:: KOREA FOCUS ::

title text

• [Book Review]
  New Approach to Resolve
  the Misery of 'Temps
  Generation'
• Gyeong Su-hyeon
• Reporter
  Yonhap News

photo

“The 880,000-won Generation” 

By Woo Seok-hun & Park Gwon-il, Redian Media Co., 328 pages, 12,000 won 

Twenty-somethings in Korea have emerged as a marginalized generation, the casualty of structural unemployment and flagrant generational imbalance. Economist Woo Seok-hun and journalist Park Gwon-il, a former reporter of Mal (Voice of People), bring to light the sobering reality of today's Korean youth in a jointly authored book, "The 880,000-won Generation." The book's title derives from the gloomy premise that most of those in their 20s are destined to live as permanent temporary workers: 880,000 won is a pre-tax monthly wage estimated on the basis of the average wage of irregular job holders and the income distribution of age groups.

The authors believe that people currently in their 20s are in a structurally disadvantageous position. That is, heightened standards in the job market have restricted their employment opportunities and chances for success. These days, people buy their first house later than previous generations, opportunities to start business have decreased, and basically the entry of youth into society is strikingly delayed. The authors, however, do not attribute the situation to the economic growth rate, which has dropped to 4-5 percent in recent years from 8-9 percent. They argue there are other reasons for such a radically delayed entry of youth into society when compared to advanced countries with similar growth rates. 

According to the authors, the barriers to normal economic organizations have been heightened by the older generations while Korean economy experienced the waves of globalization. They especially focus on the competitive relationship of those in their 20s against the so-called "yusin generation," those who fought for democracy under a military government in the 1970s, and the "386 generation," those who were born in the 1960s to attend university in the 1980s and are now in influential positions in various social sectors. For example, for those who attended university in the late 1980s, a college diploma was sufficient enough for getting jobs. Regardless of their performance in school, they could even choose from a few large corporations. Also, many of the yusin generation are now faring well as executives of state-run companies, receiving stupendous salaries amounting to several hundred million won.  

The authors criticize the "386 generation" for compromising their reformist stance and betraying history. As an outstanding case, they cite the confrontation between Lee Chul, who was a student activist in the 1970s and is now president of the state-run Korail, and the young female irregular workers at KTX (Korea Train Express) asking for regular job status. The authors say they expect similar conflicts to occur repeatedly between the two generations.

The book adds an interesting analysis that the market evaluation on the reality of 20-somethings is well reflected in the advertisement of Cerato, a Kia automobile brand, in which a young man borrows 20 million won from his father to buy the car. The authors assert that people in their 20s, after all, are victims of neoliberalism and the decade-long process of Korean capitalism overcoming the 1997-98 financial crisis, and the first generation to experience the miserable status of future generations in the job market. They insist that, from the economic point of view, it is wrong to define today's youth in their 20s as "a guileless generation which does not know hardship."

The book recommends that the nation try to reach a consensus to expend a portion of public wealth in supporting those in their 20s. It suggests opening the channel of communication between generations to convert the current situation into one of "cooperative game." The book seems somewhat radical when it contends, "The  880,000-won generation needs a barricade of some sort to stand where they are; it needs a push to move even a single step forward to improve the state of their life." Regardless of whether one agrees or not, it is noteworthy that the book uses a new approach in dealing with the issue of equality and justice between generations on the side of those in their 20s.

In his recommendation, Hong Se-hwa, a planning editor of the Hankyoreh, says that he used to criticize the young people in their 20s for being thoughtless but the book widened the scope of his understanding in generational issues.

The authors also have published "Delusion of the Sandwich Theory" as part of the "Alternative Korean Economy Series." In the book, they insist that the fundamental cause of the crisis currently faced by Korean companies lies not in the Korean economy stuck between China and Japan but in their inefficient operations caused by the failure to find a new organizational model to cope with the changing environment.