South Korea is usually associated with super-modern technologies and transnational corporations, beautiful cars and skyscrapers reaching for the sky, as well as sympathetic singers and K-POP groups. It seems these images come from the future. But behind this pretty “cover” there is another side: Korean media are full of stories about internal crises, scandals, and constant competitive rivalry. Koreans themselves often complain about life and, according to surveys, are quite unhappy.
At what cost is the world of success so mesmerizing?
Oleg Kiryaynov is an international journalist, political scientist, and historian specializing in Korea. He holds a Candidate of Historical Sciences degree. He graduated from the Korean department of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at St. Petersburg State University, and from the bachelor’s and master’s programs at Seoul National University. He specializes in the history and present of the Korean Peninsula, living and working in Seoul for more than 20 years.
He invites the reader to look at Korea through different eyes—largely through the eyes of the Koreans themselves.