"Squid Game": How the hit series reflects the brutal reality of young people in South Korea

Created: 12/31/2021, 7:25 PM

From: Foreign Policy

The hit series "Squid Game" from South Korea reflects a landscape of desperation.

In the past 20 years, the country had the highest suicide rate among industrialized countries.

• The Netflix series "Squid Game" was a mega-hit in 2021 - a dystopian and fragmented image of South Korean society.

• But the reality there is also terrifying: in the past two decades, the country had the highest suicide rate among industrialized countries.

• Young people are often desperate, partly due to economic problems that were exacerbated by the Corona * pandemic.

  Many suffer from depression.

• This article is available for the first time in German - it was first published by

  Foreign Policy

  magazine on November 5, 2021

  .

The ultra violent Netflix survival drama "Squid Game"

 is a sensational dramatization of desperation in South Korea, a country obsessed with youth and where K-pop and K-beauty stars shine from TV screens and billboards - two Industries fueled by the glamor of youth.

In "Squid Game" indebted people sign up to participate in children's games that could cost them their lives and have the chance to win more than 38 million dollars.

It's a completely dystopian and fragmented picture of South Korean society.

Yet the mix of youth and despair has resonated in this country, where suicide has been the leading cause of youth death since 2007.

"Squid Game": How the hit series reflects the brutal reality for young people in South Korea

In the past two decades, the country had the highest suicide rate among developed countries: 24.6 suicides per 100,000 people in South Korea in 2019, compared to 14.5 suicides in the United States in 2017. Although South Korea is still the most common elderly People who commit suicide as a result of poverty and isolation are rapidly increasing in the number of young people dying from suicide.

Between 2018 and 2019, the number of South Koreans under 40 who committed suicide rose 10 percent, according to the Korea National Statistics Office.

The number of people in their 20s with depression has almost doubled in the past five years.

But it is difficult to seek therapy in a culture that views depression as a sign of weakness.

Although nearly 30 percent of South Koreans will experience mental illnesses such as depression and alcohol abuse at some point in their life, only 15.3 percent seek treatment.

Katrin Park

The reason for this desperation is economic problems, which are exacerbated by the pandemic.

South Koreans in their 20s and 30s have long felt constrained by the gap between rich and poor.

They call the country "Hell Joseon" and compare it to a hellish kingdom that can only be escaped by death or emigration.

A university degree used to guarantee a job - maybe not the best-paid or best job, but at least a job.

There is no longer any talk of that today.

Even before COVID-19, youth unemployment was almost three times the national average.

In the middle of the pandemic in November 2020, almost 40 percent of college graduates gave up looking for a new job.

Depression in South Korea: Mental illness is seen as a weakness in society

An enormous housing shortage in the capital region, where almost half of South Koreans live, has made the situation worse.

The average price of an apartment in Seoul has doubled in the past five years due to poor policy decisions by the current government regarding mortgage regulations and tax sanctions.

Four years ago it would have taken 11 years of the average annual income of a South Korean household to buy an apartment in Seoul.

Now an apartment costs more than the income of 18 years.

Rents have soared so that young people have little savings and no longer have an apartment.

This image published by Netflix shows a scene from the popular Korean series "Squid Game".

© Netflix / dpa

The number of people in their 20s with depression has almost doubled in the past five years.

But it is difficult to seek therapy in a culture that views depression as a sign of weakness.

Although nearly 30 percent of South Koreans will experience mental illnesses such as depression and alcohol abuse at some point in their life, only 15.3 percent seek treatment.

Add to this the constant pressure and endless competition such as the brutal educational race that begins in kindergarten.

According to the National Youth Policy Institute, one in three middle and high school students in Seoul has thought of suicide because of stress at school and worries about their future and career.

So it's no wonder South Korea is near the top of the list when it comes to raising the world's most unhappy children.

End of the Korean War: Widespread Poverty - Economic growth does not translate into shared prosperity

After the Korean War ended in 1953, poverty was widespread. But because everyone was poor, there was less inequality. Most of all, there was hope for the future - the miners and nurses who went to West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s to work in coal mines and hospitals knew their children would have a better life at home.

Unfortunately, the rapid economic growth has not resulted in shared prosperity. The housing crisis has not affected young people born into affluence as they pay for houses in cash or leave apartments empty instead of renting them out at a low price. In 2017, a record number of young voters elected Moon Jae-in as president when he pledged to create a fair and just society where anyone willing to work can own a home and raise a family.

This did not happen.

Corruption among the elites has continued.

Government officials benefited from the housing crisis through rent increases and property speculation.

The Justice Minister was charged with bribery and fraud.

One of the charges related to the illegal admission of his daughter to a university - a sore point, because a scandal over a university admission was at the beginning of the corruption scandal that brought down Moon's predecessor.

South Korea: Not a country for young people - "Suicide has become a general crisis"

A lack of prospects and social immobility have driven young people into the arms of the main conservative opposition party, which won the mayoral elections in April. The opposition party sensed a youth revolt against Moon and unceremoniously elected a 36-year-old former entrepreneur as its chairman, which, given his youth and inexperience, would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

“Suicide has become a general crisis. And financial hardships such as debt, unemployment and low income can significantly increase the risk of suicide, ”said Eric Elbogen, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke University, whose research found a significant link between increasing financial stress and increased suicide risk in American adults. “The financial burden caused by the pandemic must be taken into account and carries the risk of an increasing suicide rate, which is added to the enormous health consequences of the pandemic. Understanding this connection can help support suicide prevention efforts. "

A greater open understanding of young people would help them counter the feeling of hopelessness that has gripped them.

In the current situation, this means strengthening the social safety nets and offering not just part-time jobs, but full-time jobs with living wages in order to give young people a chance.

This would give them the confidence to make plans for the future.

South Korea: Country needs to invest in improving the mental health of young people

South Korea should also invest in improving the mental health of young people. The stigma surrounding mental illness should be removed. South Korea's dynamic pop culture of films and music can be repurposed to raise awareness and encourage treatment - for once the country would use its cultural capital to empower its young people instead of taking advantage of their youthfulness.

The country can learn from Finland *.

With the world's first national suicide prevention campaign, the Nordic country has halved the number of suicides since 1990.

All government agencies were involved in improving treatment and support, and the media were also made accountable in reporting the issue.

The establishment of a national mental health system and community-level services and the training of more mental health professionals would be a clear step forward.

Mental health currently accounts for around three percent of the country's total health budget.

Suicide series among South Korean cultural icons: extending support for youth to famous people

It would be very helpful for the older generation if they made an effort to understand the feelings of young people. When a new law in 2018 reduced the maximum limit for weekly working hours from 68 to 52 hours in order to improve the work-life balance, older people complained about this. It was her sweat and tears that raised the country from the ashes of the Korean War. Now, they think, young people who have never known hunger are ruining the economy amid rising debt and global competition. Instead of ducking their heads and working hard, they complain of depression.

Perhaps this is not a sign of a lack of willpower or strength among young people. Rather, times have changed - and so have people with them. South Koreans are not the only ones suffering - but the discrepancy between a rich and culturally successful society and the despair of so many is particularly painful.

In South Korea, support for youth should include celebrities whom many young people admire and look up to.

At the end of 2019, the young K-pop idol Sulli, the singer Goo Hara and the actor Cha In-ha took their own lives, to name a few.

In 2020, the actress and model Oh In-hye began suicide.

Actress Song Yoo-jung committed suicide earlier this year.

A series of suicides among American cultural icons would have triggered an in-depth self-analysis.

Not so in South Korea.

by Katrin Park

Katrin Park

 is a development expert and freelance writer.

This article was first published in English on November 5, 2021 in the magazine “ForeignPolicy.com” - as part of a cooperation, a translation is now also available to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.

* Merkur.de and tz.de are offered by IPPEN.MEDIA.

Foreign Policy Logo © ForeignPolicy.com