A Cultural Analysis of the Varying Modes of Survival and the Particular Structures of Feeling among Young Adults in Contemporary South Korea in an Era of Fierce Competition and Widespread Social Uncertainty

Abstract

This work critically addresses the increasingly unstable and fragmented conditions of young adults in contemporary South Korean society. In recent times, the majority of young adults in Korea have faced extremely severe, uncertain, and ‘hellish’ socio-economic conditions, while their aspirations for securing regular employment remain largely unfulfilled. This study aims to provide a nuanced and detailed analysis of their deep-seated feelings, diverse emotions, and embodied experiences through the use of in-depth interviews and critical explorations of their particular structure of feelings. By conducting interviews with 26 young adults, this paper delves into the acceptance of the ‘Sampo Generation’ discourse that portrays Korean youth as a generation forgoing marriage, dating, and childbirth, and explores the conditions of their everyday life.

Journal: Korean Journal of Communication & Information, Vol. 92: 73-127. (2017)

Authors: Dongwook Song and Keehyeung Lee

DOI: 10.46407/kjci.2017.08.84.28

Download: LINK (Written in Korean)

Developed from my master’s thesis, “A critical Analysis of the ideology of youth: Focusing on the Sampo Generation discourse (2016)”, LINK (Written in Korean)

Into the text

“In this context, the challenge towards self-realization for the youth can be seen as a task like a ‘swamp’ that is difficult to escape once engulfed. This is because the time and money they invested for self-development [self-help] become nullified with their surrender or failure, simultaneously erasing the opportunity to build other careers with those resources. … Most interviewees, lonely teetering on a precarious tightrope amid the fear of their intangible and tangible resources being buried without a promising outcome, are constantly experiencing a sense of defeat and have no choice but to immerse themselves in enhancing their capacities. On the contrary, those who had to compromise and give up their dreams when faced with failure were also suffering from the double burden of ‘searching for new career paths’ and ‘developing capabilities’.” p.71

“In a social environment where the ‘gap between objective opportunities and subjective expectations’ is inevitably maximized regardless of their will, specifically in the labor market where only a small number are ‘selected’, the young adults who have faced failure choose to control or reduce their ‘own expectations’, as it is only manageable and feasible.” p.73

“[Some] subjects repeatedly pointed out that the resources available to the youth are distributed based on the class position and support of their families, highlighting the deceitfulness of the ‘fair competition ideology’ emphasized in such media discourse. Moreover, for these reasons, there were some individuals who considered or planned more radical survival and (new) starting strategies, such as ‘escaping from Korea.’ … Focusing only on the ‘secular’ or disciplined aspects of life exhibited by the youth, thus, discourses that diagnose or objectify these subjects by representing them as ‘snob’, ‘surplus’, ‘loser’, ‘refugee’, etc., may only reveal ‘half of the truth’.” p.76-77