Koreans at Work: from the Asians at Work series

This book contains interviews and photographs of Koreans talking about their working lives. Reading Koreans at Work is an excellent way to glimpse into the character of the Korean people and gain insights into their culture. Some of the interviewees' revelations are shocking, that they work as professionals for no pay, or that have committed grievous crimes for which they feel guilty about. But mostly, the book's strongest point is the way it shines light on the ways ordinary people are making a living in Korea, and how they feel about their lives and their occupations. While the book finds inspiration from Working by Studs Terkel, it provides an altogether different format. Instead of pretending that there is no interviewer, the transcripts contain a truer record of the conversation, showing some individuals as reticent to open up, and others more willing to provide details about their working lives and dreams, even at times saying the exact amount of salary they receive. Other times the exchange can appear testy, like when a yoga teacher insists that the good point of her job is "boredom". While most might imagine Korea to be a Buddhist nation, we find within these pages the great influence of Christianity, especially the ways it inspires individuals to live selfless lives. Readers will also learn about the effects of Korea's economic crash, and how individuals have fallen from lucrative positions to subsistence wages. Straightforward and unpretentious, the interviews lend insights into ways the Korean people (and one foreign laborer from Nigeria) adjust to their working environments and live their lives.