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Because I Hate Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Chang Kang-Myoung ,
Stephen J. Epstein  and
Mi Young Kim
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Abstract

Chang Kang-myoung’s provocatively titled novel Because I Hate Korea (Han’gugi sireoseo) became a best-seller in 2015 and is among the most notable literary works to address rampant dissatisfaction among South Korean millennials. In recent years, Chang, a former journalist (b. 1975), has developed a reputation for adroit and prolific fictionalized expressions of local discontent. Because I Hate Korea reflects a pervasive desire on the part of the nation’s younger people to escape from “Hell Joseon,” a coinage that has attained widespread circulation. This piece briefly introduces the novel, setting it within its wider contemporary context, and then provides a translation of the first chapter.

Keywords

South KoreaHell JoseonChang Kang-myoungKorean fiction
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 16 , Issue 11 , June 2018 , e4
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2018

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References

Notes

1 See here.

2 See, e.g., NateNews, (2016), “Han’gugin 80% ‘Imingago sipda’…wae?” (80% of Koreans want to emigrate…why?”; Korea Times, (2016), “Koreans Want to Leave ‘Hell Joseon’.”; Korea Times, (2016). “Koreans Are Leaving Korea,”; and Lee, Minyoung (2016), “Hel Joseon talchulloseo-ui janggi yeohaeng: indo-ui hangugin janggi yohaengjareuleul jungshimeuro” (Long-term Travel as ‘Escape from Hell-Joseon’: A Study of Long-term Korean Travelers in India”), Bigyo munhwa yeongu 22.2: 291-328.

3 Denney, Steven, 2016. “Yongusil 82: Not So Hellish After All,” .

4 Kotkin, Joel. 2016. “Singapore’s Midlife Crisis,”

5 Cf. the similar point made by informants in New Zealand in Kitchen, Margaret, (2014), “Korean Migration: The First Reason for Coming to New Zealand is Adventure,” New Zealand Population Review 40: 111-126.

6 On the precarity of young Koreans on working holiday visas, see Chun, Jennifer Jihye and Ju Hui Judy Han, (2015), “Language Travels and Global Aspirations of Korean Youth,” positions: asia critique 23.3: 565-593.