Is Korea Falling Apart? 4 Young Koreans React to “Korea is Over”

Korea Deconstructed

May 18, 2025•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 104

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Episode description

A recent viral YouTube video claimed that Korea would soon be extinct. The country transformed negatively by one of the world's lowest birthrates. Change, it suggested, was too late. Four young adults come together to discuss the future of Korea, assessing its birthrate issues, education, culture of perfection, and the deep spiritual crisis that seems to have gripped the nation. Is Korea really over? Not necessarily...

We hear from 4 young people all living here: a young Korean man interested in Jungian psychology, a woman balancing study and modeling, an ethnic Korean from Uzbekistan (Koryosaram), and someone just embarking on their college life.

Big thank you to these wonderful people:

Celine (@celinesoyoon)

Marina (@marina_tens)

Susan

Ray

한종철

Watch the original video from @Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell https://youtu.be/Ufmu1WD2TSk?si=0RuYZzEe5cr4pQ7p

David A. Tizzard has a PhD in Korean Studies and lectures at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University. He writes a weekly column in the Korea Times, is a social-cultural commentator, and a musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. He can be reached at datizzard@swu.ac.kr.

Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/QJ66Ew2FsOI?si=bSVFz590fd1xQPsM

Subscribe to the channel: @DavidTizzard/videos

Thanks to Patreon members: Hee Ji Jacobs, Bhavya, Roxanne Murrell

Support Korea Deconstructed: https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=62047873

Discussion Outline

0:00 Reactions to the video

9:43 A spiritual crisis

16:50 Gender conversations

23:40 The popularity of Korean grief

34:20 Generation gaps and the elderly

43:20 Korean education

51:55 Do young Korean people want children?