"Live happily, die happily", a new reflection on Korea's aging society

Joppe

Researcher, Research Center for Sino-Korean Relations, Shandong University (Weihai).

The recently concluded South Korean parliamentary elections have spawned the oldest parliament ever. The average age of members of Congress is 55.5 years, an increase of 1.6 years from the previous term's 53.9 years. In parallel with the aging population since the 21st century, South Korean politicians are also getting older.

New faces in Congress who are elected for the first time are fewer, and more and more old acquaintances are being re-elected. A total of 132 members of the new Parliament were elected for the first time, accounting for 44%, down 5 percentage points from the previous Congress. In this way, when considering the goal of making people happier, "living happily" is important, and "dying happily" is also indispensable. Correspondingly, the term "well-dying" became popular at the same time as the term "well-being."

For years, Korea Research, a South Korean public opinion survey called "Koreans' Consciousness and Values," involved the question, "What makes you happy?" ”。 In this regard, the proportion of people who choose health and family continues to rise, and income and wealth are less important. "Earn money with health when you are young, buy health with money when you are old", "Marry hastily for your livelihood when you are young, and divorce in a hurry when you are old", these problems that arise in the rapid development of the economy are causing widespread reflection.

People re-recognize that they should make clear plans and feasible preparations for their "long life" from a young age, and begin to reflect on the modern values of traditional culture. "Rich and mighty, I do, and though I am a whipper, I will do the same." If you can't ask for it, from what I like (speaking of Confucius)", "Eat and drink, bend and pillow, and enjoy it." Unrighteous and rich and expensive, to me is like a floating cloud (words out of Confucius)", "too virtual and formless, the essence of qi; its gathering and dispersion, the changing guest form (speaking of the Northern Song Dynasty thinker Zhang Zai)", these ways of thinking about life and death and rich and poor from the big picture to meet the needs of modern people's psychological comfort.

In fact, South Koreans are somewhat flustered when they encounter an aging society. Although "pension preparation" has become a keyword in a social network, nearly 40% of even in Seoul's citizens have not yet acted on it. According to a survey released in January 2016, only 61% of women and 64.4% of men said they were prepared for old age, mainly by saving or buying insurance, etc., and there was still a considerable distance from self-development and self-realization.

In the reality of being old before they are old, the poverty rate of the elderly over 65 in South Korea is the highest among OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, at 49.6%, more than three times higher than the average of 12.8%.

"Live happily, die happily", the current South Korean government initially played the slogan of "opening the era of national happiness". It is clear that this goal will not be achieved through the improvement of the social welfare system alone, but on the contrary, it will tighten the national finances and exacerbate intergenerational conflicts. Formulating matching policies throughout people's lives at all ages and accurately and comprehensively enriching the material and spiritual aspects of happiness seems to be an urgent problem to be solved by Korea's aging society.