A new kind of young

By Kim Ji-soo

Recently, to my dismay, my long-time masseuse retired after more than 30 years in the business. I asked her how she felt about retiring in her late 60s ― when some peers in her age group are still seeking work ― she said she was glad to retire, but it hadn’t happened the way she envisioned.

I asked her what she meant. She explained that she could not find any younger masseuses ― those mainly in their 20s ― to take over from her.

“You know today’s young people. They work for several months and save up money to travel abroad and they take off,” she said. “They don’t work like our generation,” she added.

With my innate skepticism, I thought maybe it was an isolated case at her place of work, so I ask around at other massage facilities and even among people in high-end white collar jobs. I found that there are a growing number of young people who, free in spirit, quit their jobs. A recent report about a possible “satori” generation emerging in Korea seem to add weight to what my masseuse told me. Satori means “enlightened” in Japanese and refers to a young generation known to want nothing and to be above material things.

It’s a little surprising that hyper-competitive Koreans who belong to a population segment that usually start jobs and building their careers would “jump on and off new ships,” and go on vacations during the interval. But then again, Korea Inc. that once ensured loyalty through life-time employment is fast eroding, so why should we expect the young to stay fixed in one place? Also, wasn’t the most popular Korean movie of late, “Ode to My Father,” about Korean virtues of sacrifice and hard work that more than 14 million people went to see?

But stacked against dismal figures, the “usual” is no longer the usual. While the unemployment rate in Korea recorded around 3 percent recently, that for young people (between the ages 15 through 29) was in the 9 percent range. So it is understandable and maybe enviable that some attempt to surmount harsh reality through “enlightenment” or becoming above it all. When the young choose different lifestyles, in the long run they may well bring diversity to Korean society, which in and of itself is commendable. The pursuit of equity or the “face-saving” culture in Korea has been exceptional in that everybody sought to have a certain lifestyle and quality of life, thereby deepening hyper-competitiveness. There are worries that such a satori generation could work negatively for economy but people should be free to choose their own lifestyles.

Admittedly, I am basing my observation on private conversations and on a few media reports. But Korean society has a strange pattern of following in the footsteps of Japanese society and one has to wonder if Korea is head toward that long haul of low growth that Japan went through over the past two decades. There are dangerous caveats lurking in every sector, and as the government is set on carrying out reforms including in the labor and the public sector ― thereby entailing a possible social friction ― the outlook for Korean Inc. this year and next is not the most enlightening. But aren’t pessimistic predictions the other face of preparing for the worst while hoping for the best? This is why we should not allow pessimistic realities to alter us. May be it should be the older, and therefore possibly the wiser, generation to become enlightened through its struggles over the years.