I'm Korean. The author's principal mistake is casting Western anxieties onto a radically different society. This projection reveals nothing about Korea. It serves only as a linear multiplier of Western anxieties.
Confucianism and Taoism, the principal founding blocks of Korean consciousness, are deeply feminist. (Look up "Confucian feminism", "Taoist feminism", or "Do-ol" on any search engine; or just consider the fact that Feng Shui is a vagina-worshipping cult) The patriarchy apparent in them is only superficial. The superficial patriarchical aspects of Confucianism have sometimes morphed with the deeply patriarchal aspects of Christianity, and have produced some devastating effects, I admit.
Point is, you are absolutely correct, the author is exoticizing without any understanding of Korean society beyond the superficial.
Confucianism and Taoism, the principal founding blocks of Korean consciousness, are deeply feminist. (Look up "Confucian feminism", "Taoist feminism", or "Do-ol" on any search engine; or just consider the fact that Feng Shui is a vagina-worshipping cult) The patriarchy apparent in them is only superficial. The superficial patriarchical aspects of Confucianism have sometimes morphed with the deeply patriarchal aspects of Christianity, and have produced some devastating effects, I admit.
Point is, you are absolutely correct, the author is exoticizing without any understanding of Korean society beyond the superficial.