TAEBAEK, Gangwon Province -- Kim Kyung-rae, a 60-year-old taxi driver in Taebaek, rarely picks up young passengers. Most of his customers are elderly. But it wasn’t always like this. In the 1970s and 1980s, young, eager job seekers flocked to Taebaek, then a bustling coal-mining town. People would joke that even dog carried 10,000-won ($7) bills, so prosperous was the town.