Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cubanlord]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/09/113_51818.html

[He with Horns on Head]

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

I had shin ramyun and half a bottle of soju from the back of the fridge

[cdninkorea]

Then again, how much of the Korean economy is underground? I think I read it was 27%. I wonder if they're counting things like cash bonuses, etc.

[He with Horns on Head]

I sense too much double digit IQ in this thread, one poster only.

Today I swam to Florida.

[beercanman]

[shinramyun]

All esl teachers kiss up to koreans.

[Goku]

I don't really agree with the the perspective of the author.

1.2 million won more a month is nothing to scoff at.

That adds up to a lot in disposable income when you compare it to the rest of the city.

Think about comparing the yearly amounts of earning 45.6mil to 57.6.

In terms of absolute values, it seems small. But it's extra 12 million every year. That's half a year's salary to some of us.

12 million more a year is enough to distinguish from somewhat wealthy to wealthy. Percentage and absolute value wise it seems little. But that's because we aren't looking at the marginal additions.

Every little more income you make is wealth added to luxury items. Having 12 million extra a year to spend means I can dish out for a channel bag instead of a LV one. Or that I can go on spend 1.2 million more a month, which is almost 300,000 won a week. on a fancy dinner.

[marlow]

I think we swallowed the hype as well. Owning a box in a desired part of the city doesn't equal a good life. The extra income is probably being used for two things--servicing a huge mortgage and making payments on a luxury car.

[bassexpander]

[the crusher]

my mother says to stay away from here

[Unposter]

Bassexpander has a lot of good information there.

There is a lot of reasons why these numbers are skewed. First of all, Koreans usually use averages and not means, which means the numbers are always skewed.

But also:

1. There is a huge underground economy in Korea and a lot of income goes unreported, especially if you are a small business owner.

2. There is actually a large number of people, students even, who live in one-room "apartments" in Gangnam. Such people are going to lower the average income. I would want to know what the average salary of those living in the apartments.

3. There are a number retired people who live in Gangnam on fixed incomes that would bring the averages down.

4. There are probably a lot of people who have made a lot of investment income in the past but made none or lost money in the last year bringing down the income average assuming that investment income is even included in these avearages as it may not.

5. It most likely does not include bonuses, royalties or sales commissions which are not considered "regular" income.

Most of these people are quite well off.

[Unposter]

Okay, I read the whole article now and it says that it is a survey of 4,750 people in 2,000 households so I guess this means that it is not everyone living in Gangnam and it is what these people claimed they earned so it is completely unscientific.

I would say that survey is meaningless.

[cubanlord]

[JongnoGuru]