Who will be Korea's Bernie?

By Jason Lim

When Bernie Sanders tied with Hillary Clinton in the Iowa Caucus, I swear that I saw more triumphant Bernie mentions among my Korean social media friends than from my American ones. Apparently, Koreans are also “Feeling the Bern” as they witness his implausible candidacy against the Hillary machine.

But it’s more than rooting for David against Goliath. It’s apparent that Bernie’s rhetoric against socioeconomic injustice in which the elites have used their inherited power, wealth, and connections to stack the deck against the little guys has deeply resonated in today’s Korean society.

And it’s no wonder.

A recent article in Yonhap News cites a study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) that confirms the prevailing belief that your success is increasingly dependent on who your parents are versus how hard you work.

The study looked at people’s careers divided into three generations. The first was the Industrial Age born between 1940 and 1950. The second was the Age of Democracy born between 1960 and 1974. The third was the Information Age born between 1975 and 1995.

The study established that, as Korea passed through the three phases, socioeconomic movement between classes has become rigid. During the Industrial Age, upward socioeconomic mobility was still relatively possible. However, as Korea entered into the Age of Democracy, your education level as well as your parents’ education levels was equally important in predicting your income. In the Information Age, it’s no longer enough that your parents are highly educated; your family’s economic background has a huge influence on your own income.

This finding confirms the prevailing narrative of the Hell Joseon phenomenon. As written in The Washington Post article entitled, Young South Koreans call their country ‘hell’ and look for ways out, “It’s a place where, according to a growing number of 20- and 30-somethings, those born with a “golden spoon” in their mouths get into the best universities and secure the plum jobs, while those born with a “dirt spoon” work long hours in low-paying jobs without benefits.”

Korean’s dissatisfaction with the status quo is also a main reason that Reply 1988, a show about four families growing up in the late 1980’s, became such a huge hit recently. In fact, the last episode set the record for the most watched Cable TV drama ever.

1988 was a seminal year for South Korea. It hosted the Olympics that summer. Economic growth was in double digits. Democracy activists were gaining momentum. Everything seemed to be pointing toward a brighter future. There was a sense of forward movement. The implicit social contract was that all you had to do is study hard, work diligently, and you will see your lives improve. It was an era filled with hope and promise of a better life.

Well, the social contract broke against the IMF crisis in 1997 and then shattered during the global financial crisis in 2008. The economy crawled along in low single digits, forward movement became a quagmire, and hope turned into despair as the rich got richer but everyone else was worse off. It’s no longer how hard you work or how good you are but all about how rich your parents are. Against this context, the huge success of the show had a lot to do with Korean’s nostalgia for the bygone age in which that original social contract still existed.

It remains to be seen whether a growing popular awareness of socioeconomic injustice in America will truly propel Bernie Sanders into the presidency. In the Korea of just a few years ago, it crashed and burned in the person of Ahn Cheol-soo.

This is what the New York Times said when Ahn announced his presidential candidacy in September 2012: “The announcement by the dean, AhnCheol-soo, a former medical doctor and wealthy software entrepreneur and philanthropist who has no party affiliation, had been eagerly anticipated in South Korea, where his political ambitions have been a resilient hot topic because of his plain talk about inequality and justice.”

We all know what happened. Ahn failed to take advantage of the organic upwelling of support for his candidacy that ― to many who flocked to his banner ― represented a renewed promise for social justice and leveling of the playing field for everyone. He repeatedly squandered opportunities and drove advisers away with his overly cautious leadership style characterized by micromanagement and secrecy. People wanted a fiery champion. What they got was a bookkeeper. He eventually gave up his candidacy in favor of the established Democratic candidate, who lost to Park Geun-hye in a close race.

Ahn should’ve been a Bernie, but he wasn’t capable. While Ahn failed, however, the sense of socioeconomic injustice in Korea has only grown, especially among the young people, as evidenced by the Hell Joseon rhetoric. Korea’s reaction to Sander’s rise speaks to the continuing strength of this narrative. The question remains: who will be Korea’s Bernie to tap into this anger?

Jason Lim is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on

innovation, leadership and organizational culture.

He has been writing for The Korea Times since

2006. Reach him at jasonlim@msn.com or facebook.

com/jasonlimkoreatimes and @jasonlim2012.