Japanese Column "Proud Korean Youth Avoid Small Businesses and Production Jobs"

Japanese Far-Right Figure Writes on Korean Youth
"Higher Salaries than Japan but Facing Low Birthrate"
"Pride Only... Traditional Yangban Mentality"

A Japanese far-right figure focused on Korean youths who take breaks without job hunting, claiming that this phenomenon is related to a 'modern-day yangban consciousness.'

On the 22nd, Yukan Fuji, a far-right tabloid affiliated with Japan's Sankei Shimbun, published an article written by far-right figure Murotani Katsumi (74). Murotani is known for publishing numerous anti-Korean books such as 'Theory of Evil,' 'Theory of Collapse,' and 'Theory of Korean Decline.'

He contributed a column titled "Increase in Korean youths not seeking employment and taking breaks... Strong pride of modern-day yangban with a negative perception... Why is low birthrate progressing despite higher salaries than Japan?"

In the article, Murotani stated, "Yangban refers to the noble class during the Joseon Dynasty," and added, "There is a Korean proverb that says 'Even if a yangban falls into water, he will not dog paddle.'" This proverb means that no matter how desperate or urgent the situation, one does not do anything that would damage their dignity.

Murotani pointed out, "Today, college-educated men make up the majority of the young generation in Korea," and "Although they are far from being a 'small elite,' they have strong pride and their consciousness is that of 'modern-day yangban.'"

He continued, "Therefore, some of them soothe their hunger with instant ramen every time but say, 'I will not work for small and medium-sized enterprises,'" and "this phenomenon is raising the average age of first employment for college-educated men to 30 years old. From a national economic perspective, this is a negative factor."

He also mocked, "Korean youths may do part-time jobs to ease hunger, but they never choose to get employed in production jobs," saying, "That is not 'a yangban's work.'"

Furthermore, he said, "If parents are somewhat wealthy, youths do not even do part-time jobs and choose to be 'kangaroo tribe' even after turning 30," adding, "As a result, the number of youths giving up on job preparation is increasing."

Finally, Murotani said, "While 'poverty among the young generation' is pointed out as a cause of Korea's low birthrate, if you look deeper, 'the young generation's yangban consciousness' might be related."

In February, Murotani also criticized Koreans' love for luxury goods. He said, "Korean youths eat cup ramen for dinner while taking photos wearing fake Rolex watches against the background of empty Herm?s boxes," and added, "I do not think this is a strange or pitiful culture. It is just the image of a sinking country."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.