Picture a freight train—you catch a faint sound in the distance, barely noticeable. Then suddenly, it’s upon you, and you’re swept away in its path. There’s no room to run, no time to react—only impact. 

Have you ever wondered if even a prosperous country could fall victim to something like this? Well, the country we might never have even assumed— South Korea.

South Korea is melting on all fronts. It’s experiencing turmoil in its democracy, economy, society, culture, and military. Once an underdeveloped and uneducated nation, South Korea has transformed into one of the most highly educated countries today. 

Its workforce and GDP continue to grow. But has anyone ever thought that South Korea would have to pay the price for its own success?

From 1910 to 1945, South Korea and the entire Korean peninsula were under Japanese colonial rule. The Japanese deliberately kept Koreans uneducated and denied them access to skilled employment. 

After World War II, Japan withdrew, but the country was split—South supported by the U.S., and North by the Soviets. 

A few years later, the North invaded the South, devastating much of the South’s existing industry and infrastructure. By the time the war ended in 1953, the majority of South Korea’s population was illiterate. The country’s agro-driven economy in the mid-1950s could hardly be worse. 

Korea’s economic growth in the 1960s can be attributed to three key factors. 

First, the decision to shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy. What made this unique was the choice to build the economy around a few carefully selected family-owned companies, known as chaebols. These companies received substantial government support, including loans, subsidies, and tax breaks. 

To fuel this industrialization, there was a strong emphasis on education, creating a ‘fever’ for qualifications to meet the demand for skilled workers. 

South Koreans are more workaholic than most, thanks to intense academic competition, economic pressure, and traditional Confucian values. Many workers prioritize their jobs over personal life, leading to issues like burnout. 

Demographic crisis unfolded

South Korea is about to be hit by a demographic crisis because the fertility crisis in South Korea has reached the point of no return. 

The country is facing a stark demographic decline. A stable population fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman. In 1950, this rate was six children per woman in South Korea, but by 2023, it had dropped to 0.72. 

In other words, for every one-year-old child, there are four 50-year-old elderly people.

If current trends continue, the population will shrink by 30% over the next 35 years, and the overall population will fall by 16 million. 

Imagine waking up in a country where playgrounds are silent, streets are empty, and entire cities lie abandoned. Half the population will be elderly, many living alone or in retirement homes, while a dwindling workforce struggles to keep society running.

Economic fallouts

Though South Korea currently has one of the world’s largest pension funds, it’s expected to stop growing by the 2040s and be fully depleted by 2050. 

By 2060, pensions will rely entirely on tax contributions from the working population. But with fewer than one worker per retiree, the system may become unsustainable. 

Widespread poverty, an overburdened workforce, and mass unemployment due to economic collapse may become the norm, threatening the nation’s stability and future. 

Innovation taking the backseat

Innovation, too, will suffer. Breakthroughs in science and technology are often driven by young and middle-aged adults with fresh ideas. A rapidly aging population means fewer innovators, fewer workers, and significantly reduced tax revenue. 

The government will be caught in a painful dilemma: provide for an aging majority or maintain essential services like healthcare and social benefits. 

With fewer resources, it may be forced to cut back, hospitals may close, social support may shrink, and smaller communities may be abandoned as the population concentrates in major metropolitan areas.

Cultural transformation, loneliness epidemic

Already, 20% of Koreans live alone, and another 20% report having no close friends or relatives. 

Projections show that by 2060, 50% of Koreans aged 70 will have no siblings, and 30% will have no children. Young adults will make up just 5% of the population. 

This demographic collapse is expected to leave the elderly isolated and the youth without strong social or familial networks, especially outside major urban centers.

In the 2000s, around 17.5 million Koreans were aged 25 to 45. This generation drove the global rise of K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean cuisine. 

But this cultural engine will shrink. Many traditions are already struggling to survive, as older generations can no longer find young people to pass them on to. 

As for the education sector, experts anticipate kindergartens, schools, and universities shutting down in large numbers. Rural areas and small towns are already hollowing out, mirroring the quiet decline seen in parts of Japan. 

Youth culture may become confined to megacities like Seoul or increasingly shift abroad as more young Koreans seek opportunities and connections in other countries. 

Is there no way back? 

Many experts argue that once a demographic decline reaches a certain point, recovery becomes nearly impossible. But it’s not entirely hopeless. 

A reversal is conceivable—if South Korea enacts rapid, wide-reaching societal reforms that genuinely encourage people to have children again. There was a glimmer of hope in 2024 when the country saw a 3% increase in births, the first rise in nine years. Still, how did it get this bad?

As countries become more educated and wealthier, child mortality rates drop, and people tend to choose smaller families. 

South Korea lifted itself out of poverty at an unprecedented speed, but, in the process, cultivated a culture of intense workaholism and hyper-competitiveness. 

Despite the official 40-hour workweek, unpaid overtime is widespread, and a controversial proposal even suggested increasing legal work hours to 69 hours per week.

Wages remain relatively low, while the cost of living, especially in major cities, is extremely high. Families often feel pressured to invest heavily in private tutoring just to give their children a chance at better schools. 

On top of that, South Korea spends far less on family support compared to other developed nations.

Traditional gender roles and outdated cultural expectations around parenting, marriage, and work have only made things worse, discouraging many from starting families at all. People are actively deciding not to have children, and in doing so, they’ve built a culture where small families or no family at all have become the norm.

This isn’t some distant, theoretical issue. It’s already unfolding, not just in South Korea, but also in countries like China, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Germany. 

Booming populations shaped the 20th century. Will the opposite shape the 21st century?