Koreans work really hard and making a living isn’t easy for most

One of the things that I notice every single day, multiple times a day here in Seoul is how difficult it is to make a living—for the majority of people. There is the 70-something year old building security guard who is always sitting in his chair when I enter or leave the building. There are the young part-timers (알바생) working at the thousands of convenience stores all over Seoul. There are the elderly women who keep the entire city clean as they wash and scrub the public bathrooms located in subway stations. Perhaps most striking of all is the middle-aged restaurant worker who I pass by frequently. I see him squatting low on the ground, staring at his cell phone and smoking his cigarette, as if this is the one moment of the day where he feels some relief in his tired existence.

I have always appreciated how hard Koreans work. My uncle and my aunt who live in Seoul are both well into their seventies and yet they continue to work physically demanding jobs. They have not taken a proper week-long vacation in years. There is no way that a country that was one of the poorest just fifty years ago can be a top 10 economy without the hard work and efforts of its people. Korea is truly an economic miracle—a source of inspiration and hope for poor countries around the world, yet none of them seem to be able to follow in Korea’s footsteps.

In all my previous trips to Korea, I was mostly impressed by how clean, efficient, and technologically advanced the country is. I oogled at all of the public sculptures located outside of major buildings, the impressive architecture of both traditional style hanok and modern skyscrapers, and was distracted by all the cute and many items for sale everywhere. This time in Seoul, more than anything else I have noticed the sweat and labor required to keep society running, the economic inequality, and lack of economic security for both old and young people alike.

It is absolutely heartbreaking that a country built on Confucianist values of respecting your parents and elders, there are 70 and 80 years olds who spend all day collecting improperly discarded cardboard boxes for less than $3 USD per day. Almost anywhere you go, you can find elderly women selling vegetables for a fraction of the price you might buy them at the grocery store. I wonder where their kids are and think about how unfair life is.

On the flip side, young people are also miserable. Korea has the lowest birthrate in the world, which speaks volumes about how young people view their economic future. Despite how well-educated they are, there aren’t enough white collar jobs for all the college graduates. Women face rampant discrimination and sexual harassment in coveted office jobs. No matter how hard you work, you can’t really move up to the next level—you’re stuck in whatever socioeconomic level you’re born into.

It blows my mind that I can make10x what a hardworking Korean worker might make in a day just by pressing some buttons on a computer because I won the birthplace lottery and was born in America and have seen the privilege I was born with compound into greater privilege. I have always thought that luck and privilege have played a large part in my journey, but also believed that hard work and risk taking were equal contributors. But, seeing how hard people here work—day in and day out, for their entire lives—I am deeply humbled and know that I do not know and likely have never known the true meaning of hard work. White collar workers like me do not know that pain and suffering of working physically demanding jobs 12+ hours a day and doing that six days in a row. We do not know what it means to spend an entire lifetime working only to have little to our names.

I don’t know what to do with all of this information. This trip, I’m excited to go back home—where I don’t have to see the obvious suffering of people everywhere I go. Of course, we have hardworking, economically disadvantaged people in America, too, but it’s not as obvious and ubiquitous. The only thing I have been able to do here is to offer a tip, in a non-tipping culture, in acknowledgement of someone’s hard work—a little “I see you and appreciate you.” I am leaving Korea with a heavy heart, sad and worried for the country of my ancestors, for as far as Korea has come, she has also suffered.