Really fascinating, in-depth look at economic inequality in Korea. It's interesting to see how historical events, economic crises, a patchwork welfare state, and tightly-knit family structures interact to form the current economic landscape.
A few highlights for me:
-The middle class double crisis: elderly who have slipped into irregular work/small fixed incomes after retirement and their 30something children who have less than full-time work create a situation where the traditional social safety net, family support, is ineffectual and leads to perpetual poverty.
-A huge uptick in wealth concentration after the 1997 crisis. This has to be an economic universal...
-The mortality rate for male HS dropouts is 8.4 times that of HS graduates.
For folks living in, from, or just interested in Korea, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think there are any politicians who might be able to address these issues?
Here's the Korean version of the article: Korean version
Feel free to comment in English or Korean.