this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 91 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I would say he's being quite honest, especially considering they have one of the highest suicide rates.

[–] Sgt_choke_n_stroke 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] blanketswithsmallpox 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Their ESports winrates all but make up for it though...

[–] Sgt_choke_n_stroke 12 points 10 months ago

Of course everyone want to fuck an esport athlete. How silly of me.

[–] [email protected] 72 points 10 months ago
[–] [email protected] 47 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)
  1. Well that's just not true, although highly sought for.
  2. Pretty much. Although in hindsight, I'd rather have them absolutely destroy my sleep schedule than ending up getting in to less favorable university than where I got in. My parents were nice enough to not do that but I had to do it to myself.
  3. I mean you can say the same thing about basically any other late stage capitalist countries at this point.
  4. For one and a half year! You learn how to brainlessly comply, something that the society demands from us.
  5. Except that we don't take them seriously for one bit, even when we really have to.
  6. neighbors are really important, folks.

foods are nice though.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Although in hindsight, I'd rather have them absolutely destroy my sleep schedule than ending up getting in to less favorable university than I got in

Seriously? If you're going to university you'll be fine regardless of where it ranks, how can that possibly be worth destroying your teenage years? Is this just social attitudes in Korea or does it actually make any difference?

[–] Got_Bent 28 points 10 months ago

So the American equivalent is pretty much going to the ivy League then going to work at FAANG or a law firm or finance firm that only hires from the ivies.

That stuff all exists in the US and it's certainly something many Americans aspire to as evidenced by the whole college admissions coaching industry.

What you're seeing out of Korea is presented as though ALL families are basically telling their kids that they'll be disowned if they fail to achieve these lofty heights.

The reality is that there are a ton of more accessible universities throughout the Korean peninsula that kids attend and they end up with reasonable jobs living reasonable lives, current situation of unaffordable housing and rampant debt notwithstanding.

I would agree that many if not most Korean students spend significantly more time studying than their American counterparts. I will not agree that it's universally effective to do so.

Source: Lived in Korea for four years in the nineties and eventually married into it. Though I will admit some of my experiences may be outdated as I haven't been keeping up with latest trends.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Teenage years are short, a degree lasts forever. Considering how people without a top-notch university degree are treated, I'd much prefer no childhood than such a degrading life in general. People visibly frown at you or change topics when you tell them which school you're in, as if they heard about some tragic disaster.

If you're going to university, you'll be fine regardless of where it ranks.

It's a country where almost everyone is a college graduate, and only a few are actually considered to be college-educated. Some people even hide their degrees to land a job at a sweatshop or something.

Yes, it's messed up. But I jokingly tell my parents that they should've been way harder on me than they were because I only got into where I ended up, which I think was very lucky, but not the best either. Yes, I'm a big conformist, one of the qualities Korean culture requires that I've learned over the years.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Everything you’ve written on this thread is very depressing. What is even the point? Why does anyone even want to live in Korea? It sounds like an absolute nightmare tbh.

I’d expect to be mass immigration away from Korea.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's not trivial for most people to leave their home, culture, language, family, friends, etc and move to another country

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I know… but my country has way more emigration and it doesn’t suck nearly as bad as Korea…

*And also, I know I would 100% feel differently if I was born in Korea, but I would resent the fuck out of my parents, culture and government if that was my life. People joke China is cyberpunk, but South Korea seems way more dystopic.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Just as an anecdote: there is a huge Korean population in Canada. I'd say there is currently a mass emigration, but I suppose only for those able to afford it and want leave at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

That's so alien to me. Well congrats on making it through that meat grinder of a system in one piece!

[–] MindSkipperBro12 4 points 10 months ago

That sounds depressing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Being a teenager is pretty overrated tbh

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago

Yeah but so is having a piece of paper that's slightly better than someone else's. Don't burn yourself out for either.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm so jealous of the street food there. Literally watched a video of someone making egg sandwiches or something and I think I died a little inside because there's basically nothing like that in Canada unless you count hotdogs; which I fucking don't.

[–] Psythik 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You guys don't have egg sandwiches in Canada? Or do you only mean in street food form? Cause if not, just go to a breakfast joint if you want an egg sandwich.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Yeah, I only mean street food.

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[–] DaddleDew 31 points 10 months ago (1 children)

BUT....

You can get wasted with $1 worth of soju.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

$3 these days. Times are hard.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I still think living in North Korea would be worse.

[–] Junkers_Klunker 54 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Drinking piss is arguably better than eating shit, but still doesnt change the fact that youre drinking piss.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Life controled by handful of rich familles

Does S Korea also have the problem of a rigid and corrupt 2 party system?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There are two big parties and four smaller parties represented in the (current) National Assembly, but the Democratic Party has a majority by itself. The current President belongs to the other big party (People's Power).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

People's Power? If that isn't one of the most commie names I've ever heard for a political party.

[–] treeko 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Except that they’re conservative lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I was like “wow so futuristic” when I first learned that the monopoly on Japanese government is through the Liberal Democratic Party. Lmao when I found out the rest of the story.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

“Liberal Democratic Party”, rules for decades uninterrupted, representing the largest capitalist families and the USA and cracks down and any leftists sentiment, sometimes extremely violently. Cool! Cyberpunk!

[–] treeko 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeahhh… shit makes it really difficult to follow global national politics

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

. . . national politics

And in the case of the LDP, national𝑖𝑠𝑡 politics

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago
[–] dejected_warp_core 3 points 10 months ago

Not sure. What I do know is that Korean parliament occasionally gets into actual mob-on-mob brawls. So there's that.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/asia/south-korea-lawmakers-indicted-intl-hnk/index.html

[–] JJROKCZ 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yea but amazing cuisine and k-pop

[–] feedum_sneedson 54 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Many people consider K-pop to be extremely shit.

[–] PunnyName 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And since music taste is subjective, every thought about K-pop is the correct one.

[–] Sheeple 32 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

K-Pop is also as far as the industry itself is concerned, the #1 most cruel music related industry in the world to the people in it. Everything awful about the idol, music and modeling industry compounded by a hundredfold.

K-Pop as a genre unfortunately is rotten to it's core. Other music industries are also known to be bad but they're arguably the worst.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

K and j pop are definitely among the worst. Tbh the girl pop industry in general. Look at what they did to my girl Britney.

[–] Got_Bent 16 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

My first exposure to it was in 1994. Crazy thing is that today's k-pop is virtually indistinguishable from that of thirty years ago for me. The music, clothes, hair, and choreography are all exactly the same.

I'm sure some k-popophile will come put me in my place, but I stand by what I perceive.

Fun story from back then: One of the big groups back then was Turbo. While spending many hours at the US Embassy getting my wife a spousal visa, she recognized Mikey from Turbo. We go over and say hi and end up spending the whole day with him. He spoke perfect English and pretty much lived in Los Angeles. He told us that a significant portion of Turbo concerts had some other guy wearing a surgical mask pretending to be him because he was busy studying in the US.

[–] FrankTheHealer 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

K pop isn't my cup of tea. But it's not shit. Like I'm not a huge fan, but I can see how people would like it.

[–] Psythik 3 points 10 months ago

Don't like K-Pop, but Korean hip hop is enjoyable.

That said, it's kind of funny seeing Koreans acting all gangsta, when AFAIK gangs were never really a problem in that country. But to be fair, they're not really a thing in America anymore, either (at least not compared to how things were before the mid-90s).

[–] zourn 5 points 10 months ago

There's good Korean punk, rock, and metal as well. Nuclear Idiots, Harry Big Button, Dead Chant, Method, Duoxini, BADLAMB.

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