[NOTE: Korea: A Country Under Pressure available until June 21, 2025.]

South Korea is often seen as a futuristic economic success story — home to Samsung, Hyundai, and the global phenomenon of K-pop. But beneath the surface of its gleaming cities lies a society grappling with deep emotional and social stress.

The worldwide success of "Squid Game" in 2021 revealed a truth familiar to many Koreans: debt, overwhelming pressure, and the desperate pursuit of financial survival. Millions of young people are heavily indebted, while rates of depression and suicide continue to rise.

In Seoul, a city that never sleeps, overworked professionals seek rest in nap cafes and sleep clinics. The culture of “bali-bali” — literally “hurry-hurry” — drives an intense work ethic and relentless competition from early childhood to adulthood. School entrance exams determine not only academic futures but even marriage prospects.

Despite this pressure, pop culture paints a glamorous picture: teenagers cruising in luxury cars through Gangnam, influencers like Claire Luvcat earning fortunes by filming their pets, and K-pop idols with millions of followers. But the gap between aspiration and reality is stark.

Delivery workers report 90-hour weeks, unpaid pre-shift hours, and an epidemic of deaths from overwork — so widespread it has a name: “gwarosa.” Meanwhile, young people turn to instant online loans with predatory interest rates, often falling into unmanageable debt. Shame over financial failure is the leading cause of suicide in Korea. More than 800 people have jumped from Seoul’s infamous “Bridge of Death.”

To cope, some Koreans return to old traditions — including arranged matchmaking — or seek peace in Buddhist retreats through “Temple Stay” programs. Others go further, participating in “living funerals,” lying in coffins to symbolically reflect on their lives and write farewell letters.

South Korea’s paradox — cutting-edge success coexisting with emotional burnout — is both a national crisis and a mirror of challenges that may soon face other fast-paced, high-pressure societies around the world.

Storyteller airs every Sunday at 1800 GMT.