Young vent frustration with 'Hell Joseon'

The "Hell Joseon" website / Screen capture of site

By Kim Bo-eun

“Hell Joseon” (Korea) is a newly coined term young people here widely use.

The popularity of the term, which refers to how tough it is to live as a young person in Korea, has become evident on social media.

According to big data analysis firm Daumsoft, Friday, "Hell Joseon" was cited 101,700 times this year on Twitter and in blog posts.

People-related keywords cited with the term included "the public," "youth" and "student." Therefore it is not surprising that "marriage," "employment" and "dating" _ which young people here face barriers in achieving _ were cited as life-related keywords cited with the term.

Along with the rising frequency of references to the term, references to "patriotism" have fallen, as people appear to show less pride and love for their country.

In fact, a look at emotion-related keywords cited with Korea shows references to "proud" have continued to fall since 2012.

Emotions associated with posts citing Hell Joseon were "anger," "crying" and "hope." The term “hope” was referred to in a negative way, such as "there is no hope in Korea."

A "Hell Joseon" online community (www.hellkorea.com) has even appeared. The site, which was reportedly created in May, has more than 1,000 posts on its "best board." The posts share people's daily lives in Korea as well as life abroad, which people refer to having "escaped Korea."

They cover issues such as youth unemployment, the suicide rate, appearance-centered society, sex crimes and lawmakers' children being granted jobs.