Korean Job Discussion Forums

[luvnpeas]

I've heard there is a minimum wage, there is not. There is a social security system, there is not. There are food stamps, there are not....

I was a bit surprised that my co-teacher, a 28-year-old single female, didn't whether abortion is legal. She doesn't even live with her mother!

[jvalmer]

There is a minimum wage, it's around 3500 won/hour and applies to companies of 10 or more people. There is also a national pension scheme, but who knows how it will hold up when the majority of Korean citizens are 60 years old or older.

Traditionaly, the safety net was the eldest son. Although, many families also got alot of help from their married daughters. Supposedly, a Korean husband is not supposed to make his opinion known for matters involving his wife and her side of the family. Basically, if you didn't have a son, than you better have been rich, or have a lot of land, to support yourself until death.

[Ozabout7or8]

In Korea there is a Social Security system in the USA-style which gives you back in retirement proportion to what you put in while you were working.

If you have no job or make no contributions you starve.

Roh Mu Hyun the current President is left-wing and he has been trying to push social reforms since he was elected. I think he is up again for re-election this or next year so if things go right-wing expect increasing power to chaebols and decreasing power for the masses.

Taxes are quite low in Korea - roughlybetween 10% - 30% for most people and as a consequence the only major thing missing from government spending are the types of social spending we see in other more affluent western countries. Korea has long believed education funding to be an economic rather than a social policy and that it is paying dividends can be seen in their rising living standards. What has been missing is any form of unemployment benefits and guaranteed old-age pensions.

Korea's control over it's own economy and domestic social policies is becoming stronger every day as the people gain more control over their future as a country.

I personally would like to see some higher taxes and a social safety-net. But i don't vote there.

Remember left wing candidates for government were actively targetted and even assasinated by the KCIA until 1987 or even later. Have a look at the biography of Kim Dae Jung - Korea's foremost democratic campaigner and second democratically elected left-wing President in 1997. He had attempts made on his life no less than 5 times before he became President and instituted his famous Sunshine Policy bringing open dialogue for the first time in 43 years with the leadership of Nrth Korea.

[Bibbitybop]

Abortion is legal (or at leasst unpunished) as around 40% of pregancies in Korea end in abortion. [For those prolifers out there who may turn this into a flame war, remember that many end in abortion because the parents (and government) have no time or money to take care of a child. I'm not taking sides on abortion in Korea, it's not my place, just stating the issue.]

It is illegal to get an ultrasound, though, as people were determining if the baby was a boy or girl. Boy = social status and kept alive. Girl = less social status and aborted. Sad, but true. Now people give utltrasounds underground, or the mother will travel to another country to have one if she can afford it.

[bobbyhanlon]

actually he isn't up for re-election since presidents can only serve one term. even if he could, he wouldn't win, since he is extremely unpopular.

the way in which politicians experience wild swings from popularity to unpopularity looks similar to me to the way in which people start buying anything labelled '월빙' and then jump over to 99% Cacao or dancing classes that will give them an 'S-line'. korean politicians are bad, but it will probably stay that way until the people themselves become more politically aware.

[kat2]

Abortion is technically illegal here, but if you know the right doctor (which apparently is quite easy to find), then you can get one no problem.
Like so many other laws in Korea, its not enforced.

[Missile Command Kid]

[JMO]

I've seen them in apartment buildings here. Its in case people jump.

[dogshed]

[mehamrick]

[jvalmer]

Some of you guys make it sound like sex selective abortion is an epidemic in Korea. I work at a girl's middle school in north kyungsang (supposedly the most conservative area), and I'd say, about a quarter of the students have no siblings and alot have only sisters. Sure, maybe a small minority might abort their unborn child if it's a female, but the vast majority don't.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[luvnpeas]

[Corporal]

[archer904]