[VIEW 2035] There's no merit in a plutocracy

Jeong Jin-ho
The author is a reporter of economic policy team of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Recently, a cartoon that satirizes President Yoon Suk-yeol won first prize in a national cartoon contest for middle and high school students organized by the Korea Manhwa Content Agency. The Culture Ministry gave a “grave warning” to the agency for choosing the cartoon in question, which led to controversy.

Thanks to the satirical cartoon, I got to know about the contest. This year’s first prize among middle school students went to the cartoon entitled “Appa Chance.” The drawing depicts four people who are climbing a rope to reach the same goal: Seoul National University (SNU). Each student is holding different parts of the rope, based on their parents’ job and financial power. It seems that the rope is too long for the one who starts from the very bottom to reach the top.

Early this month, I went on a business trip to the United Arab Emirates where a king and royal family still rule. Cars owned by the royal family run with different license plates. You can find only Arabic on them, unlike other cars on the road.

The smaller the number, the higher the price for license plates. Habib, a Pakistani second generation immigrant, has a car with a five-digit number. “In Dubai, the police don’t touch drivers of cars with Arabic or two-digit license plates,” he said. “You can tell which class people belong to just by looking at the color of the clothes they’re wearing.”

In that country, people’s standard of living and directions for their lives are decided the very moment they are born.

Looking at the state of scholarship applications to the Korea Student Aid Foundation (KSAF), we can find that among those who attend SNU, Korea University, and Yonsei University, 48.2 percent come from the top income bracket.

The number of high-income bracket students is even bigger at law schools. As of this year, 65.1 percent of state scholarship applicants studying law at SNU were from high-income families. The figure was 60.3 percent last year.

According to a recent study conducted by Kang Min-jung, a senior researcher at the Korea Employment Information Service, the possibility of employment and going to a graduate school is higher when students' parents earn more. It implies that wealth still has significant influence on which university children go to and which job they get.

A survey of adults living in Korea conducted by the Pew Research Center also shows a bitter reality. The proportion of respondents who expect their children to face a tougher economic situation when they grow up stood at 60 percent. The figure was a mere 37 percent in 2013.

Korea is not the only one. Sixteen of the 19 countries surveyed saw more parents expect a tougher economic situation than for things to improve.

Still, there’s hope. “Appa Chance” shows that Koreans are aware of the bleak reality where people start the race at different starting lines and are openly criticizing the fact.

Michael J. Sandel, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University, argued that when meritocracy is taken for granted, already-entrenched inequality is exacerbated. Its basic concept loses its meaning, considering the fact that each person is standing at different starting lines.

Even a middle school student understands that truth.

BY JEONG JIN-HO [jeong.jinho@joongang.co.kr]