fact that whenever a photo is taken of him,
it’s impossible for it to be unflattering. He’s naturally photogenic, and yet, he
still takes great lengths to perfect his appearance. Again, I think this is
just reflective of his nation’s notion of beauty and self-care.

Lastly, South Korea is shown to have an uncertain relationship
with America. In an uncompleted strip, he immediately agrees to whatever
America says.

Then, in another strip, South Korea mentions making a movie
and showing it to America. Once more, we see how he may possibly be trying to
gain respect and validation from the other nations.

Overall, it would seem that South Korea isn’t simply a happy
and flat character. Instead, his personality is notably polarized, and there
are indeed moments where his insecurities reveal themselves. It just so happens
that his curl might symbolize these opposite personalities.