[theqoo] JOHN PARK, SPEAKS OUT ON KOREAN SOCIETY “THE STANDARDS ARE TOO STRICT”

Singer John Park shared his thoughts on the life values he has come to appreciate through marriage and parenting.

On the 9th, John Park posted a video on his personal YouTube channel, “John or Park,” featuring a conversation with popular content creator Baek Jin-kyung.  

In particular, John Park expressed the view that the standards for what is considered a “normal life” in Korean society, such as asset levels by age, the ideal time to get married, and a stable lifestyle, are “too strict.”

John Park explained that after he stopped worrying so much about others’ judgments, he actually began to feel more free, and his daily life became much more enjoyable.

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1. Rather than being strict, it feels like strange standards are being used to overly standardize education, society, culture, marriage, and personal identity

2. Other countries have their own standards, too. They just don’t make a big deal out of it

3. That’s right. Especially for people like John Park who’ve lived abroad, that kind of thing hits even harder. I felt that way too, haha. But I think everything has its pros and cons. It’s not just Korea that’s a living hell, there’s no such thing as a utopia anywhere

4. They say traveling abroad is just a normal part of life, but when you look at the comments on TheQooㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ they’re whining that it’s abnormal not to be able to travel because you haven’t saved up any money

5. He’s right

6. No, it’s not exactly the same in other countries either, though it might be the same for the upper class

7. If you watch the video, John Park is just chiming in with a few words here and there… John Park knows better than anyone that wherever there’s a mainstream genre, there’s always a standard…

8. For real, maybe because our country is so small, we feel it even more…

9. But it’s the same overseas…

10. It’s just that there are a lot of people who do things their own way, but every country has its own standards. Bae Jin-kyung is also a foreigner, and since she has a flexible profession and everyone around her is from that background, that’s why they think like that. But in other countries too, the “good college – good job” path comes with significant social expectations and pressure