Unlike in the movies, how miserable are Korean youth living?

The rapid development of cosmetic surgery technology, strict beauty standards, school violence... make the lives of young Koreans suffocating.

Goo Yoon-I once "caused a storm" when she successfully "turned from an ugly duckling into a swan" thanks to cosmetic surgery. After 90 days of pain and expense, the girl completely transformed, becoming a hot girl with standard Korean beauty: rosy white skin, double eyelids, high nose, plump lips, V-line face.

Goo Yoon-I possesses perfect beauty according to Korean standards after plastic surgery. Photo: Cinderella Plastic Surgery.

Obsession with appearance

Korean girl group 2NE1 once sang in their famous song Ugly: "I'm so ugly that no one wants to love me. And I want to be beautiful like her."

According to The Atlantic, one of the reasons why this song is so successful is because of the meaning of the lyrics. Indeed, Ugly has struck a chord with many Korean girls and boys who are self-conscious and want to be more beautiful.

In 2014, South Korea led the world in the rate of cosmetic surgery per capita. This means that the land of kimchi is the country with the most "plastic surgery", with 980,000 surgeries recorded in the previous 3 years.

Horror short film about plastic surgery

There are many reasons why people in this country want to have cosmetic surgery. It can be the desire to look younger or to remove facial deformities.

But it seems that cosmetic surgery in Korea is trending younger when even school age students want to become more beautiful by surgery.

According to a Korean press investigation, more than 92% of Korean students want to have plastic surgery.

Mallory Thornberry (30 years old, English teacher at Gumi Girls' High School, South Korea) said: "During teaching, many students commented that my head is too small compared to my body."

She shared that in the hallways of each floor of the school there are large mirrors for students to admire. "When Koreans think you are fat, they will say it to your face without hesitation," the young teacher said.

More or less influenced by the standard model of beautiful, petite idols, the beauty standards of young Koreans have become very strict.

“Most of the girls at my school dream of getting plastic surgery. They usually do it during winter break,” a student named Seonghee told The Atlantic.

In fact, many parents in Korea choose eyelid surgery as a gift for their children on graduation or university entrance exams.

Advertisements for cosmetic surgery clinics are everywhere on the streets of South Korea. Photo: Getty Images.

Not only do they fix their faces, Korean youth also tend to lose weight quickly by following the starvation method of many Korean idols.

These weight loss methods only allow them to eat very small amounts of food, while still having to exercise at a normal intensity.

A Korean beauty blogger named Soo posted her one-week weight loss experience using this method on YouTube and quickly became the center of attention.

"Lose weight like this makes me very tired and dizzy. A week is really long for me," she confirmed.

'Slave' of trends

Korean youth are always trendsetters. Walking around the streets, it is easy to see two or more people wearing the same outfit.

But after a short time, when the fashion has passed, those clothes are immediately thrown away. The closet is full but to them it is as if nothing, because all of them are "out of fashion" and they are waiting for a new trend.

Two years ago, the photo series "The Power of Fashion" showed that Korean youth are "slaves" to trends.

Netizens commented: "In Korea, if you can't wear a $700 Northface jacket like your friends, you will be laughed at. Therefore, many parents are willing to spend a lot of money for their children to follow the fashion."

Nowadays, Korea is known as the fashion capital of Asia, where many new trends are born. That has a great influence on shaping the style of Korean youth, as well as the world.

Young Koreans dress alike because they follow trends. Photo: Pann.

Serious school violence

School violence is a serious problem in every country, including South Korea. According to a study by the Korean Ministry of Education, more than 77,000 students of all ages reported being bullied and 10% of them had suicidal thoughts.

Recently, the land of kimchi was shaken by a serious school violence case in Busan. The victim was a 14-year-old student, who was brutally beaten for 1.5 hours with chairs, metal pipes, wine bottles and had cigarettes burned into many areas of his skin.

It is worth mentioning that the perpetrator was only 14 years old, one of them was only 13 years old.

In an interview with JTBC News, the victim shared: "I thought everyone was them. In the middle of the night, I often woke up with a severe headache."

The road to school is probably the longest road for Lee Su In (15 years old). This student is bullied by her peers because they do not like her appearance.

Su In asked the teacher to intervene, but the teacher did nothing more than give a perfunctory reprimand.

"After that, they bullied me more often. I had no other choice but to transfer schools," Su In recalled.

Or the haunting story of a 15-year-old student who took his own life four years ago, leaving behind a note listing the names of those who had tormented him for two years.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, one in 10 students has experienced school violence in various forms.

Clip of Korean people's reactions when they see a student being bullied

Struggling for work

According to The Washington Post, South Korea, in the eyes of many young people under pressure about employment issues, is called "Hell Joseon".

On Facebook, a group called "Hell Joseon" was created with more than 5,000 members, along with a website hellkorea.com. This group and website specializes in posting articles about the terrible life in Korea: long working hours, many suicides, even complaints about the high price of snacks.

Hwang Min Joo (26 years old, works as a scriptwriter for TV programs) said: "I can't imagine myself getting married and having children. There is no future for us."

Hwang usually goes to work on Monday morning with a large suitcase and returns home on Thursday evening. All of Hwang's daily activities such as eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom are done at the office.

"If I finish work at 9 p.m., my day is pretty short," she shared.

However, Hwang is not always "enough" to be so busy. Hwang's work is unstable. If she does not receive a program contract, it means she will be unemployed tomorrow.

Hwang told The Washington Post that she dreams of sleeping well every night and waking up the next morning with work to do.

Not only Hwang, many young Koreans also struggle to find jobs, feeling discouraged when thinking about the future. To get a stable job in this time of economic stagnation, they have to study day and night for the stressful and strict civil service exam but still suffer the fate of unemployment because the competition rate is too high.

Employees work late at an office in Seoul. Photo: Jun Michael Park.

Yolo and live

In the past, many young Koreans were forced to live by a set pattern: study hard to get into a desirable university, find a well-paying, easy job, and then live a life that their families and relatives considered perfect.

But recently, the thinking of young Koreans has completely changed. They spend more time for themselves by eating alone, going out alone or... getting married alone. This wave is called Yolo (You only live once) or "honjok" (in Korean it means lonely).

A bank employee named Park Da Som (25 years old) was caught by Quartz eating alone in a restaurant.

"Before, people often stared when they saw me eating alone. But now it's different. This is no longer strange to Koreans as Yolo has become a social movement," she shared.

Deciding to pursue the Yolo lifestyle, Park Sora (23 years old) has no intention of getting married, having children or having a stable job.

She also did not hesitate to share her new perspective: "I once went abroad and met a group of foreigners. They were very happy to drink a cup of coffee every morning, instead of saving every penny for the future. I completely agree with this lifestyle."

Yolo is now becoming more popular in South Korea. Photo: Quartz

According to Zing