I have said before, but I will say it again here. Korea is young country. Even though they have a 500 year long "Golden Age" on the global scale South Korea is a very young country. It's still a teenager country. I have talked with students about this with students a lot since the US and Cuba have re-opened relations, especially in terms of the development Cuba may see in the next 50+ years. Fifty plus years ago, there were still cows in the streets of Seoul....not a cow in sight today.
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| Seoul in the early 1960s |
The fact that Korea developed at such an alarming rate, in my opinion, contributes so much to why so many young Koreans may feel that they are stuck in "hell Joseon." Much like when Tom Hanks became at 30 year old man in "Big" (oh, dear, I am showing my age) or Jennifer Garner in "13 Going on 30", Korea jumped from being mainly agrarian to highly industrialized and technology heavy without the usual "growing pains." So, even though there are labor and safety laws, many companies may choose to ignore them which may leave young Koreans feeling taking advantage of.
For example, if Mr. Lee works for Mr. Kim's company, Mr. Kim may request Mr. Lee works 60 hours a week and neglect his personal life for the good of the company because "culture" (yes, sometimes they legitimately use culture as an excuse to ignore labor laws). Mr. Lee may feel like he has to comply even though it hurts him and has the potential to hurt others, because culture dictates as a lower positioned person he must do what the senior person demands. And he may feel like he can't even make a complaint because culture may backfire because Mr. Lee is damaging Mr. Kim's reputation. It's crazy and it's complicated.
It can and does happen because Korea did not have to go through the growing pains that other countries have as they have industrialized. As tragic as it sounds the US would hardly support their own labor and safety laws if not for the long history of industrial accidents and labor strikes that happened in the Industrial Revolution. It was a long and winding road to the standards the US has today and sadly, many are still fighting those same fights. We are far from perfect and we are far from blameless, but that is another post for another day.
The long and short of it is: Korea will never escape "Hell Joseon" unless they choose to stay and fight. I am not advocating for violent revolution, but simple measures that anyone here could take. Instead of taking things for granted, visualize the changes you want to see and make steady progress to implement those changes. Educate yourselves on the issues and vote, not for the politician, but for the platform.
Time and time again, I refer to the old saying that "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem." And that is going to be Korea's own battle to fight. It won't be easy and it won't be overnight, but if Korea really wants to escape "Hell Joseon" then its young people need to be the ones to take the lead.
Let's be clear. There are lots of things to love about Korea, but Korea needs a lot of things too. Off the top of my head: safety and labor laws that are routinely inspected for compliance, comprehensive sex education, better facilities for women's health, better laws protecting women from rape and domestic abuse, education to reduce xenophobia. But I can't stand in front of my students and confidently tell them America is better because we have all these things...we don't. People in America are still fighting for access to affordable and safe abortions, arguing why fences will/won't protect its citizens, fighting for basic background checks for guns, still arguing for who's lives matter, and the list goes on. But the bottom line is change cannot and will not happen without action. It is a long and messy road that must be traveled...for both countries.
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