"I Felt Suffocated": College Students Packing Their Bags and Escaping the Secular World

#. College student Moon Jeongmin (26) has recently become deeply immersed in the hobby of visiting temples across the country. Initially, she escaped to a temple stay to get away from the stress of daily life, but it has now become a regular pastime. She starts each day to the sound of temple bells, spends periods in silence with her phone set aside. Moon said, "Though I'm not Buddhist, this is the only way I can set aside my complicated thoughts."

#. College student Kwak (24) is heading to a book cafe with a view of the forest in Gangbuk District, Seoul, this weekend. Instead of a laptop, she is carrying a bag with a novel inside. Kwak confessed, "Preparing for employment, I spent all day checking job postings and following my peers' employment successes on social media, and it became suffocating. I wanted to leave everything behind and seek out a place of silence."

Wave meditation is being conducted at Naksansa Temple Stay in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province. Korean Buddhist Culture Business Group

원본보기 아이콘

Recently, a new trend has taken hold among university students: leaving behind the city lights and seeking voluntary isolation in temples, rural villages, and deep mountains as a new form of rest. Analysts say that young people, feeling helpless due to severe job shortages and endless competition, are seeking cost-effective healing in nature.

According to the Korean Buddhist Culture Business Group on April 24, young people in their twenties and thirties accounted for 42% of all temple stay participants so far this year. The reservation rate has increased by about 30% compared to last year. A representative from the group said, "While the number of simultaneous users was about 5,000 last year, this year it exceeded 30,000 at one point, even causing server outages."

Because of this, a so-called "temple ticketing war" has emerged among university students. Lee (23), a college student, said, "The temple stay I had been waiting for was fully booked in just 30 seconds, so I couldn't go. It's said to be even harder to reserve than getting idol concert tickets or registering for classes," she lamented.

College students in their twenties are engaging in rural activities. Local Entertainment Uptown

원본보기 아이콘

The search for silence is not limited to temples. The act of enjoying complete rest in a quiet place has itself become a new trend. "Book stays," where people give up their smartphones and read books in the forest, and "Choncance" (a portmanteau of "chonnong" meaning rural and "vacance" meaning vacation), where participants wear loose pants and chop firewood, are also gaining popularity.

Choncance offers college students a new experience by allowing them to sweat while helping with farm work and clear their minds of distractions. At night, they can gather in front of a traditional furnace and enjoy "bulmeong" (staring at a fire in contemplation). A representative from Local Entertainment Uptown, which runs the program, said, "The three-day, two-night farm activity program, priced at 50,000 won and designed with budget-conscious college students in mind, sold out in just three days."

While the forms vary, the common keyword among college students is the rest found in isolation. Kim (25), who goes on choncance trips alone, explained, "The sense of liberation that comes from being in a place where no one knows me is enormous. When I put down my phone, I am freed from the pressure to respond to messages right away." The time spent in isolation, away from realistic worries and fatigue, is being used as a period of recharging.

원본보기 아이콘

This phenomenon is seen as a reflection of college students' efforts to escape, even briefly, from the harsh realities of the job market and the relentless cycle of competition. According to the "March Employment Trends" released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of employed young people (aged 15-29) has decreased for 41 consecutive months since November 2022. As of March, the youth employment rate has declined for four consecutive years: 46.3% in 2022, 46.2% in 2023, 45.9% in 2024, and 44.5% in 2025.

Kwack Geumjoo, professor of psychology at Seoul National University, said, "With the rapid changes brought by the era of artificial intelligence and the ongoing job crunch, young adulthood is more anxious than ever. Instead of high-cost leisure activities like golf in the past, young people are seeking cost-effective healing that allows them to restore body and mind while spending less." Professor Kwack emphasized, "The government should increase the variety of social activities available to college students. Encouraging young people to participate in society is essential to fundamentally resolving social helplessness among the youth."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.