South Korea is a strange country

My origin country is South Korea. I think Korea is very strange country. When I was born, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. At that time, a politician of USA said that there was no any hope in the future of Korea. But now, Korea is officially treated as one of the developed countries in the world.

In Canada, I see many Korean brands like SAMSUNG, LG, KIA so on in TV commercials and on the street. In the past, Korean goods meant the cheapest and low quality. But now, even Koreans themselves tend to select Korean products without any concern about the quality although these are expensive.

It took a long period for many western countries to become developed countries. Most citizens in the rich countries do not have any experiences in poverty because they were born in developed countries. Therefore, entire citizens in a certain wealthy country have comparatively the same economic background.

But in Korea, it is a different story. Many middle aged Koreans remember vividly when they were poor. However, young Koreans never have any images that Korea was the poorest country in the world. It is weird that some people who struggled only for food through their youth and the rest of them who are living in rich since they were infants are being together in a small country. So there are big generation gaps in Korea.

Like many poor countries, South Korea was not a democratic country. A dictator ruled South Korea with his corrupted power and many Koreans were killed or tortured for their demanding for the democracy. At that time, a politician in Britain even said that anticipating South Korea a democratic country was impossible like waiting a rose to bloom in the waste bin. In 1980s, many Koreans did not obey against the tyranny and many people were killed.

Eventually, South Koreans gained their political power to be a modern democratic country. Even though South Korea is a democratic country now without any doubt, there are some problems. Many senior Koreans have misunderstood that the old tyranny made Korea rich in the past. There is another big difference between young Koreans and seniors. That is why the dictator's daughter was elected as the president of Korea by the old Koreans' support while most young Koreans did not want her.

I think Korea is very strange country because young Koreans have to live with people like living fossil and senior Koreans have to live with young Koreans like communists. Other countries do not have these problems because their seniors usually were passed away during their slow changes. Too rapid development and changes made South Korea strange and unique. South Korea is the country where people from the rich and people from the poor are living together. Also Korea is the country where the authoritarian and the democrat are living together.

Soon, new Korean government made by the fossil people will start. I wonder how Korea opens its future with their government made by the old thoughts.