"People Turning Their Backs on Hometowns Amid Explosive Conflicts Every Holiday"

Employment and Marriage Questioning
Young Generation Feels 'Privacy Invasion' Burden
"Cooking Is Labor" Marital Conflicts
Increase in Divorce and Domestic Violence After Holidays

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jung] #Shim Seung-il (30, pseudonym), who is preparing for the police officer exam, canceled his bus ticket to his hometown, Naju, Jeollanam-do, this year. He had even braved the ticket reservation battle, thinking he should show his face to his parents, but after recalling the sarcastic remarks from relatives last Chuseok, he gave up on returning home after much deliberation. The remarks were like, "What good is graduating from a good university if you're still just hanging around...", "I heard they’re hiring a lot of police officers, but you still haven’t passed?" Shim said, "It’s unfortunate that the path home feels unpleasant because of the stress caused by unhelpful interference."

#Office worker Kim Yeon-jin (32, pseudonym) cited 'marriage' as the topic she least wants to hear during the Lunar New Year holidays. She said, "Since getting a job, I’ve been able to enjoy my life properly, but every holiday I get stressed about marriage, something I don’t usually feel," adding, "While advice about the necessity of marriage might come from those around me, crossing the line by ignoring the other person’s life plans is truly an attitude to avoid."

As the Lunar New Year approaches, more people are turning their backs on their hometowns. Many agree that family gatherings during holidays have become a trigger for conflicts among family members. From sharing household chores like holiday meals and ancestral rites to stresses about employment and marriage, the holidays have become a collection of various pressures. Contrary to relatives’ explanations that their questions are harmless, younger generations perceive the barrage of questions during holidays as 'invasions of privacy.'

In the midst of differing dreams between parent and child generations, 'holiday stress' has become a given. According to a survey conducted by the job search site Saramin last Chuseok with 927 adults, 54.3% responded that they experience holiday stress. Among unmarried children, 51.3% (multiple responses allowed) identified 'parents' as the source of stress. Additionally, 33.3% reported having had conflicts with family or relatives during holidays.

Marital conflicts intensify around the holidays. Seo Hye-yoon (34), in her second year of marriage, said, "We promised to travel during holidays as much as possible, but married life hasn’t turned out that way," adding, "Every holiday, having to prepare food and set the ancestral table makes the holiday feel like an extension of labor rather than a break." She plans to travel abroad separately while her husband visits his hometown during the Lunar New Year holiday.

There is also an observed increase in divorce cases around the holidays. According to the 'Divorce Statistics for the Last 5 Years' by the Court Administration and Statistics Korea, the number of divorces in February to March and October to November, right after the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays, was on average 11.5% higher than the previous month. Domestic violence also increased. From 2015 to 2018, the number of domestic violence reports received by 112 during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday periods totaled 33,549 cases, averaging 1,016 cases per day. Considering that the average daily reports outside the holidays were 694, this is 47% higher.

Professor Oh Yoon-ja of Kyung Hee University’s Department of Child and Family Studies said, "To avoid conflicts, communication within families should be based more on facts than emotions," adding, "The parent generation should not perceive value clashes with the child generation as a 'shift in power,' but rather as consideration for a generation raised in a different environment."