The article that I read for a few of my classes on Parasite sparked my interest in the South Korea class discrimination. After some research I found that the wealth gap and the power struggle in South Korea might be more significant that the film have portrayed.
In the South Korean Society, there are said to be “lines that can’t be crossed, and lines that shouldn’t be crossed.” The chaebol groups or conglomerates controls not only the markets, but the entertainment industry and even the government. The top 20% earns the equivalent of around &8,400 a month on average, according to data from July-September 2018. The bottom 20% makes about $1,100 a month. And, there is hardly any social mobility, where one’s class is determined by which family a person is born to, and the societies are literally cut with ‘lines than can’t be crossed.”
College admissions tests is supposed to ensure that all students, rich or poor, are judged fairly on their academic merits. Yet the idea that a well-connected few can cut around the corners ignited an eruption of anger against the elites. The scandal that put former President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil in prison was the allegations that Choi’s daughter received special favors in being accepted into an elite college. The current President Moon Jae-in, who promised to alleviate social inequalities; his justice minister Cho Kuk, stepped down amid a corruption scandal as his daughter gained unfair advantage in her admission to medical school.
Furthermore, the impact of the Korean War still loom over the South Korean population. Almost half of its citizens over 65 live in relative poverty which is the highest level among the 34 developed nations. About 25% of them live alone, and the high level of isolation and depression have led to dramatic rise in elderly suicide, from 34 per 100,000 in 2000 to 72 in 2010. Anecdotal evidence suggest that many decided to take their own lives to avoid becoming a burden to their families. However life expectancy has grown faster in Korea than any other country in the world. As the economy recovers from the Korean War, the majority of the population have better access to welfare and medical care.
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