Both technically and in most respects, yes, but in some respects, not so much. While Korea scores very highly on the Human Development Index (higher than Japan!), this development is somewhat uneven. Gangnam, made famous by Psy, towers over shantytowns:
(Gangnam, shanty-style: life in Seoul's Guryong Village slum – in pictures)
Here's a video from Reuters:
Here's a video from Reuters:
Moreover, elderly poverty is more the norm than the exception, as the country did not develop a long-term pension plan during its rush to prosperity. The same people who built the country into what it is today have now been left behind. From A Forgotten Generation: Half Of South Korea's Elderly Live In Poverty:
South Korea may be known for its high-tech advances, luxury skin care products and rapid economic rise, but these days, the generation largely responsible for all that growth isn't faring so well. South Korea has the worst senior poverty rate among developed nations, and the options for seniors are slim.
On Thursdays, churches give out 500 won coins — equivalent to about 50 cents — to individuals who line up. Throngs of Korea's seniors wait for hours to shuffle past church volunteers for small handouts and a juice box, or maybe a banana. Each week, organizers say, 300 to 500 seniors show up at each church, and the line starts hours in advance.
Though for some who work here, the fortunes they seek could be called anything but, and made not from the sale of expensive wares but from the boxes they arrive in. For some of South Korea’s poor and elderly, cardboard is big business.
“It took me two hours to gather these boxes,” said Lee Je Ho, 57, eyeing the flattened cardboard bulging under strained bungee cords tied to his metal cart. “That’s about 6,000 won (CDN$ 6.28).”
Here's a video from Arirang News:
It's also incredibly common to see disabled individuals begging in the most degrading ways possible. They are forced to do so due to lack of societal support. These are essentially forgotten, ignored individuals. From South Korea's 'seal men' suffer in downturn:
Lying on his stomach, he uses his knuckles and elbows to drag himself along, his torso resting atop a padded cart. He wraps his useless legs, long ago withered by polio, in a swath of black rubber inner-tubing that gives him the appearance of being half-seal and half-man.
Clinging precariously to the lowest rung of the country's economic ladder, Kim is one of the seal men of Seoul.As the crowds surge along the city's Gangnam business district, Kim is there, purposefully in the way. He parts the pedestrian flow; people nearly trip over his shriveled body.Women in high heels step past without looking. A few foreign tourists turn to gawk, but they too keep moving.Kim, 55, keeps his head low, refusing to look up or make eye contact. On a small cart ahead of him, he pushes the tinny sound system he uses to broadcast his music. Kim prefers classical.There is also his red plastic dish for donations, which on this Friday afternoon contains four 100-won coins -- worth about 30 cents.Kim and half a dozen other seal men claim turf throughout Seoul's busiest pedestrian walkways. Given a meager monthly allotment by the country's social welfare system, they take their chances on the street.
Here's a video:
None of this is to say that Korea isn't a developed country, but it suffers from issues that other developed countries do not. This is largely due to the fact that Korea made a mad dash to become a developed nation, rather than a slow, gradual ascent, and it is understandable that perfection is not to be found. My point is only to highlight that while you can walk around Myeong-dong or Hongdae and feel like you're in a place that's lightyears ahead of anywhere in North America, you can also go to places in Seoul itself and feel like you've been flung 40 years back in time.
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