Young South Koreans' 'detour' is a survival signal

The recent financial and political choices of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s are often mischaracterized as conservatism or far-right tendencies. This interpretation, according to the author, overlooks the underlying driver: a profound anxiety and a desperate survival instinct rooted in FOMO, or the fear of missing out.

This generation is the first to simultaneously witness the economic collapse of their parents' generation and the practical absence of robust social safety nets. They have experienced international financial crises like the IMF bailout and the Lehman Brothers collapse, repeatedly learning that the state, corporations, and organizations do not protect individuals during crises. Consequently, failure has become solely a personal burden, and second chances are a rare exception, making any single competitive setback potentially a permanent exit from the system.

Faced with these harsh conditions, young people have abandoned the idea of changing the system and have become passive individuals focused solely on survival within the existing framework. For them, FOMO is not just about missing opportunities but an extreme, cliff-edge fear that falling behind even slightly means the end. This leads to behaviors that may appear selfish or short-sighted to older generations, such as plunging into debt-fueled investments during record stock market rallies, even while bearing high interest rates.

However, these actions should not be dismissed as mere greed or moral decay. In a structure where earning a basic living is nearly impossible through regular employment alone, envy of others' success and risky borrowing are seen as unavoidable defense mechanisms. Ignorance and selfishness have become survival tools in a broken ladder, forcing a desperate, individualistic struggle.

The author argues that the true issue is not intergenerational conflict but the painful polarization within the generation itself. The constant display of extreme success stories on social media fuels deep relative deprivation. The high entry barriers in the real estate market, where investment opportunities are fundamentally limited by initial capital, create structural frustration that individual effort cannot overcome. Young people are not asking which ideology, progressive or conservative, is correct; they are fundamentally questioning the fairness of the survival game they are forced to play. The author warns that the asset markets they are desperately clinging to are precarious sandcastles, and reckless borrowing and investment could lead to irreversible ruin, with societal repercussions like increased bankruptcies and welfare costs.