[Insight & Opinion] Who Is Responsible for Creating Mr. K's 'Burnout Diary'?

Real World: K commutes from Paju to Daehak-ro, taking 2 hours. H takes 1 hour and 40 minutes from Eunpyeong to Seonjeongneung, and S takes 1 hour and 40 minutes from Dongtan to Gangnam. G experiences the hellish subway daily from Magok. Friend P commutes 2 hours to Chuncheon Hallym University, and C takes 2 hours to Pyeongtaek University. In the drama "My Liberation Diary," Yeom Ki-jung spends 3 to 4 hours daily commuting from the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province to Seoul. On the outskirts of Seoul, "early bird" buses start gathering from 6 a.m. I spend 30 minutes just crossing the 1.5 km Namtaeryeong Pass.

Until a few years ago, the world was divided into two: analog and digital. Then, after experiencing COVID-19, the digital world diversified, opening up three more worlds. These are augmented reality, mirror world, and virtual reality. These three are called the metaverse. Thanks to technologies like WebRTC, digital twins, and 5G.

The mirror world is the video conferencing world presented by Zoom, Gurumi, and others, while the leaders in virtual reality are Roblox and Zepeto. Roblox and Zepeto are mainly used by the Alpha generation, and the mirror world is mainly used by the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z).

However, in the real world, 80% of the MZ generation spend 20% of their lives on the road and suffer from burnout. Burnout, which over 80% of Korean office workers experience! The cause is presumed to be stress from face-to-face work and long commutes.

Fifty-something executives living in Seoul’s core towns, senior officials, and lawmakers who ride official cars do not understand this reality well. Their commutes are different. That is why they think of building 2.5 million more housing units in the metropolitan area or extending high-speed rail. Even after expanding roads and subways for 70 years since liberation, commuting times have only increased. Population concentration and the radial expansion of residential areas, along with policymakers’ failure to change their thinking, are the reasons.

Redesigning Civilization: Will we continue to burn time and life like this? Do you still think road expansion, subway extension, and flexible work systems are the answers? Aren’t these practices and fixed ideas the main culprits creating the "K (Korean) Burnout Diary"? Online real estate company Zigbang works 100% remotely and commutes to virtual buildings. Satisfaction is high. Naver and Kakao switched to 100% remote work or three days a week in-office starting this month on the 4th. At Naver, 55% (2,200 employees) now work from home. Facebook renamed itself Meta and declared it will create a "Horizon Office" world for virtual reality work.

These are innovative attempts to change the post-industrial 9 to 6 (actually 7 to 9) commuting culture. Then civilization finally changes. Remote work - more personal time - increased time with family and improved quality of life - increased opportunities to enjoy local culture - reduced burnout and social ailments - falling urban land prices, and other chain reactions occur. It can truly be called a redesign of civilization, and we currently have the technology for it. We just don’t change our mindset or take action toward a Better World.

It is regrettable to see sparrows trying to return to the pre-COVID-19 burnout world. The four worlds must open, starting with Korea.

Hwang In-seon, Marketer and author of "Ready, The Four Worlds"