South Korea’s Lesser-Known Dark Side

BTS, Blackpink, Squid Game. An entertainment industry admired by millions, chasing perfection in every scene. Shiny streets, a different food culture, advanced technology, luxury cars. From the outside, South Korea looks like one of the paradises of the modern world.But the real story is much darker.

From War Ruins to an Economic Giant: The Bloody Cost of Success

In less than 50 years, South Korea went through an incredible transformation. In the early 20th century, it was occupied by Japan and remained under a brutal colonial rule for 35 years. Just 5 years after gaining independence in 1945, the Korean War broke out and split the peninsula in two.

After the war, South Korea was poorer than many African countries. But the government’s belief was clear: rapid economic growth was the only salvation.

Under the leadership of Park Chung-hee, education and discipline became the foundation of the country’s reconstruction plan. With incredible sacrifice, the people worked 15 to 16 hours a day to create this economic leap. Within a few years, an agricultural society turned into one of the richest modern nations in the world. But there is a saying in Asia: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

What began as a plan to rebuild the country through education and hard work soon turned into an obsession. The seeds of today’s crisis were planted in that period.

Mapo Bridge: The Icon of Despair

Mapo Bridge over the Han River in Seoul has one of the most beautiful views in the city. At sunset, it looks postcard-perfect. However, in the early 2010s, this bridge gained a dark reputation as a preferred place for people who wanted to end their lives.

Because of its accessibility and location, this became the last view seen by many Korean youths.

As South Koreans’ mental health worsened in the early 2010s, a deal was made with Samsung to stop the growing number of deaths on the bridge. Their solution? Rebranding it as the “Life Bridge” with signs placed along the railings. These signs featured optimistic slogans and happy family photos. The result? A complete fiasco.

Within the year after the signs were added in 2013, suicides on the bridge increased by more than 400%. The project was soon abandoned. In its place, more traditional physical barriers, CCTV cameras, pressure sensors, and higher fences were installed. Crisis hotline messages were placed along the bridge, and emergency phones were added. This failure showed one thing: trying to cover problems with pink slogans does not solve the problem itself.

Gwarosa: Dying From Overwork

In 2020, South Korea witnessed 500 deaths caused by a strange phenomenon. It became so common that it formed its own term: Gwarosa, meaning death from overwork.

At the center of this toxic culture stands a handful of powerful corporations that control the country’s economy and politics. Samsung alone makes up around 20% of Korea’s economy. For comparison, even America’s largest company, Walmart, makes up only about 2% of U.S. GDP. America’s giant: 2%. Korea’s giant: 20%.

Birth Rate Collapse: 0.7

In a land controlled by a minority where the majority has little real say, people are beginning to detach themselves from life. For a country to maintain its population, each woman needs to have an average of 2 children. In South Korea, that number is only 0.7. That is three times below the replacement level. For the first time in the country’s history, the number of deaths surpassed the number of births.

The South Korean government tried to offer solutions: everything from encouraging TV broadcasts to a proposal that required girls to start school one year earlier so they would appear more attractive to men. None of them addressed the root of the problem.

Hell School: A Korean Student’s Daily Routine

By blending Asian hierarchies with the harshest aspects of capitalism, South Korea created a society defined by relentless competition and materialism.

Let me briefly describe a Korean student’s school day:

06:30. Wake up. You have to get up early because of preparation and commuting.

08:00. School starts. Other than a short lunch break, you work until the end of the day.

Even if you have friends in class, you can never let your guard down. Because the competitive nature of the education system turns you against every other child. Whether it is intrusive parents or teachers, everything is designed to create harsh competition, especially among those at the top.

Peer bullying: according to one study, 20% of students in Korea either take their own lives or think about it because of peer bullying.

16:30. School ends. But this is not the end.

You only have enough time to make some noodles for dinner, because you have to go to your extra classes at Hagwon, meaning evening school or private academy.

When you arrive there, the environment is even more intense and stricter than regular school. Every hour you spend has a cost. Every minute means money leaving your family’s pocket. Usually, your mother and father’s entire savings and lives are tied to this. The pressure on you is unimaginable.

To put it into perspective: low-income families spend almost as much on private education as they do on food.

20:00-22:00, sometimes later. Hagwon classes finish. Your school day finally ends.

Sleep crisis: a recent survey showed that young South Korean students suffer from sleep deprivation. More than half of the students chose studying as the reason for their insomnia. High school students in particular sleep an average of 6 hours and 3 minutes, which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes less than American students.

In 2020, one in four students in Korea showed signs of stress and depression. In the last 6 years, the proportion of children aged 6 to 11 receiving treatment for depression doubled.

CSAT: The 8-Hour Exam That Determines Your Life

All this pressure, stress, and peer bullying, for what? For the CSAT exam, an exhausting 8-hour test that determines a student’s university and entire future.

Although South Korea prides itself on being a meritocracy, the extreme importance of these exams created a system far from merit-based. Most of the questions go far beyond the curriculum taught in public schools, favoring students who attend elite Hagwons. For low-income children, it means failure from the very beginning.

SKY Universities: The Only Gate to Success

For an 18-year-old Korean, the ultimate goal is getting into one of South Korea’s prestigious SKY Universities:

Seoul National University
Korea University
Yonsei University

Admission to these universities, seen as the key to a successful career and a bright future, is usually given only to students who make it into the top 1%.

The numbers are striking: in 2010, 46% of top government officials and 50% of CEOs in major financial sectors were graduates of these universities. These institutions stand as the final gatekeepers of opportunity in Korean society.

The Education Paradox: The Most Graduates, The Most Youth Unemployment

Even outside these elite institutions, 70% of Korean society goes to university, which is one of the highest rates in the world. Sounds like a very good thing, right? It is not.

Despite having so many educated people, Korea ranks among the countries with the highest youth unemployment in the world. Essentially, Koreans either go to university or quietly give up on their lives. In many cases, they do both.

More than half a million young people are unwilling to look for work, and 45% of these inactive individuals are university graduates.

The Sampo Generation: Those Who Gave Up 3 Things

Korea’s Sampo generation became very popular. This generation is known as the generation that gave up 3 things: Relationships, Marriage, Children. It refers to people who had to give up these three things just to survive in the modern economy.

Social Media and Filter Obsession

What do so many unemployed young people do? Of course, they spend time on social media.

Social media use in South Korea is much higher than in the West. 92% of South Koreans use social media. More than 60% of Korean youth have an active Instagram account. Although it is less popular among the general population, young people spend almost twice as much time on Instagram compared to KakaoTalk, a platform unique to South Korea. The reason? Instagram’s filter feature.

South Korea is a country that places enormous importance on appearance. That is why young people prefer Instagram more, because they can use filters there and hide their flaws.

The Dark Side of K-Pop: Sulli’s Tragedy

Even though K-Pop culture looks beautiful, pleasant, and sweet from the outside, the K-Pop industry throws the worst parts of South Korea’s competitive pressure and the negative effects of body image culture directly in our faces.

Sulli was just one of many young women and men pushed into this industry and turned into a K-Pop icon. At first, her career looked like a classic success story. She was trained from a young age. The singles and albums she released with the K-Pop group f(x) reached the top of the charts. Before the rise of BTS, it was one of the most internationally recognized K-Pop groups in the world.

But unlike most K-Pop stars, Sulli constantly challenged the demand for perfection. She often shared makeup-free photos on social media. She even spoke openly about taboo subjects in South Korean culture such as mental health or romance.

This brought her endless hate comments. Personal insults and threats reached such an extreme level that Sulli could no longer endure it. After being exposed to this constant bullying, she took her own life.

After her death, South Korea implemented strict laws that allow everyone to report cyberbullying and authorize the exposure of the real identities of those who leave hate comments. But the causes that led to this tragedy were never removed.

Cosmetic Surgery Paradise, Or Hell

With such a huge focus on appearance, it is not surprising that people are willing to do anything to fit these insane beauty standards.

South Korea is known as the world center of cosmetic surgery. Just as Turkey comes to mind when people hear hair transplant, South Korea immediately comes to mind when people think of beauty, skincare, and aesthetics.

The industry is literally worth more than 1.7 billion dollars, and this number is expected to rise above 5 billion dollars by 2032.

This clearly shows how normalized cosmetic surgery has become in South Korean culture.

In South Korea, people often undergo surgery to achieve a more natural appearance. Yes, you heard that right: getting cosmetic surgery to look natural.

For years, beauty standards have been defined by:

A V-shaped jaw
Pale skin
A small nose
Large eyes
Smooth skin

Eyelids are a common source of anxiety for people worried that they do not fit this standard. One of the most common surgeries in Korea is double eyelid surgery, and it is often given to young girls by their families as a graduation gift.

In one interview, an anonymous woman explains it like this:

“I was satisfied with my own appearance, but my mother and grandmother did not seem satisfied with how I looked before the surgery. Even though I never wanted it, I felt forced to be grateful because my family could afford the cost of this surgery.”

If family pressure is not enough and if young people’s minds still have not been shaped, they do it through ads and influencers, constantly pushing it into their faces. Huge before-and-after photos are displayed on posters and billboards.

The Chaebol Empire: 67% of the Economy in 5 Companies

Adding to this problem, what makes people feel even more pessimistic about life is South Korea’s job market. More specifically, the fact that the entire economy is literally dominated by a handful of corporations.

During South Korea’s rapid industrialization, several companies came to dominate Korea’s export success and therefore its economy. These are, of course, Korea’s famous Chaebols:

Samsung
Hyundai
LG

These are corporations where members of the founding families hold ownership and management positions. The top 5 companies together represent about two-thirds of the value of the Korean stock market, 67%. But despite this dominance, employment in these companies accounts for only 12% of the jobs in the market.

The amount of money controlled by these corporations made working in a Chaebol synonymous with stability, prestige, and financial security. Samsung alone is estimated to account for around 20% of South Korea’s GDP. Even Walmart, the largest company in America, accounts for only about 2% of GDP. This kind of corporate dominance is not normal in any country.

A Harder Life for Women

Korea’s terrible working environment is recognized as one of the worst in the world. For the last 12 years, it has been the worst place to work as a woman among OECD countries. And in Korea, it is not only harder to work as a woman. It is also harder to live.

The Hidden Camera Crisis

South Korea is experiencing a hidden camera crisis. Women are secretly filmed with micro cameras placed in women’s bathrooms, dressing rooms, or hotels. These videos are sold online, and women are blackmailed and threatened. This creates severe trauma and damages their psychological health.

Hierarchy Culture: The 1997 Korean Air Disaster

Unfortunately, these rigid hierarchies do not only create a stressful environment. They also produce broad consequences for society as a whole.

This became famous in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers through the case of the 1997 Korean Air disaster.

In that case, the hierarchical structure became painfully clear. The hierarchy was so extreme that there was even a hierarchy among captains. Just because one captain thought the other was older, he could not give him an order or even express an opinion.

Because of this, one of the pilots could not tell the main pilot that there was an error, that there was a malfunction on the aircraft.

Because of this hierarchical structure, and because the co-pilot simply could not speak up, they caused the deaths of themselves and more than 200 passengers and crew members.

This event is important in Korean aviation history. Because after this incident, they introduced reforms in cockpit communication. But unfortunately, as Korea’s economy developed, this hierarchy spread across society in general.

The Untouchability of the Chaebols

The Chaebols, these family-owned conglomerates, are almost the entirety of South Korea, and they can escape almost anything. Especially when we consider their loyalty and closeness to the government, even if they commit crimes, they often go unpunished.

Historically, Chaebols were seen as the pillars of the country’s post-war economic success. For decades, South Korean leaders treated their success as equal to national prosperity.

Basically, if you say a bad word about these corporations or criticize them, they accuse you of being unpatriotic. But this close relationship has become more and more problematic for the country:

The Sewol Ferry Disaster

The Sewol Ferry disaster, where more than 300 people lost their lives due to illegal oversight failures alone.

The Samsung Bribery Scandal

The Samsung bribery scandal, where millions changed hands in exchange for political interests and led to the removal of a president from office.

What is more, this situation is slowly paralyzing Korea. Structural rigidities in labor and product markets hinder productivity and innovation. Excessive regulation, barriers to new ventures, and the dominance of holding groups protect large firms from competition while suffocating entrepreneurship.

Conclusion: A Shiny Showcase, A Collapsed Inner World

The result of all this is not just a slowing economy, but something much more serious:

A society more inclined than at any other point in its history to end its own life, more depressed, more ready to give up on life, and, unsurprisingly, a society where people do not want to have children.

Yes, everything you hear is the South Korea that is not being told right now, perhaps not shown in dramas and films, the exact opposite of the cute image presented to us.

From the outside, it looks like a brightly shining country. Inside, it contains a society that is far more exhausted, far more pressured, and far more fragile. Perhaps the real story of South Korea is exactly here: behind the image of perfection, the silent scream of millions trying to stay alive.