By Lee Sun-ho
A generation gap comes from the dramatic changes in lifestyles, social values and priorities between younger people and their elders within the family and within the society.
The generation gap is not a Korea-specific phenomenon. It exists worldwide and throughout history. In Korea, the categorization of generations is possible in many different ways by people and circumstance. The elder generations hold on to the tradition of their cultural heritage or social justice. Younger generations, however, prefer to adopt modern codes and the universal manners against the conventional rules.
The ``silent generation” encompasses those who lived under Japanese colonial rule. Most of them were eligible for military service both during World War II and the Korean War. Those belonging to the ``April 19, 1960 generation” struggled against government dictatorship. They were born between 1939 and 1946. They are now almost retired at the age of more or less 70.
Korea’s first-generation baby boomers, born from 1955 to 1963, totaled 7.1 million (14.6 percent of total population) after the inter-Korean military conflict. This generation has known nothing but developed world standards of living, while a majority of their grandparents grew up in developing conditions. The baby boomers are more obese than past generations, reject many traditional ways of life, and will be reaching retirement age soon.
The so-called ``386ers,” the ``democratized generation” revolted against the military-originated administration in June 1987 and were born roughly between 1964 and 1969, and were taught high-school education influenced by teachers belonging to the Korean Teachers and Educational Worker’s Union (KTEWU) initiated in 1987 and formally established in 1989.
Since KTEWU’s teachings, are sympathetic to the left wing and anti-Americanism as well as against the well-to-do. The 386 (named after 386 computers) generation attended universities in the 1980s, and spent much of their youth fighting for democracy under authoritarian rule.
Korea’s ``second-generation baby boomers,” aged between 29 and 32, born between 1979 and 1982 have begun having children of their own, raising the nation’s birth rate for the second consecutive year. As the ``second-generation” baby boomers turn 30, those in this age group will likely play a key role in raising the birth rate for years to come.
The ``N (networked) generation” consist of those born after the 1980s. They share a common denominator of being the post-386 generation. They are free from the ideological bias of earlier times. To students of the N generation, the Internet, tablet computers, smartphones and MP3s (affected by dot.com bubbles in 2000) are their tools.
The ``G (global or green) generation,” are the approximately four million people born during 1986-1991 and the focus of critical attention across Korea’s intellectual and media forums. They have traveled abroad and study with the liberalization of exposure to the rest of the world outside Korea. Overreacting to the past, they have a separate personal and national identity; a positive or neutral attitude toward marriage, to foreigners, and over welfare together with the least interest in the unification of the Korean Peninsula relative to previous generations.
Nowadays, job-seekers belonging to the ``88 (880,000 won salary) generation” are struggling with unemployment amid fierce competition. The 386ers enjoyed a booming economy with plenty of jobs available. The worldwide financial crisis changed the mindset of the new generation to put the economy before everything else, as unemployment among the young emerges as a headache for Korea.
It is a fact of life that the generation gap is something that has existed and will continue to exist. With the enhancement of new information technology, previous generations cannot catch on to advancements, and they lose their grip on old ones.
For the sake of narrowing generation gaps in the future, all Koreans need to prepare a desirable social network service (SNS) that sets value judgment on dreams; from traditional to practical, from prejudiced to transparent, from analog to digital, from consumption-oriented to savings-oriented, and finally from local through global to ``glocal,” (global+local).
The writer is an outside director of KunWha Pharmaceutical in Seoul. He can be reached at kexim2@unitel.co.kr.