[murph-almighty]

Maybe a total coincidence that I read this morbid news on South Korea while I've started watching Squid Game, but watching a show that's effectively an allegory of capitalist decline in South Korea makes this news not surprising.

[staysafeanon]

>capitalist decline in South Korea makes this news not surprising.

South Korea is on a capitalist upswing, not decline. People forget that South Korea was worse off than most of Africa after the Korean War. Capitalism and democracy is what saved them.

Look at their brother to the North if you want to see a real decline.

[taurath]

Perhaps, though you would be wrong about the state of things - Korea had a fairly big manufacturing base when taken over by Japan, so in a way they had more infrastructure already built that just needed to be repaired or upgraded.

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule

“Capitalism” being called as a reason for success sort of also implies that there is something strong and special about Koreans in that they can make it work, where there are countless other examples of capitalistic societies leading to massive corruption - and indeed Korea has massive megacorps owned by just a few families that are de facto governments in themselves.

[staysafeanon]

>Perhaps, though you would be wrong about the state of things - Korea had a fairly big manufacturing base when taken over by Japan,

Ugh... I see you overlooked the small fact that the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula happened before the Korean War...

"After all, the South was by all standards a failed state after the Korean war (1950-53). GDP per capita in South Korea in early 1960’s was below $100. Lower than Haiti, Ethiopia or Yemen, making South Korea one of the poorest countries in the world. Infrastructure built during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945) was destroyed during the war. All of Korea’s natural resources remained in the North, as well as its industrial facilities. The first years of independence, under the presidency of Rhee Syng-man, brought no economic development and kept South Korea afloat only due to foreign aid." [0]

>“Capitalism” being called as a reason for success sort of also implies that there is something strong and special about Koreans in that they can make it work

There may be something strong and special about Koreans, but one half went capitalist, the other half went Communist/Socialist. The proof is in the pudding.

>where there are countless other examples of capitalistic societies leading to massive corruption

Being capitalist is immaterial to being corrupt.

[0] https://www.forbeswoman.ge/en/post/southkorea

[taurath]

> There may be something strong and special about Koreans, but one half went capitalist, the other half went Communist/Socialist

I guess explain China vs Taiwan, which are both doing well, although that is certainly glossing over some horrible decades with the cultural revolution.

[rout39574]

There are a few other differences between those two polities. I'd say it would be difficult to find a single factor which could convincingly explain their differences.

[staysafeanon]

Taiwan is still doing better in practically every metric. Even then, China has hilariously bought into capitalism, big time: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rainerzitelmann/2019/07/08/chin...

[novok]

There is a big cultural meme in Korea about how life is extremely competitive & hard compared to what it should be. I definitely saw what was being referred to about Korea in squid game.

[staysafeanon]

I know, I'm Korean. It's an insanely hyper-competitve place in all arenas. That's besides the fact that it's capitalist though.

[TomSwirly]

> South Korea is on a capitalist upswing, not decline.

Yes, that's exactly what PP posits as the cause of these suicides.

[femiagbabiaka]

things can be good and bad for different reasons at the same time