Disoriented in Seoul

My former Newsday colleague Brian Breuhaus, writing over at his Life and Seoul blog, notes that the word "Oriental" doesn't seem to bother people in Korea. He raises an interesting question. We've certainly avoided "Oriental" for years because it's supposed to be offensive, though the origin of the objection may not be clear. Presumably, oppostion to the word has its roots in colonialism--picture any number of stereotypical British movie characters decrying their time in the Orient-- and the terrible racism that accompanied it but I'd like to know more, now that Brian has brought this up. Maybe it's misplaced sensitivity, maybe not, but I'm certainly not going to advocate for restarting usage.

Brian's posting reminds me of an old story. Several years ago, I was escorting a young Asian-American job candidate around the building; if I recall correctly, he was of Chinese heritage. We bumped into an executive, a smart guy who sometimes mentally was somewhere else. I introduced the two men and chatted, of course, about the weather, which had suddenly turned cooler. The executive, caught up in the conversation, said, "And yes, there's a ni, a ni, uh, I mean, chill in the air." He clearly had been about to say "Nip" and was afraid the candidate was Japanese-American. We ended the conversation quickly. It's not easy to mask both laughter and cringing at the same time but I did.

From Brian:
The word "oriental" seems to be not offensive here. In the States, using that word to describe an Asian immediately brands the speaker as either ignorant or, at worst, racist. But here, I've come across the word many times in newspaper stories, although I usually edit it out. In addition, people here can get degrees in Oriental medicine and get an Oriental massage. No one seems bothered by it.