When I explain the Korean age system to my non-Korean friends, the inevitable question always follows: “Why?” I usually respond with a canned answer, “Such in a rush are Koreans that the clock starts at conception.” Though meant to be facetious, there is a kernel of truth to it. In South Korea, wherever you look, the clock ticks.
Many see this ticking clock as a key driver behind South Korea's modern achievements. Even Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, recently remarked, “Of course, Korea is very impatient, which is good.”
While impatience may be a crucial asset in the world of high-bandwidth memory products, the breakneck pace at which Korea’s content industries currently operate raises concerns about long-term sustainability.
In Korea, trends are forgotten just as quickly as they are created. New stars are anointed and cast away, seemingly, overnight. And a film’s success ― or failure ― decided even before the credits finish rolling. As Chris Rock famously quipped, “Grand Opening… Grand Closing.”
Our relentless drive for innovation and instant results often overlooks the importance of reflection, intention and long-term strategy. Progress without purpose risks becoming an endless churn of fleeting trends and disposable creations. We mustn’t mistake activity for achievement, as true success lies not in how swiftly we move but in the meaningful impact we leave behind. All this speed can’t be sustainable, let alone healthy, can it?
In "The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom," author Jonathan Haidt writes:
“We were shaped by individual selection to be selfish creatures who struggle for resources, pleasure and prestige, and we were shaped by group selection to be hive creatures who long to lose ourselves in something larger. We are social creatures who need love and attachments, and we are industrious creatures with needs for effectance, able to enter a state of vital engagement with our work. We are the rider and we are the elephant…”
This relentless pace has undoubtedly fueled Korea’s rise as a global entertainment powerhouse, but it’s worth asking, "At what cost?" The rider and the elephant, as Jonathan Haidt suggests, are perpetually at odds — our desire for individual achievement pulling us one way, and our yearning for collective purpose pulling us another.
Perhaps the real challenge isn’t to slow down the ticking clock but to ensure it ticks for something meaningful. Korea’s future successes will depend not just on speed, but on balance — where innovation is guided by intention, and progress is matched with purpose. The time has come quickly to find harmony between the rush of the moment and the weight of legacy.
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Thomas Suh is the founder and managing director of Systeme D Entertainment, a filmed media and entertainment company that specializes in content acquisition, management and production for film and television. "Room Tone," the title of Suh's column series, refers to the ambient sound of a space in which filming takes place. Thomas Suh can be reached at tommysuh@me.com ― Ed.
