Daechi-dong and the Pig Mom Phenomenon?
Amy Kim
Even though this issue is all about music, Amy still wrote this article to introduce some negatives resulting from the South Korean education system, which she finds quite interesting. As a South Korean student who has some complaints towards the South Korean education system, Amy attempts to demonstrate certain unjust details about it in reference to a well- known K-drama.
Have you ever heard of the term “pig mom”? It seems strange at first sight and you might not have any idea of what it actually means. The “pig mom phenomenon” refers to the situation where Korean parents are fully involved in organizing, scheduling, and managing the educational process from primary to secondary school for a group of children in their neighborhood. To elaborate, they researches, plans, and organizes every step for the children in their network in order to reach the ultimate goal of admission into the top three Korean universities - Seoul National University, Korean university, and Yonsei University, commonly known as SKY. Such phenomenon is seen in Daechi-dong, a residential area in Seoul where education is the top priority. It is not explicitly shown to the public but there may be numbers of pig moms within the Daechi-dong community.
The general South Korean education system is composed of three different components: elementary, middle, and high school. Unlike international schools, students should move to another school after graduating from elementary school in order to receive a middle school education, and the same applies to students who graduate from middle school. In other words, elementary, middle, and high school are not combined in a single school. Similar to other countries in the world, in South Korea, there are schools that parents and students with high academic goals strive to attend in order to receive benefits when applying for the top universities. In order to make this possible, students should work hard starting from elementary school or even during kindergarten so that their learning capabilities are suitable for achieving such goals. This, in turn, creates excessive competition between each households and leads to high levels of private education outside of the school environment.
These aspects of the pig mom phenomenon are reflected in a Korean drama called the Sky Castle. Sky Castle is a satirical drama about the lives, motivations, and greed of upper- class families and their eagerness to survive in the excessively competitive environment of Daechi-dong. One woman’s ultimate goal is to get her elder daughter into Seoul medical university, which leads her to search for a prominent university coordinator who manages students’ studies and portfolios to get them into the best universities. The K-Drama illustrates the fact that education matters a lot in Asian families, and it generally speaks about the situation in terms of parental, societal, and peer pressure on students and some of its adverse effects. It shows how academics and grades rule relationships, how one lives their life, how one is respected, and more. Despite the fact that this K- Drama is exaggerated and unrealistic, it still depicts a certain extent of the South Korean education system and the inevitable nature of competitiveness and individuals’ utmost desires of achieving their goal of attending the best universities.
The pig mom of Sky Castle mainly refers to the lead character Han Seo-jin, played by actor Yum Jung-ah. She aims to send her daughter to the best medical university in Korea and pays an elite college admissions coordinator millions of money for her daughter. The admissions coordinator manages the daughter’s daily schedules, grades, eating habits, and even stress levels in order to make sure she enters the desired university and achieves her goal of becoming a doctor. This might be exaggerated and untrue, but according to an interview conducted by JoongAng Daily, 70% of the private education system depicted in the K-Drama is true. College admissions coordinators are commonly known as consultants, and they work covertly to hire appropriate private teachers for each subject the student takes, and plans relevant extracurricular activities that can enhance the students’ school transcript. Here, the school transcript is significantly important when applying for universities because it reflects a particular student’s academic achievements, behaviors, service activities, and his or her time and effort spent on extracurricular activities. For instance, according to the K-Drama, the daughter of Han Seo-Jin volunteers at hospitals and joins a biology club because she aims to attend a medical school, and even applies for the student council position because the consultant said that it would show her leadership and benefit her when applying for universities. In fact, such phenomenon only occurs in certain places in South Korea and does not apply to all households, but it also reflects the dark side of South Korean education that is important to consider.
Now, you might be curious about how it is like during the college entrance exam day. The following are some surprising facts about the Korean college entrance exam.
1. No take-off and landing of airplanes so that there is not problem with the listening test
Aircraft flight control is a measure to prevent noise during the English listening evaluation time. This is due to concerns that the noise may mishear pre-recorded questions.
2. Hundreds of examiners and administrative personnel on the college entrance exam live in one accommodation facility until the exam is completely over.
It may seem extreme, but it is a measure to prevent the leakage of test information. Once entering the accommodation, contact with the outside is not possible, and even going out is not allowed except in urgent situations such as the death of a family member. Even if you are unusually allowed to go out, you must complete your business within a limited time and are accompanied by security personnel such as the police.
You can now see that entering a decent university is considered as one of the most important values in South Korean’s lives and how it can lead to a “pig mom” phenomenon. These circumstances do not apply to all individuals but it is still common within the country, a unique part of South Korean culture.