"We wanted to get a sense of what it's like to be a young
person here in Seoul.
Some things being universal, some
things being unique.
So you said you would take me out on your
usual night out on Saturday.
"Of course."
"Alright, I'm excited and I'm thirsty.
Alright.
I'll follow you guys.
... It's a big time on this peninsula.
Do you guys feel a lot of the weight
that the rest of the world feels or, because it's been your whole
life, do you think you feel it the same?"
"Koreans are expecting a lot in this summit
and all the things that going out around the Korean peninsula,
there is a huge expectation on it."
"Do you worry, if it doesn't go well, do you worry?
Or at this point is it kind of like, it's always been this way
so, you know, it'll just be more of the same?"
"There are worries that it might be the same but
such reconciliation, the atmosphere always makes Koreans
excited and makes them expectant because it's a very important
matter to us."
"So you're hopeful?"
"Yeah, I'm hopeful."
"What's this district called?"
"This is actually called ..." "I won't ask you to spell that."
"Honestly I don't know the meaning to.
It's just called that.
And this is a place that we're going It's a Makgeolli
house.
So Makgeolli, that's the traditional alcohol that I told
you about."
"Okay, that sounds good to me.
Let's go.
... Now this is how I remember college.
Okay, so we serve it?
It goes in these bowls?
Please, do the honors.
So is this usually the beginning of the night or is
this like, the whole night is this?
You're one and done?"
"It depends."
"If it's a good night ... so when you sit down on a
Saturday night, in Seoul, at 20, 22 years old, what do you talk
about it?
Is it the typical, 'I broke up with my boyfriend or
girlfriend' or is it 'Oh my god, the DMZ is going crazy right
now?'"
"No, we don't talk about..."
"For you it's like, that's in the background,
right?"
"I know it sounds a little weird, but it's kind of
normal for most of the Koreans to have some disputes with North
Korea.
So even though they test their nuclear programs, or maybe
fire their ICBM missiles, yes we care, but it's not like the rest
of the world.
Because we already know."
"It's kind of like welcome to our life."
"Yeah."
"So we have kimchee here and we have seafood."
"So this is the pie?
I usually go for pepperoni but kimchees good, too.
... Dating life in South Korea, for
a young person, I'm curious how it is?
Because the average woman in South Korea now has a baby at
30+ years old.
Which seems really late.
Why is that?"
"Because it's too hard to date someone or marry someone or have
a baby because we all need money and time if we want to date
something."
"So the unemployment rate, people see 10.8 percent
and think, 'okay well people need jobs,' but they may not
realize that also affects if you're able to date, if you're
able to start a family and all this.
Do you worry about that?
No?"
"I think the problem in Korea with the job market is
that we don't have any, it's really hard to get a decent job.
So you have to job search."
"And why is that?
Because the economy, it's a big economy."
"Well, I think it's up to the politicians to figure out the
problems."
"I don't know what this is made of.
It taste definitely fermented.
In a good way.
It's like kind of tart, kind of creamy.
What is it made of?"
"It's made of rice."
"Rice, okay."
"This might seem like a funny question but one day, five
or ten years down the road, would you work in North Korea if
things opened up?"
"Yeah."
"Why not?"
"The competition to become an employee at companies is
like, more than 100 to one."
"Oh my gosh."
"Only like, 20 or 30 years ago it was like four to
one or five to one.
It was a very easy entrance for people
who have high education.
But nowadays the education level and
the standards of people, it's all came up so high."
"In the U.S., over the past year, it's
been such a big deal, the #MeToo movement, has that made an
impact here?"
"Oh yeah, certainly.
I would say it's an ongoing phenomena in Korea.
Korea is a very conservative society comparing to U.S.
So the gender role was very strict in
this society."
"Well there are parking spots just for women,
I've noticed.
It's kind of still old fashioned in that way."
"Yeah ... you know, it's very hard to break the tradition and
change people's, how they perceive the world."
"Another question, what are gay rights
like here?"
"I think that the sentiments are changing but
still very divided within the nation.
Like, political parties, they're not so much active in
and saying that they protect the gay rights because in Korea
they're really just bodies, especially the conservatives in
the churches.
They're a very big, organized force that
influences Koreans."
"Remind me of the cheers."
"Geonbae."
"Geonbae.
Thank you guys for coming out with me, showing me a
Saturday night."