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By Park Sung-ik
Korea's interest in children is first in the world, while its interest in the aged is bottom. The number of elderly people over 100 years old in South Korea was 1,960 in 2006 and 4,000 in 2007. In other words, there are fewer children and more and more elderly people. Korea has entered the era of a super-aged society.
Confucius said 2,500 years ago: "A man should not be ignorant of his parent's age." But parents live so long that children get confused about how old their parents are.
With developments in medicine, vaccines and antibiotics as well as wound treatments accelerated in earnest, mankind has made tremendous progress in the fight against disease. Also, with the invention of the toothbrush (MIT's pick as the greatest 20th-century invention), dental health improved. As a consequence, the elderly often ate more meat, which led to a lower mortality rate and a healthier and longer life. In addition, by eating healthy food, exercising and swimming, the health of the elderly has improved.
Yet many in South Korea are not prepared for old age because most parents blindly invest in their children's education.
When the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom fell, its class system also collapsed. Faced with the possibility of upward mobility for their children, parents sold their land to educate their children. The question is whether or not the parents live the rest of their lives by letting their children succeed. When the children become doctors, judges or prosecutors, the daughters-in-law of rich families come and take them away. In other words, parents are deprived of their children by their daughters-in-law.
South Korea spends 20 trillion won on private education for its children, ranking first in the OECD. Yet, it also ranks first among OECD nations for not visiting their old parents. South Korean parents misguided their children's education, so their children only receive, but do not know how to give. Western children become independent after high school, but Korean children take all of their parents' money until they get married. Korean parents blindly love their children. So they only study well and live selfishly. They never live altruistically.
High-ranking officials, judges and prosecutors who make important decisions in our country are people who excelled in school and passed the bar exam, administrative exam and foreign affairs exam. These are people who only know study, and may have never done volunteer work properly, so it is impossible to enact proper policies. On the contrary, prestigious Ivy League universities, including Harvard University in the United States, select students who have done a lot of volunteer work.
Now old people should live for themselves, not for their children. It is better to live and die without relying on children. It costs 300 million won to educate one child, 600 million won for two and 900 million won for three. However, it takes between 500 million won and 1 billion won for the elderly to live affluent lives.
The competitiveness of South Korean universities ranks 53rd out of 55 countries. This means there is no competitiveness.
Parents should wake up and think about how to live the rest of their lives meaningfully and happily rather than giving money to their children. This is a way to live happily without burdening your children and not being upset. Please, parents, use what you have and go around. Elderly people should go out in the morning when the sun rises and come home when the sun sets. Then spend all the money and die leaving the funeral expenses behind.
Park Sung-ik (parksi48@naver.com) is a former teacher at Pungmoon Girls' High School.
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