Poverty in South Korea (Those Left Behind)

poverty would probably be the last word that we come to mind when we think about South Korea but well hidden behind Korea's economical miracle story behind the flashiness of its buildings and most worthy industrial development lies a different reality South Korea has managed to overcome the poverty that came as a result of the devastating war in the 50s its GDP grew from 2.63 billion to 1.84 trillion in only 50 years it stands as 11th wealthiest nation on earth and the seventh biggest exporting country but Korea has turned its back on the people responsible for such success those who brought the country back to its feet the elderly generation although they worked their entire lives to rebuild the country's economy they have now been forsaken by the state it is estimated that about 1/2 of the elderly population lives under poverty so in the course of the next few days I will be digging into how the poor and the elders live in this socially Darwinistic jungle of South Korea poverty in general doesn't seem to be the problem here the problem is who the target of poverty is and unfortunately in this case it's the elders but why why is this trying to prominence in this country well first of all the government doesn't do too much about it it provides an approximate of 200 US dollars which is only a quarter of the minimum necessary to sustain a single household but what's even worse is that about only 35% of the total retirees are actually having access to these subsidies but after all South Korea is one of the most capitalistic countries in the world so don't expect too much social welfare from the government you know only the fittest are allowed to survive okay but even if the government didn't do anything about it were the families of these people where are their loved ones to take care of them simple collapse of traditional family values yes Korea is moving on and leaving behind its confusion is ideological roots and that is clearly seen on recent surveys conducted by the government itself which shows that only in 15 years the percentage of children who think they should look after their parents shrunk from 90 to 37% so yes Koreans nowadays thinking more worthy of their time and money to invest it in their own children and giving them a bright future rather than taking care of their aging parents and so the culture of respect towards the elders is rapidly coming to an end filial piety uh-huh progress so now that we know the poor welfare system that Korea has it makes much more sense why it also has the highest rate of elderly suicide among OECD countries translated into numbers fifty point three elders out of every 100,000 are taking their lives away in addition to this and what will very likely aggravate problem Korea has the fastest aging population and one of the lowest fertility rates in the world so unless drastic measures are taken big challenges lie ahead but I had to check it out for myself welcome to Korea mall the residents of this forsaken land have been pushed away from society rejected and confined to live side by side with the garbage they're humble tin roofs overlooks old skyscrapers definitely an ironical scenario a resident of the area whose face will be withheld for privacy reasons told me almost the entirety of inhabitants were elders over 60 who for lack of working opportunities and family support created this lump but at least they were lucky enough to have a roof over their heads I now head to Seoul station notorious for witnessing and sheltering the less fortunate ones whose only home are the cold streets of the city many living here and in nearby subway stations of central Seoul suffer from government untreated mental illnesses only to be worsened by alcoholism a careless government and a cold look from password buns they say the fastest way to a woman is through their ears but as to men and to their stomachs meet tae-hyun who agreed to an interview over a warm plate of his ankle although the conversation was not all that insightful he did give me some clues as to why homelessness in South Korea was on the rise but most of all gave me hope to know this country as always we'll get back at its feet

Channel: Coreanofilos

Views: 1,148,434

Rating: 4.6309295 out of 5

Keywords: korea, south, south korea, culture, society, poverty, elders, homeless, homelessness, problems, bad, downsides, video, seoul, kpop, dramas, reality, documentary, short, living, traveling, travel, food, meals, truth, poor, pobreza, seul, corea, indigencia, ancianos, corea del sur, documental, realidad, malo, cosas, malas, problemas, cultura, sociedad, comida, viaje, viajar, verdad

Id: k2wseOFQRPA

Length: 7min 23sec (443 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 19 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

So it's opposite of the US ? They trade the futures of the old for the futures of the young?