You may have heard a lot about the group mentality among Koreans which is heavily influenced by Confucianism. However, recently, there has been a rise of individualism in the Korean society, especially among the younger generations. There is an increasing number of people in South Korea who live alone and do a lot of activities alone, e.g., eating out, drinking, watching movies, etc. In my blog post dated 12 March 2017, I have talked about the rise of solo economy which is associated with individualism. In this blog post, let’s talk about two more trends associated with individualism in South Korea.
Solo economy
Singleton no longer a bad thing in South Korea!
When I lived in Seoul, one thing I noted is that Koreans often hang out in groups. Group mentality is very strong among Koreans. This may be an extension of the family concept of Confucianism which has greatly influenced the Korean society. So, you can always see Koreans eat, drink and watch movies with friends, colleagues and/or lovers. If you are being seen eating, drinking or watching movie alone, others may think you have no friends and may even consider you strange. Moreover, some restaurants also have menus that can only be ordered for two persons or more.
However, this trend is gradually changing as there are more and more single-person households in South Korea. Continue reading
Korean Culture Blog 