More than tourism: Hanok villages, like Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul, have a vibrant alley life that has taught the writer about the social welfare system in South Korea. — The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
Old alley neighbourhoods are really a collection of micro neighborhoods and inside the micro neighborhoods, each alley has its own atmosphere. Over time, you get to know your neighbours well. You know who works early or late. You know who has children and how many. You know who is retired and lives alone. You know when people visit. And the list goes on.
Gradually, I got to know the middle-aged men who volunteered to patrol the alleys each night. Though volunteers, they had official recognition from the local neighbourhood government office. Critics of social welfare in Korea have long argued that it is not well funded. In a survey of 38 OECD countries in 2019, Korea ranked 37th in percentage of GDP on public social spending. It spent only 11% of its GDP on social welfare compared with the OECD average of 20%. First-ranking France, by contrast, spends 31% of its GDP on social welfare.