The Social Meaning of Healing Tourism in Korea

Healing phenomena such as healing talks, healing concerts, healing books, and healing tourism have swept over Korean society. Healing is considered as something of a ‘romantic cure’ for people who need to rest and recover from their everyday life. Healing phenomena were approached from individual and psychological standpoints rather than from social and sociological ones. For this reason, healing is criticized as ‘faked mind control technology’ in the same way the story of Ah Q of Lu Xun was criticized. After reviewing the concepts of healing and healing tourism within the limits and implications of they impose, liberalism and neoliberalism as theoretical backgrounds of this study were reviewed. This was done in terms of the aspects of economic thoughts and policy and the aspects of ideologies. This study proposes social meanings for healing tourism as follows: First, healing tourism has meanings for the culture of comport and cure in a neo-liberalistic society. Second, healing tourism can be understood as a subject formation process of culture in a neo-liberalistic society. Finally, healing tourism can be regarded as a commodification of cure and fatigue, a psychological comfort for people, and as a selling product in travel and tourism market.