Seo Soo-jin, who graduated from college in 1995, remembers that taking a leave of absence was unusual among her classmates. "Back then, students who took leave generally fell into one of three categories: military service, medical reasons or preparation to retake the college entrance exam for another university," she said. "People usually assumed they had a special circumstance." That perception has largely disappeared. Today, on many Korean campuses, taking time away from school has become an a

When Yoo, 52, was young, caffeine felt like a marker of adulthood. It was "something only grown-ups drink,” a taste you gradually acquired after entering adult life, she said. “When I was young, if I felt tired, I would drink water or milk, or just go to sleep. That was normal,” Yoo recalled. “These days, it seems young people are consuming far more caffeinated beverages without even realizing it.” Nearly 15 years younger than Yoo, 26-year-old florist Lee Jung-yeon had a very different -- and mu

Would you flaunt a birthday spent alone? An 11-second YouTube clip, titled “How to Spend Your Birthday Alone,” does exactly that, and has struck a chord with like-minded viewers on YouTube. The video has become one of the most beloved and defining pieces of content on the channel Naknaklog, showing the creator celebrating her birthday solo, cueing up a message from a favorite celebrity, treating herself to an extravagant round of charcoal-grilled delicacies and omakase, dressing up for a perfect

"Therapy-style” prompts for ChatGPT have recently gone viral. Across platforms like X and TikTok, users are sharing custom prompts that instruct the chatbot to act as a professional counselor, interpreting the user’s emotions and offering warm, empathetic responses. “One of the best things about venting to ChatGPT is that it never gets tired of me,” said Kim Ji-hyun, 24. “My closest friend once told me to stop bringing up the same problem with my boyfriend, but ChatGPT will keep answering me, ev

In Korea, drinking with elders or seniors, whether at work, school or in other social settings, traditionally comes with some etiquette. Beyond using both hands to pour or receive a drink and turning one’s head away while drinking, proper manners include holding your glass lower than a senior’s during a toast, promptly refilling their glass when it’s empty and reserving the seat farthest from the entrance for the most senior person at the table. For younger Koreans who haven’t learned these cust

To land an internship in Korea, you may already need to have had one. "That’s the paradox frustrating many young job seekers today," said Lee Hee-soo, 26, who learned this the hard way. A graduate of Chung-Ang University, with a solid GPA of 4.41 out of 4.5 and a resume filled with a variety of extracurricular activities, Lee, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, she thought she was well prepared to take her first step after college. Yet after submitting over 30 applications across multipl

There was a time when a dog-eared guidebook, a rail pass, and a massive backpack were all young travelers needed to explore Europe or Southeast Asia. They squeezed into night buses, slept in noisy hostel bunk beds and dined on street food, with the only fixed point in their itinerary being the return flight home. Getting lost was part of the adventure. For today’s Generation Z travelers, that no longer holds the same appeal. They want to minimize discomfort and safety risks while maximizing effi

High heels — once a staple in many women’s wardrobes — have long been loved for how they add height, elongate the legs, and elevate an outfit. But today, it’s quite hard to spot anyone wearing them on the street. For many women in Generation Z, heels feel almost foreign, as they have never owned a single pair or seen their peers wearing them either. To find out why high heels have lost their place in Gen Z women’s wardrobes lately, we spoke with four women in their twenties about why heels no lo

Twenty-three-year-old Kim begins her day the way many young Koreans do — by checking her phone. As she scrolls through unread messages on the messenger app KakaoTalk, a small gift icon appears next to an old classmate’s profile. It’s his birthday. Kim hesitates. They haven’t spoken in over a year, but she remembers he sent her a delivery food coupon last fall. After a moment of deliberation, she returns the gesture with a Starbucks "gifticon" of equal value. That tiny icon, built into Korea’s mo

Despite social pressure to leave home and “grow up,” a vast majority of Koreans in their 20s still live with their parents. A 2022 survey found that 81 percent of South Koreans in their 20s lived with their parents — the highest rate among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In Korea, these young adults, many of whom remain financially dependent on parents as well, are often labeled the “kangaroo tribe,” likened to baby kangaroos living in their mothers’