Today's Elderly in Korea: Negative Consequences of Confucianism 1: Cultural generation gap

          As industrial revolution has changed human history and people's living, elderly's life in Korea is not any more like traditional Korean society in these day. Confucianism was the main cultural theme for a long time in Korean history, but after democracy was firmly built in Korean government and foreign influx affected into Korean culture, Korean family forms has been more changed to nuclear family form. Following article is from Korean Times regarding recent elderly's suicide rate in Korea. 

06-11-2010 19:07       Elderly account for 33 percent of suicides

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter One out of every three Koreans committing suicide is a senior citizen, with a growing number of the elderly here taking their own lives due mainly to financial difficulties and illness. The Korean Association of Senior Welfare Centers said Friday that senior citizens aged over 61 accounted for 32.8 percent of those who committed suicide here in 2009, up sharply from 19.4 percent in 1999 and 10.3 percent in 1989. The center said an increasing number of the elderly are killing themselves as more of them live on their own in line with rising life expectancy and the splintering nuclear family structure. Additionally, many suffer from economic strain as they did not save enough money for retirement and combined with a range of terminal illnesses, they are prompted to take own lives. "We will launch a campaign at Tapgol Park, a favorite hangout among seniors, to increase the awareness about the seriousness of suicide among the elderly, as well as to offer them support so they can consider alternatives to ending their lives. We will hold an anti-suicide campaign and stage performances and other events to stress the importance of life," the center said.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/06/113_67496.html



         Why do any elderly commit suicide and what are the difficulties that they face with?
According to see characteristics of Confucianism in previous posts, elderly's life in Korea should be happier than any other cultures in world. However, there are negative consequences from the Confucianism in recent Korean society. First, I will discuss about negative consequence for elderly from cultural generation gap, which causes conflicts within family. And at next post, I will talk about second negative- financial burden.

Big Cultural Generation Gap in Current Society 

        As Korea has gone through sudden growth of economic development like other East Asian countries after the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam war in 20th century, the generation gap between old and young people are bigger than other society. Also the cultural influence largely have affected into Korean culture such as 'Americanization.' Individualism from western society causes smaller family form in Korea, a lot of young generation tend to prefer living themselves rather than living with their old parents. This tendency causes emotional hardship for elderly who got used to the traditional culture value such that respecting elderly and taking care of their parents and ancestors are the duty of young people - from the reciprocity of the Confucianism. 


       In our class reading, Olson also mentions about the negative consequence of filial piety from different experiences between the generation with an example of Chinese Americans in the United States. "the American-born Chinese have become more acculturated to the beliefs, traditions, and customs of U.S. society, many of which are at odds with Chinese culture. As a consequence, it is becoming more common to hear foreign-born Chinese parents express disappointment and complain that "my son is just like an American (Olson 2001, page 26)." 

Changed Culture, Changed Family Form 

        Due to the changes in culture, taking care of elderly is no more in hand of individual family members. Following article is showing that a lot of elderly in today's Korean society live themselves without their children.  

05-05-2010 18:49       1 in 5 senior citizens live alone in Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter The number of senior citizens living alone here has been on the rise over the past years, with one out of every five Koreans aged over 65 living on their own in Seoul in 2009. After an overview of its 25 districts, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said there were 927,560 Seoulites aged over 65 last year, up 26.8 percent from 731,350 in 2005. Of the 927,560 surveyed, 203,100 elderly were found to be living alone in 2009, up 63 percent from 124,900 in 2005. The figure accounts for 22 percent of Seoul's total elderly population. A higher proportion of senior citizens in Seoul live alone, compared to other parts of the country. Statistics Korea estimates that about 18.8 percent of the elderly lived on their own in 2009 across the nation, up from 17.8 percent in 2005. The statistics office attributed the growing senior citizen population living alone to Korea's prolonged life expectancy. Also, more elderly seek an independent life from their grown-up children.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/04/117_65423.html

       This report shows that current Korean culture is changing very different from the traditional value of Confucianism. According to this data, many senior citizens could possibly face many difficulties from cultural generation difference such as disappointment for their children and loneliness due to living alone apart from their family. Especially, because the old generations are accustomed to the Confucianism culture, they expect their children take care of them by living with whole family. 

       With this emotional difficulties, today's Korean elderly suffer from economical hardship. I will discuss that at next posts. And then at final post, I will look into the possible long-term cares for elderly in today's Korean society based on traditional cultures and recent social phenomena.   

Reference

      Laura Katz Olson (2001), Age Through Ethnic Lenses: Caring for Elderly in a Multicultural Society. MA, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC.
      Lee, Hyo-sik, 2010. Elderly Account for 33 percent of Suicides., http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/06/113_67496.html  [Accessed 31 March 2012]
      Kwon, Mee-yoo., 2010. 1 in 5 Senior Citizens Live Alone in Seoul, Korea Times, http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/04/117_65423.html  [Accessed 31 March 2012]