Kakao co-CEO Namkoong Whon resigned from his post on October 18, three days after a fire at their Pangyo data center shut down most of Kakao’s services. During his televised apology, Whon expressed the heavy burden of responsibility he felt for the incident and vowed to do his best to restore the faith of Kakao users. The accountability displayed by a high figure of the South Korean messaging giant can be seen as an honorable model act for all other South Korean workers, highlighting one of the many influences of Confucianism on their work culture. However, though the South Korean work culture may have its positives, it ultimately shackles the average Joe in the modern world.

The concept of improving work-life balance is far from new. It has been the center of attention for a lot of employees, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. But as times have begun to return to normalcy, the demands from employers are beginning to once again ignore the lessons the pandemic taught everyone. In South Korea, the culture of devoting the majority of your life to work is perpetuated by seniors in the company, pressuring newly-hired employees to do the same. If a high figure of a company, such as the co-CEO of Kakao, displays extreme devotion to the company, then it only follows that everyone must do the same, right? This culture is predatory and ignorant of the fact that jobs are just jobs for the vast majority of people. If a company demands devotion, it should be reflected in compensation.

One may also argue that working with devotion for a company also helps personal development. But while it may initially seem beneficial for an individual, acquiring a more skilled worker with the same pay is actually just disguised labor theft by companies. This is highlighted even more so when companies refuse to acknowledge the consequences faced by overworked employees. One such consequence is mental health issues, which South Korea is still far from officially recognizing and providing assistance for. South Korean companies only seek to reap the benefits of their workaholic culture while leaving each person to deal with the unhealthy repercussions.

Moreover, the discussion should also include what kind of values a society should uphold in general. At a glance, it may seem that the current work culture upholds values that are centered around the collective instead of the individual. However, does the collective truly benefit when the average person composing the vast majority of the collective suffers from being overworked and underpaid? As a species, humans are extremely dependent on communities, yet the culture of work they are in leaves them no choice in what community they could become a part of — instead, they are given the illusion of a community so that their dependence on their job, the company, extends from financial to primal. Moreover, in such an exhaustive work culture, the most basic unit of society, the family, also tends to be neglected. It could be argued then that the work culture in South Korea tricks workers into thinking that they are working for the greater good by sacrificing individual values for the collective when in reality all of those values are thrown aside for the company’s benefit.

Even though the work culture in South Korea may have originated from cultural influences, its perpetration in present times may be due to financial need. The sad truth of the matter is that money is power, and with the growing workforce, a lot of people are left with no choice but to accept the predatory environments they are in. However, no matter what the reason is, it does not change the fact that the current work culture must be replaced by one that puts greater emphasis on the individual. You should be able to work for you, and only you.