In this blog post, we will examine whether rapid economic growth has truly brought happiness to Koreans.
In the mid-18th century, the Industrial Revolution began in the British Isles, a small island nation in Europe. This revolution gradually spread across the world, and in the following 300 years, humanity experienced rapid changes that had never been seen before. The introduction of machines replaced human muscle power, which dramatically increased productivity. Under the capitalist system, people engaged in economic activities to make money, and the size of the economy expanded rapidly. In addition, we have achieved the development of advanced science and technology, and now we have the technology to send humans to Mars. Humanity seems to be producing and consuming more than ever before and living a prosperous life.
Korea was a late adopter of Western-style development. During the Industrial Revolution in Europe, Korea missed out on opportunities to interact with the West due to the isolationist policies of Heungseon Daewongun. As a result, Korea suffered the Japanese occupation and the Korean War, and it was not until the mid-20th century that it began to fully embrace Western development methods. Although it started late, South Korea industrialized faster than any other country and achieved tremendous economic development. Immediately after the armistice in 1953, South Korea’s per capita national income was $67, making it the world’s 109th poorest agricultural country, but as of 2024, its per capita national income is $36,624, ranking 31st in the world. South Korea’s gross domestic product has grown to become the world’s 13th largest economy, with a GDP of $1.7092 trillion. In just about 60 years, per capita national income has risen about 500 times, and the size of the economy has reached 13th in the world. Countries that were better off than Korea in 1953 are now worse off than Korea, and they are looking to Korea as a role model for the tremendous economic development it has achieved over the past 60 years. Korea is one of the countries that has industrialized and developed its economy the most rapidly in the world.
So, has this rapid development provided Koreans with a happier life? On the surface, it may seem that economic growth has been achieved and that Koreans are happier because people are living better. However, if you look at the lives of the majority of workers and their families in the bottom 99% of income in Korean society, you will see that this is not the case.
Korea’s rapid development has been built on Koreans’ enormous workload and fierce competition. The average annual working hours of Koreans is 2,113 hours, which is the second highest among OECD countries. Koreans are exhausted from excessive workload and have no time to relax. Despite this, Koreans’ income is not that high considering how much they work. Korea’s hourly income is the 22nd lowest among the 33 OECD countries in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Students also compete with their peers from a young age, and spend more time studying than playing and attending various academies during their school years. Korean students are placed in a situation where they have no choice but to study harder because once they fall behind in the competition, it is difficult to catch up. In Korea, students who study with their own dreams are rare, and most of them study hard only because others are doing so or because of their parents’ pressure. Students are under a lot of stress as they are compared to other children who are ahead of them in the competition. Adults who are exhausted from such excessive workloads and students who are exhausted from excessive studying and competition have a hard time finding a sense of ease in their lives. Koreans are not guaranteed enough leisure time, and they do not even have the opportunity to regain their energy to work again by finding happiness and fun through leisure activities. It seems natural that it is difficult to feel happy in such a situation. Many people have become pessimistic about their difficult lives and have committed suicide. South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries.
South Korea has an extreme gap between the rich and the poor. The gap between the rich and the poor in South Korea is the second largest among OECD countries. The top 10% of earners account for half of the total income, and the chaebols, which have grown with the help of the government’s economic growth policies in the past, account for most of the wealth. South Korea’s economy is the 13th largest in the world and its GDP is the 27th largest in the world, but the reason why people do not feel financially secure is because of the gap between the rich and the poor. As the bottom 90% of income earners share half of the total income, the current 13th largest economy in the world is nothing but an illusion to them. This gap between the rich and the poor is getting worse every day. Corruption and cronyism remain, and the conglomerates and some politicians have become even richer. The wealth of parents is often passed on to their children, which is further deepening social inequality. In the past, even if you were poor, there was hope that if you worked hard, you could get the job you wanted and succeed, but these days, education and employment opportunities are often determined by the wealth of one’s parents. The children of chaebols inherit their parents’ companies and wealth without much effort and continue to live as chaebols, and it is difficult for those born into poor families to catch up with those who have already advanced from wealthy families. Those who feel relative deprivation are bound to be unhappy.
The size of families in Korea is gradually decreasing. In the past, grandparents and parents often lived together, and relatives often lived in the same village or nearby, but now most people live in nuclear families and live far away from their relatives. This is because in the past, most people lived together in an agricultural society, but as the economy developed and industrialization took place, people moved to different regions to work. The bond we feel with our loved ones is an important element of happiness. No matter how much money we have or how high our status, we cannot be happy without a family with whom we can feel a sense of connection. However, as the size of families has decreased, we have fewer opportunities to feel a sense of connection with many family members. In fact, the size of families is getting smaller these days. Excessive workloads have made life difficult, and it has become difficult to raise the funds needed for marriage and child-rearing, so the number of single households is increasing, and the birth rate is also decreasing. It is very happy to have a family with a loved one and raise your beloved children. However, by giving up marriage and child-rearing because of the excessive burden, we are losing the opportunity to be happy.
The rapid development of South Korea has intensified intergenerational discord. As South Korea has developed rapidly, the situations experienced by each generation have been different. Since people’s values are completed in their 20s and 30s, if the situations experienced by each generation are different, their values will also be different. And the values formed in this way will become the mainstream in society for the 40s and 50s. The baby boomer generation is the generation whose values were completed in the 1950s and 1960s. This generation has experienced the war and led the early economic development of Korea, practicing thrift and frugality. The older generation knows the pain of war and has experienced hardship. They also formed the mainstream of society during the presidency of former President Park Chung-hee, so they often feel nostalgic about the economic development of that period. The father’s generation is the generation whose values were formed in the 1980s and 1990s. They grew up witnessing the dictatorship and the democratization movement, as well as the rapid economic development of Korea. The father’s generation is the first generation to begin receiving proper education, and as the generation that has lived the busiest life, they are very interested in politics and are currently forming the mainstream of society. The MZ generation is a generation whose values were formed at the beginning of the 21st century, and they are experiencing a rapid information society. This generation enjoys advanced technology and acquires a lot of information quickly, and their communication style is also very different from other generations. As such, different generations have different values and ideals. Problems in communication are occurring because people are not willing to listen to each other or do not understand each other well. In particular, the older generation was nostalgic for Park Chung-hee, and they chose his daughter Park Geun-hye as president. A person with insufficient ability became president, and South Korea fell into chaos. The older generation was only able to access limited information during Park Chung-hee’s dictatorship, and even that was only positive information about the dictator. On the other hand, the Baby Boomer generation and the Millennials have been exposed to a variety of information through education, TV, the Internet, and other media, and have been able to think critically. When Park Geun-hye ran for president, the Baby Boomer generation and the Millennials were able to judge her presidential qualifications by critically analyzing a variety of information. However, the older generation was not very familiar with the Internet and had difficulty obtaining new information due to the lack of communication with other generations. As a result, the older generation was inevitably drawn into a campaign that was full of nostalgia. The differences in values and the lack of communication between different generations are deepening the rift between generations and making it difficult for everyone to be happy.
For the past 60 years, South Korea has achieved the most successful and rapid economic development in the world. However, in the process, South Koreans have been stressed out by the enormous workload and fierce competition, and have lost the leisure to live. The extreme gap between the rich and the poor has made life even more difficult for the low-income class, and they feel a sense of relative deprivation. As the size of the family has gradually shrunk, the opportunities to feel a sense of connection among family members have also decreased, and the discord between generations that have experienced different eras is intensifying. For these reasons, we cannot say that we are happier than in the past. In the World Happiness Report released in March 2023, South Korea’s happiness index ranks 35th out of 38 OECD countries, placing it in the lower ranks. We need to think deeply about whether the unconditional economic growth has made Koreans more unhappy. Having achieved a certain level of economic growth, Korea should now analyze the advanced countries with happy citizens, such as Sweden and Norway. It is time to seek a direction that allows each of us to feel the value of life and pursue happiness rather than blind economic growth.
