The Brutality of Hagwons, Part I: Decimating Korea's Birth Rate

President Yoon blamed feminists. Let's look at schools.

A demographic crisis. The rise of incels in politics. A gender divide causing social strife. Extreme inflation causing people to feel depressed and disillusioned. These are major problems in Korean society, but they are reflected—to lesser or greater degrees—in America, too. Americans, especially the elites, are beginning the Ivy League rat race at age 3. Costs of exclusive kindergartens are making even six-figure earners in NYC act the victim.

I present, part one: how Korea’s hagwon culture raises the price of education and contributes to Korea’s declining birth rate:

Korea's birthrate, which is less than half of the replacement rate, hit a record low in 2022. Yet despite the lack of children, Korean private education institutions and English-language kindergartens are thriving. These trends are more closely related than they might seem.

There are many factors contributing to these problems. They cannot all be blamed on one thing. The declining birthrate, in particular, is intractable in a country where women face egregious levels of discrimination in the workplace. A declining birthrate is also a typical social trend associated with development that is impacting many countries.

However, there are reasons why these problems of modernity are hitting Korea harder than most countries. One of them is the extremely high cost of raising a child, which is driven primarily by education. In 2022, Korea's education costs hit a new record high, and Korea was found to be the most expensive country in the world to raise a child.

The 0.78 children per woman who are born into this world will be thrust into a high-pressure education system where long hours, weekend tutoring, and harsh judgments from peers, teachers, and parents are too often the norm. If their parents can afford it, they might begin attending an all-day school at age three where teachers admonish "English only."

They will keep attending school almost continuously--with only a weeks-long vacation during the summer (one week for private schools)--until they take the college entrance exam, where it's SNU-or-bust. Then they will graduate into a job market saturated with too many overeducated elites for too few job openings at Samsung.

Educational Pressure Begins Young