Lecture
Youth Precarity in South Korea
- Date
- Wednesday 8 October 2025
- Time
- Address
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 2.27
On Wednesday, October 8, Dr. Shimpei Cole Ota will give a talk on youth precarity in South Korea. This lecture will address the insecurities that South Korean youth are facing today, which have earned the country the nickname “Hell-Chosun.” Through conversations with South Koreans who, as a result of these insecurities, have permanently left the country, Dr. Shimpei Cole Ota will share his findings on the reasons that led these people to leave their homeland.
Curious to learn what motivated young South Koreans to leave their home country? Then sign up quickly via the registration form and be sure to attend the lecture! Let yourself be inspired whilest enjoying tea and cookies provided by 학Co.
Organized by S.V.K. Dokkaebi.
Abstract
The term “Hell-Chosun”, widely discussed in South Korea in the late 2010s, emerged as a slogan among young people to satirize contemporary South Korean society as both unbearably harsh and archaic, reminiscent of the Chosun Dynasty. Around the same time, young Koreans increasingly highlighted their precarious situation, particularly regarding intergenerational inequality. Many not only criticized these conditions but also acted upon them by emigrating abroad on a medium- to long-term basis, drawing public attention. These phenomena have been studied as expressions of the political and economic precarity faced by young South Koreans. However, their precariousness is not limited to political or economic dimensions. Through several years of dialogue with escapees from Hell-Chosun, it has become apparent that many struggle with shifts in values concerning cultural matters, such as seniority-based hierarchies, corporate culture, and social etiquette in public spaces. Sharing these findings invites the audience to reconsider the nature of young South Koreans’ precarity and, more broadly, to reflect on the complex relationship between precarity and cultures.