South Korea experienced a rise in its economic growth since the end of the Korean war in 1953 and became an economic powerhouse, the phenomenon called the ‘Miracle on the Han river”. In just a few decades, the country transformed into a leader in technology, research, and pop culture from being a war torn economy. However, beneath all this success lies a more complicated reality that many young South Koreans refer to as the ‘Hell Joseon.’
The term Hell Joseon began circulating somewhere around 2009 but became popular in 2015. Joseon was the name of the last dynasty of Korea and combining it with hell reflects the growing sentiment of people in modern day South Korea. It symbolises how, despite all the economic and technological success, South Korea has become a difficult place to live, equating it with the feudal society with hierarchy and inequality from the past.
South Korea’s economic miracle began after the Korean war ended in 1953 and the country was in need of a rapid transformation. The nation’s leaders pushed for an export driven industrialisation model to rebuild the economy. Simultaneously, with the rise of chaebols, the powerful families running conglomerates like Samsung, economic growth was at an all time high. But the speed and intensity of this whole modernisation process led to competition, social pressures and generation divide.
One of the defining features of South Korean society is its hyper-competition. This can be seen specially in academic institutions where children, from a very early age, have to face intense pressure. They have to go through an intense and rigorous education system that accepts success as the only outcome. Even in the job market, the competition is extremely high, being dominated by few elite companies and there’s a scarcity of stable, well paying jobs. This culture of competition removes trust among people as they view each other as rivals rather than partners.
The situation became even more complex due to South Korea embracing neoliberalism. The economic reforms focused on privatization, financial deregulation, and global market integration. These policies deepened after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, under the guidance of the IMF that introduced flexibility in the labor market, leading to massive layoffs. The resulting recession deprived the youth from well paying jobs as companies preferred cheap, temporary labor over fresh graduates.
This economic competition became the moral ideal and started shaping cultural values. The Korean word ‘noryeok’ which means ‘effort’ became symbolically significant as success and failure was seen as a matter of personal strain, irrespective of inequalities. Systemic issues and economic conditions were thus framed as personal failures as the young generation struggled with mental health issues, job scarcity and wealth disparity.This environment led to the creation of the ‘Sampo Sadae’, or the ‘three- given up generation.’ This term was coined to refer to the youngsters who had given up on three essential things, dating, marriage and having children, due to the current economic scenario, seeing these as luxuries they could no longer afford. Additionally, the demographics of the country were also affected as South Korea now has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. The sampo sadae later expanded into ‘N-po Sadae’ as the youth has given up on number of things such as home ownership, health, employment, hope and many more. The youth in South Korea describes a sense of hopelessness as the struggle to survive replaces a comfortable family life.
Written by – Priyanjana Jha
About the Author –
Priyanjana is a post graduate in Global Studies, with a research background in feminism and cultural studies. Her interests lie in exploring themes related to cross-cultural relations, history and gender identities, with a particular passion for Korean culture and society. She is actively learning the Korean language and sees writing as a way to bridge cultural gaps in the world, and share her stories with others. In her free time, she loves to watch K-dramas and make K-pop dance covers.