"Some Earn 5 Million Won a Month"... Young People Making a Living Through 'Hunting' in Online Games

The Surge in Cashing Out from Online Games
Exiting the Job Market... A Form of Short-Term Gig Work

An unemployed individual, Mr. Ahn (34), is considered a high-level user in "Maple Land," a recreation of the classic version of the online game MapleStory. Since last year, he has been receiving virtual currency in exchange for helping lower-level users with hunting, then converting that into cash. His average monthly income is between 1.5 million and 2 million won. Ahn said, "I play games for about eight hours a day and earn my living expenses this way."

Image created with generative AI. Gemini

Mr. Shin (30), who has given up on job hunting, supports himself by running multiple games such as "Road Nine" simultaneously on three computers. He has spent 10 million won on computers and gaming equipment. Shin said, "At my peak, I earned around 5 million won a month, but as competition has intensified, my monthly income has dropped to around 2 million won, and there are many months when I earn even less." Mr. Ha (35) makes money by playing other users’ game accounts on their behalf. He performs repetitive tasks such as hunting, and the pay he receives is about the minimum wage per hour.

According to a report by The Asia Business Daily on January 13, more young people are now making a living by selling online game items. The neologism "Ssalmeok" (meaning "selling game money to buy rice") has even emerged. Online communities such as "Ssalmeok.com," where users share information about cashing out game assets, have also appeared. This site provides information on the difficulty of cashing out for each game, assigning what it calls a "Ssalmeok score." From 2021 to the first half of last year, the total volume of online game transactions reported to the National Tax Service was about 300 million won.

This trend of cashing out from games is seen by some as a reflection of the reality that young people are unable to find suitable jobs. The number of young people who have left the job market and stopped economic activity continues to grow. As of August last year, the number of people classified as "taking a break"-not employed or seeking work for no particular reason-was 2,641,000, an increase of 73,000 from a year earlier. Among those in their twenties, the "taking a break" population decreased by 3,000 year-on-year but still stood at 435,000 (16.5%), the second highest after those in their sixties. For those in their thirties, the number increased by 19,000 to 328,000 (12.4%) compared to the previous year.

Professor Koo Jungwoo of the Department of Sociology at Sungkyunkwan University emphasized, "This is similar to a short-term part-time job, and if this pattern is repeated, it is difficult for individuals to build a career or prepare for the future." He added, "It is important for individuals to have a sense of purpose and plan their careers, but it is also necessary for society to provide institutional support such as education and vocational training so that they can explore other career paths."