South Korea’s hope in hell

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Academic expectations, job competition and financial pressures are forcing some young South Koreans to give up on relationships, marriage and kids. This phenomenon is known as the ‘sampo’ or ‘give up’ generation. The daily struggle to succeed within a patriotic and competitive culture is a shared experience. The suicide rate in Korea is the second highest among developed countries. In recent years, the quality of life reached such a low point, young people started referring to the country as, ‘hell Joseon’.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, my name's Mike Williams. I'm here in Seoul, Korea for the first in a series of programs
0:08.6	from the BBC World Service and ABC Australia we're calling shifting cultures.
0:14.3	We're traveling across Asia and the Pacific to tell stories about communities dealing
0:21.0	with change.
0:21.7	This is one of the oldest shrines in the world if
0:27.8	not the oldest. It dates back to the 14th century. The left and right of me are the tombstones of the kings and queens of the Jossan dynasty.
0:39.0	I'm trying to understand the backstory to why a lot of people, a lot of young people now refer to Korea as hell josan,
0:48.8	hell. I'd like to understand why it's so hard for young Koreans, why they're giving up on
0:57.8	finding a partner, settling down, having kids.
1:13.0	Do young Koreans have hope for their future? Aye. Energy, energy, a good.
1:14.0	Gye.
1:16.0	Gee, Gee,
1:17.0	Aye.
1:20.0	Aye, we, Michael.
1:24.0	Hey, everyone.
1:26.0	Our group is called Honeybee.
1:28.0	Honeybee.
1:29.0	Oh, nice.
1:30.0	Honeybee English.
1:31.0	I'm the leader of it.
1:33.0	So Simon, you're the Queen Bee?
1:36.0	I guess.
	...

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