VÌ SAO HÀN QUỐC CHÊNH LỆCH GIÀU NGHÈO CÙNG CỰC?

Summary

The video chronicles South Korea's rising income inequality following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. IMF bailout reforms led to mass layoffs, wage cuts, and rise of temporary jobs without benefits. The chaebols rebounded as global competitors but only offer a fraction of jobs. Inequality is intergenerational as the rich exploit tax loopholes. 74% of billionaires inherited wealth. High youth unemployment forces dependence on parents. With rapidly aging population, 43% of elderly live in poverty as pensions are low and many are forced into retirement. The elites' power allows corruption like inflated severance.

Takeaways

• 😀 In 2016, Psy's Gangnam Style dance made Gangnam district in Seoul globally famous
• 😮 Gangnam is the 3rd largest district in Seoul with over 560,000 people and many skyscrapers
• 😲 Just 20 minutes from wealthy Gangnam is South Korea's largest slum village
• 🏘 The slum has very small, humid houses where poor senior citizens live on government assistance
• 📉 Income inequality in South Korea is increasing the fastest among OECD countries
• 😣 In the 1997 financial crisis, IMF required reforms that increased inequality
• 😠 The 2008 crisis further worsened the labor market and increased temporary jobs
• 😫 High youth unemployment despite expensive college education
• 🤯 Inheritance tax is high but the wealthy use loopholes to transfer assets
• 😡 74% of billionaires in South Korea inherited their wealth

Q & A

What caused the Gangnam Style dance to go viral in 2016?

A man with a silly horse-riding dance move brought worldwide attention to the Gangnam district in Seoul, making it an icon for the super-rich in South Korea.

What is located just 20 minutes walking distance from the wealthy Gangnam district?

The largest slum village in Seoul and South Korea, home to poor families living in semi-basement houses.

What reforms did the IMF require of South Korea after the 1997 financial crisis?

The IMF required South Korea to restructure the massive, influential family-run business conglomerates known as chaebols. This led to mass layoffs, especially of older workers and women.

How did the 1997 and 2008 crises worsen income inequality in South Korea?

They increased temporary and part-time labor while decreasing wages to a fraction of regular jobs. Larger companies automated and digitized while startups created few jobs.

Why do so many elderly Koreans live in poverty?

43.4% of elderly Koreans live in poverty, the highest rate in the OECD. Many were forced into early retirement with inadequate pensions and continue working insecure, low-paying jobs in old age.

What allows the wealthy in South Korea to avoid high inheritance taxes?

The rich transfer property and assets to their children through sham sales, with parents as sellers and children as buyers. This avoids the 50% inheritance tax.

How does being born into wealth or poverty predetermine one's life in South Korea?

74% of billionaires inherited their wealth. Social immobility is very high, with parents' income and assets largely deciding children's future financial status.

Why do so few young Koreans own homes nowadays?

53% said they could only buy homes with parental subsidies. High household debt and insecure jobs make it very difficult to buy real estate without family assistance.

What major investigation did South Korea launch after the Hoya Corporation scandal?

After an executive got a $5 million severance package, South Korea investigated 446 people aged 30+ for potential financial crimes like inheriting property through sham intra-family sales.

Can South Korea end the 'winner-takes-all' economy plaguing the country?

It remains uncertain if South Korea can rein in the outsized influence of chaebols and reduce the extreme disparities between regular workers and the wealthy managerial class.