r/korea

Hi, my name is Jay Sung and I'm the dad of Bryan Sung (Korean name "성준“). I have posted before on this forum a few times for my child's abduction by his biological mother. Bryan is a missing child from Washington and the Korean government fails to return him even when the Korean courts said they should. The mother who kidnapped him hired one of the most expensive and most powerful law firm in Korea but even the Korean supreme court decided that she should return the child. Due to numerous court order violations she was detained twice (15 days and 30 days, respectfully) but the family members do not cooperate with the court orders. I don't even know what Bryan is being told about me. As a dad, that cannot let go of my son, I just want this to be not forgotten. Until Bryan comes back home I will not give up.... I just want people to remember, and share this huge injustice.

Thank you very much. Jay Sung Bryan's dad and the director of "Do You Remember Dad?"

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I’m currently a high school student in South Korea, and I’ve noticed that many discussions about our education system focus on things like long study hours or major exams. While those are definitely real, I wanted to share a few lesser-known aspects based on my personal experience.

One thing that might not be obvious from the outside is how much emphasis is placed on overall student records, not just test scores. Things like participation, consistency, and teacher evaluations can play a role, so students often try to be mindful of how they come across in class, not just how well they perform academically.

Another aspect is that students sometimes become very aware of long-term planning quite early. For example, choosing activities or subjects isn’t always just about interest — it can also be influenced by how it might be viewed later in the college application process.

There are also some unspoken social dynamics in classrooms. In my experience, many students tend to be careful about standing out too much, especially in ways that might disrupt the class environment. This doesn’t mean students aren’t engaged, but the way participation happens can be a bit different from what some people might expect.

I’ve also felt that students gradually get used to a fairly structured routine. Over time, managing a busy schedule becomes something that feels normal rather than unusual.

Of course, this is just one perspective, and experiences can vary a lot depending on the school and the individual. There are definitely positive aspects too, like strong work ethic and discipline.

I’d be interested to hear how this compares to student life in other countries — are there similar “unwritten rules” where you are?

Unfortunately, many Latinos like me have encountered racist and classist comments on Twitter from Koreans and Japanese people criticizing them for piracy. What are your thoughts on this?

Korea’s education system is often praised internationally for its high academic performance. Students consistently rank near the top in assessments by the OECD, and from the outside, it looks like a very effective system.

But as a student currently going through it, I think there’s a side people don’t really see.

In Korea, school doesn’t really end when classes are over. Many students go straight to private academies (hagwons) and study late into the night. According to Statistics Korea, most students participate in private education, which shows how normalized this has become.

A lot of the system is built around competition. Your grades and ranking can feel like they determine your future, and there’s a strong belief that getting into a top university is the main path to success. Because of that, it often feels less like learning and more like constantly trying to outperform others.

This pressure builds up over time. Reports from organizations like UNICEF have shown that despite high academic performance, student happiness in Korea is relatively low.

At the same time, I don’t think the system is entirely negative. It definitely builds discipline, consistency, and a strong academic base. But those results often come with trade-offs, especially in terms of stress and personal freedom.

I’m curious how this looks from an outside perspective. For those who didn’t grow up in Korea, does this kind of system seem effective, or too intense?

Fatima, a third-generation Palestinian studying in Korea, was shocked to learn that Korean President Lee Jae Myung had recently called out Israel on social media. 

“Palestinians have been ignored by the international community for decades now, so it’s very encouraging to see the leaders of other countries explicitly condemn Israel’s crimes,” said the 22-year-old, who asked not to be identified by her real name.  

For Palestinians, it’s a rare experience indeed for the leader of a country outside the Middle East — a country without any direct stake in Palestine — to directly hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law.

“Not being there, it’s hard to say for certain, but what I see on Instagram and X [formerly known as Twitter] suggests that Palestinians and their allies are happy about Lee’s remarks,” Fatima told the Hankyoreh on Sunday.

Palestinians residing in Korea and pro-Palestine organizations welcomed Lee’s public criticism of Israel over the past few days — criticism that Lee made with the full knowledge it would arouse friction with Israeli diplomats.

Even as that criticism fuels a fierce debate in the political and diplomatic communities about whether Lee’s off-the-cuff messages serve Korea’s national interest, Palestinians and associated advocacy groups, who have long been isolated on the international stage, seem to be getting a shot in the arm.

“Lee’s remarks spread across social media and have been received enthusiastically by many Palestinians and activists in Gaza,” said Saleh Al-Rantisi, a 29-year-old Gaza native who has lived in Korea since 2022. “My mother, who is also from Gaza but currently resides in Egypt, contacted me after seeing Lee’s comments on the news and told me how happy that made her.”
 
The coalition advocacy group Urgent Action by South Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine said in a statement released Saturday that it had been “pleasantly surprised” by Lee’s remarks. 

“This is the first time in the last two and a half years of genocide that a Korean president has directly mentioned Israel’s war crimes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, otherwise known as [the] Occupied Palestinian territory,” the statement read. 

The group also said this was the first time that a Korean president had gone “beyond the typical diplomatic rhetoric that calls for peace and humanitarian aid,” noting that Lee “specifically named Israel as the perpetrator and compared Israel’s war crimes to historical crimes against humanity, saying that ‘international humanitarian law must be upheld in all situations.’”
 
“Even though it is very late, we once again welcome the Korean government stating that it will finally join people of conscience around the world,” the group said. 

On X, numerous users and journalists from the Middle East have commented on the unprecedented and encouraging nature of Lee’s comments.
 
“South Korea said what Germany and others won’t: past suffering doesn’t justify present brutality. When a country like South Korea says it plainly, it exposes how much others are choosing not to. This isn’t lack of clarity. It’s lack of spine,” wrote Ghida Fakhry, a Lebanese-British journalist and former lead anchor for Al Jazeera.
 
Pro-Palestine groups argued that Lee’s message needs to be followed up by concrete action. In its statement, Urgent Action urged the government to restrict exports of heavy equipment and military technology to Israel to “stop the use of Korean weapons in the genocide.” 
 
“Providing weapons to Israel means that the Korean government is also complicit in its crimes against Palestinians. I hope that Koreans join the boycott of Israeli products and companies, and understand the real history of Palestine,” Fatima said.

By Cho Hae-young, staff reporter