Is South Korea REALLY Dystopian?

A Korean Girl Explains If South Korea is REALLY Dystopian

There have been a lot of videos recently on YouTube about how Korea is a dystopian nightmare.

I’m going to cover misconceptions about my country and settle once and for all if it’s a dystopia or just misunderstood.

Quick Summary

  • Samsung does not control the entire country as it doesn’t make up 20% of the Korean economy.
  • Jaebeol used to get away with pretty much everything until the 1980s, but not anymore since the end of the dictatorships.
  • The nut rage incident is sometimes used as proof that Korea is a dystopia but there were consequences to the nut rage lady.
  • South Korea is not a dystopia or utopia.

But What Is a Dystopia?

It’s a society with great suffering or injustice, often totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.

That’s a vague definition that we’ll come back to later.

But first, let’s talk about the elephant in the country. 

Is Samsung Really 20% of the Korean GDP?

I’ve seen many videos saying that Samsung makes up 20% of the Korean economy.

Some even say it’s responsible for half of economic growth in 2024. Let’s look at the numbers.

According to CompaniesMarketcap, Samsung Korea’s 2023 revenue was $196 billion. Out of a GDP of $1.71 trillion, that’s about 11%.

Not great, but also not 20%.

For reference, Walmart’s half a trillion dollar revenue in 2023 would be 2.4% of the US GDP.

Samsung’s revenue is high but not enough to control the entire country.

We have other companies too, like LG, the “conglomerate that cares”.

What surprised me more is that Samsung Vietnam’s revenue was $60 billion, equal to 14% of Vietnam’s GDP in 2023.

This is down from 30% a few years ago. So I think the real question is, does Samsung control Vietnam…?

What’s up With Jaebeol and the Ruling Elite?

No good dystopia lacks an ultra-powerful class of rulers.

Jaebeol are families that control major conglomerates like Samsung, SK, Hyundai, LG, Lotte, and Hanwha.

Jaebeol used to get away with pretty much everything until the 1980s, but not anymore since the end of the dictatorships.

Many Jaebeol show up in court in a wheelchair whenever an investigation begins.

Not the look of someone untouchable. But Koreans aren’t falling for that anymore… We now try to put them in jail. 

For example, here are some prison tales involving the Samsung family. 

Samsung kept close ties with military regimes under Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan and the good times rolled.

Then, they started going in and out of jail like Robert Downey Jr. in the 90s.

  1. Bribery Cases:
    • Lee Byung-chul (the founder of Samsung) paid 22 billion won (15 million USD) to Chun Doo-hwan in the 80s (1983-1987).
    • Lee Kun-hee (the son who took over) gave 10 billion won (7 million USD) to Roh Tae-woo in the early 90s (1990-1992). He was sentenced to 2 years in prison with 3 years of probation but was pardoned by former President Kim Young-sam.
  2. Samsung SDS Bond with Warrant (BW) Scandal (1999):
    • The Lee family increased its wealth through illegal bond sales. It was like a succession plan to transfer control of Samsung to Lee Jae-yong (the next heir to the throne). Lee Kun-hee was sentenced to 3 years in prison, 5 years of probation, and fined 110 billion won (75 million USD). Then, he was pardoned by former President Lee Myung-bak under the pretext of supporting the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics bid. I guess he made the ski lifts run on time.

Here are more examples:

  1. Another Bribery (2008–2011):
    • Samsung gave 6.1 billion won (4.2 million USD) to Lee Myung-bak as a bribe, securing another pardon for Lee Kun-hee. Lee Myung-bak was later convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 17 years, though pardoned in 2022. But still, this was the fourth imprisonment of a former President in South Korea.
  2. Management Succession and Corruption (2014–2021):
    • Following Lee Kun-hee’s 2014 heart attack, Lee Jae-yong pursued the controversial Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger, linked to the Park Geun-hye-Choi Soon-sil scandal which saw President Park impeached and imprisoned.
    • Lee Jae-yong faced multiple trials, with sentences including hard time. But was paroled in 2021, only 207 days after his re-imprisonment.

Politicians are powerful in Korea, but we put them in jail sometimes. 

The Real Story About the Nut Rage Lady

If you haven’t heard of the “nut rage” incident in 2014, it’s where the daughter of Korean Air’s Cho family assaulted cabin crew, turned an Airbus A380 around, and tried to cover it up because she didn’t like how the nuts were being served. It’s sometimes used as proof that Korea is a dystopia.

But who is the Nut Rage lady? She’s the granddaughter of Cho Joong-hoon, the first chairman of Hanjin Group, and the granddaughter of Lee Jae-chul, the Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

So she’s basically a Jaebeol princess. She is a Karen, but one whose family owns an airline.

But THERE WERE consequences!

She had to resign from her position as Vice President.

She also served 10 months in prison with 2 years probation.

Then, she went through a divorce after suspicions of child abuse and assaulting her husband. She failed to gain control over Korean Air after her father’s death.

Her house was seized due to not paying taxes.

She even had to change her name from Cho Hyun-ah to Cho Seung-yeon in 2023 and disappeared from the public eye, but you didn’t hear that from me.

Despite being a Jaebeol, she had it coming and she got it.

Justice was served.


Cherry-picking makes for an interesting narrative, but the truth is far more fascinating.

Some footage of the US I’ve seen looks like levels from the Last of US. Friends warn me not to go because it looks dangerous.

But I know that those places aren’t representative of the entire country. (I love you America!)

So, Is South Korea a Dystopia?

No. It doesn’t have a totalitarian government.

We just arrested another president.

It isn’t post-apocalyptic unless you count the Korean War.

There is suffering like anywhere else, but South Korea also has affordable universal healthcare at 60-100 dollars a month (with the option for additional private coverage), 15 vacation days guaranteed by law, low crime rates, affordable tuition, low taxes, and low homeless rates (not counting Seoul Station!).

Is It a Utopia?

Far from it. South Korea has problems like poor work-life balance, rising housing costs, and low birth rates.

But given that it was completely destroyed by war two generations ago and changed from agrarian to industrial to modern society in that much time, I’d say it’s doing pretty well.

Find out more about what life is like in Korea in my book, Korean Girl Explains.

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